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Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: surpasses Citizen Kane as most overrated film
Review: I tried my best...I checked my overbearing political correctness at the door, I toked up on coffee, I kept the movie in context with its 1939 release date. I even told myself, "Self, if Johnny Cade (Ralph Macchio) from the Outsiders loved reading GWTW, with all that Stay Gold business, there must be something to it. Do it for Johnny!" I tried I tried I tried!!! Sadly, Gone With the Wind was just not that great.

The first side of the DVD held my interest. But after Georgia's in shambles and Scarlett vowes to smear her stankiest excrement over everyone if that's what it takes to avoid hunger, this story lags and drags. She does make a compelling anti-hero, but only to a point. The hours go by, the interest goes bye-bye.

While there are some memorable zingers, a lot of the dialog is silly, the sets often look fake (especially the skies), and Gable honestly wasn't in top form. But...that great pullback crane shot of the dead is perty dern good.

Maybe I need to see that Scarlett miniseries to really "get it." Or someone should do an all Muppet cast remake. Piggy and Kermit as Scarlett and Rhett.

Stay gold!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Time to defend a classic
Review: Now, I love both this movie and this book. I would recommend it to everyone not only because I think that most people would like it, but also because it's a classic that I think everyone should see at least once.

However, my opinion matters little (except to me!), although many share it. It received 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture over The Wizard of Oz. Both critics and viewers have heralded it as a classic for over 60 years. For those cynics who believe that it may have been a masterpiece for it's time, but is now unimpressive, it was recently ranked the second best film of all time by the American Film Institute, second only to Citizen Kane. It has continued to impress, inspire, and touch people all over. It is regarded as a classic, one of the best films ever made-and by many, the best.

I also have rebuttals to a few of the attacks thrown at the movie. People have been complaining about the length of it, saying that 5 hours is too long to sit through a movie. Well, while I would be willing to sit through 5 hours of a movie that is able to stay interesting for the full length of the movie, Gone with the Wind does not run 5 hours. It runs 3:53 and each minute is important. Also, people have been complaining that it is not shown in widescreen, but the fact of the matter is that wide screen wasn't even introduced until 1952, and wasn't widely used until even after that. The reason they started to release movies in widescreen is because the new invention, the television, was taking business away from the movie industry, so to fight back, they made the movie screen larger than ever, giving people a reason to get out of their houses and back into the movie theatres. One thing I do agree with is that there could be more extras on the DVD. Of course this was one of the earlier DVDs released, before they started getting really generous with the extras, but I do wish they would release a new version with interesting extras.

Of course not everyone is going to like this movie. Is it historically accurate? I couldn't really answer that question, but I do believe that on the whole it is. Does it require some willing suspension of disbelief? Certainly. While there is a lot to say for movies that are accurate down to the tiniest detail, there is more to a movie than that. It is the heart and soul that touches people. And those who watch movies only to scrutinize and look for mistakes are missing the point. When watching a movie-- any movie, it is necessary to let yourself be swept up in what is happening. This is not a documentary, nor does it claim to be an authority on life during and after the civil war. It is a fictional story with fictional characters and events that happens to use the tumultuous time of the civil war as a vehicle for an interesting plot. I can't speak for Margaret Mitchell, but I believe that she did not write the story in this time because she wanted to do a thorough history of the south during the war. I believe she used this particular time and place because before the war started, Tara was a perfect place-the perfect foil to the destruction that the war brought on. To quote (or paraphrase if I don't get it absolutely right) Ashley Wilkes, "Most of the miseries of the world were caused by war." Also, Tara before the war represented everything about Scarlet O'Hara's life growing up. She was, quite frankly, a spoiled brat who grew up never knowing what it was to go without anything. Why would we sit through almost 4 hours of watching a character like this? To see her courage and strength tested over and over again, with her overcoming every obstacle in sight. She may not be the most likeable of characters, but she sure is one of the strongest and most resilient ever to grace the screen, and that is something we can admire. Of course, Scarlet is not the only reason to watch this film. In fact, people would probably argue that her character is the worst part of the film (although I would disagree). This movie is about the people of an era. About who can survive hardships and why. Other characters, such as Rhett, Melanie, and Ashley (who people often critique as being one-dimensional-and again, I would disagree), Ellen O'Hara (Scarlet's mother), or Gerald O'Hara (Scarlet's father), the servants, or countless other less appreciated but noble characters such as Ashley's father that remain in the background of the film, make it worth watching. Plus, to see how much the world changed just in one generation humbles me. Not only that, but I would recommend the movie to anyone if just to see the beautiful costumes and scenery!

