Rating: 
Summary: Watch the PBS Documentary First
Review: This is not a review of the movie "Citizen Kane." I would not be so presumptuous to review or analyze a film about which volumes have been written and about which almost 250 viewers have already expressed their opinions on these pages. Included with the DVD edition is a PBS documentary prepared about 4 years ago "The Battle over Citizen Kane." It is on Disc 2. It is only one on many documentaries that have been prepared about this film, but it, like many PBS documentaries, was very well done. Unlike some other documentaries about Citizen Kane, it concentrates more on the two main protagonists - William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles. It provides excellent biographies on both of these men, then discusses the battle to make this movie and the battle to prevent this movie from ever being seen. There is very little information about the technical aspects of the movie -- the camera angles, sets, editing and sound. It focuses on two of the biggest egos in the late 19th century and early 20th century America, thereby providing the viewer with a very compelling and thorough understanding of the controversy surrounding this movie. The documentary suggests what "rosebud" means (there have been mnany interpretations) and argues that Citizen Kane is as much an autobiography of Orson Welles as it ostensibly is a biography of Hearst.If you have not seen this movie, or if you have already seen this film, or are seeing it again for the first time on DVD, or if, as some reviewers have opined, believe there was no plot to this movie or fell asleep while watching it (UNBELIEVABLE!!!), I strongly recommend that you watch the documentary first. This will provide you with a much better appreciation for Citizen Kane and also make the viewing much more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy it for Kane, but you'll listen for War of the Worlds!
Review: Now is your best chance to overcome your dislike for Citizen Kane. And if you already love the film you should be in hog Heaven. Citizen Kane is the story of a man taken out of his childhood at a young age who rises to greatness by creating a great newspaper empire to become one of the most powerful and influential men in the United States. He has friends, money love and an extravagant palatial estate called Xanadu high in the hills and above the world. Eventually all the treasures of his life become corrupted and lost by his own folly, jealousy and manipulations. This once powerful man lies in solitude longing for the things he lost in his life. He dies with one final word on his lips. "Rosebud" A reporter eager to make a story of the great man and decides his angle will be to decipher the meaning of this final word that is a mystery even to Kane's closest friends. It is through this reporter's investigation we learn the life of Charles Foster Kane.
Very few people watching the film today have any personal recollection of William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper mogul and yellow journalist upon whom the film is based. Nor are we much aware of the films being made at that time to give us a perspective on the many new innovations introduced by this film.
But most of us are familiar and comfortable with Roger Ebert who gives you a walkthrough on the film in one of the two commentary tracks. And there is a two hour documentary as well as scads of interviews and extras to make you expert enough at the film to pose at any Hollywood party as the boorish film snob you have always longed to be. And maybe if you are lucky you may even decide you like the film. If not there is still one bit of drama on the DVD you are sure to enjoy and that is the original Halloween broadcast of Orson Welles "The War of the Worlds". The radio broadcast that scared America and almost drove one woman to suicide.
This DVD truly is a filmschool in a box and from what I can see, a pretty reasonable price for a double disc set. This film can help fans, non-fans and new viewers to appreciate this acclaimed film on new levels in a way never before available.
Rating:
Summary: wonderfully entertaining
Review: I'm not sold on the idea that this is "the greatest American film". Even if it's true, if giving it that label discourages someone from seeing this movie, that's a shame. It's great, but it's also completely accessible, and terrific fun. If you haven't seen it, rent it some night.
Rating:
Summary: A must buy for every film lover...
Review: What can I say -- I was simply blown away by the DVD!.. There are not one, but two separate feature length commentaries, and Ebert's commentary was especially interesting. Also included on the two disc set is the excellent PBS documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane". Given Citizen Kane's standing, it was only natural that Warner would put a lot of effort into making a good DVD, but this one's truly exceptional... Atul
Rating:
Summary: An American Treasure
Review: Citizen Kane is truly a great movie. Through it we see the life of one Charles Foster Kane analyzed: a man doomed by his own ambition, corrupted by power and with love only for himself. We see the creation of Kane's behemoth news empire and how it destructed. This is the single best character study I have ever seen, and it really defined the genre. This is a movie you can watch dozens of times and see something new every time, it is also a funny film (I laughed more than a few times), and such innovative storytelling and camerawork. The acting is excellent, and the score is perfect, not melodramatic, like many scores for older films, but entirely appropriate. In conclusion, if you like a well-made classic film that will make you think, pick up a copy today.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Directing Doesn't Make a Bad Movie Good (1 1/2 stars)
Review: I know I may get a lot of people angry by this review, and that's okay. This is MY opinion, and you are free to disagree. Before I go any further, I will not argue with anyone that this movie was brilliantly directed and has some outstanding camera effects. But those elements do not make a bad movie good. The story really has no plot to it. Citizen Kane has died and the very last words that comes out of his mouth is "rosebud". So, now a reporter wants to find out just exactly why Kane said it, and what he meant by it. He interviews people who knew Kane, people who worked with him, and his second wife, but still he cannot find any hints or clues to what "rosebud" exactly means. That's the whole movie. To find out what one stupid word means. I had to watch this in film class, and I just about fell asleep. If I didn't have to do a worksheet on it, then I probably would've. Now, I like classic and old movies like, "Psycho", "12 Angry Men", and "Strangers on a Train". Those movies had a great plot and characters. I felt that the acting in this movie was very poor and unconvincing, and it was too long. At one point of the film I forgot what I was watching. Although, I thought the ending was pretty funny. I am not a film critic, I am just a normal guy who loves to watch movies. I feel that this is not one of the greatest movies of all time. Sure, a lot of work and effort went into it, and I have to give the director credit, he took a lot of time to make every scene perfect. However, this was a very long movie with no point to it, and I didn't like it. I'm not saying don't buy it; just rent it, first. If you like it, then you can buy it.
