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Schindler's List (Full Screen Edition)

Schindler's List (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $26.98
Your Price: $18.89
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Movie - DVD Is Not as Bad as You've Heard
Review: A few months ago I made a list of the best movies not available on DVD and "Schindler's List" was at the top. This is a stunning film on so many levels and I am delighted that it is finally back. I, of course, got the widescreen edition and the picture looks great - crisp and clear, preserving Janusz Kaminski's glorious black and white cinematography. True, it is rather strange that you need to flip the DVD, especially since so many other 3-hour plus films are on one side. The special features should have been put on a separate DVD. You think Spielberg would have wanted to have a direct role in the DVD release, but for some strange reason he did not. No commentary from him either, which is disappointing. Oh, well, perhaps he is too busy with his ultra-left wing Hollywood cronies trying to get a Democrat in the White House. It's a shame when people put politics ahead of their art. But I digress - this still remains a deeply moving, beautifully made epic. It's one of the best looking movies of the '90s and maybe of the last fifty years. In a time when anti-Semitism once again seems to be not only tolerated but fashionable, it remains one of the single most important films ever made. This should be mandatory viewing in every school everywhere. A real triumph.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spielberg's Masterpiece On DVD, Without The Extras Though
Review: MOVIE: This is what you call a director's personal masterpiece. For Steven Spielberg it was this, for Roman Polanski it was The Pianist, and for Peter Jackson it was the Lord Of The Rings films. The film is so well made that it doesn't just open your eyes to the tragedy of the Holocaust, but it opens up the story of Oskar Schindler. Schindler was a member of the Nazi party but he did not live to kill all beings inferior to specifications set by Adolf Hitler. Schindler decided to take this war as an opportunity to become wealthy but in the midst of it all he realized that his workers were more than workers, they were people. Schindler became emotionally involved and ended up saving many lives during this time. The movie is powerful and does an excellent job at portraying the trueness of these historical characters. Ralph Fiennes's portrays Amon Goethe, one of the most chilling and powerful performance of his career. Schindler's List is not just some movie that tries to show its audience the horrors and suffering of the Jews, but instead uses the Holocaust as a backdrop for this amazing true tale. The emotional journey of Schindler who is excellently portrayed by Liam Neeson is so incredible that it really emphasizes the saying of "one person can make a difference". Some scenes are difficult to watch but speak the truth. The movie is brilliant because it speaks the truth and for once the truth is all we need, not some fictional story of one man's journey to save hundreds of lives. The life of Oskar Schindler shows us that one man can indeed make a significant difference.

VIDEO: Surprisingly Universal delivered a very crisp transfer. There was only one scene I remember where I saw a very dark heavy line come across the screen, but I think that was irreparable. Otherwise very well done. The widescreen is 1.85:1, so if you have a 16X9 TV then you will have no black bars, and for 4:3 ratio TV's you will have thin bars, not thick.

AUDIO: There is DTS track on the film but I feel it wasn't needed, and I do feel it was waste since it leaves little rooms for extras, but the sound on the other hand is perfect.

PACKAGING / EXTRAS: I bought the DVD giftset which comes in a custom made plexiglass case. Inside you take out a slip-sleeve and out falls the DVD case, a book which is a collection of pictures from the film, a limited edition film cell, and a certificate of authenticity. When the disc first came out the suggested retail price was $79.95, but it seems Universal found out that no one was willing to pay a price so ridiculous so the price apparently dropped to $34.98, but at places such as Amazon you can get for much less. The set also comes with the Soundtrack. As goes for the extras all we get is a decent documentary about the actual Jews who were part of Schindler's list, and then a promotional advertisement turned documentary about the history of the NOAH foundation, a charity foundation for the survivors. Sorry to say that's it, but the film itself is worth the money, and if you got the extra few bucks then go for the gift set. I'm still angry at Spielberg for not taking a more personal approach to the DVD in terms of the film itself, the times we do see him in the two pieces it feels like he was forced into doing it almost. Pathetic in terms of extras but otherwise a smart investment for your collection.

