Rating: 
Summary: Hilary and Blah Blah Nyborg
Review: I'm so happy this has finally been released on DVD - and what a transfer - fantastic widescreen format, clean, crisp, and the best way I've ever viewed this movie. Deserverdly so, seeing as GGR is such a great movie.Even though direcror Foley's commentary on Disc 1 (widescreen) is definitely worth listening to, it isn't particularly insightful. The commentaries on Disc 2 (full screen) are better... it's good to hear input from Baldwin and Arkin, but I'd have loved to have had the Jack Lemmon commentary from the original laser disc version included as well. The extras are good, in their way, but it would have been great to have heard from Mamet himself, and get more insight into the movie/play, even though the stuff about salesmen is most certainly interesting and a worthy addition. There's also a cool Easter Egg on the second disc, but that's for closers only.
Rating:
Summary: Drama and desperation
Review: I just find it so amazing that a film with relatively no action can be so powerful and affecting.
"Glengarry Glen Ross" tells the story of real estate salesmen who try everything to close a deal despite poor leads and treats from higher-ups. How far will they go to stay alive in their business? Watch and see as a riveting and sometimes sad story unfolds.
One couldn't have asked for a better cast (greats like Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris and Al Pacino), and the interactions between them are gritty and sharp. Heck, Alec Baldwin is only in the movie for a few minutes and even he manages to make a huge impression on the audience!
Fans of the film can now rejoice that this wonderful movie can now be seen with the picture quality and sound that only DVD can offer. Be sure to look for an "extra special" feature on the second disc: watch the clip of Kevin Spacey on "Inside the Actors Studio" as he and a student reinact a memorable "Glengarry" scene.
All in all, the film is brilliant in every sense of the word. It's well-written, well-directed, well-casted, et cetera. After viewing it, I only had one question. Where were the Oscars???
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Summary: Your name name has been chosen...
Review: all I can say is finally. I've nearly destroyed my vhs copy. For those who haven't seen it.. You MUST. Amazing character driven story. True to life. ( or just about.)
Rating: 
Summary: Docked two stars for shoddy DVD treatment
Review: First of all, let me go on the record as saying that Glengarry Glen Ross is one of my all-time favorite films. The acting is nothing short of astounding. Each actor (particularly Jack Lemmon) is at the top of their form. This is an actor's movie. There's no special effects, chase scenes, superfluous love story subplot, or pat ending. It should be obvious to anyone watching this film that it is based on a play -- specifically, David Mamet's Pulitzer-prize winning play of the same name. Mamet also wrote the screenplay, which is full of the fiery brilliance he always brings to the table. This is not a film for the timid. The language is raw and crude. The film takes no prisoners and I love it. The film takes place in a real estate office, where cutthroat salesman do "cold calling," basically selling land by telemarketing. It's a brutal business (we've all been on the other end of that phone call and usually end up hanging up on the salesman), and the people these guys work for are brutal as well. Case in point: during an early, crucial scene, Blake (played brilliantly by Alec Baldwin) tells the gathered crew that the top prize for highest sales is a Cadillac. The second prize is a set of steak knives and the third prize -- "you're fired." The speech is a sadistic, humiliating version of a pep talk, all macho brags and venomous insults. He dangles the new contacts, or "leads," in the faces of the salesmen. "They're for closers," he tells them. These guys would kill for the good leads, and Blake knows it. The scene was written especially fo the film and Baldwin eats it up. It's easily the best thing I've seen him do. Jack Lemmon plays Sheldon Levene, the office's oldest employee. He used to be the best one around (they call him "The Machine"), but he's been on a bad streak lately and desperately needs his luck to change. His daughter's in the hospital and is unable to pay her medical bills. Al Pacino plays Ricky Roma, the current hotshot. His way of befriending a potential client in a bar and gaining his trust is odd, but effective (his opening monologue is totally insane, but thoroughly entertaining). Kevin Spacey is the office manager who will not bend the rules for anyone, much to the rage of the office. Ed Harris and Alan Arkin round out the rest of the salesmen. Harris plays Dave Moss, who has the world's biggest chip on his shoulder. Arkin is George Aaronow, who desperately needs to land a good sale. Most of his role consists of reacting to Harris and Pacino, but he's very good. The day after Baldwin's talk, the salesman come to work to find the office robbed. The new leads are missing. Probably an inside job. It could have been anyone. Everyone is questioned by the police and everyone is insulted that they are considered suspects. Ricky is mad because the robbery may have screwed up his latest sale, putting his ownership of the Cadillac in jeopardy. Also, last night's client comes looking for him -- he has second thoughts. The way Ricky tries