Home :: DVD :: Drama :: General  

African American Drama
Classics
Crime & Criminals
Cult Classics
Family Life
Gay & Lesbian
General

Love & Romance
Military & War
Murder & Mayhem
Period Piece
Religion
Sports
Television
The Thomas Crown Affair

The Thomas Crown Affair

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent, exciting, one of best movies made.
Review: I saw the original in 1968 and the new movie playing now. The first one I believe is better. It has been 30 years and I can still feel the excitement in the chess playing scene. Fabulous!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Second best McQueen movie
Review: I think this was a great movie. It ranks just below the great escape which I feel is the best movie of all time. The idea of recreating this movie using Pierce Bronson is ridiculous. I think the swine who thought the idea up should be casturated, shot and left for dead in a desert. This fiend finds that it is the only punishment suitible for such a hienous crime. FIEND

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Chess was never this much fun
Review: I was interested in seeing this film after I saw the remake, especially when I heard so many people say the original was so much better. After having seen both, I'd call it a toss up (both were good!).

Actually, the remake was only loosely based on the original. The original is about a rich guy who knocks off a bank, and the remake about a rich guy who steals art.

This film is well crafted and though the story is far fetched (as in the remake) it's entertaining. Norman Jewison does a terrific job of directing. His visual interpretations, camera angles and dramatic effects are timeless. He overuses the split screen concept a bit, but we need to remember that in 1968 this was fairly new technology and he was probably enamoured with the novelty of it. Think of how much `morphing' was being used when it was first developed.

Probably the best scene involved the chess match between Thomas (Steve McQueen) and Vicki (Faye Dunaway). It was far more erotic than all the scenes where Rene Russo was running around naked in the remake.

The acting was excellent, with Dunaway taking top honors as the stop-at-nothing insurance investigator who literally gets her man. Steve McQueen played the rich macho ego maniac to perfection. His only minus was his phony victory laugh, which was overacted and overused. Paul Burke stayed appropriately but effectively on the sidelines as the police detective.

In comparing the two films, I'd have to say it's about even. The remake had a more inventive and interesting story, replacing the bank robbery with an art heist, but it was also more ridiculous in the final disposition of the stolen painting. The original had better direction and use of the camera, while the remake was much better in use of costumes, props and sets in recreating the opulent lifestyle. Clearly the remake benefited from 30 years of technological improvement in sound and film quality.

The remake was more self indulgent, especially in the sexual area. The McQueen interpretation of Crown was more realistic than Brosnan's conflicted and emotional distraught version. Each reflected their respective times, but McQueen's character was a better representation of the timeless arrogance of the ultra rich. I have to give Rene Russo a slight edge as the investigator. She gave the character more complexity and range. Paul Burke was far superior to Denis Leary as the cop.

The ending of the original was definitely superior, though each ending was really true to the characters' personalities as portrayed.

I gave this film an 8/10. If you like classic films, and you enjoyed the remake, you will probably enjoy this one as well.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Watch the first and last 15 minutes for the movie!
Review: I was really into this film right from the start. The first 15 minutes film, I forgot I was watching Thomas Crown and thought I was in the middle of a James Bond flick! But after the initial beginning, there was a BIG letdown and the story simmers into a tireless love story that seems like a ripoff from ENTRAPMENT! The last fifteen minutes of the film were first rate so if you get this DVD, watch the beginning and then skip to the end. Believe me the middle is something you can forget about.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I'm still watching this classic movie after 30 years.
Review: I was sixteen when I saw this in the movie theater - and I still love everything about it. The cinematography - the fashion - the Michel Legrand soundtrack - the story - and of course, Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Their acting was minimal because they were at the core of who they were and it was simply a question of who was going to change. The standout to me that is never mentioned is the performance of Jack Weston. He was the best. "Say goodnight, Irwin, dear"...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sauve and Chic
Review: I won't recap the plot here, or it will spoil the surprises if you think this is anything like the 1999 Pierce Brosnan "Thomas Crown Affair." I will share this... you need to watch this movie, then Audrey Hepburn in "How to Steal a Million," THEN watch the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair. See which is YOUR favorite.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect Role For McQueen
Review: McQueen is magnetic and brilliant. Never has the screen seen an actor who says so much without saying a thing. No, I haven't seen the remake and...frankly, I don't want to. McQueen makes the antisocial Crown his own. Quality entertainment folks!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: McQueen at his best.
Review: McQueen steals the film as the man who has everything but wants more. One of the best films of the 60's.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great steve McQueen movie.....must see
Review: must see....McQueen is great....faye 's ok....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Underappreciated Dunaway
Review: Of course, McQueen is ultimately going to dominate the film. After all, it is called "The Thomas Crown Affair" and not "The Miss Vicki Affair." Yet, it may be that Faye ultimately "got" the core of her character, whereas there was an element of unease and uncertainty about McQueen's performance, probably stemming from his casting against type (and the first choice for the role being S. Connery). I have seen this movie described as the first time the "bad" guy got away with his crime AND the audience were rooting for him to do so. True and remarkable enough. But note also that Dunaway's response to her realization that, yes, he has gotten away with it and taken her for a ride (etc.) to boot: she laughs uproariously both with astonishment and joy. So, as far as the existentialist statement is concerned, her reaction is equally as crucial as McQueen's action. This film, along with "Chinatown" and "Network," surely ranks as one of the best female performances in the era of film (plus the bonus of Dunaway's stunning good looks).


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates