Rating: 
Summary: A chance to make the same mistake twic
Review: Watch this film in a double with State and Main. They share a theme, and a lot of very funny material. GD is wry. Irritating the first time through, I realized that it was meant to be. That's the way life can seem when you don't see any difference from one day to the next -- when you don't learn anything. Great film.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie..."Special Edition" needs Something "SPECIAL"
Review: If ever there was a movie designed for DVD, it's "Groundhog Day." By repeating scenes, pausing the picture, even comparing portions of the movie to other parts, you get a sense that the movie is put together wonderfully. Unfortunately, the additional features of this "Special Edition" do little to enhance the enjoyment of the movie. The documentary, shot last year, is too little too late. A "making of" PR movie from HBO or E! would have been more enjoyable. The comments from director Harold Ramis fail to educate. If you don't have the movie already, buy this one; however, if you already have the basic DVD that came out in 1997, save your money.This review is an update to a previous review of this movie that follows: While most viewers try to catch the number of times the scenes repeat themselves, this modern (within the last ten years) movie contains one of the classic scenes that can actually enrich ones life. In "Groundhog Day," weatherman Phil Conners, played by actor bill Murry, is locked in a time warp in which he seems destined to relive Groundhog Day, February 2nd, over and over again. The classic scene occurs after midnight, but before the bewitching hour of 6:00 A.M. when the day begins repeating itself, on a day when Phil has succeeded in convincing Rita, his producer, played by Annie MacDowell, that he is truly reliving this one day, again and again. As they lay platonically in bed, with Rita falling asleep, he begins to tell her what he should have told her the first time that he saw her, instead of being so self-absorbed that he couldn't see what she really was like ("I think what I wanted to say was I think you are the kindest, sweetest, prettiest person I've ever met in my life. The first time I saw you, something happened to me that I never told you, but I wanted to hold you as hard as I could. I don't deserve someone like you, but if I ever could, I'm sure I would love you for the rest of my life"). He awakes the next morning, without Rita by his side, but with a a new persona. Perhaps this change is because he was spurred on by Rita who told him the evening before, "Maybe it's not a curse (referring to his reliving this day over and over), it's just how you look at it." Suddenly, forgotten are the days when Phil used his endless life to temp fate by living his life through the seven deadly sins, as he finds the joy of living each day to its fullest, learning to expand his purpose in life through helping others. Finally, he lives a Groundhog Day in which he becomes something of a local hero to many in the community, and Rita, realizing his inner beauty, buys his services at the bachelor charity auction. That night, they platonically fall asleep with the true realization of each other's stellar inner qualities, and instead of waking-up on February 2nd, again, it's February 3rd. Together they begin to plan a life together with the realization that there is something more after today. Phil's final characterization of life can be depicted in the words he uses to describe the Groundhog Festival near the end of the movie. "When Checkov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and beraf of hope, but we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But, standinghere among the people of Punxsutawney, and basking here in the warmth of their hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter."
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!!
Review: A highly enjoyable movie with great cast and dialogue. I can watch this movie over and over again. Murray's cynicism is perfect for this role. Something else I find very positive for this edition: The Chinese Mandarin Subtitle. The production company really cares about its foreign audience to add the Chinese subtitle. The translation is fitting and regionless. I would encourage more DVD editions of coming movies to do the same. This way more Chinese audience outside of USA can enjoy the movies without going for the local pirate version (with lousy translation). After all, Chinese has a huge population around the world, more than Portuguese and Italians.
Rating:
Summary: "Top Five Bill Murray's Best"
Review: Great Movie, Great Story, Great Picture, Great Acting, Great Directing, but I have just one problem with this DVD, "NO DTS" what happened here the packaging clearly states "DTS 5.1" or do I need glasses. Brian, Philadelphia, PA.
Rating:
Summary: 5 for the movie one for the lying dvd
Review: First off this is wrong to try to sell people something that does not have what it says it has on the box. There is no DTS sound on this disc it is a flat out lie, Just like wwf raw for xbox half of what was on the back of the case was not on the game. Studios and game makers need to have a little integrity and atleatst be honest about whats something offers or doesnt offer. The movie is great and has always been a favorite the documentry is entraining, the commentery very dull harlod ramis seems to be doing it only because they told him he had too or maybe he needed some money. There are no new intrveiews with anyone accept Andie Mcdowell,no Bill Murray or Chirs elliot. If you have the old dvd or vhs this is not really whorth it if you have no GroundHog Day at all buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Special Edition Not So Special
Review: This is one of my all time favorite movies and I was very excited to see it released as a "Special Edition" DVD. Unfortunately, while it's still a GREAT story -- this version of the DVD really doesn't have that many whistles and bells. It gives you the option to have Harold Ramis (the director) do a voice over during the movie and it has a brief documentary about the concept behind the movie. Andie McDowell and the guy who plays "Ned the Insurance Man" were the only actors they got to speak about the making of this movie. It was very disappointing to have Bill Murray missing, or even Chris Elliot for that matter. One would think this movie had plenty of funny outakes -- but they are AWOL as well. Buy this DVD if you love the movie "Groundhog Day" -- but don't expect much in the way of extras.