desperately to blow off his client while still playing the salesman is creepy and brilliant. Lemmon is amazing as Levene -- I've never seen desperation played so well. Having said all that, I, along with the rest of the GGR fans, have been waiting years for this film to arrive on DVD. Especially since it's been promised as a "two-disc special edition." What a disappointing package it turned out to be. Well, let's be fair. First of all, the film. It looks great. It sounds great. They did a great job with the film itself. But don't promise a loaded special edition and then give us something as lame as this. The only commentary track on the widescreen version is director James Foley. He only speaks during three scenes. The other commentary tracks are only available on the full-frame version (on disc two) and are not scene-specific. The extras include "Magic Time," a tribute to the late Jack Lemmon, which is well-meaning but could have been a lot better. It does, however, end with a clip from Lemmon's appearance on "Inside the Actor's Studio," which is sweet. There is also "Always be Closing," another slapdash mini-documentary that features directors, playwrights, actors (including GGR's Alan Arkin and Alec Baldwin) discussing the role of the salesman in plays and films, as well as actual salespeople themselves. Sound interesting? It's not. It lacks any kind of cohesive thread. It appears to have been produced by a first-year film student. There's no structure to it. It looks unfinished. There's also a clip from Kevin Spacey's appearance on "Inside the Actor's Studio" where an audience member acts out a scene from GGR with Spacey. I'll admit, I enjoyed that bit. Why in the world didn't Criterion release this? They would have done a much better job and besides, they released the laserdisc version (with commentary tracks from Jack Lemmon, among others, I'm told). What we end up with here is an amazing film with an amazing transfer...and a bunch of lame extras thrown in. If you're a fan of this film, by all means, buy the DVD...but don't expect much in the area of extras.
Rating:
Summary: Put that coffee down !!!
Review: first i must admit i didn't see this movie in theatres,i saw it about a year later on cable and was completely blown away.the performances,directing,story,all of it,trying to pick a favorite actor in this movie is like trying to guess who's gonna win the lotto it's impossible. i recently bought the DVD after waiting forever to get it and i love it,sure there are some things that could have been better but hey i'm just glad to have it on dvd finally. i highly reccomend this movie,but if your not into talky dramas (neither am i) you may want to rent it first. This movie is a MUST see.
Rating:
Summary: you have GOT to HAVE the LEADS!
Review: Please allow me to be one of the first thousand people to say, "it's about time"! This film was sorely missing in action for so long I nearly gave up on it! And I for one am glad they gave it a full-screen 1.33:1 treatment in addition to the letterboxed widescreen 2.35:1. I mean, it's not like we are trying to squeeze 6 horses and a chariot into the frame in Glengarry Glen Ross, this film is an intense character study, and the closeups are so very necessary. Many snobby dvd websites make remarks all the time like "who watches fullscreen versions anyway?" but a movie like this demands fullscreen--- in fact, if you compare the fullscreen and letterbox-widescreen of this movie, you will notice that the letterboxed version actually omits some top and bottom information, it is masked apparently just to satisfy the always-vocal widescreen TV owners! Look at the Alec Baldwin scene and notice that his tie is not showing in closeups on the widescreen disc. But look at the same frame on the dreaded "fullscreen" disc and you see the knot of his tie in all its corporate glory. Fullscreen looks right. I am one of the quiet millions who have normal sized televisions (in the 19" to 32" range) and I prefer the fullscreen versions to the widescreen every time---FILL THAT SCREEN! This Glengarry Glen Ross dvd looks great, the sound is very clean and clear, and if you can't understand a snippet of sales-dialogue, just a touch of the subtitle button fixes the situation. The soundtrack to this film is exceptionally cool jazz, and sounds so much better than we were forced to endure on VHS for 10 long years. The dvd menus also give you a bit more of this music to sample. Two nice interview snippets from TV show Kevin Spacey doing the "Go To Lunch" scene with a nervous acting student, and Jack Lemmon talks about aging and getting the good roles. There is a nice tribute to Jack Lemmon as well featuring his son, director James Foley, and actor Peter Gallagher mainly, and two sales-oriented seminars. I would have liked to see the trailer for this film, but maybe there wasn't one... after all, this wasn't an FX-laden summer blockbuster, it was a Pulitzer Prize-winning play made into a film, and the movie stands on its own simply based on merit: Taking into acount the acting, the script, the direction, and the music, there really is not a bad frame in the entire film! This movie is a masterpiece. Get yourself this dvd, put that coffee down, and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Real realestate
Review: As a future realtor; this movie was very helpful; so is this what it really is like being a realtor?? No respect; dog eat dog; lies; etc. wow what a career.
