Rating: 
Summary: Five star movie, 4 stars for lack of widescreen format
Review:
One of the only realistic war dramas that shows the Axis as being just as human as the Allies, specifically in this case the Germans and Americans.
Beautiful scenery, wonderful acting and story, and altogether an incredible slice of GI life in wartime Germany, 1944.
This movie will knock your socks off. Flawlessly directed and envisioned. My only gripe is the pan-and-scan. What the - ? This movie is so beautiful that not putting it on widescreen is a crime. If this movie wasn't shot in the Ardennes, it was a close runner-up.
I highly suggest this movie for purchase as part of your movie collection. The cast is full of stars and future stars for the time (1992). I highly doubt this movie will ever be dated, since it feels just as fresh in 2002 as it did in 1992.
-- JJ Timmins
Rating: 
Summary: Ethan Hawke = Poor man's Tom Cruise
Review: This movie is good, but once I found out that it was filmed in Utah, I could not imagine the story taking place in the Belgium forest (the high mountains in the background scenery gives the location away).
Also, I think the plot would have been more believable if it had occured AFTER the Battle of the Bulge. The screenwriter forgot that this major German offensive caught the American frontline forces completely by surprise. Watching the Intelligence squad's four survivors escape in a jeep during the German attack on the chateau is Hollywood cliche', and then seeing the four guys carry a corpse around for miles while on foot, and encountering NO Germans, is completely bogus.
Oh well, I guess there simply isn't any war movie that is truly believable.
See "Born on the Fourth of July" for a better anti-war movie.
BTW, Frank Whaley is in both "Midnight Clear" and "Born on the Fourth..."
Rating:
Summary: WHY is it in Pan and Scan??
Review: What it kill them to release the DVD in Widescreen? WHY would anyone want to see a movie "cut up"? I have seen the movie on IFC at 1:85 aspect it was great...so now it is FINALLY on DVD...but pan and scan. arrrgghhhhhhhhh!!
It is possible that masters in the proper format no longer exist...but as the movie was only released in 1992 I would be hard pressed to believe that.
This non-widescreen release mars an otherwise excellent movie.
Not being in widescreen is my only complaint...and I can really add little to the other fine comments others have made regarding this film.
Releasing a DVD in pan and scan should be a capital offence.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best sleeper movies of all times!!!
Review: This movie was one that almost got away. The movie received very little advertisement and I totally missed it in the theaters when it was released. I finally caught this superb movie on pay-per-view years ago and instantly had to have it. It was a shame that it took them years to make it available on video and even longer to get onto DVD... My ONLY complaint is that it seems to have been released in full screen ("Pan and Scan") only and not widescreen. This is an injustice to this excellent movie to have been released in a cut up version only... If you have any interest in a great drama, world war II or even war movies in general, then this movie is an absolute must see!!!! Now if they would just release it in widescreen on DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: A Serious Mistake On This Dvd Release,
Review: Basically i concure with the positive reviews stated previously about *A Midnight Clear, however the problem with this Dvd release of *A Midnight Clear is that it was altered from its original widescreen aspect ratio into a 4.3 pan&scan ratio, this is a real problem with the visual caliber of this film. It is definitly a HUGE mistake on the side of Columbia Tristar. I really love this film but I will not purchase this butchered version which is missing a lot of video content, I do not recommend the purchase of this Dvd version.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, Bad Move on Columbia's part
Review: Why would Columbia transfer a great war movie on a Pan & Scan version only? If any movie deserves to be kept in it's widescreen format, it should be this one. Get into the program guys, Widescreen is the future. Please release this one in a Special Widescreen Edition!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Worst WWII Movie Out in years
Review: ... I bought this from Amazon and found it terrible. As I said in my first review, in this movie, based at Christmas time, a group of Germans on the front try to surrender. It all goes off badly since they put a American as point guard who has no clue what is going on and opens fire, killing all Germans. Unrealistic and not becoming of American Forces---the point guard in the movie should have been sent to the rear for much needed mental health care and was not. ...
Rating:
Summary: Rid the world of pan & scan
Review: Everyone has a handful of titles that they just wait and wait patiently(?) to be released on DVD. This is one of mine. Imagine my surprise to find that this release only contains the pan & scan version of the film. Hands down one of the best looking wartime films out there. The cinematography is/was breathtaking. I'm basing this on the distant memory of seeing it in the movie theatre since there has never been a letterbox version of the movie released. What a golden opportunity!! - Lost! The powers that be at Columbia decided that the old dinosaur pan & scan was the best way to release this film. Sorry to rant on like this but I think it's because the ultimate insult occurs on the back of the DVD package where there are three 1:85 still shots from the film - what a slap in the face.
Rating:
Summary: Missed opportunity
Review: A Midnight Clear is an oft-overlooked, sadly underappreciated look at war, featuring a strong cast and nicely understated dialogue. The bright, snowbound locations are tailor-made for DVD, with rich, vibrant colours that translate onto DVD with appropriate sharpness; even the interiors, often lit with available light (and not much of it), are not lacking for sharpness or clarity. Mark Isham's solemn, elegiac and often hypnotic electronic score has been realized nicely in digital stereo; the sound effects, too, pack a mean punch.
But what on earth were they thinking when they issued thbis DVD as a pan-and-scan hatchet job, without even the option of a widescreen transfer to choose from? Some of the cinematography in this film is remarkable; to not even have the option of seeing it in 1:85 is unforgiveable. Adding to the mystery: audio commentary by Ethan Hawke and Keith Gordon. Somebody went to some effort to give this disc an added dimension. So why no widescreen transfer? Give this DVD a miss. A Midnight Clear would make a worthwhile addition to any film library, but insist on a widescreen edition -- or at least an edition that gives you a choice between the two. Don't let the manufacturers get away with this.
Rating:
Summary: Pan and Scam!!!
Review: I wanted very much to buy this DVD. However, when I found it was released in Pan & Scam rather than widescreen I said no thanks. I will not buy a movie edition which only shows 2/3rds or less of the entire picture! Great movie..........VERY bad job on this DVD production.
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