Rating: 
Summary: Good film but don't pay any attention to the AFI's Top 100
Review: Many of you, like me, may have had your Kane interest piqued by its "#1 Film of All Time" rating by the AFI (American Film Institute). Be forewarned that the AFI also honors "Jaws", "Rocky" and "Snow White" in the same breath. So whatever. If you dive into this film head first expecting the greatest thing to hit the screen, you will be disappointed. The audio commentary itself (included on this edition) states that Welles' "Chimes at Midnight" is a superior film.Personally, I thought Citizen Kane was very impressive. But I am easily impressed by camera lenses, lighting techniques and 1940s nostalgia. It isn't the acting, script or plot of Kane that appeals to me so much as its artistic storytelling. If you read through these reviews, you'll be puzzled at how some people can proclaim it a work of art while others are bored and irritated by its pageantry. It's the same with a Picasso painting or a Beatles song or a Chicago skyscraper. Art can be found in anything if you have the patience to look for it. I was patient enough to find 4 stars worth of art in Citizen Kane. Good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Why in the world does this have such a high rating????
Review: I thought this was VERY VERY BORING. The only reason why I didn't turn it off was because I wanted to find out what he meant by saying "Rosebud". I agree with the ratings of most other movies in the top 100, but not this one. This does not even compare to great movies like The Godfather, Schindler's List, Memento, Psycho, It's a Wonderful Life, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Citizen Kane
Review: AFI said that Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made. I don't know if I agree with that, but it is definetly in the top 3. Extremely interesting story, superb acting and dialogue make Citizen Kane a keeper. **** SVL
2.3.1
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic disaster!
Review: Citizen Kane is a hymn to all filmmakers who have ever tried to create something artistic and meaningful and failed miserably every step of the way.
Rating:
Summary: Words cannot do justice to Citizen Kane
Review: If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a motion picture is worth a million words. Unfortunately, Amazon limits reviews to a thousand words only so I'll have to be brief but no amount of words can do justice to "Citizen Kane." I can't, and therefore won't, pretend to be "objective" about this film. As the great Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci once said, "Objectivity does not exist - it cannot exist ... The word is a hypocrisy which is sustained by the lie that the truth stays in the middle. No, sir: sometimes truth stays on one side only." In the case of "Citizen Kane" the truth is on one side only: it is a truly great film and deserves to be ranked as one of the greatest films, if not the greatest film, ever made. And anyone who says otherwise is not only wrong but grossly ignorant of this film, the history of film, and its place in the history of film. A few key highlights on "Citizen Kane." First, "Citizen Kane" is a work of art. (Yeah, I know that is a cliche, but like most cliches, it's true). Most movies are merely entertaining because that is all they are meant to be and do. "Citizen Kane" tried to be more and do more and succeeded. Second, Orson was a genius and "Citizen Kane" was his masterpiece. Third, its screenplay is itself a masterpiece. Just as matter of fact, the actual shooting script was based on two scripts (written separately by Welles and Mankiewicz) that Welles combined into one for the final version. By the way, best screenplay was the only category that garnered an Academy Award for "Citizen Kane." By rights, "Citizen Kane" should have won all the categories but did not because of the efforts of William Randolph Hearst (incredibly, the real Hearst was even worse than the man "Citizen Kane" portrayed!). Third, the look (and sound) of "Citizen Kane" is glorious. Gregg Toland was one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of film, period, and "Kane" proves it. Without going into the boring (actually not boring) technical details, this film was ahead of its time and used many techniques for the first time that we have long since gotten used to. Unfortunately, we have forgotten where they came from. Welles and his cinematographer Gregg Toland developed or enhanced techniques for allowing the drama to develop on multiple planes of vision and sound. the film's deep focus photography, which allows actors and objects to remain in focus whatever their distance from the camera, allowed multiple actions to be shown within a single frame and remain comprehensible, allowing for complex interactions between foreground and background. Welles and John Aalberg created a complex soundtrack that merged multiple dialogues, sometimes spoken simultaneously, and music into a comprehensible whole. Fourth, Bernard Herrmann. Do I need to say anything more? Although Bernard Herrmann received an Academy Award nomination for his score for "Citizen Kane," he actually won the award that year for his music for ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY. Fifth, the film editing was fantastic. Kudos to Robert Wise. Sixth, the extraordinary cast of actors were drawn entirely from the famed Mercury Theatre troupe, which Orson Welles founded when he was only 21 years old. Seventh, It was directed by Orson Welles. Eighth, It was produced by Orson Welles. Ninth, Charles Foster Kane was portrayed by Orson Welles. Tenth, "Citizen Kane" was made by Orson Welles. Did I mention that he shared the credit for best original screenplay? I think there is a pattern here. Bottom Line: If "Citizen Kane" is not already in your DVD collection, get the two-disc set, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Most Beautiful B&W Photographed Films
Review: Gregg Toland's B&W photography stands the test of time. There is know way that this masterpiece is recieving less than five stars. There shouldn't even be a rating system for this.
Rating:
Summary: Believe the hype!
