Rating: 
Summary: Much loved, but I never got it ...
Review: This is a cult classic, but I find it over-rated. It delivers the zaniness, surreality and crazy camera work, but the film has no interest in its characters -- you'll feel nothing for them, and for me that leaves a big hole in the center of the movie.For a movie with a similar feel but considerably more heart, try Barton Fink instead. Or even Amelie.
Rating: 
Summary: Criterion dropped the ball
Review: I'll keep this short.... Anyone buying the Criterion release already is enamored with the film, so no need to add my two cent critique here...
The reason I'm adding this is purely for technical reasons.... The lack of the fifth star is due to the non-anamorphic release of the pint! At these prices it is unconscionable. I will keep this release for the all inclusive "bonuses", but come on.... Criterion blew it with the transfer!
Rating:
Summary: Visually Stunning, Script Dull and Long
Review: Terry Gilliam used 1985 technology borrowed from Lucas' Star Wars films, grabs the best set designers and artists available pre-Batman's Gotham, and creates a fantasy world of the future that looks a lot like retro-world, London, 1955. The designers have a fetish for duct piping and electrical wall wiring. It's fascinating to look at and with an eerie film score, it's unsettling to say the least.
The trouble is: everything goes wrong when the actors recite dialogue and we have to comprehend a screenplay by Leftist playwright, Tom Sheppard. This is overindulgence in fascist nightmares. Imagine the Reagan Administration as the Left in Europe fantasized back in the 80's. They imagine the Reagan's incompetent, but Jack-Boot guards keep the populace under control. The environmentalists have been murdered and the world is a cross between an underground shopping mall and a desert wasteland with smokestacks spewing black soot. Jonathan Pryce is the "Little MAN" avoiding promotion to the lethal Records Retrieval Department of the totalitarian government. He falls for his dream fantasy, a blonde angel. To capture her attentions, he unintentionally becomes a suspected terrorist. The rest of the movie is an early prototype of the Mario Brothers. The laughs are far and few between. Not even spectacular visuals can keep a very long, long movie interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Nightmare on Gilliam Street
Review: One of the most imaginative movies ever made, Brazil is the tale of a dreamer living in a dystopic future whose citizens have traded their liberty for security, and not much of that either. Only Terry Gillima could have provided the visual thrills that such a movie provides. The future is a mad conglomeration of high technology (telephones, auto, computers, TVs) and ancient tech (ductwork, magnifying lenses and complicated cables). Nothing works well, but no one particularly notices. Terrorists are hunted down with brutal poilice methods, but the public is mollified since the suspects must pay for the cost of their own interrogation and torture. The rich and elderly are consumed with have their bodies remolded into better and better semblances of youth, suffering endless infections with giddy optimism. Shapeless, tasteless food is served with photographs of the dishes they represent.
Into this complacent hell of a Paradise, comes Sam Lowery, a disconnected bureucrat whose success comes form having that indispensible (and dangerous) asset -- common sense. Sam is hurlked out of his reveries when the system makes a mistake -- something it cannot tolerate. In attempting to rectify the mistake, Sam is confronted by the victims of his bureaucracy and he is caught in the gears of his smooth-running system. The ending is happy and distressing, as both Lowery and the system are victorious against each other.
The movie seems longer than the version I saw in theaters in the 1980s. It bacame somewhat repetitive toward the end, with repetitive chases and esacpes, but the end of the film was right. Lowery and the system both wound up winners, in their own, unproductive ways. Politically, "Brazil" is even more relevant now than in 1985. The degree to which people can become accustomed to intrusive government action (especially if they are not affected) and to confusing and inconvenient technology is presented marvellously well. "Brazil" is a work of visual genius.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Stunning. The best DVD title I have ever purchased.
Review: Firstly I want to mention that there's 2 current marketed versions of this film on DVD.
One of them is a single disc version and then there's this: 'THE CRITERION COLLECTION'. Do yourself a favour and only go for The Criterion version. It is simply stunning.
