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The Way We Were (Special Edition)

The Way We Were (Special Edition)

List Price: $19.94
Your Price: $15.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very truly a classic movie
Review: Barbara Streisand is sweet and naughtily impulsive. Robert Redford is at his charming best. The story is simple, but full of frivolous love and events. The ending is very touching. This was, is and will always be one of my all time favourite movies. Even the music is amazing. The DVD is so clear it does not look like a movie from 1973, it is a very good transfer. I would surely recommend the purchase of this very wonderful DVD. Thank you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Way We Were-right!
Review: I was there. It was the late 1960's and it was the best time to fall in love. Many of the scene's, especially the ones on campus, Schenectady's Union College bring back the best memories.
This movie is great and made these two wonderful stars even more
wonderful. I wish they could do a movie where they are rejoined
in this same format.
Watch it often, you will get a sense of real love and devotion from them to you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A 4.9 DVD on a scale of 1 to 5-Still Makes Me Cry
Review: The Way We Were still makes me cry nearly 30 years after seeing it for the first time. The movie basically explores the cliche "opposites attract" as Golden Boy Hubble (Redford) and Communist Sympathizer Katie (Streisand) fall deeply in love and marry. But can their passion survive their differences? Ah, that's the story... The movie takes place in the 40's and 50's with beautiful sets and wonderful costumes.
If you have never seen The Way We Were and you enjoy romance, melodrama, and/or historical drama, then you should buy or rent it. (The weepiness may make this a tough sell for some men and women who dislike this genre.) If you have seen The Way We Were, then you should still rent or buy the DVD. The extra features are outstanding. Sydney Pollack's (the director) commentary is insightful and informative. He talks about everything from camera angles to Redford's hesitance about doing the part. The documentary is also beautiful and a "must see" for The Way We Were groupies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I want us to love each other
Review: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than those you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Give yourself away to the sea of life." -Mark Twain

Katie (Barbra Streisand) and Hubbell (Robert Redford) could not be more different. She is an "anti-war" activist, while he is content to write novels and observe life from a distance. When life throws them together at college for the first time, they barely notice one another. Then when Katie finds Hubbell in a club, she uses all her feminine wiles to entice him back into her world. Hubbell seems slightly impressed that she loves his writing and that she has even gone to the trouble to find a copy of his book.

Katie and Hubbell are truly opposites and that is the attraction. It is the whole "liberal" falls for "conservative" story. It is also the "woman-loves-man-more-than-man-loves-woman tragedy." While men are attracted to complex women at times, they often just want someone who is easy going and who can help them find that place of "nothingness." Katie is just "everything." She wants "everything" and to be "everything." She wants to save the world from impending doom.

Katie only sees the need for "world peace" without considering that the freedoms and relative peace she has were the result of wars and sacrifice. She seems to be living in a dream world where everyone loves one another and is happy and equal. She has a very shallow view of communism. Katie lives life as if it is a life-and-death struggle. The needs of the planet come before her romantic interests. She also doesn't realize you are not supposed to drink and smoke while pregnant. There is a way to ruin a child's life!

Hubbell almost seems jaded in some ways. He seems to have observed the world and decided it isn't going to change anytime soon, so why not enjoy life before it passes you by. Life is easier for him. He doesn't seem to be fighting life. The way Katie thinks frustrates him, amuses him and eventually exasperates him. All he wants is just to find pleasure and she is always on the hunt for the better life. She pushes him to the edge of himself. He really just wants a woman who will enjoy life with him.

There is a scene, wow, how can I say it? Poignant doesn't do it justice. It isn't really emotionally intense because it is more of a picture of resolve. It is just an incredible scene where Katie calls Hubbell and asks him to come over and talk to her because he is her best friend and she needs to talk to him about her break up. Of course, they have just broken up and he is her best friend. So, it makes it a very difficult situation. Imagine losing the person you can talk to about anything and someone who you love the most in the world.

The beauty of this movie is in the struggle. Politics aside, this story has enough romance to keep your attention. This is probably a movie that will make a lot more sense while watching it during a war. Especially with what went on at the Academy Awards. At times you have to wonder at the irony of needing war to keep the peace. Ideally we all want peace, but I've always thought that was a dream world. Is Utopia really possible in this life? Still, humans are allowed to dream.

If I had the choice between watching people suffer under a tyrant and believing the world was at peace because there wasn't a war OR watching people attain freedom and knowing it was because of a war and sacrifice, I'd choose "freedom." Freedom is not free. Saying you want peace, makes "you" look good, but it doesn't do a darn thing for someone who doesn't have the freedom even to voice their opinions. I think the real heroes are those men and women who go and set people free from the bondage of their tyrannical governments.

Katie and Hubbell do seem to find peace in the end even if they don't save the world. What a pity they can't save their own world. What they share has such beauty and freedom. Hubbell really does learn to allow Katie just to say what she wants to say and be who she was born to be. Unfortunately, she is a bit intense.

