Shenandoah

Rating:
Summary: UNIVERSAL - PLEASE! - NO MORE SUBSTANDARD TRANSFERS!
Review: Shenandoah is one of a handful of thrilling western epics that James Stewart appeared in during the mid-1950's. It's full of sweeping expanse, wagons-west adventure and stark, beautiful cinematography that makes one wish for a western landscape that, in reality, never truly existed.
Universal Studios has developed a rather nasty track record with their catalogue titles ever since the introduction of DVD. In a nutshell, the powers that be seem to think that "title attraction" alone is enough to guarentee sales, hence rarely does Universal put its best foot forward or, heaven forbid, go all out with a special edition of some of their great classic films. Long story short - if they can give us full frame editions of "Death Becomes Her", "Babe" and "The Sting" they will. If they can slip in non-anamorphic widescreen transfers of "The Deer Hunter" and "Backdraft" they will! Clearly, this is a studio that places profit above integrity and "Shenandoah"'s transfer quality is no exception.
The transfer is riddled with age related artifacts, scratches, faded color and edit match cut lines that pretty much destroy the continuity of this viewing experience. Aliasing, edge enhancement and shimmering of fine details are all present and annoying. There's some minor pixelization that breaks apart background detail as well. The audio is strident, scratchy and uninspiring. Extras - NONE! - What a shock!
BOTTOM LINE: Universal thinks customers won't mind these imperfections, a.k.a. - they don't mind giving them to you. So here's a thought - voice your protests in letters and emails. Because DVD and classic film libraries around the world really aren't benefiting from this sort of shoddy workmanship. In the end we're all losers!

Rating:
Summary: UNIVERSAL - PLEASE! - NO MORE SUBSTANDARD TRANSFERS!
Review: Shenandoah is one of a handful of thrilling western epics that James Stewart appeared in during the mid-1950's. It's full of sweeping expanse, wagons-west adventure and stark, beautiful cinematography that makes one wish for a western landscape that, in reality, never truly existed.
Universal Studios has developed a rather nasty track record with their catalogue titles ever since the introduction of DVD. In a nutshell, the powers that be seem to think that "title attraction" alone is enough to guarentee sales, hence rarely does Universal put its best foot forward or, heaven forbid, go all out with a special edition of some of their great classic films. Long story short - if they can give us full frame editions of "Death Becomes Her", "Babe" and "The Sting" they will. If they can slip in non-anamorphic widescreen transfers of "The Deer Hunter" and "Backdraft" they will! Clearly, this is a studio that places profit above integrity and "Shenandoah"'s transfer quality is no exception.
The transfer is riddled with age related artifacts, scratches, faded color and edit match cut lines that pretty much destroy the continuity of this viewing experience. Aliasing, edge enhancement and shimmering of fine details are all present and annoying. There's some minor pixelization that breaks apart background detail as well. The audio is strident, scratchy and uninspiring. Extras - NONE! - What a shock!
BOTTOM LINE: Universal thinks customers won't mind these imperfections, a.k.a. - they don't mind giving them to you. So here's a thought - voice your protests in letters and emails. Because DVD and classic film libraries around the world really aren't benefiting from this sort of shoddy workmanship. In the end we're all losers!

Rating:
Summary: What can I say. My daughter's named after this film!
Review: The first time I saw Shenandoah was in 1965, when I was thirteen. I saw it probably 10 times at the theater that year. The concept of a parent wishing the shield his family from the horrors of war, by trying to ignore it, had a great affect upon me. The concept of pacificism was unusual, in a "western" during the early 1960's(changed quickly thereafter, with the Vietnam war). This message combined with the superb acting by James Stewart and a good ensemble cast makes for one of the best of the genre ever. This film should be on everyone's top ten list. It's number one with me. Always has been. Probably will always be.

Rating:
Summary: Low water mark
Review: There weren't many occasions when America's greatest film actor, James Stewart, was flat-out terrible in a movie but this is one of them. For reasons no film historian has been able to explain, Stewart's remarkable skills as an actor deserted him in the early Sixties, and he was never the same. It's an atrocious performance in a Civil War film that is full of them. Only James Best as a Rebel veteran manages to bring some life to the proceedings. The script is sickeningly sanctimonious and made all the worse by the incompetent direction of one of Hollywood's all-time hacks, Andrew V. McLaglen, who also blighted the later years in John Wayne's career.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best!
Review: This a great film. The cast is great, and the lead Charlie Anderson (James Stewart) gives a powerhouse performance. I love Jimmy Stewart and this is one of his best. It is a great film of how families were torn apart by war. Great film for students learning about the Civil War. Great film to add to your collection!

Rating:
Summary: Shenandoah
Review: This film is a drama of a man who didn't believe in the Civil War searches for his youngest son.

Rating:
Summary: THE NOT SO CIVIL WAR
Review: This heartfelt, if somewhat maudlin, film marks its 40th anniversary this year, and for what the movie wanted to do, SHENANDOAH is a well made film about family, and how involvement in the senseless Civil War brings both tragedy and hope. James Stewart leads the cast with his typically professional and underplayed performance. A honor roll of great character actors support him and one has to wonder what happened to a lot of these guys: Rosemary Forsyth, Phillip Alford (who was so good in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD), James Best, Charles Robinson, Tom Simcox, Tim McIntire, Glenn Corbett, etc. Also around are Doug McClure (The Virginian) and Katharine Ross (The Graduate). The director is longtime western director Andrew McLaglen, who keeps focus on what the war is doing to the family, rather than a historic epic. A good film for the family to ponder over.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding film, on my personal top 10 list.
Review: This is a bittersweet, moving -- sometimes even beautiful --film. Jimmy Stewart is superb as Charlie Anderson, an arrogant, self-reliant man who thinks that he and his family can ignore the civil war which rages around his farm in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He is disabused of this idealistic but naive notion when Union troops mistake his beloved youngest son, "Boy," for a rebel soldier and take him prisoner. Impetuously, the furious Anderson rides off with his older sons on a Quixotic mission to get the boy back. But this dangerous adventure costs him the lives of two sons and one of their wives. Only after the chastened Anderson reluctantly abandons his search does his beloved "Boy" -- who has escaped -- return home to him. Fine acting, good drama and characterization, beautiful scenery and film score, and a poignant ending make this an oustanding movie. One of the ten best fims ever made in my opinion -- and, quite possibly, Jimmy Stewart's greatest role.

Rating:
Summary: Limited Government
Review: This is a film that is basically about the evils of abolishing limited government. The message is clear. Whenever the main character walks outside of his self-sufficient context and begins to rely on big government he is stabbed in the back. Eventually he loses two sons in the story because he is cornered into taking sides in the civil war, which he vowed not to get involved in. Libertarians will like this film. Conservatives will likely be intrigued and provoked into thinking about what has happened in our country.

Rating:
Summary: tv series
Review: this is a great movie. but this "review" is more like a plea -- please, somebody reading this, put out on vhs or dvd the 1965-66 tv series called A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH, with robert horton as a cowboy with amnesia. it would be a great companion to this film.