Rating: 
Summary: Kubrick and Widescreen
Review: Apart from "Spartacus" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," Kubrick generally filmed everything in full frame. Film projectors have no aperture plate for 1.33:1 (full frame) so filmmakers usually either mat it themselves in the lab (which covers up boom mikes), shoot with a 1.85 lens or they leave it up to the projectionist to frame it correctly into a 1.85:1 format. Sometimes, in a movie, the people's heads will look kind of low and the bottom of a boom mike can be spotted...this is the projectionist failing the filmmaker (subsequently, in some video releases, such as "The Grifters" without matting the print for video, the boom mike can clearly bee seen). So, in Kubrick's case, what you see on the DVD and the home video IS what he shot. As far as the digital people...yeah, sure it would have been nice for WB to step up to the challenge and release the film in its unaltered content but seeing the people copulate or not seeing them copulate won't sway the average viewer towards or away from this film. For those people who are trashing the DVD on that point aren't doing the memory of Kubrick any good by becoming one of the many Oprahites who flocked to the film to see a carnal peep show. The film is a powerful masterpiece, CGI or no CGI and it looks fine full frame...just like the majority of his films.
Rating:
Summary: Why are my friends so stupid?
Review: Most misunderstood film of 1999? This is one of the most misunderstood films ever. I have gotten into at least a dozen bitter disputes about this film. I'm ready to get into a dozen more. I wish the dvd was widescreen, I wish it wasn't censored. Still, the trailer for EWS is better than any five movies in 1999.(Magnolia Redwards)
Rating: 
Summary: From tedious to humorous
Review: Kubrick tried to establish a unique pace to the dialog that bordered on tedium, at times to the point of being laugh-able. Tom C. was mis-cast, Nicole K. was typically brilliant. Annoying minimalist piano sound track, putrid script, agonizing, purpose-less scenes. Will anyone dare say this is Kubrick's worst work, as it was sadly his last? Don't be fooled into believing this is an artsy, intriguing movie by a controversial director. It really stunk! If you like Cruise and Kidman together get Far and Away or even Days of Thunder instead. Yes, Eyes Wide Shut was that bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Take out the Trash!
Review: Give me a break. This was one of the most boring and annoying movies I've ever seen. The music was irritating, the dialog was ridiculous and the "Masked Party" was comical instead of erotic. I thought the beginning was interesting but somewhere between the first prostitute and the orgy the storyline lost my interest. The part where the costume shop owner turns his daughter into a prostitute overnight was a real gem. What garbage! The only reason I gave it one star was because the acting was decent.
Rating:
Summary: "They did a bad, bad thing!"
Review: There are not to many dialog driven movies out there that are written by someone with, evidently, very little to say. "Eyes Wide Shut" is one of these, however. If Stanley Kubrick had not of died after making this film, someone would probably have threatened his life! On second thought, maybe they should investigate this. This is one of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune of seeing. It was definitely the worst Kubrick film ever.It's hard to imagine a film with this many beautiful women in it (especially Nicole Kidman,) not to mention the acting talent (Kidman, Cruise,) as being a waste of time, but it is. The plot could be accomplished in about 30 minutes if all of the meaningless things had been left out. You can skip the first half-hour and not be lost at all in the story. The entire segment with the costume store clerk adds NOTHING to the plot of the movie. What's more, all of the dialog and action feels like your watching the movie in slow motion. (Hit your FF button and you'll notice that most characters appear to be moving at normal speed! This is no joke... try it.) Lead characters do not seem to change at all through out the film. They react to things in one way, then, when those things change, the characters are still reacting the same way, as if the changes had not occurred. The worst part? The story is completely anti-climactic! Do sit waiting for an ending that will make all the convoluted items come together because you're not going to get one. The most annoying part for me was this nasty habit that all the characters seemed to have: One character would say a line, only to have it immediately repeated, as a question, by the other character. Example: Character one says: "You can't do that!" Character two says: "I can't do that?" This little bit of abrasion occurs about 1000 times in an already exasperating film. I never tell people not to watch a film. You need to make you're own assessment. I strongly suggest that you rent before you buy where "Eyes Wide Shut" is concerned. Either way, don't say that you weren't warned.
Rating: 
Summary: Enticing but awkward
Review: A Kubrick film is always a rewarding visual and psychologically-challenging treat, but in this case, I believe the pairing of Kidman and Cruise somewhat marred the experience, for several reasons. Tom Cruise is actually quite refreshing and I'm glad to see him pursue these increasingly challenging and morally ambiguous roles, but it is hard to approach the characters 'Bill and Alice' as anything but a mild distortion of their Hollywood personas. Kidman has an awkward vocal delivery, which I'm sure she was directed to project to fulfill some Kubrickian ideal, but it seems more awkward in a poor acting/undefined role sense than in a mysterious, thought-provoking, humanistic sense. Also, Cruise's credibility and delivery tendes to wane in the presence of his wife. Cruise's underworld journey is fascinating and suspenseful, however, and my fiancee found it somewhat scary. Despite the abundance of female nudity, it's effect is largely clinical and only vaguely erotic, which I'm sure was no accident.
Rating: 
Summary: A dark movie with beautiful images
Review: Ok, I was probably one of the few who saw this movie on opening day. Yep, I bought into the hype and thought this was going to be something BIG. Although not a box office smash, this movie did do respectively and now it's been released on DVD/VHS. My first thought is, why so long after it left theaters? It is not like they did any alterations with the video releases... Anyway...ok, we all know the premise...Tom Cruise's character, Bill Harford becomes insanely jealous of his wifes almost infidelity a summer ago. It leaves him in a cathardic state and he stumbles out in the New York night life to take it all in. Once out in the night he stops by a jazz club and sees a former fellow med student. This is where the movie gets a little bizarre. A journey begins that takes Bill into the dark world of sex and violence. The way Kubrick filmed this movie is incredible, the darkness, the shadows, the colors, (and to think it was all replicated on a London sound stage!), the costumes. Eyes Wide Shut proved to be a cinematic box office dud, but take a walk on the wild side, rent the movie, see for yourself, the movie leaves a lot for the imagination, Nicole looks great, Tom looks great, the whole movie looks great. It may be bizarre and you might think what they heck did I just watch, but sit back and relax and see what took a 1 1/2 years to film and what became one of the most celebrated directors last films to grace the silver screen.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated Movie frustrates the viewer
Review: I was very disappointed in this film. I was really excited to see it to begin with but it didn't live up to its admittedly alluring advertising. The problem with the movie is that it leaves TOO MANY LOOSE ENDS! I also found the abundant nudity (which in typical sexist style was only female) to be a major turn off. Over all the film is a total waste of time. Go Rent Donald Sutherland's Don't look now, or Basic Instinct if you want a sexy mysterious movie.
Rating:
Summary: A movie full of clichés
Review: This movie reminds me of Luis Bunuel's "Belle de jour", for it explores the same kind of sexual experiences and questioning from an upperclass point of view. Yet the sexual issue in this movie seems very outmoded to me and very disconnected from our modern society. Its main theme is marital fidelity, which, I think, is no longer a great concern in modern litterature and cinema, and it exploits this theme in a rather superficial manner. Furthermore : the couple in the movie experiences things that would have compromised the harmony in any other couple, but seems not to be affected by these experiences at the end of the movie. The're is an obvious lack of emotional intensity both in the dialogues and in the way Kubrick choosed to present the situations. From an artistic point of view, some cuts are questionable (like the one in the batroom, with the Chris Isak's song), but the movie has a very interesting visual atmosphere. It's certainly not as good as Kubrick's previous movies.
Rating:
Summary: Full Screen Yes Americanized No - Kubrick said so
Review: I have been reading other people's comments on how could those people release this film full screen instead of letterbox. This is the DVD so I expect this and that. Well, let me explain. Stanley Kubrick was not very happy with the way his films were being destroyed by the networks when they got to the TV, so starting with The Shinning, he began shooting his films FULL FRAME. Since then all his films are full frame. If you will look again at The Shinning, for example, you will see in the first scene that you can see the helicopter's shadow on the bottom of the screen. This was not visible in theaters because the film was altered for widescreen instead of the other way around. In essence, what you are seeing in the Eyes Wide Shut DVD is a copy of the actual full frame film print. Now that you know why it's full frame, please do complain about the americanized version of the film on DVD. I saw the real thing in theaters and want the real thing on DVD. It is insulting to go to a theater and see one version of the film (in Puerto Rico we got the European Version), and get to the DVD version which has become known for the features, director's cuts, and uncensored cuts and find it is not even the version you saw but a stupidly and awkwardly edited version of the film that is meant to insult american audiences. I guess they just gave new meaning to the word added footage. In conclusion, this film is excellent. It is supposed to be full frame. Don't buy this sadly edited version, and wait for the real thing to come out.
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