DVD SCORE: (7/10)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A two sided disk and a lousy package hurt the experience
Review: I purchased a five disk DVD Changers so I wouldn't have to get up halfway through a 3hr film and change disk. It's great watching LOTR, DUNE, War and Peace and the like when I just press a button and the disk changes and picks right up. Now we get he outragiously overpriced single disk Shindlers List which forces you to open your DVD player and flip the disk (if you can read the microscopic printing in the center to know which side is which.) And then there's the glue all over the back of the cover that the display flap is adheared with, how do you get that sticky mess off? They need to study the LOTR Extended Version Trilogy to figure out how to do this right.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW
Review: Oskar Schindler,was a Nazi, german war businessman who employed as many Jews as possible in his factories so they would be spared of executions. It is another movie on Jews but this is the very best after "Life is beautiful". Watching this movie means getting through the TV screen into WWII and automatically become a haunted Jew.
Directed by a great director. Played by born-talented actors, this movie is a MUST to every home that cares on building a better and safer world for us all.

"ENJOY" the moral story as the movie "can not" possibly be enjoyed!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Poor DVD Authoring
Review: So, it's a DVD-18 (double-sided, dual-layered). That's OK, although I would have preferred if they had done a 2-disc single-sided dual-layered set instead. Double-sided DVD's have a tendency to get scratched more easily, and I sometimes have trouble reading the tiny print telling you which side is which (printed around the hub).

Here's my problem with the DVD, though.... When you switch sides, there is no option available to choose a soundtrack. It simply defaults to Dolby Digital 5.1 English. To select the soundtrack, you must go to the main menu on side 2 and select your language. So much for Spanish and French! If you select DTS 5.1 English, then the DTS trailer plays again before taking you back to the movie, which is a bit disruptive. That is just sloppy authoring. At least on the 4-disc editions of the Lord Of The Rings films, there is a link to Audio Setup before taking you back to the movie.

Also, I would have preferred some supplemental info that pertained to the making of the movie in addition to what is offered here.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Must See
Review: Frankly, I'm just ordering the DVD now, but I wanted to add one thing to all these reviews. This is the ONLY movie I ever saw in a theatre where no one -- and I mean no one -- got up out of their seats for over three hours! This is an absolutely spellbounding film, one of the best ever made! I can't wait to add this DVD to my collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Flawed Masterpiece
Review: Here's the part where I say how great Schindler's List is. It's beautifully shot, revealing, raw, moving, brilliantly acted and directed, and makes the appearance of one of Hollywood's finest masterpieces of all time.
Now here's the part where I explain why Schindler's List is one of the biggest and most overlooked pieces of propaganda ever made. Was I supposed to like Schindler in the end just because his concious won him over? He was a Nazi, and in essense, a traitor. Most people do not know that the actual Schindler sold that gold ring given to him by his workers for alcohol. Yes, what he did was great, but for the Jews to call him righteous is criminal. He wasn't a good man, and I did not sympathize by the end of this film.
Second, this movie demonizes the German people. Amon Goeth was one of the meanest villains ever presented on screen, and this movie made it seem as if his Nazi superiors let him get away with this nonsense. In actuality, he was charged with brutality by his own people. But this was conveniently left out of the film. I wonder why....
When someone makes a movie that gives the Germans their story to tell, someone let me know. Until then, Stephen Spielberg can keep his sad propaganda.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Movie - Big Price Drop
Review: My copy of this superb movie is in the post so I have still to recieve it and to my horror the price has reduced from $55.99 to $24.49! Rating it with 5 stars because I have already viewed a friends copy.

Anyway, the issue of splitting the film across two sides is a no-brainer. The compression required to accommodate a film of this size, with the soundtracks would be somewhat more disturbing than turning over the disk once during the entire movie. When the next video format is released it will provide ample space for this type of movie, on one side of a disk, so we can all go to Amazon and order it again!

Just enjoy the movie, there are bigger things to get upset about.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Now I am truly speechless...
Review: What a wonderful world we live in! You know, the one where people give an excellent film poor reviews because during the course of 3 hours and a bit, they have to actually GET UP once AND walk five paces to flip over a DVD... Poor things, how could the movie studio do this to them! And this while they have to endure watching so much real-life, heart-wrenching suffering caused by probably the most horrendous event in modern history.

Lazy slobs... If this is an issue for you, don't waste your obviously dangerously low energy reserves to clutter this review board with nonsense.

Great film, one of the classics of our time. Not suitable for young children, obviously, but almost required viewing for adults. The cheap packaging is disappointing, but I'll just treat it more carefully.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 2-Sided=Good
Review: Not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet, but this is a double-sided, double-layer DVD. It shouldn't be compared to other "flippers" out there because it contains roughly twice the information.

In other words, this is the equivalent of a 2-disc edition like the LOTR Extended Editions. You can't fit a film that goes well over 3 hours into a single-sided DVD without seriously sacrificing quality.


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