Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary, unique art
Review: The DVD is not as impressive as it should be--in fact, a VHS version includes a great documentary on the making of the film with interviews and screen tests, and for some reason this is left out of the DVD. However, any chance to experience this film should be taken. It is a journey of shifting moods, often very abrupt, a psychological odyssey in which one man (Voight) attempts to escape himself and his past (which apparently includes sexual abuse aimed at him, and that he aimed at others). Joe Buck (Voight) goes to the big city for a series of adventures, some hilarious, some disturbing and dangerous, some just plain weird. Homoerotic anxiety and aggression are never far from the surface, and often burst out. When Joe meets Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, he finds his perfect foil, and a teacher who can show him the code of the streets--the person whose words and life provide the brutal honesty, but also true friendship love, Joe has always needed. The more Joe learns from Enrico, the poorer he becomes (materially, that is), living the poverty that the film's (and society's) billboard and neon images, and ridiculous advertising jingles, mock. But Joe's fortunes take a turn for the better, at least enough for the two to realize a version of their dreams...it is a film of extraordinary performances, the chemistry between Voight and Hoffman a marvel that we seldom witness anymore. If the director Schlesinger's images and pacing have not completely survived the transition from the late 60's, the actors more than compensate, ensuring this film its status as an influential, one of a kind feat of storytelling and characterization, and an angry but loving sociopolitical statement.
Rating: 
Summary: CHEERS!
Review: Grandma pampered and Stud-charged, Joe Buck gives up the dish-washing industry to settle personal scores in NY. "They's all tutti-fruities, and the women are begging for it." Enroute from TX, he fails to impress the Nun's on the bus - hell even the little girls laugh at him - but he remains undetoured. Landing on his snakeskin boots in NY, he "spins around" only to meet sick con-man Ratso Rizzo. Despite the Rat's petty thievery, they become soulmates in search of nothingness. And nothingness is what they find. Every move is a trap, and every counter-move is check-mate. As the sickness grows, The Midnight Cowboy seeks unlikely remedy in the adolescent curious community. That too fails. Exhausted and desperate, they have gaudy dreams of personal success in the sunbelt....
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat dated, but still Flawless!!
Review: This movie made me a purist when it comes to watching films. "R" rated films should never be watched on regular TV. Edits ruin the flow & plot and even make a great film "like this one", bad. I watched this movie unedited 10 years ago for the first time and I was impressed. Though many of the images look dated (i.e. the Andy Warhol party.), it's the performances of Voight and Hoffman that won my admiration. John Slessinger's finest film!!Trivia -- Midnight Cowboy was the first and only "X" rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It would be re-released with an "R" rating.
Rating:
Summary: A timeless story of love and friendship
Review: Wow, how the times change... it's hard to believe "Midnight Cowboy" was rated X in 1969 for its then-shocking content. If it were released today it would rate an R or a PG-13; but this is neither here nor there. What matters is that John Schlesinger's haunting film has stood the test of time as one of the better movies ever made. We already knew Dustin Hoffman from "The Graduate", but in "Cowboy", Schlesinger introduced us to Jon Voight as Joe Buck, a ne'er-do-well from a small Texas burg who says "I ain't good for nothin' but lovin'." So he's off to New York, to latch onto (and leech off) a rich divorcee. Reality bites quick; he's greener than Texas pasture and his come-on lines are older than the hills. He's easy prey for a [shyster]like Ratso Rizzo, one of Hoffman's best interpretations, who lives from hand to mouth in an abandoned building. Improbably, the two bond together as Buck tries to help Rizzo defeat the TB that is slowly but surely eating him up. The day-glo psychedelic frenzy of the all-night Village party scene contrasts starkly with the lifeless grays and browns of their marginal existence. When Buck finally commits the crime that yields enough for two bus fares to Florida to get Rizzo into a healthier climate, we feel maybe these two finally have a chance, and the subsequent denouement is heartbreaking. In a very real sense, "Midnight Cowboy" could be called a love story, as two deadbeats meet, connect with, and finally come to bond with, each other. Bookended by Nilsson's bittersweet rendition of "Everybody's Talkin'", "Cowboy" won a well deserved academy award for best picture and won Schlesinger another one for best director. It's not a big movie, but it yields some very big rewards to its viewers.
