Rating: 
Summary: Innovation and Technical Brilliance
Review: Kane is not so much a film about a person, as it is an expression of Wells and Mankiewicz commentary about what ails America: that the pursuit of wealth is a shallow and loveless one, ending in a meaningless death. Greed is the coldest of sins. Revenge takes passion. Greed is simply the collection of money, by whatever means possible, even if that results in the destruction of everyone and everything else. Only the money matters. Kane is a story of one man's pursuit of high ideals which eventually becomes an epiphony of greed. It stands as a monument to all those who before or after, wasted their entire lives in building up great wealthy empires: the Rockefellers, DuPonts, Carnegies, Mellons, Gettys, and on and on. Orson Wells targeted newspaper tycoon William Randolf Hearst as his symbol of what is wrong with America. Hearst was extremely wealthy and powerful at a time when most Americans were recovering from the depression. He went after Hearst when he heard about the castle at San Simeon Hearst was building for his wife, actress Marion Davies (she was actually his mistress). His excesses sickened Wells who then, along with Herman Mankiewicz wrote a scathing screenplay that attacked wealth's excesses on all sides. But it was Greg Toland who made Kane the technical masterpiece it is today. It was Toland who wanted to show ceilings, so camera angles were changed and special "scrims" were painted to resemble ceilings. Toland also loved deep focus and special sets were constructed to allow Toland to dolly throughout the sound stage while hands scrambled to pull or push breakaway sets around the moving camera. It is these innovations which still make Citizen Kane a facinating film to watch, despite being made over 60 years ago. Bernard Hermann's score is a masterpiece which punctuates the stark visuals with great musical emphasis. Despite being nominated for many oscars, it never had a chance. Panned in Hearst papers, studio heads told its AA members to vote against it. Wells never recovered from the insult.
Rating:
Summary: how does the greatest movie ever get 4 out of 5 stars????
Review: people are stupid-----------how could anyone rate this movie anything other than 5 stars. this movie is brillant; it is by far the most infleuntal film of all timewatch this one-- everone should watch this film many times
Rating: 
Summary: What a blunder!!
Review: It sounds so great. Just what I've been waiting for, Citizen Kane on DVD with lots of stuff as a bonus. THEN YOU READ "Aspect ratio, full screen standard". This is not the original theatrical frame, you know, with the black bands above and below. The left and right sides have been cut off so the TV screen is filled. What a stupid decision to present what is still considered the greatest american film ever made in this way. I'll wait till the real thing comes out on DVD to buy. RG
Rating:
Summary: This is like reviewing Shakepreare . . . What can I say?
Review: Reviewing this movie is like reviewing Shakespeare . . . what can I really say about it? Orson Welles, a genius of the craft, portrays Kane in all of his emotions and all of his incarnations over the years. I can just listen to his voice all day, even reading the ingredients to ice cream. Watch for scenes where he limps, since he broke his leg during the filming of the movie. And the scene where he goes postal in the room? That was filmed with a broken leg. The cinematography is eye candy. Will all the advantages we have today, why aren't we resurrecting the angles and framing that Welles or Fritz Lang used? All we are getting is rehash of the Matrix for the umpteenth time. Can we return to beauty? Or do we get glitzed by computer generated effects at the expense of art and story? The story is a jigsaw puzzle, with each interviewee providing a piece. But putting the perspectives together we get an external view of a man. But externally, we just see what a man does. We read his journals, and see what he thinks and feels. But what is a man really???
Rating:
Summary: Is This the Best Film Ever? Watch it and Agree!
Review: "Citizen Kane" is often called the best film ever released, and today's audiences may find little in it to justify the legend that surrounds it. That is not surprising given the generations that have grown up with "Star Wars" and "The Godfather" - certain contenders for the top spot. To be sure, many films since "Kane" have made use of its novel editing and camera angles, and yes, many more flicks have aspired to its phenomenal staging and screenplay nuances. But never before or since its release has any film captured the ESSENCE of filmmaking as "Citizen Kane" did, does and continues to do even 70 years after its release. From its opening frame, to its flashbacks and Xanadu sequences, "Citizen Kane" created unforgettable images that remain with the film viewer for decades, if the viewer opens themselves up to Orson Welles' majestic point of view. The tales of lost innocence, coupled with the lust for raw power and the tremendous symbolism of its sets, lightling, cinematography and editing are forever imbedded in cinema's short history. I cannot say that another film won't one day capture all of these elements in such sure-fire ways. But, as a film lover, I cfan say not a single film since its release has truly come close. Is "Citizen Kane" the best film of all time? Forget the critics, forget the hype and judge it for yourself. If you remain open to what it has to say and bring with yuo a childlike innocence rather than a tired point of view, you will agree that "Kane" redefined cinema in its day, and continues to surprise today. A brilliant film, an epic on the order of "Ben Hur" with the intimacy of "All About Eve" and the passion of "Godfather," "Kane" will live forever!
