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Young Frankenstein (Special Edition)

Young Frankenstein (Special Edition)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.24
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of Brooks' best
Review: Starring one of my favorite actors, Gene Wilder, this is without a doubt one of Mel Brooks' better films. When the not so proud heir of Victor Frankenstein is summoned to the family castle, he creats a second, slightly funnier, Frankenstein monster. Filmed in black and white with wonderful performances by an all-star cast, it's great movie for all, whether your a Mel Brooks fan or not.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Comedies of All Time
Review: Cloris Leachman and Marty Feldman are excellent in the film complimenting the comedic genious of Gene Wilder.

Pure laughs all the way...and oh yes...Terri Garr is also very funny in the picture.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny Movie.
Review: Very funny and original gags. Great Cast to watch in action. Best Director Mel Brooks for making this picture.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Funniest Movie Of All Time?!!!!!!
Review: I bought this movie after reading reveiws on ebay and also reading reveiws elsewhere claming it was one of the funniest movies ever. I was very disapointed with this movie, Laughs where very scarce. Itmay be funny to Frankenstein fans, but being born it the 80's, I have never seen a classic frankenstein movie. I have seen Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein, and Carry on Screaming, both of wich I found to be far more humerous than this movie. If you are a huge Frankenstein Fan or a Mell Brooks Fan you may like this movie, but anyone else I would recomend that you try before you buy (rent).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: OK MOVIE
Review: I gave it three stars for the plot because it was a good movie. But I didn't find it very amusing. I laughed a few times, but it just wasn't my idea of a Mel Brooks comedy. Especially since I read the reviews here before I purchased it and really expected something along the quality of 'Blazing Saddles' or 'History of The World'.

But, in defense of the movie, I believe that had I been a fan of horror movies, I would have loved it. I'm into comedies and westerns - no scary movies in my collection.

I can only imaging how funny I would have found it had I been a Frankenstein fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CrAkiN uP
Review: EvEn ThOuGh ThiS mOvIe iS oLd...iT's HiLaRiOuS!!! i DoN't ThInK tHaT tHeRe WaS mOrE tHaN oNe sLoW mOmENt...mY fRiEnD aNd i WaTcHeD tHiS anD aLmOsT pEeD oUr PaNtS! iT's GrEaT..i WouLd DeFiNaTeLy ReCoMmEnD iT!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply Brilliant
Review: There's not much that I can add to the already posted comments on this movie.

Gene Wilder plays Frederic Frankenstein (he pronounces it "Fronkensteen") who is the beneficiary of his late uncle's work on reanimating the dead after he ventures to Transylvania.

Included in the stellar cast are the bug-eyed Marty Feldman as Igor (he pronounces it "Eye-gor"), Madeline Kahn as Wilder's prudish fiancee, Terri Garr as his somewhat dim-witted lab assistant, Kenneth Mars as the jack-booted local constable, and last--but certainly not least--Peter Boyle as the monster.

One hilarious scene follows another in this movie as Wildman tries to succeed where is ancestors have failed. It was pretty funny when, during a town meeting, one of the citizens mentions that they have gone through this sort of thing nine times before. Talk about shell shock!

Other great scenes include "Abby Normal," Elizabeth's 'violation' (her "woof" is a hoot), the vaudeville dancing, and the dungeon dialogue between Wilder and Boyle.

One of the funniest comedies ever to grace the silver screen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What is there to say?
Review: After watching Young Frankenstein, one might be inclined to not stop laughing (because you started at the beginning). The script is genius, the actors all do their parts exactly as they should and comedy ensues.

The humor is dry at times, at others very wet. Sometimes I wonder if British people secretly made this film because it has a very Brit-humor feel to it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the funniest movies ever made!
Review: "The scariest comedy of all time!" boasted the poster taglines for "Young Frankenstein." When a tagline pokes fun at itself, you know you're in for a real treat. Such is the case with Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein," one of the greatest of all comedies and one of the only modern day films able to convince me from the start that I really was watching an old 30s film, and not a film made in 1974.

Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder are both fans of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and so when they collaborated to write the screenplay for "Young Frankenstein," I can only assume that it was a fun experience for both of them. They reworked the story of Frankenstein and his monster into a smart, occasionally hilarious, always enjoyable, classic comedy that helped put Brooks on the map after "The Producers" ("Blazing Saddles" also helped quite a bit).

Some fans of "Frankenstein" could consider the film almost sacrilegious, I suppose, but that wouldn't be fair. It's not a poke at any flaws in "Frankenstein" -- it's a well-thought-out continuation of Baron von Frankenstein's legacy, with an added pinch of slapstick comedy thrown in for good measure.