You get 3 DVD's. The first of which is Terry Gilliams version of the film. This is the way it was meant to be seen. The 2nd is a fantastic jam packed DVD full of awesome information, documentaries, notes, story boards etc to cover the film. In fact it claims Terry spent 3 years putting all this fantastic material together. Then if that's not enough, on the third DVD you get the controversial 'happy ending' version. This film was the way Terry did NOT want it to be viewed. The powers that be, took it out of his hands and when you watch the 2 films in sequence, the first being Terry's version, you can see why he didn't want the movie to be viewed like this. The happy ending simply detracts from the overall point of the film. Brazil is not a love story. It's the story of a man who represents on some level how most people are. That is, people just want to lead a normal life, without interference and with freedom. Brazil is a vision of how the world could and in some ways has become. The story is focused on how the powers that be get so embroiled in there own deluded world that they have lost touch with what's really going on. An 'ivory tower' situation. The film basically shows the disintegration of an innocent man who is part of an over beurocratic system that has gone too far and shows how such a system is the destroyer of freedom. The bleak ending and I will not say too much in case you havn't seen it, does actually have a good theme to it. That is that there are some things that no one has control over, that no one can get to and at the end of the day the individual will have forever.
In short this package is the best DVD set I have ever purchased. It's simply stunning. If only more DVD titles where treated with the same care. DON'T get the single disc version as it's got next to no features. Not even an audio commentary and that brings me to the last point for my conclusion.
The audio commentary by Terry is absolutely a standard in film audio commentaries for DVD's to come. Most commentaries have a bunch of begrudging actors giving the odd laugh and sounding really bored to the point that you wondered how much they where paid to be there.
Terry, puts zing and life into it. I found myself fascinated by all the care and detail he went to, all the things he wanted to put into the film but couldn't due to budget constraints, fantastic imaginative ideas that went into working out the sequences. It's like listening to a magnificent story just to hear the commentary.
If your a fan of Brazil, you deffinately should get this. If your new to the film, this will give you a real appreciation for it. It's got great picture quality. The sound is fine (no it doesn't have 5.1 surround sound, but it does have stereo surround, I don't feel Brazil is the kind of movie that needs 5.1 anyway). It's sound just mentioned is great and a far cry from the old VHS copy I used to watch. The bonus features are simply amazing and basically it's not only the best version of Brazil available it's the best DVD title I have seen to date period.
All the best and enjoy,
Sean A. Curtin
Rating:
Summary: We're all in this together
Review: I'd enjoy watching this classic film again if it weren't for the fact that we're now living it.
Rating:
Summary: terry,terry (think rebel, rebel sung by bowie)
Review: This was the only movie i can think of from the eighties that had the BALLS not to be a sweet happy ending. Terry, that scene where we see that the rescue team turned out to be a ... (see the directos cut). Well, That was the point that i knew i would see every film you ever made. You made me feel i wasn't alone in the 80's. Love you mate. Someone else understood the nature of humanity. For those of you who don't know this film was one of the most debated films of all time. The studio had one version and the director had another. They fought it out in public. And the jury is still out. I obviously favor terry's cut, see for yourself in the most unique boxset of all time. This boxset has the studio version (the one most people have seen on TV) and the director's cut. See which makes more sense. Terry, love you mate.
Rating:
Summary: Best DVD Package Ever
Review: If this were just a vanilla disc I would rate it four stars. Taken as a whole with the documentary disc and the studio cut disc it elevates this Criterion package to five stars. As for the film itself, It succeeds in the area of art direction with it's depiction of a beauracracy of endless ducts, papers, and pneumatic tubes. It also succeeds in portraying a dystopian society run by incompetent beaureaucrats who, through a failure of their own machinery, arrest the wrong person and have the audacity to charge them for their own incarceration. What I don't get is what director Terry Gilliam is trying to say. Is this an indictment of the current situation(1985) in his adopted homeland of the U.K or is this a cautionary tale? Those quibbles aside this is an immensely entertaining, yet dark, comic-fantasy. The acting here is first rate with Jonathan Pryce playing a passive beaureaucrat whose passions are awoken by the rebel cause, or maybe a pretty rebel(Kim Griest). Robert DeNiro is first rate in a smallish role as Harry Tuttle, outlaw heating engineer. Good supporting performances are also contributed by Michael Palin, Bob Hoskins, Katherine Helmond, and Peter Vaughn. The second disc in the collection is titled "The Battle of Brazil" and is a fascinating account of how Gilliam fought the studio (Universal) over the final cut of this film. It gives a blow-by-blow account about how he tangled with the studio and went over their heads in getting his version seen by the public. The interest and legendary status of this film probably would not have existed if this squabble had never occured. The last disc is the studio sanctioned cut of the film which is a complete abberation. Film scholar David Morgan offers a commentary how the "Happy Endings" cut that the studio wanted to distribute totally diverges from the intended message that Gilliam was trying to convey. Morgan is more diplomatic in his discussion of this version but in my words, it stinks. If this were the cut that the public would have seen it would have been a colossal critical and box office dud. This is a fascinating package and anybody with a spare six hours to kill would be behooved to check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Since this is so spooky, I would like to say a few things.
