Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful tale of love and self-sacrifice
Review: Ah, they don't make them like this anymore. The sense of duty, of loyalty, and of staying where you need to be, regardless of your own feelings, is what makes this story stand out and shine. "English Patient" and films with a similar plot can never match up to this."Casablanca" is a French city in the middle of the Middle-Eastern desert, now overrun with Nazis. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, the cynical owner of Casablanca's best-known bar. The only person who knows anything real about Rick is the piano player, Sam (known for the immortal lines "Sam, I thought I told you never to play..." and "Play it again, Sam") who was present in Paris long ago when Rick's heart was broken.
Years ago, Rick fell in love with a beautiful woman named Ilse in Paris, who vanished when the Germans invaded. Now she's back with her husband--Victor Laszlo, a patriot who works for the underground. Rick is (not surprisingly) angry, even though he still loves Ilse, and she still loves him.
Bogart and Bergman exude excellent chemistry--you can feel their pain and love. The cast is also blessed by wonderful secondary characters, such as Sam, who seems to feel sorry for Rick and Ilse; and Captain Louis Renault, a lovably amoral French official. There's also a slimy little conman named Ugarte, and a slimy big casino-owner named Renault, both of whom sell fake exit visas (these characters, as well as Bogart, can be found in the "Maltese Falcon," so watch for them)
Rick is a great man: He's hardened and cynical, but as we watch, he helps people who have nothing for themselves, and gives away his own happiness. The script also gives him many of the wonderful lines: when little rat Ugarte asks, "You despise me, don't you?", Rick's only reply is, "If I gave you any thought I probably would."
Though this is rated PG, most kids will be bored silly by it--there's a lot of talking and angst and romance. Also, there's one scene where a Bulgarian girl delicately hints at prostitution, but anyone younger than their teens probably wouldn't pick it up (she only refers to it as a "bad thing").
The sets are beautiful and harsh, as harsh as Rick sees the world. The last scene is perhaps one of the most famous in movie history. Like Audrey Hepburn's "Roman Holiday," the realistic and mature approach to difficult situations are what make this story special. One of the best romances ever filmed.
"Here's looking at you, kid."
Rating:
Summary: What a Transfer!
Review: Absolutely the best black and white transfer I have ever seen of a DVD. There are no drop outs, blips, hairs, tears, burns, noise, or anything that shouldn't be on this film. Warner must have had a pristine original negative sealed away for this DVD to look so good. The lighting is rich, luminous, and the grays beautifully scaled lending excellent depth to the picture. After seeing "Casablanca" on TV and video this DVD is a revelation. The picture is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
The sound too is crisp and marvelously preserved. There are no pops, blips, buzzes, drop outs, or volume changes. Instead we are given a soundtrack, that while still monophonic, is the best yet heard. If any complaint could be made of digital audio it's that the sound is too forward and harsh for some ears though on the DVD it is only slightly so and those of you with Cinema EQ on your home theater equipment won't have a thing to complain about.
Extras like the Lauren Bacall (Bogey's widow)-hosted special, "You Must Remember This" and the original trailer (in poor condition compared to the feature), are better than average and the documentary includes interviews with people who were involved with making "Casablanca". The production notes are actually interesting to read but then they would be given the twisted production history of the film.
All in all Warner has produced a lovingly-crafted DVD edition of a movie loved by millions all over the world and nothing about it disappoints.
Time may go by, but "Casablanca" has become digitally-fixed and now, finally, physically ageless.
Rating:
Summary: One of a Kind
Review: There are moview that are timeless because they could have happened anywhere and at any time. This is not one of those. This movie marks a very specific point in time for both the period of the movie, and the target audience. A war movie, made in the middle of the war it portrays, obvious good guys, obvious bad guys, and in the middle all the rest of us. We all know Casablanca is doomed. We know the history. And because of that we enjoy the small, silly, triumphs of individuals. We cheer the partiots, we smile at the corruption, we love Rick, and we wish it could have somehow turned out differently. At the same time we know it holds true. People do separate in war. Some things are more important than ourselves, and at the end we can wonder just what that relationship that is starting could possibly be like.
To paraphrase - Of all the movies in all the world why did I pick this? ... This one could very well be the best.
Rating: 
Summary: great cast, lousy script
Review: Casablanca is a classic but NOT because the story is so wonderful. Actually the script could be properly described as sentimental fluff. But what a cast --absolutely a director's dream-- Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Conrad Viedt, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid and others... Fortunately these talented people were able to transcend the silly script and made this movie a crowd-pleaser and a classic that's worth watching.
