Gone With the Wind

Rating:
Summary: Gone With the Wind Finally Gets the Glory it Deserves on DVD
Review: Ever since I first picked up the book about two years ago I have loved and cherished Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." Halfway through the book, I started the movie which is the best movie of all time.

The story follows Scarlett O'Hara, a young flirt, as the daughter of a plantation owner and the belle of every ball. Suddenly, the Civil War strikes and changes her world forever. She is thrust into situations she never dreamed possible, but sustains her courage and spirit throughout the entire movie, which is famous for its length.

The acting is excellent, story perfect...I could go on and on listing the glories of "Gone With the Wind." Vivien Leigh is talented and beautiful and deserved her Best Actress Oscar that she recieved for playing Scarlett.

I think that you wouldn't do yourself justice by watching the movie and never reading the book. The book is detailed and contains more information about the characters, war and story. For example, when Melanie and Scarlett donate their wedding rings to the Cause in the movie, Melanie gives her ring first. In the book, Scarlett puts her ring first, causing Melanie to see that Scarlett was so brave that she could do the same thing.

The features-four documentaries, five trailers, coverage of a centennial, and more-are all well-done and packed with information about the story, the movie and the war. Overall, excellent book, brilliant movie and marvelous DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Classic extravaganza----but this DVD?
Review: Sure, most folks love "GWTW" and the extras are extensive (the 1988 "Making of..." is very, very watchable).

But the DVD version itself? Well, despite the also-interesting "Restoration of..." extra, I noticed IMMEDIATELY when starting to watch the film itself that the titles were a notch too big AND skewed to the left!!! Part of the prologue (and much of the opening credits), which should be dead-center, almost go off the left side of the screen!

Despite the fine DVD extras, the 1998 VHS release looked just as good, and wasn't lopsided!!

Hope they dont screw me on the inevitable High Definition version!

Rating:
Summary: GWTW: The Making Of A Legend
Review: Everything you ever wanted to know about *GWTW* -- from Margaret Mitchell recalling her mother driving her out to see the ruined plantations around Atlanta, and telling her that she'd better learn to survive, to its historic status as being one of the most beloved movies of all time - even when it's not politically correct to love the movie. It is a documentary combining spoken word, letters, memos, newsclips, diaries and recreations - in a comprehensive style that predates Ken Burns by quite a bit. It is a dizzying montage of information and images that tells the story of the film - a monumental achievement that is one of the few films to not disappoint the lovers of the book. Selznick purchased the rights to the story for $50,000 - a fortune at the time, for a story so sprawling that it was impossible to visualize on the screen. As a superb craftsman, even Selznick was intimidated - not just by the scope of the story, but by the public's obsession with it. So it is with tender care that he began preproduction and scriptwriting on this sacred monster. The footage that we see in the finished version of *GWTW* shows only a small part of the passion, heartache and bloodletting that went on behind the scenes. Most impressive is the existing array of screen tests that were done for the movie - evidence that the much-ballyhooed Search for Scarlett O'Hara was far more than hype from a hotheaded publicist. Showing dozens of would-be Scarletts, Melanies, Ashleys and Belles, the most stunning footage is the multiple and lengthy tests that Paulette Goddard did for the role of Scarlett. She exhibits a cunning and slyness that is perfect for Scarlett, and the newsreports go crazy announcing her unconfirmed appointment. It is the sheer numbers of tests that Goddard did the continually amazing, and she had every reason on earth to believe she had the part. It's easy to see that she would have been delightful as Scarlett, but could she have made Scarlett into the legend that Vivian Leigh did? Fraught with tension, shooting began without Scarlett having been cast. The story behind the filming of the burning of Atlanta is riveting in its detail, showing how old sets from *King Kong* and *Birth of a Nation*, among others, were burned and then multiplied on film to create the effect. It was during the filming of this sequence that Selznick's brother, Myron, legendarily arrived on the set with a gorgeous young woman in tow and said to the producer, "I'd like you to meet your Scarlett." And the film's fate was sealed with the casting of the tragic and incandescent Vivian Leigh. Though Selznick was reviled by Hedda Hopper, among others, for casting an English girl, instead of a red-blooded American, even Margaret Mitchell herself said, "Better an English girl than a Yankee." Goddard had been frontrunner up to the last second when Leigh waltzed in and stole the part from under her nose. It must have been an unbearably bitter disappointment, and Goddard never again realized the potential she showed in these tests. But, it is also only a small facet of what happened behind the scenes. After a time, miles of film were scrapped when original director George Cukor was fired and replaced by Victor Fleming. There's quite a tale behind *that* that neither the documentary, nor we, will go into. The personal dramas are many, with Selznick's drug use, health problems and subsequent breakdown being addressed. The volume of information collected is awesome. From Butterfly McQueen speaking about her role as Prissy ("I wouldn't let them slap me, but I thought Prissy needed to be slapped...I thought she was horrid."), to the footage of Hattie MacDaniel's Academy Award speech that is so sincere and touching that it must be considered a gift that we can still see it. It was a scandal that the movie cost $3,000,000 to make: a jaw-droppingly small figure for a movie that paid for itself many, many times over - and *that's* just in financial terms.

Rating:
Summary: The Highest Quality DVD and Greatest Movie Ever Made
Review: The dramatic engaging story of Scarlett Ohara is enough to make this classic film the best. To make things even better, the film has been optimized and it appears beautifully on the screen. Many of the opening scenes are so gorgeous that they look like paintings. A must buy.

Rating:
Summary: This is why DVDs were invented!
Review: The movie follows the life of a southern belle, scarlett O'hara, from the beginning of the civil war through a few years after the end of it. Scarlett starts off as this spoiled 16 year old girl living in the cocoon of her very wealthy southern family and the plantation home that goes along with it. She thinks each man that sets eyes on her falls for her and she flirts with everyone of them. But the war brings an end to her idillic world. THe movie follows her every moves: how she behaves to overcome hunger, death of loved ones, survives through the fires of atlanta and fights off Sherman's soldiers in her own house. Scarlett is probably the most selfish and determined female character ever portrayed on screen. On the one hand, she makes you cringe because of how she does anything to reach her goals, regardless of how she treats people, but on the other hand, she's admirable for being so determined and never giving up no matter how difficult the situation is.

Gone with the Wind was the most popular book of the 30s. Bringing to the screen such a long and rich story was a very difficult task for David O. Selznick. He did a great job at staying faithful to the story and the characters.

The extra features of the DVD are great. They include a recent interview of Olivia de Havilland (Melanie). She tells how she came about to star in Gone with the Wind and gives anecdote from the shooting of the movie. She tells her fond memories with lots of warmth and enthusiasm, it's just delightful. The DVD also contains a wonderful 2-hour long documentary about the making of the movie. It's almost as good as the movie. The last disc has biographies of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

This movie, along with the extra features (especially the making of) is a must buy for any classic movie fan.

Rating:
Summary: true classic i'm sure
Review: i haven't seen this movie yet but i'm sure it's good.this is the first movie ive given 4 stars to.it's really long.so i hope its as classy as titanic or better.