Rating: Summary: A delightful classic that endures year after year... Review: The Great Race is one of those great Hollywood spectacles that defines the great American movie. I've been able to watch it year after year and still been greatly entertained. The performances are campy and delightful. The lavish sets and wonderful score by Henry Mancini create a wonderful mood for this cheerful romp across the globe. This is what Hollywood used to be all about - dazzling Technicolor, gorgeous costuming with a sprinkling of song and big-name stars. No silly computer generated this or that. Real actors, real sets and locations. This classic comedy is a must-have for REAL entertainment...
Rating: Summary: One of the funniest Blake Edwards comedies! Review: I have seen 'The Great Race' since I was old enough to remember. I love this movie. The Plot: A long race from New York to Paris. The Hero: Tony Curtis is The Great Leslie. (I always thought that Leslie was a girl's name.) The Villain: Jack Lemmon as Prfoessor Fate, Peter Falk as Max. The Heroine: Natilie Wood as Maggie DuBois, a suffergate. I am glad that this movie is on DVD. It's better because of the widescreen format. I love Professor Fate's car, the Hannibal 8. If you miss the large Pie Fight near the end, A POX ON YOU!
Rating: Summary: A wild romp Review: Though I don't love it quite as much as I do "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (another movie comedically focusing on an early-20th-century technology and a race), I added this title to my video collection very soon after I bought my first VCR, and there it has remained. "Race" is at once a headlong adventure and a spoof of old silent melodrama, with Lemmon as the black-clad and black-hearted Professor Fate, Curtis as the spotless hero The Great Leslie (a professional daredevil), and Wood as Maggie DuBois, suffragette and would-be reporter (a character clearly modelled on Nellie Bly). It also includes a send-up of Anthony Hope's swashbuckling novel "Prisoner of Zenda" in which Lemmon takes on a secondary role, as the cackling, far-too-fond-of-wine king whom Fate is coerced into replacing on the throne. Peter Falk as Fate's assistant Max steals every scene he's in (the man should have gotten the Best Supporting Actor Oscar), and such veterans as Keenan Wynn (as Leslie's assistant Hezekiah) and Ross Martin (as a sinister but suave nobleman) add their high-octane skills. Though more slapsticky than "Magnificent Men" (I could have done without the pie fight, personally), it's still great lighthearted fun and suitable for the entire family.
Rating: Summary: "Push the button Max!!!" Review: I saw this at Radio City Music Hall along with The Easter Show back when i was a junior in high school. It was presented in 70mm 6 channel stereo sound. Being a music/theatre major it was the music in this movie that impressed me the most. Each character had their own theme music as well as each changing theme as the race would continue from location to location.Of course you could not beat the all star cast, wonderful costumes, great sets and the most unforgetable music ever written.Now i have this DVD and it is wonderful. It is wonderful slap-stick comedy that will never be seen again and this movie is presented in its Roadshow engagement format which includes an "Intermission". No matter how dated this film is, you'll still laugh at the wonderful comedy timing that these great actors had.
Rating: Summary: Great Romp Review: Very lighthearted movie. The whole familiy will find this entertaining. Good and Evil are humorously shown in silent movie style with Tony Curtis dressed in white with sparkling teeth and eyes and Jack Lemmon in black with Snidley Whiplash moustache and skulking ways. A race around the world is the challenge with many encounters with various countries inhabitants. Good supporting cast with Natalie Wood, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn, and many other well knowns. Get it on DVD for improved color and sound and extras.