Rating:
Summary: This movie is one of the best of all time!
Review: I must admit, I have been waiting for a DVD version of 'Citizen Kane' for as long as it has been since I saw the original! I applaud this choice!! This movie is a wonderful comebination of great camerawork (directed by Welles) and he is very powerful as well as the lead. The second disc that it comes with (The Battle over Citizen Kane) was great when we made copies of it for PBS at my work. It is a nice way to understand the whole film and the real-life results of the pseudo-life story of William Randolph Hearst. Citizen Kane also combines the urgency of needing to "know" about the keys to a man's life (i.e. 'Rosebud', etc.) as well as watching him rise to fame and then fall from grace. It is a film like no other that has since emerged from Hollywood, a true 5-star gem! If only the combination of quality script, excellent camerawork, direction and superb acting were as commonplace now as they were when 'Citizen Kane' was released, the world would be a better place!
Rating:
Summary: very good, maybe not the best
Review: He was going to find rosebud! For me, the turning point is when Kane is waiting curbside to go to a wherehouse and look through things from his mothers ranch in Colorado. Instead, he decides to fall in love with Susan Alexander. Welles and Mankiewicz prove Charlies self-destruction his self-loathing here. Its so subtle. Kane was terrified of finding his own history, roots, freedom, happiness. He sabotaged his self-discovery. He denied himself the childhood world of play (remember Thatcher's christmas gift of a sled?). Forget the backstory, forget the technology, forget the mood and the "firsts" and the black and white. Films live on the writing, and this writing, this storytelling is as good as it gets!
Rating:
Summary: ONLY THOSE WITH AN IQ OVER 80 SHOULD WATCH
Review: I know in todays society with offspring coming from the "RAPCRAP"
generation, not really generation X unless X=0, have difficulty understanding "Citizen Cane." The ones that feel the "special effects" were missing from this movie or lacking enough sex or violence should also refrain from commenting with their lack of experience with movies dealing with substance and meaning. That would be like handing your car keys to a 5 year old. But for all those who have watched other fine "meaningful" films can appreciate the ending as well as the rest of the movie. The genius way the flashbacks were used to tell a long history of years in just a few moments. I also recommend "A Raisen in the Sun" and "Guess whose coming to Dinner" both Sidney Poitier movies that deal with social culture historically and are also in the top 5 of all movies I feel are "True American Classics."
Rating:
Summary: how many reviews of this film are there now?
Review: I think this is 235 or something. That alone should be enough to tell you something about the power that this movie still commands to generate controversy, to offend, to hypnotize, and to shock. And if you don't enjoy films that can do that 60 years after they were made, you should probably be browsing the music section. There are a lot of folks who will tell you this film "sucks" pretty much because of where it finished in some poll of snobs. They don't like snobs. So they trash the film. That's missing the point. Some others try to outsnob the snobs, by making hyperarcane references to camera angles, cuts and lost films of the 1910s and 1920s. They miss the point too. But, if you can get past all the social and personal problems of the many unedited reviewers here, and simply plug in this film with a bowl of popcorn and a beer on a Thursday night -- and somehow manage to watch withut prejudice -- you almost can't help but be entertained. "Citizen Kane" is still maybe the most watchable movie I've ever seen. Dark, mysterious, glorious and wistful. You don't need a PhD to see what kind of man Kane could be and the kind of man he becomes. However, if you DO happen to have a PhD, there's more intellectual meat the the bone of this film than many smart folks can digest in a lifetime. Bottom line: "Citizen Kane" is going to be as close as any film will ever come to being all things to all people. Which is still a long way from actually being that -- thus the controversy -- but getting even this close is an exhilirating trip.
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