The Best Years of Our Lives

Rating:
Summary: "Best Years" = Best Film
Review: For those of us who've been fortunate enough to have never gone through a war, let alone one that destroyed as many lives as the Second World War, this film helps us understand what happened after the war. Coming back from being gone for so long, but also coming back as a different person. Each storyline is gripping, though the main one seems to be the problem Dana Andrews has as a guy who was a flashy glamour boy in the air, only to come home and find (at least until the end) that he can't get the type of job he's always wanted and winds up being a soda jerk again. This film also shows vividly what happens when a man comes home from war maimed and how he has to try to adjust back into a normal life, and handle the well-intentioned but often poorly executed sympathies of others. And it shows you how and why so many wartime rushed marriages were bound to fail. A little on the long side, but it doesn't seem like it when you're watching it. This is one of the best films I've ever seen. Period.

Rating:
Summary: a must see
Review: I bought this movie based on reviews - something I rarely do. I couldn't remember ever seeing it before and still don't. How this fantastic movie ever escaped me I don't know. A great cast in telling an outstanding story. Every Academy award won was well deserved and probably should have wone more. Excellant DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Heartfelt and understated story about WWII soldiers
Review: "Best Years of our Lives" was made in 1946, and is an excellent film about three returning veterans. One lost his hands during a naval battle, another had a distinguished war record but no job skills, the third, played by Fredric March, was thoroughly changed by the war, but immediately went back to his former life. The script did not soft-pedal anything. By respecting the traumas involved, it also brought out the honor, faithfulness, and dignity of the principal characters. It captured my heart and didn't let go until the credits started rolling.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most moving stories ever...
Review: ...unless you're devoid of empathy. If this movie doesn't affect your emotions, call a shrink. I saw it once on TV as an young adolescent in the 1950's, and it moved me even then. But I forgot the title. So for decades, I hoped that I would run across the film on TV and reconnect--even though by that time I only vaguely remembered it as a good story about a soldier with no hands. Then one Sunday morning in the early 1980's, I turned on HBO just as the title hit the screen. A few minutes into the film Harold Russell pulled his hand-hooks out of his pockets to sign a military form, and I screamed to my wife, "It's that movie!" I felt like I had won the lottery. The movie affected me just as much the second time as the first and all the other viewings since. One can just feel what it would be like to come home after being separated from friends and family for four or five years while the entire world had been at war.

Rating:
Summary: one of a kind
Review: this is a true masterpiece with one of the greatest casts every assembled on film. every actor is outstanding. it runs the gambit from laughter to tears. i have personally seen this movie over 30 times and never tire of it.. the music score is overwhelming. it was a terrible oversight that dana andrews did not receive an oscar for his performance. he was magnificent... if you have never seen this film. you need to see it now......

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and Honest
Review: Considering the impact that The Best Years of Our Lives retains today, I can only imagine the powerful impact the film must have had on audiences when it was released just after the war. It's a very honest look at the difficulties and adjustments facing both soldiers and their loved ones when they return home after experiencing the horrors of war and death. The movie looks at three soldiers dealing with different aspects of the re-adjustment. Fredric March must reconnect with his wife and job, and finds comfort with the bottle. Dana Andrews must find a job and get to know the girl he married quickly before going off to war, a girl that was more in love with his uniform than the man in it. Harold Russell must learn to adjust to civilian life and his fiancee without his arms, having lost them during the war. There are too many great scenes to recount. The performances are incredible. Myrna Loy is at her best as March's patient wife. Teresa Wright, one of the best and most reliable of the actresses of the Forties is excellent as Loy and March's daughter who falls in love with Andrews. Dana Andrews gives his greatest performance, and Harold Russell is unforgettable as the soldier with the biggest obstacle to overcome. William Wyler scores again with another mature, expertly acted, dramatically charged film that reminds us about the power of moviemaking.

Rating:
Summary: One of the six greatest WWII films of all time
Review: Okay, so you've seen "Saving Private Ryan," now it's time to see the film that should follow it. Light years ahead of such similiar films as "Coming Home," and "The Deerhunter," this is the film that took the acadamy award for best picture away from "It's A Wonderful Life," and would still do so today. An incredable cast gives the performances of their lives, fully depicing the feelings and problems faced by America's returning WWII veterans. Watch this, along with "Twelve O'Clock High," "The Longest Day," "Das Boot," "Saving Private Ryan," and "Schindler's List," and you've seen the best depictions of WWII that cinema has yet produced. If you have time throw in the BBC miniseries "Piece of Cake," if you can find it. And bring a some keenex.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, great DVD, but I want the real cast list!
Review: This is a powerful and beautifully made film that never fails to hold one's interest throughout the lengthy running time. The DVD is everything I hoped it would be with one exception: Like all the previous home-video versions I've seen, it has a cast list at the end that was not part of the original film. The original cast list did not "roll" like the one in the home-video version, and it did not misspell Fredric March's first name! I was hoping by the time the DVD came out whoever controlled the Goldwyn movies would have noticed the mistake and reinstated the original cast list, but no such luck. I guess the reason they re-did it was to remove the reference to "RKO Radio Pictures" (why, I don't know), but they could have at least shown a little more respect for 1946's "Best Actor" Oscar recipient by getting his name right!

Rating:
Summary: After 15 years I remeber each frame
Review: I watched this film around 15 years ago and I just purchased the DVD. It is impossible to forget such a nice-emotional and natural film even after 15 years. Maybe the best drama I have ever watched. Strictly adviced for classical collectors.

Rating:
Summary: This Film is in a Class by Itself
Review: Captures the mindset of post-WWII American to a tee. Unforgettable performances and honest, non-shlockey sentiment. "The Best Years of Our Lives" shows the best and the worst qualities in all of us.