Rating: Summary: "Push the button, Max!" Review: The main reason I watched the Great Race is because it had Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in it, who starred in my favorite movie, Some Like It Hot. It also sounded like a pretty good film, so I decided to rent it. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen!Jack Lemmon stars as Professor Fate and Tony Curtis portrays the Great Leslie, two daredevils in 1908, who enter a race to go from New York to Paris. Maggie DuBois [Natalie Wood] is a reporter/suffragette, who enters the contest herself so she can cover the race and prove that a woman can do a man's job. Peter Falk is excellent as Fate's sidekick, Max and it was also nice to see Vivian Vance, who plays Hester Goodbody. It's wonderful to finally see this movie on DVD. The behind-the-scenes documentary is really good, plus the clarity and sound are both very clear. The Great Race is a hilarious, slapstick comedy that everybody should see!
Rating: Summary: A hero in White, A villain in Black, and a Lady...in Pink? Review: When I was growing up I saw this movie practically every time our family had company. The reason why should be obvious. This movie has everything. Adventure, romance, epic journey across exotic locations, comedy, brawls, musical numbers, stunts, and of course, an awesome swordfight and a rediculous pie fight. Okay, so maybe this isn't the most original movie ever made. In fact, I'd say it's pretty much designed to make fun of and play up every stereotype and clique in the book. If you are a movie buff, you will definitely notice the similarities between numerous scenes in this movie and scenes in older hollywood classics. Particularly worthy of note is the way somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of the way through all the main characters find themselves smack dab in the middle of plot from the prisoner of Zenda! Well, there you have it. If you crave great old fashioned entertainment, love a well rounded movie, or are just a plain old movie buff, you owe it to yourself to see this movie.
Rating: Summary: One of the best classic comedies ... all over the world ! Review: Yes ! All over the world . First few times I watched it as a kid ... in Russia . I had to skip school with friends and sneack in the movie theater thrue the exit , just to watch it again . And gess what... I steel laugh , when I watch it . I know , it is a little corny sometimes .But I don't care - Just relexxx and enjoy it . If you can't - go and rent "Dumb and Dumber". Just an autorace from New York to Paris ? I don't think so . Just watching " inspector Columbo " being young and kind of clumsy is priceless.
Rating: Summary: "Good comedy but not the best" Review: Blake Edwards' The Great Race starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood is a fun filled and entertaining comedy for probably the whole family. Sure, it's a it old and the jokes are classic type and not the parody type we have today but who cares. It's still a great comedy from the director of the Pink Panther. Jack Lemmon is Professor Fate (not really the bad guy but the villain), a grumpy insulting man who always wants to beat the Great Leslie (Tony Curtis), his arch-nemesis who always wins and is supported by everyone. Professor Fate is supportd by his henchman max (Peter Falk) a real idiot. When the Great Leslie proposes a race from New York to Paris, Professor Fate and Max sign up and build themselves an ultimate car to win. And now the race is on with laughs all the way including a cake-throwing contest , a battle in a castle, and cars crashing into stores. Highly recommended especially for the late and great Jack Lemmon. When you think about it, he really is the main character in this movie. I wont tell you who wins. You'll have to watch it yourself. It's definetely worth owning. You'll laugh every time.
Rating: Summary: Sorry -- I've Never Laughed Once Review: When I think of big-budget comedies of the 1960s, the only one that I remember with any fondness at all is It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. That was hilarious. But The Great Race, right from its theatrical release, just struck me as so broad and cartoonish as to be unwatchable for anyone over the age of maybe 10. I mean literally I didn't laugh out loud once, and I didn't laugh once when I saw it on video recently (checking to see if my memory was faulty). Just a big clunking thud of a movie that reminds me of "Life with Lucy," Lucille Ball's ill-fated attempt to revive her sitcom persona decades later but with her same "I Love Lucy" writing team, who hasn't realized that comedy tastes had changed. When The Great Race stages a chase or a pie fight, it's not like watching a witty 60s homage to 20s physical comedies -- it IS a 20s comedy, but in cumbersome 60s clothing. Has Jack Lemmon made a worse movie (besides Under the Yum Yum Tree)? I give this one star for its Oscar-winning song, "The Sweetheart Tree," which deserved a better vehicle. See It's a MMMM World if you want to laugh.
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