Review: I highly recommend this DVD edition of "the greatest movie ever." It has 2 great commentaries, one by director Peter Bogdonavich & the other by film critic Roger Ebert. Also the DVD has the AMAZING 2 hour documantary, "The Battle Over Citizen Kane." I basically spent an entire day watching citizen Kane: the movie twice (w/ and w/out Ebert's commentary) then the doc. I think what makes this film the "greatest movie" is not only the film itself, but the history around it's release and the subject matter of the titular character and how the movie portrayed not only the real life media-mogul Kane was based on, William Randolph Hearst, but also the filmaker and star, Orson Welles. The film was nominated for 9 Oscars but only won the best orig. screenplay. The short version of the story is: Hearst was born a rich boy and became a SUPER rich boy w/ his newspaper empire in the early 1900s. Welles came to Hollywood from NYC after his famed WAR OF THE WORLDS radio broadcast in 1940. Welles was touted as a "Genius" by some papers and got "the best studio deal in the history of Hollywood." Him getting all this attention and creative control and not having made 1 film pissed off a lot of people. After Welles tried to get his 1st 2 films made and they fell through he started making CITIZEN KANE based on the life of Hearst. It was leaked Welles was making the film and Hearst used his many papers to destroy the credability of Welles during the filming. His papers made up stories Welles was a Communist. This and Welles' own egomania (he believed the 'genius' title) & bad temper drove his reputation into the ground. CITIZEN KANE opened to limited release due to Hearst. After Heasrt died in 1950 the film started showing up on critics "10 best films" lists, eventually becoming the legend it is today. Welles never again got the kind of creative control or funding he got on KANE, his first and greatest film.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE.
Review: This is the movie of a life! It's the masterpiece of Orson Wells in an awesome double DVD edition. Great documentaries, great commentaries. Too bad, Orson is not of this world anymore. I would have loved to hear his own commentary. Orson Wells was a genius, a prodigy and film this incredible movie practicing what we could call for this time, avantgarde angles, lighting. editing.... If you are interested in filmmaking and golden age of the American Cinema, pick this! UN CHEF D'OEUVRE and in my opinion the best movie ever made.
Rating: 
Summary: Sh!+izen Kane
Review: Long, boring, pointless, ridiculous. Orson Welles : He wrote, produced, directed, created, and starred in Citizen Kane. ......Aaaaaaaand?....... Big deal. Oh, so he was 25 at the time? Big deal. The movie is overrated beyond anything you can imagine. #1 film of all time? Shyeah right. There's literally HUNDREDS of better films out there. Films with more substance, more meaning, and more honor. Films like Taxi Driver, A Clockwork Orange, Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest are ALL better than this heap of 5h!+. Try those films if you want an amazing cinematic experience. I don't care about his stupid @55 sled.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible film
Review: AFI recently rated its top 100 movies of all time. The list has some occasional questionable rankings, but nonetheless, gives credit where credit is due. Citizen Kane was ranked #1 on that list. Is it the best movie ever? In my opinion, not hardly. But it is a marvelous work of film and is certainly worth taking the time to watch. The story is of the life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst. At a young age, Charlie Kane rises from poverty and takes control of a virtually unknown newspaper chain. In an attempt to become a citizen of the people, he strives to popularize himself with the public and provide more and better information than his lofty competitor. But in the end, Charlie Kane dies in his extravagant statue-laden palace of Xanadu, alone and unhappy. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this movie is that it avoids the traditional chronological timeline that many movies follow. Instead, it follows through a series of flashbacks among Kane's closest friends and acquaintances as they divulge their information and experiences of Kane to a reporter seeking to gain insight about the recently deceased and highly influential man. The timeline is frequently disrupted, a style of movie making that has become more and more popular in recent years, and the movie throws the viewer into a number of important periods of Kane's life as being told by the various people interviewed by the reporter. The reporter that seeks to learn more about Kane learns that his dying words were "Rosebud", but despite his frequent inquiries, he is unable to ascertain who exactly Rosebud is. Ultimately, the reporter never learns the true nature of Rosebud, but the viewer learns of the secret in the film's final scene as Kane's childhood sled is seen smoldering in a furnace, the word Rosebud painted on it. The question to the viewer then becomes: What is it about Rosebud that was so important to Kane in the end? It is, in my opinion, his nostalgia and longing for the days of innocence of his childhood. As a child, with no cares or worries in the world, Rosebud ultimately symbolized the happiness he felt at that period in his life, despite his impoverished state of living. As a dying man, he was unhappy, alone, and living in a state of perpetual despair, even with all of his luxuries and incredible wealth. And although the reporter never learns of the nature of Rosebud, he does in fact obtain his true goal of learning about the incredible life that was led by Charles Foster Kane. The technical perfection and excellence that is associated with this movie is indeed profound. Camera angles, lighting, and other marvels of movie-making which I am not overly familiar with are still readily apparent to the amateur viewer. Focusing on the technical aspects of the film, one can surely appreciate the attention to detail that Welles put into making this extraordinary masterpiece and appreciate the aesthetic qualities that it exudes. This movie was indeed way ahead of its time and is still thoroughly loved and marveled at by movie lovers to this very day. Despite its criticims from the common, shallow, popcorn munching, "more explosions and FX, please" movie watcher, this movie is an incredible work of art and worth seeing by anyone that appreciates superb film-making.
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