Rating: 
Summary: Great DVD, just not the release advertised...
Review: The packaging for this version was mislabled: The American release version of this movie is 131 minutes, but this one is not -- it is the 142 minute Director's cut. If you want the American cut, you'll have to buy the video.
Rating:
Summary: I don't want the Director's Cut!
Review: Brazil is my favorite movie, but my favorite movie is NOT the 142 minute director's cut! The 131 minute US release was brilliant and had just enough scenes, but the director's cut becomes simply redundant. How can I get the US release on DVD and not video?
Rating:
Summary: Insane . . . in a good way
Review: This movie is unbelievable. This movie has what is, quite possibly, the coolest visual style ever. It is very strange and you can't stop watching . . . you really have to see it. It is at the same time dark and oppressive and also bright and extravagant. Brazil is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again and never get tired of it. There's really not a whole lot else to say. The basic story is a man feels trapped in an oppresive future society until he discovers love and gets involved with some radical terrorists. That's the story at it's most basic. See Brazil - now!
Rating:
Summary: Sell your old copy and buy this one!
Review: If you like Gilliam or Brazil or certainly both, then you will REALLY get into this extremely extensive study of the film and it's history. First you get the longest cut of the film ever (available only with this collection) with funny and informative commentary by Gilliam (who supprisingly admits "I got that from Lucas" at one point). The second disc has photos, story boards literature and about two hours of video footage. A half hour on set documentary about the making of and an hour long documentary about the war between Gilliam and universal exec Sid Sheinberg about which cut of Brazil would be seen on American screens are the highlights of this disc. The war between Gilliam and the studio is not only an entertaining story but also tells you a lot about how hollywood works. It gives you all sides of the war through interviews with producers, executives, Sheinberg himself and especially (and most candidly) Gilliam. The third disc then gives you the 90+ minute long edit of Brazil tailor made by hollywood editors for stupid american audiences. Don't watch it without it's commentary by film expert(I forget his name) who points out not only a lot about this short version of Brazil (appropriately named "love conquers all" version because the film had been reduced to a simple love story with a happy ending) but he also brings up a lot of interesting points about gilliam's Brazil in comparing the two. You learn more about the film from the two commentaries, but that's not saying everything else you get isn't also fascinating and informative. The best part of the package is, of coarse, the full cut of Brazil with a beautiful transfer in perfect widescreen format, presented as it was originally intended for the first time in America. The rest is a true delight for any fan, Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Return I Will To Old Brazil.
Review: Wow. That's what I thought afterwords. Wow. I never saw anything like this in my entire life. I first thought ,when I heard about, it was " It's just another weird love story with over-the-top special effects and no plot." I was kinda right. It DID have a love story and great special effects. But it was more of a way at looking at life with a strange way. When I saw the end (SPOILER) the main character appeared to have a distant look with a smirk on his face and a stigmata on his hands. I felt sorry for the poor man. I mean the man lost his job, his respect, and the love of his life. I first pitied him. But then I realized that this was a happy ending. He realized that the only way out of this damnation is going insane from being on purpose or being lobotimzed. (END SPOILERS) This is a beautifully made film and is a very symbolizing film. No doubt this is one of the best films ever made. I can only say one way to describe it. Tommorow was just another day. With still a million things to say. That song will never get out of your head. Wow.
Rating:
Summary: Brazil
Review: This is one of the best moives I've seen in a long time, and I first saw it in 1996. It's a great moive, it takes place in the near future, a society where one corperation controls all. It's the story of a man and his sertch for love, and is working his way though the a sea of paper work, and his imangination.
Rating:
Summary: "Care for a little necrophelia?"
