Rating: 
Summary: This one of the best movies I have ever seen!
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen! I think this movie should get more credit because it has a good story,it's very funny,and is a great Christmas movie. If you love this movie as much as I did,then check out its sequel,My Summer Story. It's as good as the first.
Rating:
Summary: Get a grip..this movie is GREAT!!!
Review: The people that have rated this movie less than 5 stars apparently take themselves too seriously and/or live in an idealistic fantasy world. Face it people, Ralphie IS an everyday kid who swears and wants a gun and fantasizes about misadventures with bad guys and fights with his little brother. And THAT'S what makes this movie so doggone special!!!I love the whole thing. I think it's genious. I think that Peter Billingsley plays the part of Ralphie to perfection. He is believeable as the slightly nerdy, slightly average boy who enrolls in the Little Orphan Annie Secret Society decades before that would have been considered majorly "uncool". And when the family fights over who's gonna be Santa, rips into the Christmas presents in their jammies and then share wine while looking at the tattered wrapping paper...well, it takes me back to my OWN childhood, which I feel blessed was very special and endearing (yet far from perfect). However, I'm a student nurse and fairly well-adjusted, so I'd like to think that my parents did a dandy job. And when Ralphie's dad surprises him with the gun....that scene is priceless because COUNTLESS other children have been suprised by their fun-loving dads and the magic of Santa, too. And it takes THEM back. A Christmas Story is a wonderful film for the WHOLE family. People, life is NOT perfect. Get over yourselves. Have fun and grab yourselves a heavily spiked egg nog before laughing yourself silly...especially if this is the first time you've seen this Christmas gem that will forever be my favorite holiday film.
Rating:
Summary: A Baby Boomer Classic
Review: For those who were born from 1946 to 1964 (aka: baby boomers), this SHOULD BE in your DVD collection. The locations, architecture, interiors, and even the appliances are familiar to us who grew up in this time period. Even the department stores look like the old Sears Roebucks and JC Penney's! If there was a way to go back to those cozy times, the smell of popcorn, Christmas food and treats, this movie is the first step. You'll laugh, and yet inside you'll shed a tear for the good old days.
Rating:
Summary: A definetly must have !!!!
Review: I ordered this DVD directly from Germany. This movie is a must have seen at every christmas in our house. Even though, christmas in Europe differs a little bit from christmas in the states, this movie is just one of the most wonderful christmas movies I know.
The Special DVD is just great. I always wondered how Scot Fawcus (??) looks today :-)
Anyhow. I wondered which bad word Ralphie might use in the original english version while beating up Scott. You don't even hear them. In the german synchronisation there are loads of them (well he doesn't use the f... word, but the german "sh.." which is used quite similar). Merry christmas to the world
Rating:
Summary: Love this movie
Review: This has become a holiday tradition througout my extended family. This is one of those movies that gets better every time you watch it. Love this movie!
Rating:
Summary: All I Want For Christmas Is...
Review: When A Christmas Story, was released in 1983, it wasn't really considered anything "special". It was only after showing up on cable and home video, that the film found its success, and is now called a classic. In 1940's Indiana, nine year old "Ralphie" (Peter Billingsley), wants the ultimate Christmas present this year: "a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle". When his Mom (Melinda Dillon) and Dad (Darren McGavin) say no to the idea, for fear that he'll "shoot his eye out". Ralphie decides to start a full on assualt campaign to beg Santa for it. Based on the novel by Jean Shepherd, director/co-writer Bob Clark, captures the time period perfectly. As the adult Ralphie narrator, Shepherd is also pitch perfect, and adds a unique point of reference as the book's author. Billingsley is great here. His obsession as Ralphie is like every child's at Christmas. We all had that must have toy at some point growing up. The film also is a satiracal look at how commerce and cynacism can be used in a movie like this, with funny results. After a very long wait, A Christmas Story, finally gets upgraded on DVD. The 2 disc set has some enjoyable bonus features, and makes this vastly improved over the movie only DVD, released a few years ago. The audio commentary by Clark, actors Billingsley, and Dillion, is very well done and worth a listen. The second disc has a retrospective documentary, narrated by Billingsley, called Another Christmas Story. Some info from the audio track is repeated but it's stll fun to see what Billingsley looks like as an adult. You can also hear original radio readings by author Jean Shepherd, see two additional featurettes called "Get a Leg Up" and "A History of The Daisy Red Ryder", play both the "Triple Dog Dare" interactive triva and "Decoder match challenge" games. The theatical trailer and easter eggs top off the extras. Viewers can watch the all new digital transfer of the film itself, in either fullscreen or widescreen anamorphic (Finally) formats. I am pretty cynical when it comes to Christmas films and the holidays in general (which explains why I chose to review this DVD set around Holloween). I can't stand anything too sappy or overwrougt with melodrama. A Chrstmas Story steers pretty clear of that kind of stuff and goes for the laughs instead. You will have a good time with this recommended set, especially if you are a fan of the film, like me.
Rating:
Summary: OOOOOOHHHH FFFUUUUUDDDGGGE!!!
Review: One of my fondest memories of Christmas as a child is watching this wonderful classic with my family every year. And unlike most movies you see over and over as a kid, I found myself loving this movie the older I got. It's a testament to all involved with this movie that I, and everyone I've talked to, feel this way. My holidays aren't complete without revisiting Ralphie and his slightly eccentric family. I still die laughing when Ralphie's oblivious mother asks where he learned to curse, and calls up his friends house instigating a beating. And when the "leg lamp" arrives marked fraa-gee-lay(it's french), and Ralphie's mother does everything to avoid putting it up. But I always love "Oh Fudge".