Romantic and Tragic. Maybe some people are only supposed to love each other for a short time even though you wish they could be best friends or partners for life.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: IMPROBABLE ROMANCE AND CLASH OF WILLS STILL HOLDS ITS OWN
Review: Barbra Streisand is Katie - a Jewish, pro-communist sympathizer who fights against political propaganda every chance that she gets. Robert Redford is Hubble Gardner - so Waspish it hurts. The unlikely romance that blossoms between the two is strangely well suited and doomed to tragedy from the start. As with most romantic movies of the 1970's, getting to the end is not as important as the circumstances one has to go through to get there. Here we get a glimpse of the Red Scare of the 1950's and Hollywood's blacklisting. There's also some strangely sympathetic communist overtones that make for an edgy read, given the political climate of the time.
Columbia Tristar has given us "The Way We Were" the way that we want it - in essence, though the print is not without its flaws. Colors can be rich and bold in day time scenes but appear somewhat overly washed out in scenes taking place at night. There's also an excessive amount of film grain and aliasing, shimmering and edge enhancement during one of the night scenes early on, where Streisand and Hubble first swap barbs and become friends. Inconsistancies in the image quality are riddled throughout though I must say that most of what is presented herein is very nicely done. The audio has been remixed but continues to sound strident and unnatural. There are several cases where it even sounds dubbed over. EXTRAS: we get a self-serving making-of that is rather weak and a theatrical trailer. That's pretty much it. For fans of this movie, it's worth the money.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Love Story!!!
Review: "The Way We Were" is one of those wonderful love stories that you watch and instantly get drawn into the film and the characters. I think that Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford did excellent jobs playing two people who fall desperately in love with each other in time where circumstance and political agendas ultimately tore their love apart. This is one of the few love stories where I was okay and understanding of the couple not living happily ever after. Although they were no longer together, you could tell that Steisand's and Redford's characters still shared a lot of love.

I think this is an excellent movie that everyone should watch! I highly recommend it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: OPPOSITES ATTRACT...
Review: This film, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, helped propel Redford to superstardom. While Barbra Streisand was already a superstar, with the release of both The Sting and The Way We Were in 1973, Robert Redford's future in the film industry was assured.

In this film, revolving around the class of 1937, Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) is a strident, political activist who is way to the left. Working her way through college, Katie is not the most popular figure on campus, but rather, the butt of jokes, often at her expense. She is a young, working class, Jewish woman with an edge and a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Humorless and dour, with her wild fro of hair, she is an individualist who is dedicated to causes that she feels will make the world a better place. She does not hesitate to speak her mind. This stance often finds her on the outside looking in.

Hubbell Gardner (Robert Redford), on the other hand, is the quintessential Wasp, living the American dream. Blessed with All-American, golden boy good looks, charm, and grace, burnished by privilege, Hubbell is a poster boy for the old guard. He is a living icon for Wasp values. He is more than the sum of his parts, however, as he is also an aspiring writer with a way with words. While Katie, undeniably, has a crush on him, she despises his world. Hubbell, ever the gentleman, sees a spark in Katie that somehow draws him to her. Yet, while in college they are never more than passing acquaintances.

Years later, they meet up again. This time, Katie has since improved her appearance, and Hubbell has written his first book. Katie is still sweet on Hubbell, and her energy, intensity, and zest for life attract him...This is an entertaining film in which romance and love are played out against a backdrop of historical events... Barbra Streisand, on the other hand, is really just playing the same role that she played in all her early films with an added passion that resonates throughout the film. At times, however, I found her performance grating.

The title song of this film adds to its bittersweet quality and went on to win an Academy Award in 1973 for Best Song." Sung by Ms. Streisand, it became a chart topping hit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Memories...
Review: I first saw this film during its original release. When Katie (Streisand) spied Hubbel (Redford) on that bar stool and the camera man moved in for a close-up, every female in the theater audience let out a sigh. I had never experienced such a reaction before! Conversely, about twenty years later when viewing the scene in Indecent Proposal where Demi Moore's character chooses Woody Harrelson's character over Robert Redford's, every female in the audience laughed in disbelief! Again, an unprecedented but easily understood reaction. I found the love match between Katie and Hubbel unbelievable but I still enjoyed the film tremendously because of its Cinderella quality and historical setting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's Still The Way
Review: The critics had a field day when this was released: "Barbra acts her head off" And they were right.

A simple story, beautifully photographed and lovingly acted, The Way We Were captures your heart. You can't help but feel that Streisand and Redford are close friends of yours. Every line, gesture and action on their parts rings true.

No technical wizardry or special effects (save for a beautifully remastered tape) are used or really needed. Barbra never looked lovlier. The 40's style made people finally forget about Barbra's unique look and realize that she is as beautiful as her voice . . . And What A Voice!

The title song is captured and you understand why it won the Academy Award and became one of her biggest hits.

In total, this is a timeless movie that any serious collector should own.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a classic love story of a love that cannot be
Review: Streisand and Redford star as opposites who attract in 1940s America. They knew each other in college but don't get together until several years later. The college years are in flashback: Streisand is Katie, a wild-haired unpopular political activist, bent on changing the world as she works several jobs t put herself through school; Redford is Hubble Gardner, a golden-haired athlete who runs with the right crowd. Katie notices him the day his story, and not hers, is chosen for a prize in class -- the first line is "In a way, he was like the country he lived in -- everything came too easy for him." The line speaks to her.

They meet several years later -- Katie has changed her hair and is trying to fit into Hubble's world. They have a torrid romance, taking them from NY to California, marriage and pregnancy. But it just isn't easy (maybe compared to the Hundred Year's War, as Hubble points out in a classic line.) As Katie point out to him, she knows she's attractive but "not the right kind of attractive."

Is love about finding the right kind of attractive, or can two opposites make it? Watching Hubble and Katie try to build a life despite their differences will make you cry with joy and grief as you see the qualities for which they love each other tear them apart.


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