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High Noon

High Noon

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good movie for a Date (put the kids to bed)
Review: High Noon is a good movie for a date with your sweetie or, if you're married, with your spouse.

"High Noon" is an intense movie and distractions will detract from its impact. This film is too good of a movie to miss even a minute, so, put the kiddies to bed first.

Guys will love the movie because it is a Gary Cooper film and is a western in all of its westerness. The Gals will love the movie because of its slice of romance--the leading lady, Grace Kelly, is no push over and all women will love her spunkiness.

This is a great compromise movie if the guys and gals can't agree to watch either an action flick or a romanic movie. This one has it all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best westerns ever made, I,m sure!!!
Review: This movie is of course one of the best westerns ever made, and is important in the history of filmmaking. It stars Gary Cooper as the determined sheriff of a small town, who is planning to protect the town against some fierce outlaws. The time he is going to do it is 12 o clock noon, which will always be known as " High Noon". I won't tell you much of anything else. Oh, SHOOTOUTS--THIS MOVIE-- IT ALL FITS TOGETHER!! I myself absolutely CRAVE shootouts in classic westerns. That is one of the reasons that I enjoy this movie so much!! Don't miss Grace Kelly also as Cooper's brave wife!! So, sit back for more than an hour of suspense plus fun in this great film!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do not forsake me oh my darling
Review: This is a truly great film, to say nothing of a great western. The scenario is classic. An aging lawman gets married to a sweet angelic woman and decides to give up his dangerous life chasing lawbreakers. But on the same day that he gets married and is supposed to give up his star, a man he sent up the river (and naturally vowed to kill him one day) is arriving in town on the noon train. And he ain't alone. Not a bad premise for a western. But that's just the start.

This movie also has a truly perfect cast who all give great performances. In fact, many people's carreers in movies started or were greatly furthered by this film. But great acting deserves great direction, cinematography, and editing. And that my friends, is where this movie truly shines. Practically every time you enter a room, you can see a clock on the wall, ticking away the time till noon. From the time that the Marshall enters the town the second time, everything practically unrolls in real time. And as his situation gets more and more desperate and the time of reckoning gets closer and closer, the tension is fantastic.

The music (which won a well-deserved academy award) is the icing on the cake. The movie opens with a ballad pretty much telling you the entire plot in a few verses. This song plays again and again in key sequences. This may seem redundant to some, but to me this just heightens the emotional pull. And when the marshall walks into the saloon and the same song is being played on the piano...it's just perfect. This song is the theme of the movie, and adds a great surrealistic element to an already awesome movie.

Of course this review would not be complete if I did not at least one or two words about the dvd itself. Well the sound is excellent. Crisp and clean. But the picture is amazing. This movie and the French version of Beauty and the Beast (released by the mighty Criterion) are the two finest examples of black and white picture perfection I have ever seen. The picture is so CLEAN. There are some who feel that dvds can actually surpass the quality of movies seen in a theater, dvds like this are the reason why. If you never have seen this movie before, you owe it to yourself to at least rent it on dvd. If you like the movie, then you have to have this dvd. The picture is perfection. To say nothing of the movie....

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tension filled entertainment
Review: This movie has so many good points. Gary Cooper is marvelous as a man of conviction. Grace Kelly is also notable as his prim new wife. But the character I liked best was played by Katy Jurado, she just lights up the screen!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: two stars on the ground?
Review: Anybody notice at the end, when Coop throws the tin star on the ground, there's already a tin star on the ground? Is this great symbolism beyond my understanding, or just a blooper?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mature
Review: This was probably the first major Hollywood film where the hero showed actual fear. Up to this point, and even today, the hero in action films is almost a superman. He/She is unafraid and invincible. Gary Cooper did a marvelous job of showing what it is really like. Heros are not unafraid, it is what they do despite their fear that makes them great. I would put this in the top three of the finest westerns ever made, along with Shane and Stagecoach.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sorry, Folks, I Don't Like it. Not One Bit
Review: "High Noon" was a movie I had to watch in a college film class. I wasn't too excited to see it, mainly because I'm not the biggest fan of westerns. But, I decided to watch it with an open mind. And hey, great thing about westerns, whether you like them or not, they have amazing shoot-outs. So, I watched this movie.....and I DID NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT!!!

Yikes. Nothing happens. No action, no suspence, no nothing. YUCK! The only exciting thing that happens in the movie is the last five or ten minutes, and even THAT wasn't very spectacular.<...I don't mind movies not having a lot of action or shootings. But in a WESTERN, I sort of expected some of that, you know.