Rating: 
Summary: We've Been HOODWINKED!!
Review: I already have the first DVD version of this movie. I got
the 2-disc special for the widescreen version. Turns out,
the widescreen version is actually a "Matted Widescreen".
What's a "Matted Widescreen", you ask? That's the full-screen
version with the tops and bottoms cut off. You now get even
LESS of the movie. This dog is going back!! Warner Brothers
did the same thing to the latest release of National Lampoon's
Christmas Vacation, so don't bother getting it either. Wish I knew who to complain to over at WB!
Rating:
Summary: "You Look Like A Deranged Bunny"
Review: All I can say is....finally. This movie finally got a decent DVD treatment and we can all now release a big sigh of relief. It's here. Haven't seen the movie before?. Well, forget about "It's A Wonderful Life" or "Miracle On 34th Street", because this is the quintessential holiday movie. No buts about it. The movie was adapted from a short story by author Jean Shepard, from his book,"In God We Trust:All Others Pay Cash". It tells the story of little Ralphie Parker(Peter Billingsley), a young kid who has one wish this holiday season. He wants nothing more than a Daisy Brand Red Ryder BB Gun all wrapped up in a big bow under the Christmas tree come Christmas morning. It turns out to be more of an ordeal than Ralphie expected, when he keeps getting told that it's dangerous and he'll "shoot you're eye out". The rest of the family is made up with dad(the great Darren McGavin), a curmudgeonly man who spends a lot of time battling the neighbor dogs, and their unstable furnace. Mom(the great as well, Melinda Dillon), is a typical housewife who is kept too busy with the house and raising the family, than having any real time of her own. Little brother Randy, well, he doesn't like to eat his food, and he has a rather nasty snow outfit. The movie is about as warm and cozy as you could possibly get. It takes place in the 40's, and the filmmakers and set designers pull it off brilliantly, as it really looks and feels like that time. The acting is sharp and real. They really act like a family, and not like they are trying to pretend to be a family. The movie has a real Norman Rockwell type look and feel to it, and that only adds to it's charm. It's a very nostalgic piece, and will hit home with a lot of people. Not necessarily because of the holidays and what may go on in your house at that time, but just because of the childhood factor. The close friends, the walk to school, the bully, the grumpy pop. And, if you are old enough to of been around back then, the cars, the furniture, and the radio shows. It's just very nice. Christmas has never been more fun, more heartwarming, or more real, than in this movie. It's a classic, and an American treasure. Now, the extras. The movie comes with both widescreen and full screen. If you get it in full screen, why on earth would you want it in widescreen?. I'm so glad it came with the full screen option, for as I can't stand widescreen, and can't possibly understand how anybody can. It's a horrible thing, and ruins the movie. It doesn't add anything, but so many people have been duped into believing it does. You can't take reviewers seriously when they rate a DVD one star because the widescreen isn't good, but they also have a full screen option. Or that it only comes in full screen. Full screen is what you want!!. The other special features are a mixed bag, but all of them pleasant nonetheless. First of all, Melinda Dillon is promised to do the commentary with Billingsley. She isn't here. It's Billingsley and director Bob Clark. There is an 18 minute piece with Billingsley, Clark, and three other kids(Flick, Schwartz, and Scott Fargus), talking about their time on the movie. It's a cute feature, and it's nice to see these kids have turned out so well. There is a great piece where we get some old radio readings from Jean Shepard. It's so cool and will be nice to listen too with your tree on and a fire going. You get a trivia quiz with the actors giving questions and responses, as well as the trailer, a decoder game, and a history of the leg lamp and the red ryder gun. Those last two are quite dull, but fun to have. It would of been nicer if McGavin and Dillon and the little brother were featured too. Where were they?. All in all, it's a sharp collection, and the packaging is great, and the picture and sounds are crisp, clear and wonderful. Not a single problem here and definitley not a one star disc compared to the ludicrous other reviews. Get it today and make sure it is part of your private collection forever. I double dog dare you!!.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie But Not A Very Special Edition
Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY is the only classic Christmas movie to be made since SCROOGE in 1970 and it deserves five stars or more for its humor, honest sentiment, satire and brilliant recreation of a past era in American history. However, this "special" edition does not do it justice. It is nice to have it finally available on DVD in a widescreen version (although there is doubt as to whether this is actually the original widescreen aspect), but the extras are sorely lacking. This certainly did not require a 2-disc version. What do you get on the extra disc? A promised "documentary" which is really an 18 minute featurette, two five minute "documentaries" on BB guns and leg lamps. Two silly games which shouldn't take the dullest more than 10 minutes to complete. And a couple of audio readings by Jean Shepherd of his classic monologues. On the movie disc you get the movie in both wide and fullscreen versions (though actually as I stated earlier you may actually be getting less of a picture on the widescreen than on the fullscreen version!) with a not very informative commentary by Peter Billingsley and director Bob Clark. (Melinda Dillon is promised on the DVD cover, but she appears not at all.) I regret now selling my widescreen laserdisc version. Not only was I fairly confident that it was the original projection aspect, but it had a great Norman Rockwell style painting on the cover depicting all the characters, not the bland color picture of Billingsley you get on the DVD.
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