Rating:
Summary: Decision: Have you made your decision for buying this DVD?
Review: The title of this review will make sense when you see the movie. Now, onto the show. In this particular year at the Academy Awards, both Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon were nominated; Pacino for best supporting actor, and Lemmon for best actor. But Pacino was also nominated in the best actor category for "Scent of a Woman", which is not only a far inferior film, but a far inferior performance to the once that he gives in this film. So, what they should have done was give Lemmon the best actor nod and given the other little statue to Pacino for this film instead of the other one. But that will go down in the books as another classic Oscar blunder (like giving the top 5 awards to "Silence of the Lambs" and not even nominating "Glory" for a best picture oscar in 1989). Ok, off my soapbox and into the movie. For those of us who have had the joy to explore the many works of David Mamet as a playwright, this movie is a wet dream. Not only do the actors understand the particular cadence of Mamet's dialogue, they also understand the language itself. For many actors, Mamet is a language all its own, and if done badly, can result in horror. But in James Foley's superb direction, the bringing of Mamet's words from the stage to the screen seems effortless. The film still has all of the sweaty paranoia and claustrophobia of the stage play and with an added bonus: Alec Baldwin, in possibly the greatest short supporting role of all time, as Blake, the man who has been sent to the office "on a mission of mercy!" His monologue is unforgettable. It sets the tone for the entire film. It is shocking, hilarious, direct, abusive, ascerbic, acidic, spiteful, rageful, pompous and hateful. Many of these actors put in the best performances of their careers, like Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, and Ed Harris. Pacino is fantastic; the ultimate salesman as Ricky Roma, a suave smooth-talking, silver-tongued, sharp-dressed wheeler-dealer who could sell a stranger in a bar thousands of dollars of land after having only a few drinks with him. Kevin Spacey is pitch-perfect as the wimpy "company man" Williamson; a man whose whole life seems to be based around the success of others. I have to take a moment to thank the movie gods for assembling a cast of this magnitude, giving them the perfect roles to dive into head-first and staying true to the rhythms of Mamet's dialogue which is always more important than what the story is about anyways. Jack, I'll miss you. You will always be The Machine.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Lemmon puts on an acting clinic
Review: I happen to be a huge Mamet fan. "House of Games" is easily in my top ten of all time and I love "The Spanish Prisoner." But Glengarry Glen Ross is the best of the bunch. I never cease to be amazed as I watch Jack Lemmon acting in this movie. Yes indeed --- he should have won an Oscar. You can feel his desperation. His scene at a prospective customer's house is a classic, as his his final scene with Kevin Spacey. Kevin Spacey as the impotent office manager, Alec Baldwin as the overbearing motivator, and Al Pacino as the all-star salesman are equally unbelievable. Some may be turned off by the profanity, but it fits for the circumstances in this movie. If you are tired of the current trend toward overblown movie special effects and want to see how dialogue can carry a movie, Glengarry Glen Ross is for you. Best line (among many) --- "Coffee is for closers."
Rating:
Summary: Will you go to lunch...Will you go to lunch ???
Review: Once in a while a movie like Glengarry Glen Ross is made, and history is made as well. First off the cast is amazing, Kevin Spacey, Al Pacino, Alac Baldwin, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin. Second the realism of this movie is almost funny, this is how some people in high-stress jobs might act (believe it or not) and we are given a glimpse of what any office in America may look like on any given day. That is the genius of Glengarry Glen Ross, not some CGI special effects to dazzle us, but the "human" effect that resides in all of us. This is what films have lost in the past 10 years since the computer has taken the place of good acting, and a story that makes you think. If you want to learn somthing about yourself, and maybe other people buy this movie. God bless America.
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