But what really did it for me was the acting: I DID NOT FIND IT CONVINCING AND SLIGHTLY BELIEVABLE! That was the worst part of the movie. If you don't have acting, then you have NOTHING! I did not feel nor sympathise for any of these characters. And don't give me that "it's an old movie" excuse. Time does not account for bad acting, so don't give me that line. There are PLENTY of old movies with some superb acting that I enjoyed... Bottom line, I did not like this movie. You want a good western? See "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

Again, do not be mad at me for not liking this movie. This is strictly MY opinion and views; no one elses. I am me, and you are you. I am sure there are PLENTY of movies I love and you hate, but you're not going to see me lose sleep or get all bent out of shape over it...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: High Noon's DVD aspect ratio is correct
Review: Some have stated that the transfer of "High Noon" to DVD was done at the wrong aspect ratio. Well, don't shy away from the purchase of this DVD because this is not correct. The first widescreen movie, unless you stretch the definition to fit Abel Gance's unique Triptych sequences in 1927 for "Napoleon," was in 1953 with "The Robe." The aspect ratio of 1.33 to 1 or 4 to 3 (i.e. your standard TV set) is nearly correct for "High Noon" (go to the link http://us.imdb.com/Technical?0044706 for details).

Now, if you want to see what happens to the aspect ratio of some films, see what's missing from the DVD and theatrical release of "The Remains of the Day." James Ivory used the Super 35 process - the size of the original negative being 35 mm - so the film could easily be moved to tape or television without Panning and Scanning. Ironically, there is far more image on the top and bottom on my VHS tape than in the theatrical release or DVD version.

Though the full camera negative was not meant to be shown in theatres because movie house screens usually take full advantage of their width, sometimes at the expense of a cropped top and bottom, to present a larger picture, on a traditional television screen the full 35 mm image has superior composition and feels far less cramped. I feel it compliments aspects of the story, revealing more details. Naturally, you can't say this about many films meant to be shown at 2.35 to 1 or greater.

I apologize for using so much space on this subject in a review dedicated to "High Noon," but I want to make clear that just because a DVD says "widescreen" it doesn't necessarily mean you are seeing more of the image than you saw on your old VHS tape, though it usually does. Conversely, if someone says a film should have been released on DVD in its widescreen format, don't believe them without checking it out at www.imdb.com. There may not be a widescreen version.

Regarding "High Noon," I feel it is a compelling western that deftly uses the "man alone" theme to not only build suspense, but to build character, so to speak, as those who faced the charges before the House Un-American Activities Committee had theirs built. Yes, Gary Cooper is apprehensive, even a bit scared, but he has the character to come through it all.

Despite John Wayne's indictment of the film as un-American, I think it is just the opposite, upholding the integrity of the individual when confronted by those who know no such integrity, either actively or passively. Still, as a western, John Ford's "Stagecoach" broke new ground and "High Noon" did not. Yes, having the action take place in real time is unusual but hardly unique. It was done just as well three years earlier in Robert Wise's "The Set-up," a sadly dismissed film of boxing and human courage. And when "High Noon" is compared to the major works of America cinema like "Citizen Kane," "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "Double Indemnity," "The Grapes of Wrath," "To Kill a Mockingbird," "It Happened One Night," "Vertigo," "The Hustler," "The Godfather" (I and II), "The General," "The Best Years of Our Lives," "The Apartment" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" or the masterworks of British cinema like "The Third Man," "Lawrence of Arabia" or one of my favorites, "I Know Where I'm Going" it must lose a half a star and maybe more. Of course, I'm a tough grader.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do not forsake me, oh my Darling.
Review: This a good western, but an even better movie.This movie is different from a John Wayne movie. The heroe admits he's afraid. There's no Elmer Bernstein orchestra blaring the credit, just Merle Travis playing the guitar, Cliffie Stone on bass, while Tex Ritters sings. There's none of the John Ford's great scenery. The west looks desolate in this movie. And little action. That's a warning to all teens who think that something has to blow up every few minutes.
This a Frank Capra western, except unlike "It's A Wonderful Life" where the friends come to rescue to hero, everyone forgets the heroe. The emphasis is placed on building suspense and great characterization. Sure they talk about what a good man he is, but noone wants to help except... It has a short documentary as an extra. It's a shame that an audio commentary couldn't be provided by the some living character actors. Also I wish they could have shown two scenes that were deleted from the film. Overall, the number #1 reason to buy this DVD, is for the movie itself with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first major role. The score, the acting, the black and white color, the good vs. evil theme, the ticking clock, and the long shots of a lonely marshall by himself makes this a classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The psychology of duty, fear, and nonviolence...in a Western
Review: Often said to be the best Western ever, High Noon is also about duty (part of the "men's code" of honor), fear, abandonment (to the violent ones), and nonviolence (Grace Kelly's Quaker roots). Everyone in the movie makes understandable choices--and Gary Cooper is left alone to face 4 gunslingers after him.

One of the best actors in the movie is Katy Jurado, who plays a Hisanpic business owner. What ever happened to her?

You'll love this movie.


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