Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: "Rear Window" is a masterpiece of filmmaking art and one of Alfred Hitchcock's best movies. It shows Hitchcock at his best in two different aspects of making movies. One is the technical aspect. The use of lighting, perspective, and the way that details and events are portrayed visually. The second is the aspect of storytelling. The way that the story unfolds, building tension and suspense at a deliberate pace as the plot transitions from humorous looks at newlyweds and a woman who lets her little dog out by lowering him to the ground in a basket, to the question of a possible murder. Hitchcock excells at both aspects of his craft, and he demonstrates his skill brilliantly in "Rear Window".The story involves a professional photograher (played by Stewart) who is confined to a wheelchair for several weeks with a broken leg. Bored, he spends his time observing the lives of his neighbors whose apartments border the same courtyard as his. Hot summer weather guarantees lots of open windows. Things get serious when it begins to appear that the man across the courtyard has murdered his nagging wife. As other reviewers here have pointed out, this tale works on many different levels. But, whether you view it as a morality play about voyeurism or a psychological examination of commitment issues, the bottom line is that it is one of the best suspense movies you'll ever see. I'd give it six stars if I could. It gets my very highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Hitchcock's Best... Possibly
Review: One would be hard-pressed to dethrone this film as Hitchcock's greatest film (NOTORIOUS is neck-n-neck). What is spectacular about this film, and many of Hitchcock's best works, is how he reveals characters. The opening shot in that pans around Jeffries' apartment then out the window to see the rest of "players" in this little drama, before coming back to Jeffries and his wares is simply an amazing tour-de-force in filmmaking style and technique. One recalls other great reveals like the opening in PSYCHO (the overhead shot of the lover's at the end of their mid-afternoon tryst) or the final death-rattle at the beginning of ROPE, one can help but revel in the Master at work. But one of the top reveals in movie history is when Grace Kelly makes her entrance and kisses Jimmy Stewart... breath-taking (Harry Lime's reveal in the THIRD MAN is one of the few major rivals). And the opening is just the beginning, there are so many seminal Hitchcock moments in this film that one could continue discussing it for quite sometime, finding something new and exciting after each subsequent viewing - the true mark of magnificent cinema. Anyone who has seen this film before, but not the restored version, will be seeing a "new" film. This transfer is unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: Hitchcock's Most Cerebral Film
Review: This movie is easily one of Hitchcock's greatest, and noone debates that. The question is, "How"? It doesn't pack all of the action of North By Northwest or even that of Vertigo, and we believe all along that the man killed his wife, so what is it? It is the intense buildup that Stewart's character is able to achieve being trapped in his apartment that sucks us in as well. By spying on his neighbors he becomes a god-like figure, and he gains what he feels to be power. He soon realizes his ineptitude however when he realizes that he is the sole witness to a murder that is impossible to prove. The ethical questions in this movie are abound and the entertainment is all there too, so this is one that a real movie buff won't want to miss.
Rating:
Summary: They Don't Call Him the Master of Suspense for Nothing!
Review: I had purchased this DVD without seeing the movie before but I had heard it was good so I figured, what the heck. After watching it I would say it is probably my second favorite Hitchcock movie behind North By Northwest. You may think I'm joking, but I literally was on the edge of my seat for most of the finale. Unfortunately, from the many Hitchcock documentaries I had seen, most of the very end was ruined for me, but it still was gripping. There is so much more to say about the movie, but you have to see it for yourself. The DVD transfer is pretty good, 16:9 enhanced, but it doesn't look perfect, but I'd call it acceptable. The sound is mono and is adequate. The 51 minute documentary is well made and the usual trailers and production photos are pretty good. If you are a Hitchcock or Jimmy Stewart fan, I would highly recommend this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: perfect
Review: enough has been said about rear window's attributes. Yet one thing that has never really been discussed is the films amazing evocation of the period in which it was made. Hitchcock either deliberately or by accident captured the social and sexual currents of the 1950's with an almost hyper amount of dexterity. This film may not reflect the year that I am living and it may be nearly a half century old but when I watch it it lives and breathes more than most American films since, not to sound pretentious or overtly abstract when i watch rear window I can almost smell jimmy stewart's apartment and for two hours it's 1954 again.