Rating:
Summary: A deserving film receives a special edition
Review: _Groundhog Day_ is one of my very favorite comedies and perhaps one of the most clever films of all time. The movie follows Bill Murray's character (Phil Connor), an unlikeable, cynical cad who is a Pittsburgh weatherman, as he journies to Punxsutawney, PA (the film was actually shot in IL) to cover the Groundhog Day festivities. Once there, he begins to wake up every day to February 2nd: Groundhog Day. This is one of those rare films that functions on many levels. On one plane it is simply a clever comedy; on another it is a love story; on another it is a dark humored morality tale; on still yet another, nothing less than an allegorical description of human existence. The original script is loosely modeled on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's famous psychological study _The Five Stages of Death and Dying_. The "5 stages" roughly correlate to the pathos Murray's character arouses. Through denial and isolation, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance, Connor becomes a physical Everyman trapped in a paranoid, Kafkaesque metaphysical fantasy world, where every day is the same as yesterday. Murray, in one of his finest performances, plays Connor perfectly, bringing to full fruition that deadly yet lush area of comedy first pioneered by Chaplin's Little Tramp-- the gray area where the comedy almost tilts over into anguish and horror. In Murray's capable hands, the movie goes from somber and sardonic to histrionic and hysterical without contradiction-- it helps that he has an excellent supporting cast, including the underrated Chris Elliot and the charming Andie MacDowell. MacDowell plays Rita, the new television producer Murray's character can't but admit to himself is out of his league, and all the more desirable for that. _Groundhog Day_ explores heavy themes like the proverbial Seven Deadly Sins (lust, gluttony, vanity, pride, etc.) interestingly and intriguingly without collapsing into rigid didacticism (no wonder then that there have been a myriad of religious responses to the film, from Hasidic Jews and Zen Buddhists to fundamentalist Christians.) However the most telling and rewarding point about this is that the film's glance at these deep subjects is not only lighthearted and funny, but also shot through with flecks of truthfulness. The value of helping and being kind to others; the coming to terms with death; the importance of art, whether it be classical music, mid-19th Century French poetry, or ice sculpture; all of these motifs are presented without stiffness or dogmaticism because we, the audience, *enter into* this world along with Connor and indeed *go through* the learning process that he does. Like the groundhog, Connor needs to forecast his own weather prediction, and the challenge presented to him while stuck in his time warp (which in the original screenplay was to have gone on for thousands of years) is to cast aside the shadow of his being and embrace the possibility of what is, to end his long cold Winter and bring forth the Springtime of his life. Like the cheerful "Pennsylvania Polka" that cycles repeatedly away, punctuating many of the film's scenes along its path toward an eerie, atmospheric dirge, the film itself upon successive viewings attains a grandeur that very few comedies ever can hope to possess. With its high rank among both Murrayites and fans of more-than-meets-the-eye humor, it will surely retain its staying power for years to come. Besides the awesome commentary track on the DVD by director Harold Ramis (in which he demonstrates his knowledge of a scholarly psychology piece on the movie in the _Journal of Object Relations Therapy_ [!] and points out where Murray is trying his hand at Rachmaninoff's _Variations On a Theme of Paganini_ [!]), there is also a short documentary called "The Weight of Time," featuring interviews with the cast and writers (albeit no Murray, unfortunately). Trailer, wide variety of language selection and one of the best animated menus I've seen on a DVD round out this solid buy. Highly recommended, especially to anyone who may not have seen the film.
Rating:
Summary: What if...
Review: There can be no surprise that this movie continues to be a success many years after its original production. It works on so many levels. The comedy and the love story speak for themselves and are superbly realised by the actors. The fascinating thing for me is that it explores a world where there are no consequences for one's actions. You can rob a bank with millisecond-timing & no-one will know you have done it. You can trick a girl into believing you are an old school pal. You can be slammed in jail and wake up the next morning cosy in your own bed. But we see through the movie that the ultimate outcome of this is not pleasure or gain, but misery. The other beguiling lesson for me - or for any of us - is Phil's tranformation. How is this achieved? Simple: by being nice to people. By such simple acts as buying a coffee and a doughnut for your co-workers when they are not expecting it. By being unselfish and not always calculating the gain to oneself. Well done to Harold Ramis and all who contributed. Much recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A fully-realized performance from Bill Murray
Review: This had much more substance than I had remembered. Bill Murray gives a fully rounded performance and Andie MacDowell doesn't annoy nearly so much as in Green Card. Chris Elliott's characteristic dark humor is absent here, however. Harold Ramis proves himself yet again as co-writer/director. You already know the plot: guy lives the same day over and over and over and ...well, you get the idea. But it doesn't get boring! We watch Bill's Phil Connors character grow from selfish to loving, and the film has a reincarnation karma theme underlying as it appears he only gets to go on to the next day once he gets this one right. The love story is believable and Murray proved he could do drama in The Razor's Edge, which, unfortunately, few saw, so look out for this one and give it a revisit. You'll be surprised.
Rating: 
Summary: What DTS sound?
Review: The only reason I bought this is the DTS sound. It says it in the back and its not. I'm going to take it back to the store and get my money back. Trying to trick the consumer to buy their products isn't going to work.
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