Rating:
Summary: Because it wasnt filmed in "widescreen", you dope.
Review: Note to Alexandria--The film is not shown in widescreen because it wasnt made or filmed that way--very few films before the 50s were filmed with a wide aspect ratio. So if you wanted widescreen for Kane, youd get a black border around the whole thing, not just the two bars on top and bottom. And quit shouting... Kane' a great movie, BTW, but certainly not a favorite of mine. Just a nice historic milestone.
Rating: 
Summary: A Necessity to All Movie Fans
Review: Widely, and perhaps unfairly, recognized as the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane is undoubtably a landmark for its technological innovations. Although both the story and the special effects do not come close to matching the best that is avialble today, in its time, Citizen Kane was a giant. A lot of this has to do with the unique storytelling method of using flashbacks. Virtually the whole story comes across as a reporter, in a futile attempt to discover the identity of the mysterious "rosebud," makes a series of interviews. One could argue that the non-chronological structure that results is a predicessor to movies such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Memento." Another dramatic inovation in "Citizen Kane" is the dramatic use of lighting. Legend has it that Orson Welles simply was unaware of the conventions at the time and simply ran around setting things up the way he felt they would be most effective with a team of bewildered technicians following him and correcting his minor flaws. The end result of the effort is a film that looks totally different than anything that came before it both visually and scriptwise. Although both of these advancements represent the kind of itellectual leap indicitive of genius, it is ridiculous to assume on these grounds that "Citizen Kane" is actually a better movie than something like "Star Wars" or "The Godfather." Although neither of those movies might have been made without it, they have definately carried the baton to much greater heights than even "Citizen Kane" could have concieved. Essentially "Citizen Kane" is a movie that is past its time. The same thing will happen to "Star Wars" and "The Godfather" and every other movie ever made. For those of you who appreciate involved, creative filmmaking, "Citizen Kane" will always be a masterpice with abundant characteristics to support its title as the greatest film ever made. But if you are just a recreational movie fan, be wary of that claim because it is far more likely you will be much more emotionally engaged in a more modern film.
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Summary: King Kane.
Review: The true Gorilla of cinema; the monument by which all other movies, ever, are measured. And yet this is a latter day judgment, starting circa the 60's: *Kane* is perhaps not as wholly innovative as its reputation suggests. Critics (and audiences) of the time certainly didn't think so, everyone having emerged from decades of cinema Expressionism of both the German and Warner Bros. varieties. But their opinions were too dismissive: there IS a lot that's new here, stuff that took other directors (the ones raised on *Kane*, that is) 20 or 30 years to catch up to and emulate, let alone top. Most impressive is the rather menacing ambience of the picture, and not because of what it reveals about William Randolph Hearst (er, "Charles Foster Kane"). Rather, it's a clinic on how to create an Expressionist nightmare on a negligible budget. If only Michael Bay, to use a current example, with his $150 million budget per movie, could make movies that look this impressive! But what DOES *Citizen Kane* reveal about its newspaper-tycoon hero? The answer lies in the brilliant montage of fake and real news footage at the beginning of the picture, with Kane inserted physically into the Events of His Time (astounding, this. Robert Zemeckis tried to top it in *Gump* and failed). The sequence tells you all you really need to know about Kane. The rest is Expressionist mood and Freudian flourishes -- but hey, they're enjoyable, too. One of the great American movies.
Rating:
Summary: What is the point of a Unification Theory?
Review: That is the point? None, the world might as well end as the release of this DVD will be the end all of everything. Not only is it significant in the relm of cinema, ranking highly on many lists, is deserves all the acclaim. I will gladly purchase this DVD if all it had was a miserable transfer from a fifty year old print. The fact that there are many wonderful extras makes this the only disc you have to buy this year. If you are a film fanatic or a Simpson's fan, you must own this DVD!
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Summary: In a Nutshell
Review: After seeing this movie for the first time, someone challenged me to summarize it in one sentence. Here it is. "Citizen Kane lived his life in a futile attempt to secure the love of others; futile not because he was unloved, but because he could not believe that he was loved." Can a movie change your life? This one changed mine.
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