Review: Now, I began watching it, I saw a lot of darkness.
I didn't like it at all. But this director's passion seems to be of a dark nature.
He is christian, just a little mislead though. There are a lot of truths in his work. So don't dismiss it too lightly.
One more thing, check out the "12 Monkeys". It's a very good take on the powers of darkness.
-Calvin Newman
Rating:
Summary: Vision Conquers All
Review: This 3 DVD set is based on the Criterion Collection's laserdisc package from a few years back. It includes two completely different versions of the film. One - a combination of domestic and European editions of Brazil, as assembled by director Terry Gilliam - it's his ultimate vision for the film. The other - nicknamed the "Love Conquers All" edition, is the version which was released for broadcast television rights in the U.S., and which was assembled without Gilliam's involvement.
The second version, by the way, was developed by the movie studio after Gilliam had completed his vision for the film, which was, and remains, unquestionably superior filmmaking, but which, in the opinions of some within the studio, would not be a money-maker. So, entire chunks of the film were re-edited, and whole scenes were cut, including key fantasy sequences, and a torture scene near the end of the film deemed too intense for squeamish U.S. audiences.
As outlined in the commentary tracks, and in documentary material included in this DVD collection, Gilliam's version was ultimately released in the U.S. after a modestly successful European release, overwhelming support from film critics, and a number of creative actions on the part of the director himself to build word-of-mouth about his version, including a now-famous ad chastising the studio for delaying release of the film.
As for the film itself, it would not do proper justice to Gilliam's vision to try to describe the plot - you're better off seeing it absent any preconceived notions. Suffice it to say, it's set "somewhere in the 20th century," but it's clearly a time and place in Gilliam's mind that is not tied to a specific time period or locale. And thematically, there is much more at play here than the love story focused on in the "Love Conquers All" version, and in fact, in Gilliam's vision, it's giving nothing away to say that love does NOT - necessarily - conquer all.
As for the cast, Jonathan Pryce is effective as Sam, an Everyman who escapes from his humdrum life (in a society where modern conveniences run amok, and information is flawed -- though nobody seems to notice!) through his dreams - of portraying the hero, and saving a damsel (Kim Greist) who, in real life, is far different from the fantasy Sam has created.
Among the supporting cast, Katharine Helmond is a standout as Sam's controlling mother. Gilliam's Monty Python buddy Michael Palin plays Sam's best friend Jack, whose actual responsibilities at "Information Retrieval" bely his friendly demeanor. And yes, that's Robert De Niro as Harry Tuttle, who, depending on your point of view, is either a terrorist, or a very handy electrician. (Or, in Gilliam's world - a little of column A, a little of column B - did I mention this is an unusual film?). Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins also appear as an ineffectual factory boss, and an ineffective worker from Central Services, respectively.
A warning -- this is one of those films that requires you actually pay attention! If you don't want to think, the movie's not for you. (And that's not intended as a slight - people come to movies for different reasons. If thinking's not one of them, might I recommend "Weekend at Bernie's 2." -- Okay, THAT was a slight!)
However, that doesn't mean this isn't a great two-plus-hour escape. It certainly is, and satisfies on that level, as absurdist entertainment. But it also is a social satire, and auteur filmmaking at its best.
Put it another way - "Citizen Kane" is not just about a sled, and "Brazil" is not just about a typo.
Bottom line - Casual film buffs: rent it first. The more serious among you (especially aspiring filmmakers and critics): buy it now!
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