Rating:
Summary: After Midnight
Review: 1969's Midnight Cowboy helped usher in a new era in filmmaking. The industry was no longer saddled with the studio's moral standard codes that did not allow nudity, cursing or violence and directors set out to depict life in graphic detail. British director John Schlesinger's first American film adapted the novel of James Leo Herlihy and follows the paths of two lowlifes living in New York City. Jon Voight appears in his star-making role of Joe Buck, a dreamer who comes to New York from Texas to live what he thinks will be the easy life as a gigolo. He quickly finds out hustling isn't as easy as he'd thought it would be when he actually ends up paying for the first trick he turns. He then runs into Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, a sickly, gimpy con man who swindles money out of Joe. Ratso is played by Dustin Hoffman who fulfilled the promise he showed in The Graduate with a gritty, gutsy performance. Ratso takes pity on Joe afterwards and invites him to stay in his apartment, which is actually in a condemned building. They try to eke out a living and Joe actually gets his first legitimate customer who takes him to a weird, psychedelic party. This scene is dated with its counterculture imagery, but it doesn't detract from the power of the film. Ratso's illness is too far gone for him to survive the New York winter, so Joe in one act of selflessness turns a homosexual trick to get money for them to take a bus to Florida. The film is filled with what was at the time shocking sexual commentary and scenes that today are commonplace in films and even appear on television. The film received an X rating and became the only X-rated film to win the Best Picture Oscar. Mr. Schlesinger won for Best Director and Waldo Salt won for Best Adapted Screenplay. Mr. Voight & Mr. Hoffman were both nominated for Best Actor, but probably cancelled each other out and paved the way for John Wayne to win his only Oscar. Midnight Cowboy is no longer shocking by today's standards, but it is still a powerful and moving film and captures what the feeling of the New York underworld must have been like in the late sixties.
Rating:
Summary: A must see!
Review: All day I reflected on this movie it totally blew my mind. Thoughout the film I keep wondering what was going to happen next. The unfolding of joe buck character was perfect by using flash backs. Dustin Hoffman is extremely talented. Out of all his movies this has been my favorite. I can't believe that I haven't watched this movie before. I watch a lot of older and newer movies just because I have a love of film but nothing Hollywood is producing today is in the same ball park as midnight cowboy. My biggest question is what is going on in the minds of the great actors and directors.
Rating:
Summary: The Downfall of the American Dream
Review: ...that's what I think this movie is really about. Yeah, freindship is there too, and dreams but what this movie is really about is losing the meaning of the American Dream, I'll get to that later.
"You know what you could do with them dishes. And if you aint man enough to do it for yourself, I'd be happy to ablidge... I really would."
That's JOE BUCK( JON VOIGHT )from Texas, headed for New York City, and he has some male prostitution thoughts in mind before long. The goofy Texan now depends on this unusual management to survive in the city. He doesn't seem to care if it is legally and morally wrong as long as he fits in.
"I'M WALKIN' HERE, I'M WALKIN' HERE!"
That's RICO( RATSO )RIZO( DUSTIN HOFFMAN ). He has been the longsuffering-greasy-conman-homeless-victim of New York City. Before long, the two unlikes( or are they? )meet and Rico cons Joe. But after that, they meet again, Rizo shows Joe his home and they begin "management". Joe scores big a few times with some "gorgous chicks", he says that they are, "beggin' for it, payin' for it too." Other things don't go so well for the two losers, and Rizo wants to go to Florida.
I won't give away any major elements because the ending is actually very suprising, especially for a regular viewer that is used to mainstream endings. But I will discuss the themes, so anyone reading that hasn't seen the film could have a good idea of what to look for when studying the film, so they don't "get the wrong impression".
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS: The differences between the characters are actually what make them so similar. Joe is tall and energetic, which is perhaps how Rizo would like to be. Rizo is short, sick, and weak, which is perhaps how Joe feels like inside during many different times at New York. Now here is a retaliation to all those reviewers that put this film down for having supposedly uneccesary flashback/dream type scenes. Well the flashback scenes are mostly self explanitory, as one reviewer mentioned Joe's flashbacks are needed to show exactly why he left Texas. The flashback/dream/fantasy sequences are appropriate to indicate the connection of the two leads. Joe has flashbacks of being in a sunnier home, but as his dream scenes appear, we see that "misfortune" lead him out of Texas. In Joe's dream, after we see all of the trying times, Rizo is standing there in the crowd with an evil grin on his face. This symbolizes that he will give Joe the guided tour of hell( New York City ). But its not all doom and gloom. Rizo has fantasies of finding his way to heaven( Florida ), he wants to be popular, warm, and most of all, to be called Rico. What will become of Joe and Rizo's quest for sunshine? I cannot recommend this movie enough.