Review: My favorite movie of all time. If you haven't seen it, buy it or at least rent it. It will be like nothing you've ever seen, and you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie That Falls Short Of The Fawning Of It's Fans
Review: I feel a bit let down by the reviews that call this one of the greatest films ever. Gilliam himself has done better (The Fisher King,IMHO). It certainly was good, and was even better the second viewing. This is one of those movies where you don't quite catch it all until a day later. You roll the damned thing over in your head until you think you caught it all, and then have to watch it a second time just to confirm what you think you figured out. Funny thing is it loses nothing in the 2nd viewing, in fact it is better. So kudos to Gilliam on that front. Now, visually. Let's just start by saying it is definitely a Gilliam piece. Dark and (purposely) kitschy, filmed in his vertiginous style,it's wierd, wonderful and ugly at times. This is not a knock, it's just uncomfortable to watch, which is probably what he's shooting for. I can see what he wants to portray. It's just a bit heavy handed at times. So a shaky thumbs up there. The plot. It's good and get's better with multiple viewings, but some things are just left unanswered. I don't intend on giving too much away, but the huge gaping question...Is it terrorism or obsolescense? Obsolescense seems to be integral to the various subplots and I'm not sure that is an accident (watch the flick and remember a remark Jill makes in the cab about terrorists. And consider how quick to assume conspiracy the bureaucracy is). 'Nuff said on that and sorry if I ruined it for you. As I said, the best part of the movie is what you ponder afterwards. On the whole, the writing is above par. The acting. Very good, but not as good as I was led to believe by the reviews which praised alot of it. I still cannot decide if Lowry was awkward with the gun and sword on purpose, but it was painful to watch. Especially since you'd thing he'd be a bit more adept in his own imagination. Oh well, I'm being picky. Other than that, it's pretty much exceptional acting on most counts. OK, it sounds like I knocked the movie, but I think it is only because it's been inflated a bit too much and I was expecting to be completely blown away. The truth is that the movie is a bit confusing on the first viewing, but gets better and even great with subsequent looks. Ask yourself when was the last time you finished watching a movie, had it on your brain the whole next day, and needed to watch the whole damned thing over again. It's a rare thing indeed, as is this movie. You really ought to get it in your collection. OK...Go watch it....and watch it again.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the reason DVD was invented
Review: Three discs? *Three* discs? That's what you're probably thinking if you're looking at this and *not* a fan of one of the finest films of our time. But this exquisite three-disc treatment is probably the best argument for DVD (and thankfully, for Criterion) that I can give you: Watch these discs, listen to the extensive audio commentary, compare Gilliam's brilliant vision with the Hollywood Studio "Love Conquers All" bastardization, er, sorry, recutting (how many directors would include a admittedly contradictory vision of his film on a DVD set just to *show* how Hollywood can drastically reshape a vision?), watch the documentary...you'll come away from this boxed set experience understanding more about film and directing, and sadly, studio politics, than you'll ever get from reading "Variety" (certainly more than I got from filmmaking college courses!) At the heart of it all, though, the many extras and made-with-care package would add up to nothing if the original film itself weren't so bloody brilliant. There's very few modern *directors* who will pull me into the box office just to see a new film...Gilliam is one of them. Even his flops or misfires are more interesting than most. But when he hits on all cylinders (excuse the mixed metaphor) as in "Brazil"...the result is purely sublime. Bravo to Gilliam; bravo to Criterion for giving us the definitive home version of the film(s)--a version impossible on VHS. I love my DVD player!
Rating:
Summary: Symoblism + Laughs = "Brazil"
Review: I found this movie accidentally because one of my favorite actresses, the divine Katherine Helmond, plays Ida, the youth-obsessed mother of Sam, the main character in "Brazil." I was searching her name in Yahoo! and I got a huge "Brazil" website. I went and explored, found out many of the hidden meanings of things in the film. I then rented it and loved it, understanding much of what I saw instead of making wrong assumptions or just sitting there befuddled, like my friend ("This is the most horrible movie I have ever seen," about twenty minutes into the film) and many others, I'm sure. Then I bought the book "The Battle of Brazil," about the controversy surrounding the making. In the back there was the final shooting script, complete with side notes further explaining things. I can proudly say that I understand this movie more than at least 85-90% of the people who have seen it. Filled with deep symbolism and dark humor, "Brazil" is a dynamic movie that, in Terry Gilliam's words, is not about the future, "but the present." There are some moments of sheer genius in this film. One is the restaurant scene in which a terrorist bomb explodes on the other side of where some characters are eating. The unharmed patrons pause for a moment, then, unblinking and without turning, go back to their meals and conversation. The musicians, some slightly charred, resume playing. And, capping it off, Ida says to her friend, "What were we saying?" as workers scramble to set up a screen so that the dying and burning cannot distort the lovely view. This is Grade-a commentary on the way civilians ignore horrible crimes because of their commonplace occurrings. It often takes a presidential assassination, a bombed federal building with millions trapped inside, a downed airplane lost at sea, a Columbine High School, a Titanic, or a towering inferno to make everyone look up for two seconds before you hear them say "Oh, God, is that STILL in the papers?" Another shining moment is actually several moments. Ida's gruesome but intriguing plastic surgery, along with her increasing youth throughout the picture, goes up alongside her friend. This friend, visiting an "acid man," rapidly deteriorates throughout the film until she is a nasty, gelatinous mess, tipping its hat (so to speak) to the Beverly Hills facelift crowd. The other great achievement is the repeated appearance of forms. Forms, forms, you can't repair a wire, or even get another form, without one. Beauracracy is another great target of "Brazil." This is one film not to be missed, but will only be understood even slightly, unfortunately, by painfully few (not even Roger Ebert got it. Ha! Imagine that!). Still, it deserves to be noticed as one of the greatest films of modern years.
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