Chinatown

Rating:
Summary: Excellent acting, direction, and writing
Review: They say directors study Citizen Kane, and screenwriters study Chinatown. Not sure if this is true, but Chinatown is great DVD to own, with a smattering of extras. The restrospective on Chinatown is nice, but I always say a DVD is not complete without a commentary. The picture is good.

Rating:
Summary: just a note on sound system
Review: Chinatown comes with two different mixes: a new Dolby 5.1 mix and the original Mono in a new restored Dolby 1.0 mix. If you have good front speakers and a multi-channel console which allows you to choose between 5.1, Stereo, and Mono, then I suggest to switch it to Mono, select "Original Mono" under "Set Up" in the DVD menu, and listen to it this way. It may not be all-encompassing like 5.1 (but then again this DVD's sound mix is not very wide) but it's the way it was meant to be listened to, and all of the original soundtrack was made for Mono, including Jerry Goldsmith's incredible score. The film is supposed to be in the style of the greatest noirs of the 30s and 40s (as is evidenced by the famous "old style" Paramount logo at the beginning) and it really does sound best when heard the way the old films were heard. Trust me. I've tried it with both 5.1 and Mono and the Mono mix really does sound better, but try them both if you like, and see. Otherwise, the film is totally superb.

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the greatest movie ever made
Review: I love this movie. It has all the classic elements of detective and suspense movies, but better. The whole film creates its own special atmosphere that really digs into your mind. Nicholson and Dunaway's acting is unbelieveable, and the plot has so many twists and surprises you can call off all bets. See it, for a real cinematic experience.

Rating:
Summary: Superlative ¿Noir¿
Review: "Chinatown" is a faultlessly executed rendering of a steamy mix of scandal and corruption that came to be known generically as "West-Coast Politics." The movie is fleshed out with familiar elements: the backstage powerbroker who has a thirst for water, land and, (above all), control; the hard-boiled-but-decent private dick whose hubris ultimately wreaks havoc on the innocent; the beautiful socialite desperately trying to conceal the horrors of the past.

Jack Nicholson as private-eye J. J. Gittes provides us with the hallmark rakish charm and unforgettable gumshoe dialog, ("Mrs. Mulwray, I damn near lost my nose... and I LIKE it... I like BREATHING through it!"). It is through the appealing persona of Gittes, (he is in virtually every scene), that we see an insignificant "matrimonial" job unfold, first into a case of mistaken identity with humorous undertones, then unravel into a political/psychological nightmare.

Faye Dunaway radiates the perfect mixture of strength and vulnerability as Mrs. Mulwray; (notice how she can't pronounce the word "father" without stuttering... a sad foreshadowing of events to come).

John Houston as Noah Cross is one of the most compelling villains in cinema history. A stewy admixture of avuncular charm and loathsomeness, Cross seems to embody what we should recognize intuitively in modern politics: The charming and treacherous liar.

This cinematic gem employs a host of memorable secondary characters - watch how Polanski, in his cameo, wears an expression that quickly shifts from amusement to fury after Gittes refers to him as a midget. Everyone, from Investigating Detective Escobar and his hostile cronies, to Gittes' petulant office secretary, or "Morty," the L.A. County Examiner, (who has one of the movie's funniest lines), provides proper measures of banal levity or self-deception to the story.

As one who has nearly worn-out a VHS copy of this great film, the DVD version was eagerly anticipated. This new version is not disappointing, particularly with the restoration of the soundtrack. This movie is a lesson in great filmmaking.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Films Ever Made
Review: _Chinatown_ is a very nearly perfect gem of a film. So few detective/mystery stories are ever attempted, largely because of the difficulty of effectively capturing the time period. But _Chinatown_ pulls this off, almost without effort. We get a believable glimpse at life in LA as it was in a simpler time, the 30s and 40s. And the story is an incredibly layered one, starting with the simple mechanics of what's happening to the diverted water, eventually blowing up into something along the lines of a Greek tragedy.

This was the film that really made Jack Nicholson a star and Faye Dunaway is memorable as Evelyn Mulwray. Whatever happened to her acting career? John Huston is the perfect embodiment of evil and I love the way he purposely mispronounces Nicholson's character's name.

The DVD is a great presentation, with lush jazz on the menu screens. There are some nice behind the scenes interviews with Roman Polanski, Robert Evans, and Robert Towne, whose screenplay won a well-deserved Oscar. If anything, some might wish for a more extensive, comprehensive package of extras.

Rating:
Summary: Evil wins in the end....
Review: This is the best Polanski movie I have seen, although I like most of his other works. But the first time I saw this movie, I was so awed by Polanki's masterpiece. The whole movie was based on the subject of water, as with everything else in the movie. If you watch the movie carefully, you will find that this movie has a lot of subtle meanings relating to the Bible,and as typically Polanski, Evil wins in the end. Don't just see this moive as a LA Confidential...it has far more deeper meanings, something you have to sense for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I think this is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Jack Nicholson does an excellent job in this movie. In this movie he is not a weird guy, like in "As Good As It Gets". Like I said, one of the best movies I have seen. Defenate watch again in my book.

Rating:
Summary: Not one to forget
Review: After reading some of the more negative reviews of this movie, I noticed that one theme was their reason for a low rating: the ending. Well, to those people I ask, "What did you expect?" Should they have all happily walked off into the sunset? Should Evelyn and Noah have just made up? Should they have escaped? No. Of course not. If the movie teaches us nothing less, it's that the world can often (and almost always is) against us.

Take the scene when Jake first meets Evelyn. He learns a crude joke at the barbershop and can't wait to relate it to his employees, unaware that she has opened the door to his office, and is standing right behind him. Jake's employees try to warn him, but he shakes them off. With this scene, Polanski meant to show how often Jake got in over his head. How impetuous he was. How he overestimated his abilities. And how he never truly thought something over before diving head-first into it. He is flawed and he thinks he's perfect. He believes whatever happens to him now is nothing compared to all the stuff that happened to him when he was a beat cop patrolling Chinatown. And he must be punished.

In short, this is simply a great movie that deserved a lot more recognition than it received. A lot of the negative reviews say that it was overrated; it is not overrated, it is a story, made for art, not commercial value. Sometimes stories don't have the happy Hollywood ending, they have the cold, distant ending that makes the viewer reflect on the wondrous art they have just watched.

Rating:
Summary: Better Than Ever
Review: "Chinatown" is astonishing, and the new 25th Anniversary DVD edition more than does justice to this masterwork. A beautiful widescreen transfer of both video and sound, this release will be welcomed by fans of Roman Polanski & Robert Towne's triumph. Even after having seen the film at least a half dozen times, the DVD release was like viewing it for the first time (which I did, at a drive-in theatre in Western Pennsylvania in 1974--so you can imagine the quality improvement!). There are not enough words of praise for this film -- acting, direction, script, casting, art direction, cinematography -- first rate in every way. If you have never seen this film, buy a good DVD player and a new TV with component inputs, gather your very best friends and settle in for a treat. And if you've seen it, but not on DVD, ditto. Supplemental material is also good. Worth every penny.

Rating:
Summary: Buy and keep this one forever
Review: Superb movie, and definetly a keeper. The DVD is of high quality, and contains a great interview with the screenplay writer, producer, and the director. Just waching the movie a few times and the interview is worth the 20 bucks you will spend on this DVD.