Gene Wilder is Dr. Frederick Frankenstein ("Frahnk-un-steen," not "Frank-en-steyn"), grandson of the crazy old loon Baron von Frankenstein, who attempted to re-animate dead matter in his creepy mansion in Transylvania years ago. Frederick is a successful neurosurgeon, eager to put his past behind him. When a student asks him questions about his grandfather and research into re-animation, he is quick to change the subject.

Then he inherits his grandfather's castle in Transylvania and makes the long, weary journey there to acquire ownership. Greeted by Igor (pronounced "Eegor," not "Eyegor"), Frederick Frankenstein is soon haunted by his grandfather's interests. I guess the craving for re-animating dead tissue is just something that runs in one's blood!

He stumbles upon an old chamber underneath the crumbling mansion, home to an assortment of odd inventions and textbooks (including "How I Did It," by Baron von Frankenstein, which is a bit of an in-joke for readers of Mary Shelley's story -- they'll understand the joke, perhaps, more than most audiences).

After finding a dead body in a graveyard and accidentally inserting an "Abby Normal" brain into it from the help of Igor (Marty Feldman), Frederick Frankenstein creates a new Monster (Peter Boyle), who is taken into custody by the townspeople and then escapes, finding an old blind man (Gene Hackman) in a cabin somewhere. He then kidnaps Frederick's bride to take her as his own and Frederick realizes that he must put an end to the Monster before everything in his life falls apart.

There isn't much to say about a film like this. The comedy works, the style works, everything about it works. It's classic. Everything in it is classic Mel Brooks comedy.

I suppose the accounts of Brooks' and Wilder's off-screen fights during filming are pretty well known. In one instance, Brooks got so mad at Wilder that he threw an object at him. Later he called Wilder and said, "Who was that jerk that threw that thing at you today? He should be fired!"

It was because the two minds clashed together. Both being extreme fans of "Frankenstein," I suppose both men had their own unique opinions as to what, exactly, the film should be about, and what, exactly, should happen in it. But for whatever the reason, despite all their arguments the film has turned into a masterpiece.

Wilder's performance is extraordinary. After turning Leo Bloom ("The Producers") into a nervous, paranoid, timid man, Wilder does a 180 here and makes Frankenstein into a self-assured, mean, forthright character -- giving us the feeling that he's been hassled his entire lifetime by nosy reporters researching into his grandfather's case, and he's tired of it.

Filmed on-location in the original "Frankenstein" set, the film partly works because of its respect for the old horror films. The famous Universal horrors from the 1930s and 40s are spoofed in this film, and that is primarily is what truly makes it stand out from the other films in the genre. But Brooks and Wilder don't insult them. They compliment them and poke fun with them -- not at them.

Brooks tried this formula once again in 1995 with "Dracula: Dead and Loving it!", which starred Leslie Nielsen as Count Dracula, although the outcome was not as smart as "Young Frankenstein" and not as convincing. Brooks did a great thing by filming "Young Frankenstein" in grainy 30-style black and white, reminiscent of old films such as "Dracula" or "The Wolf Man" or "Frankenstein" itself (not coincidentally, Brooks makes more than a few references to other Universal horror films, too). Part of the greatness of this film is the manner in which it is filmed. I can't imagine "Young Frankenstein" in color. But then again, I can't really imagine "Spaceballs" in black and white...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mel Brooks' best movie
Review: This is one of the best comedies ever made. I watched it over and over for years, memorizing every joke when I was 12 years old. Everyone in my family did, which led to some very silly dinner conversations. ("You made the yummy sound." "No I didn't.")

Now it's out of DVD. Instead of just transferring it to DVD from the VHS tapes, the filmmakers made sure it looks good. And they added a lot of really impressive extras. The documentary features everyone except Mel Brooks. He's on the audio track. I learned that the story started with Gene Wilder, but Brooks was the guy with "the vision" --- filming it as if it was a REAL Universal horror movie. They even used some of the old Frankenstein props for the laboratory.

The outtakes are great. Marty Feldman was an underrated comedian. He steals every scene he's in. (Just watch Gene Wilder and Teri Garr scrunch up their lips to avoid laughing whenever he says a line.) The rest of the cast is very funny, including Cloris Leachman's deadpan delivery and Kenneth Mars twisting his fake arm around. There are even a few poignant moments that work surprisingly well, like the monster's speech about the gift of life.

The best thing about it is the way Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder combine acting silly and playing it straight --- the black and white photography, the sets, and even the pace are a perfect match for the old Universal (and Hammer) horror films. Like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, authenticity somehow makes the whole movie even funnier. I highly recommend this movie to anyone. If you've seen it, you'll want this special edition. If you haven't, you're in for a treat.


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