MEMORABLE SCENES: I loved the scene where Joe was flirting with that passerby chick and he watches her go into her home. For the briefest of moments, he has a vison that he goes inside with her.
Who could forget that taxi scene where Rizo screams at the driver because he was walking there. This scene shows what outcasts the two main characters are, in a subtle way.
The scene where Joe scores with the "gorgous chick". While they are making love, Joe repeatedly rolls over the TV remote switching channels at random. This orchastrates how our culture has changed from Joe's youth( cowboy westerns )into overloads of images on TV that are violent and mind-wasting( not that I don't love TV and movies ).
THE AMERICAN DREAM: What I think this movie is mostly trying to show us is what the American dream has formed into. When we were once more innocent and TV was easier on younger kids eyes, westerns instead of pornos so to speak. A time when times for children were more simple and peaceful. I'm not trying to say I like westerns and all of that other southern crud, just that it is better than the lives of those poor kids eating crushed coconuts off of the streets of New York. Joe must have realized once he got to the big city that he had it much better off than he thought he did originally, while still in Texas. The American dream has dissapeared into nothingness, into prostitution, drugs, murder, crime, and TV expliotation. I hope that I made my opinion of the message of the movie as clear as possible for those who didn't understand the film. It is an American classic.
It is great when the music fits perfectly with the movie, and in this case it does, in the only country song I liked: Everybody's Talking At Me
Can't hear a word the're saying
Only the echoes of my mind
I won't let you leave my love behind
People stopping staring
I can't see their faces
Only the shadows of their eyes
I'm going where the sun keeps shining
through the pouring rain
I'm going where the weather suits my clothes
backing off of the northeast wind
Sailing on summer breeze
Skipping over the ocean, like a stone.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe not a Perfect movie....
Review: IMHO ...But if tears don't fill your eyes when Ratso says to Joe in a hushed, almost embarassed tone, "I don't think I can walk anymore"...then I feel sorry for you.
Rating: 
Summary: A trangic tale of friendship
Review: This film was Best Picture at the Oscars. Joe is from Texas and travels to New York to be a hustler, but runs out of money when business is not good. He is befriended by a con man, and they soon become good friends. They have to help each other get by, and survive. This film isn't all straightforward. We get a lot of flashbacks, and juxtaposition of images. The film has a good story, but a lot is not explained. I feel this film is overrated. The acting is perfect, as is direction, but I just feel the story could've been improved. Anyone who likes stories of friendship will like this. But if sexual topics bother you, stay away, as it is one of the main topics in this film. 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Story
Review: The first time I watched this movie I had to watch it in parts because I was to busy and alot of its effect was lost on me because of this. However recently, I decide to give this movie another chance by watching it right through and let me tell you how glad I was that I made this decision. You are now reading the review for my Favourite Movie ever. This movie deals with often controversial subject material and in my view shows side of the most powerful country in the world taht many Americans choose not to discuss.
Both the actors give brave honest performances but Dustin Hoffman's performance esclipes Voights in every way, Voights performance was amazing in it's own way but I truly feel that Hoffman shines in one of the greatest performances in motion picture history. His timing is spot on and his walk and accent truly make you believe that Dustin is Ratso in real life.
The editing is another stand out achievement and full credit must go to the director and screenwriter for attemping such risking subject matter and pulling it off with a brilliant motion picture that doesn't glorify waht we need to know. This movie felt like nothing I'd ever seen before and "that" ending left me in deep thought and had me wondering "what if."
I appaule the Academy Awards for looking past the X rating and awarding this Best Picture although I believe Hoffman deserved A gold statue as well.
Anyway is you want my opinion, BUY THIS MOVIE NOW, It's one of the best ever and many critics believe that as it often reachs top 50 polls everywhere. You will not be disappointed if you command your attention and don't look for quick thrills because this one takes time to kick in.
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