Rating: 
Summary: how does criterion compare with fox-lorber?
Review: I give 'The 400 Blows' three stars because of the sheer brilliance of Truffaut.But the Criterion DVD issue is a worry, particularly in view of that company's usual high standards. The film's ratio seems placed somewhere between letterbox and anamorphic -- the image seems somehow distorted in either setting -- and the crisp black-and-white of the original cinema version has been replaced by a dull grey tone throughout. How does the Fox-Lorber DVD version compare? It would be good to know if Fox-Lorber has mastered the art of remastering!
Rating: 
Summary: Truffaut rules!
Review: You have to love Francois Truffaut for many reasons. Me as part of a generation that can rediscover amazing classics such as this one, and learn about the man that Truffaut was would understand why. Truffaut was a fervid fim fan. He literatelaly breathed his art. You could see this if you learn about him and discover his passion. But even if you don't know anything about Truffaut, by watching this movie or any of his other classics, you can see an uncanny simplicity and understanding for his characters. He brought freshness to a wading art of the time and was an inspiration for directors to come. In the 400 Blows, he examines his own childhood through the eyes of Antoine Doinel, his alter ego and draws him with such exactitude of how it is to be a child almost unmatched by anyone else. Truffaut was a genius, not just for this by for many other classics like Jules and Jim, Day for Night, The Soft Skin, The Bride Wore Black, Stolen Kisses and more. The 400 Blows is one of my favorite movies and Truffaut one of the best directors that ever lived. Anyone who is into movies should definetely check this one out.
Rating:
Summary: LIGHT HEARTED FILM WITH A GREAT STORY
Review: THE 400 BLOWS is thought provoking as well as visually incredable. This tale of a young boy growing up in Paris shows how many things can change your life. I would recomend this to any one who likes rto laught and think at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: A great and captivating film. A Masterpiece!
Review: This is the first film in the series of Antoine Doinel films. Here Antoine is 13. Truffaut is simplistic with this film yet it is one of the best films I have ever seen. I say it is a must to see. I wish I could find the next ones in the series because I am very interested in seeing them. This is a great film.
Rating:
Summary: The 400 blows is a striking view into a boy's freedom.
Review: Truffaut truly made a masterpiece. The story of a young boy and the banal imprisonment of his life, it chronicles his journey out of imprisonment and unhappiness and into a life of freedom. The scenes are captivating, and the movie makes one think back on childhood and on the life one leads now. It's a movie that breaks out of the film and into life itself, with a veracity that is wonderful to see.
Rating: 
Summary: A must see for film buffs!
Review: This film is a wonderful autobiographical look at one of the leaders in the French New Wave, Francois Truffaut. It is a true story about one young lad's delinquency in his attempt to find freedom from authority. The famous freeze-frame ending marks the kid's arrival at freedom and not knowing what to do with it. Great story, great acting, and of course, great directing. END
Rating:
Summary: One of the Most Powerful Films of All Time
Review: Often one wonders whether film is nessicary, whether one can tell a better and more absorbing story through writing.
400 Blows is the film for me that shows just how absorbant a film can be, just how a film can take the viewer inside a world and feel more real than a book.
This film is still as fresh and revolutionary and sad as it was when it premiered at Cannes in the 60's and changed the world of cinema forever.
Rating:
Summary: 5 trillion stars
Review: Parents didn't love their sons in 1959, and many don't now. The hurt felt by the boys and the tragic effects on their lives haven't changed a bit. Amazing film.
Rating:
Summary: Visually Stunning
Review: This is Truffauts debut film about a boy who cant seem to get out (he cant get away with his mischiefs)and stay out of trouble.Some people said the Antoine Doinel character is rebellious because of his parent's abuse (which is partly true) but we should not forget that there are a few scenes when his parents tried hard to understand and be nice to him (yes even the mother,not only to prevent him to spill the beans about her infidelity,she just tried).The movie is not slow at all with a lot of funny and tender scenes.Its somewhat reminded me a bit about my childhood.The story started to get a little sad near the end,but it didnt made it boring.This movie also boasts great cinematography,ive never seen France so beautifully photographed.Wait for that very famous freeze frame,zoom in the end.
Rating:
Summary: An historically important film
Review: In my opinion, this film must be viewed in the context of its importance in cinematic history to be fully appreciated. If not, one tends to be puzzled about the rave reviews it has received over the years.
The thirteen-year-old protagonist, Antoine Doniel, is rebelling against his bleak home life. As he discovers later in the film, his mother considered having an abortion, rather than giving birth to him. The man he thought was his genetic father just married his mother to give him a name (what a concept). Antoine's father doen't like him much, and ultimately sends Antoine word through is mother that he is through with Antoine.
Antoine rebels by being disruptive at school, even stooping so low as to plagiarize the conclusion of a novel by Balzac. One wonders if Antoine is really a French child, since Balzac is regarded almost as highly as Napoleon in France (and Napoleon is just below God), and any teacher would have recognized the theft.
Antoine ultimately makes the mistake of stealing a typewriter. He and a friend try to get an adult to pawn the machine and split the proceeds, but things go awry. When Antoine is unable to get money for the typewriter, he tries to return it and is caught.
Antoine's mother takes him to the police station, where she is questioned by the Chief of Police. The Chief aska accusingly if Antoine's mother and father both work outside the home, apparently a heinous crime in France.
Both my parents worked in 1959, when the film was made, and I didn't turn out so badly. Of course, I was living in Spokane, Washington, a remarkable backwater, rather than Paris with all its attractions, so you have to make allowances.
SPOILER!
Anyway, Antoine is placed in a cell. Later, Antoine and his mother face a judge, who sentences him to a prison for juvenile delinquents. He escapes, and here the film ends.
The ending makes no sense unless you know that Truffaut made four additional films about the Antoine character over the years, something the original film viewers could not have understood.
Like "Citizen Kane", another landmark film, the innovations are difficult to separate from the story. It's like a woman I know who told me of a student in her college literature class who complained, "I don't know why everyone says Shakespeare is so great. He only wrote in cliches."
For Americans, it's interesting to see the difference between our two cultures. Early in the film, the eighth-grade (or French equivalent) teacher writes a paragraph on the board about a rabbit. In it, the rabbit tells how his mistress loves and cuddles him. The French boys (its an all male class) know what a mistress really is in the human world, and react accordingly. I doubt if any student in a U.S. eighth-grade classroom could have defined the word "mistress" in 1959.
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