Whatever the reason, this is a movie one should see. Some people just won't like it and, while I disagree with them, they are not wrong unless they say that the movie sucks or was poorly made. There are just too many sources that disagree with that. Speaking as an 18-year-old girl (who has loved the movie for at least 8 or 9 years), I believe that my generation has become so accustomed to bad teenage movies that only have enough content to fill an hour and a half that many people's attention spans are just long enough to accommodate that, and they can no longer appreciated a long movie with so much to say. That is not to say that a movie has to be long to be good, but it just so happens that this, along with many, has 4 hours worth of action, wisdom, and entertainment. Watch this movie and allow yourself to learn something.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My all time favorite movie is even better on DVD
Review: It is wonderful to see this movie in digital format- the picture is amazingly clear, and the sound is even better. Since this movie is so old, the sound is lower than most movies, but in DVD format comes across very clear. The scenery is also well suited for the DVD format, and scenes such as the wounded in Atlanta are truly brought to new light.

I do think it is interesting that they still leave in the intermission on these old movies. I realize they are part of the film, but it is still kind of funny. At least with the DVD version, you can easily skip this. On the video version (at least the older ones), it is at the first part of the second tape- not a good idea.

This is definitely an essential DVD!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A question, not a review
Review: Obviously a great movie, but this is just a question, not a review:
Is the 1.33:1 full screen aspect ratio on this movie the original one? I'd love to hear from anyone who knows. Also on other major, but much more recent movies (for ex. Eyes Wide Shut by Kubrick), why do they come out on full screen? Did Kubrick make it that way, or was it altered, and why? I've been wondering about this for a while. Many thanks for enlightening me!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AN EARLY INDIE-FILM FROM THE 30's!
Review: Selznick-International was one of the first independent movie studios in the 1930's, which makes "GWTW" one of the earliest and most successful independent films. Selznick eventually needed help from his Father in-law Louis B. Mayer which explains why MGM had the rights to the film after Selznick went defunct in the 1940's. "GWTW" is certainly Hollywood's greatest pageant, a feast for the eyes and ears. Martin Scorcese said that films of old Hollywood still have a way of lighting up that fantasy part of our brains, and he is right. It's cinematic theatricality at its very best. The film sags a bit post-intermission, and becomes less dramatic history and more soap opera, but that's what happens when you try to cram a 1000+ page book into a nearly 4 hour film. The only recent film to come close to "GWTW's" sweep and romance is "Titanic".
The DVD print is good, but the DVD is sorely in need of more extras: there are no interviews, only one trailer, and no screen tests. Perhaps a future DVD could contain that great 1990 documentary by Turner, "The Making of GWTW" narrated by Christopher Plummer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best movie of all time!!!
Review: I believe this movie to be the best movie of all time, because everyone I've shown it to can relate. It's romantic, some-what funny, and an all around good movie. This is one of those movies that everyone should at least see once.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The only movie to ever own
Review: In over 30 years of movie making, none has come close to matching, let alone defeating, "Gone With The Wind" as the best movie ever produced. Scarlett O'Hara is the heroine evryone loves to hate and Rhett Butler is the man all women detest, but all men idolize. The costuming is superb and the characters all have depth. This has been my favorite movie for 20 years and will continue to be so for more to come.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the finest movies ever made
Review: I read the one star review and it seems political correctness has taken hold of some. - - - This is undoubtedly one of the finest movies made with outstanding performances by the cast. It is filled with a rich blend of characters, so complex in nature. I hadn't seen this movie in many years, and I like it even more than the first time I saw it. Absolutely outstanding !

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An all time favorite!
Review: There will probably never be another movie made like this one!
I remember the first time I saw this movie...I was blown away!
It was worth sitting through. Scarlett is my favorite character.
She's never happy where she is and longs to find something that will never be. She's strong when she has to be and does what she has to in order to get what she wants at the time. In the end, she discovers that what she had been searching for was right in front of her all along. That is so true to life! I have watched this over and over and I love it more everytime. I give the highest recommendation for this movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Historically inaccurate and racist
Review: The portrayal of African Americans in this movie is a disgrace. The movie is glorifying the old south and thus glorifying slavery. When I watched this racist flick--I rooted for General Sherman! Slavery was wrong--the south was wrong--the right side won--get over it! This is like a sugar coated "Birth of a Nation". (and the story is boring as well)


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