Rating:
Summary: Checking Out a Murder with Hitchcock
Review: A daredevil confined to a wheelchair is the concept of Alfred Hitchcock's comedy-mystery "Rear Window", a man of action so bored with his confinement that he begins spying on the neighbors he can see across his Greenwich Village courtyard: the frustrated composer,the "interpretative dancer", the newlyweds, the desperately lonely spinster ... and the bickering couple. The wife suddenly disappears. Has she been murdered? L.B. Jeffries thinks so, and he convinces his fiancée Lisa (Grace Kelly) and the insurance company nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) who visits him every day. (Jeffries, a professional photographer, has been temporarily disabled in an accident.) This set-up is perfect for Hitchcock, who loved tense situations in close quarters ("Life Boat", "Rope"), and who was in top form when he directed this masterpiece of entertainment in 1954. (There was a made-for-TV remake a few years back; according to... reviewers, it's pretty awful.) James Stewart was one of Hollywood's most popular personalities, but he was often mis-cast. He was pushing fifty when he played the 25-year old Lindbergh in"The Spirit of St Louis". Similarly, in "Rear Window" he's too mature for the lead. The part just weeps for William Holden. Stewart even takes his shirt off in a couple of scenes, revealing a pale, thin physique. The idea that Grace Kelly would travel all the way down from the East Sixties to Greenwich Village to spend the evening with him is a little ... well,unbelievable. Miss Kelly is almost as seductive here as she was in her next Hitchcock "To Catch a Thief".The Master was obviously infatuated -- but, then, who wasn't? She also had a droll sense of humor: the way she pronounces "weird" is priceless. Thelma Ritter and Wendell Corey give witty support. Raymond Burr, just a couple of years away from playing the most famous of fictional lawyers, is quite creepy as the killer Thorwald. The sound track is a mixed marvel of car traffic, distant voices, and snatches of music; it sounds great with stereophonic ear phones. About the only real complaint in John Michael Hayes' screenplay that the pragmatic might bring up: Doesn't Jeffries ever LOCK his door?
Rating:
Summary: Another Hitchcock masterpiece
Review: Alfred Hitchcock is considered by most to be the master of suspense. I believe he was also a master of understanding human nature. He intuitively understood that human beings are voyeurs by nature, not in the perverted sense, but in the curious sense. We are a species that slows down to look at accident scenes and steals furtive glances at lovers in the park who are oblivious to everything but each other. A major appeal of cinema and television is that they offer us an opportunity for guilt free voyeurism. When we watch a film, aren't we in essence looking through a window and watching people who behave as if they don't realize we are there? Hitchcock realized this and took voyeurism to the next level, allowing us to watch a voyeur as he watched others. While "Rear Window" as a whole is probably not quite at a level with "Vertigo" (which was far more suspenseful and mysterious with a powerful musical score) as a cinematic accomplishment, it is more seductive because it strikes closer to our human obsessions. Hitchcock's mastery is most evident in his subtle use of reaction scenes by the various characters. We watch an event that Jeff (James Stewart) is watching and then Hitchcock immediately cuts to his reaction. This is done repeatedly in various layers even with the other tenants as they interact with one another. For instance, in the scene with Miss Lonelyheart (Judith Evelyn), we see her throw out the man who made a pass at her and then we see her reaction after she slams the door, followed by the reaction of Jeff and Lisa (Grace Kelly). In another scene, Detective Doyle (Wendell Corey) sees Lisa's nightclothes and presumes she will be staying the night. Hitchcock shows the suitcase, then Doyle's reaction, and then he goes to Jeff who points his finger at him and says "Be Careful, Tom". This elegant scene takes a few seconds and speaks volumes with little dialogue. Such technique gets the viewer fully involved, because if we were there this is exactly what we would be doing, watching the unfolding events and then seeing how others around us responded. In essence, it puts us in the room with them. Hitchcock was a stickler for detail. For instance, he aimed the open windows so they would show subtle reflections of places in the apartment we couldn't see directly. However, there were certain details included or excluded that were inexplicable. Would Thorwold really be scrubbing the walls with the blinds open? Would Lisa be conspicuously waving at Jeff while Stella (Thelma Ritter) was digging up the garden? Moreover, wouldn't Lisa have taken off her high heels before climbing a wall and then a fire escape? This film had numerous small incongruities that are normally absent from Hitchcock films. Though these are picayune criticisms, they are painfully obvious in the film of a director known to be a compulsive perfectionist. The acting is superb in this film. Jimmy Stewart is unabashedly obsessed as the lead character. Photographers have an innate visual perceptiveness and the ability to tell a story with an image and Stewart adopts this mindset perfectly. Grace Kelly has often been accused of being the "Ice Maiden" in her films, yet in this film she is assertive and even reckless. Though cool at times, she is often playful and rambunctious. I always enjoy Thelma Ritter's performances for their honesty and earthiness and this is another example of a character actor at her best. Raymond Burr often doesn't get the recognition he deserves for this role, which is mostly shot at a distance with very few lines. Yet, he imbues Thurwold with a looming nefariousness using predominantly physical acting. This film was rated number 42 on AFI's top 100 of the century sandwiched between "Psycho" (#18) and "Vertigo" (#61). I personally think more highly of "Vertigo" but it is a minor distinction, because I rated them both 10/10. "Rear Window" is a classic, a masterpiece of filmmaking technique from a director who was a true pioneer of suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: re: ending credits
Review: a note about the review of Audrey the librarian; You're right, the film ends with the blind on the window closing down behind a Paramount logo (which was missing in the early 80's release because it was shamefully replaced with an Universal Logo), but that's shot is also in this version. REAR WINDOW ends without an end credit; which is quite normal at that time. The ending credits you see on this version is the the restoration credits. They did a tremendous job and I guess they deserve a credit, or to take the responsibility about it. It is not quite fair to compare the result of this restoration with that of VERTIGO; while VERTIGO was shot in VistaVision, which allows practically the same exposed film area per frame as a 70 mm film, REAR WINDOW is a straight 35mm (shot in 1:37 academic ratio, but here presented as wide screen, which may raise a controversy), so the resolution of the film itself is much less than in a VistaVison film. And the restoration of VERTIGO had a grave flaw; for the sake of making a DTS stereo soundtrack (while the original release was in mono), they threw away all the original sound effects and replacing them with new folley works (adding sound effects on a sound stage), which in my opinion, sounds quite awful and disturbing. At least for the sound, REAR WINDOW is a much more faithful job. Also, the color is treated with the Technicolor dye transfer process, basically the same color system as the original release, which allows deeper, more saturated color, which is even apparent on this DVD edition. Remember the climatic scenes in VERTIGO? While that scene was printed as dark as Hitchcock originally intended, the Eastman color positive does not allow to have as much range of contrast as dye trasnfer does, so the faces of James Stewart and Kim Novak should have been a bit more visible (or at least it was when I saw an old dye-transfer print). You don't have that problem with this new REAR WINDOW. The famous kiss scene effect is the only portion of this restored version that was restored digitaly (as far as I know). The original film elements has completely faded (optically-processed film elements tend to fade easily), but Cinesite has done a beautiful job. That scene looks almost mystical in this verison. For that shot alone, this DVD is worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Another Hitchcock Classic
Review: While this movie is greatly regarded as a masters work when Hitchcock was at his finest I found it somewhat lacking. I wish I could give this movie 3 and a half stars, but I'm sure amazon is more concerned with selling movies then me posting an accurate review of this movie. I found the movie very enjoyable and loved the set. It lent itself to being very memorable as is was just that one set. Stewart and Kelly play off each other wonderfully and our truely great together. I just could not believe the story until the end when I just gave in to the idea. Still the movie is wonderful at what it is suppose to do. Hitchcock uses the idea of the audience seeing what his character sees plus a little more to tell the story and add to the suspense. I have to recommend this movie to any film fan.
Rating:
Summary: The DVD is a wonderful item for those who love this film
Review: I was prepared to dote on this DVD since Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock film, but it was even better than I had anticipated. The film has been restored (by the same marvelous team who restored Vertigo), and it looks wonderful. The images are sharp, the color glorious. Also included on the DVD: "'Rear Window' Ethics", a documentary about the film's restoration (complete with interviews with crew, cast members (such as Miss Torso) and Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, Alfred's daughter); an interview with screenwriter John Michael Hayes; production photographs and notes; trailers. There is also supposedly access to the original script, but I have not yet been able to access this running the DVD on a Mac. Options include running the film in French and the availability of Spanish or English subtitles. Widescreen format. One thing I am missing: I believe there is a version of the film with closing credits seen as the blinds in Jeffries' apartment lower, mirroring their being raised during the opening credits, but this ending doesn't seem to be here. You cannot go wrong with this exciting DVD edition of one of the greatest films of all time.
| 
