Rating: 
Summary: FIVE STARS FOR THE FILM, THREE FOR THIS DVD
Review: THE SACRIFICE is a true work of art. It is probably the most beautiful film by the cinematic poet Andrey Tarkovsky. It is also the most accessible among his works: unlike his films prior to this one, the plot of THE SACRIFICE itself is quite simple and easy to catch. A retired actor- journalist-author (some kind of an intellectual superman) hero living in a beautiful sea-shore house suddenly faces the end of the world: a nuclear war. What can he do to stop it? He prays to God, he who never believed in God before, and offers himself to be the sacrifice for saving the world as he knows, a world which for the first time, he realises how much he loves it.The plot is simple, but its implication is complex. One who believes in God and the absolute love he represents can see this as a story of miracle. An atheist can see this as all being a hallucination of a repressed old man. Tarkovsky makes the film in a way that you can interpret it in whatever way you want. But in whichever way you see it, the film will lead you to our fundamental question; why we live? What is the meaning of our life? How we can achieve the state in which we can say when we face eternity, "I understood the meaning of my life and I fulfilled it"? THE SACRIFICE was shot beautifully by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, one of the greatest master in the art of creating filmic images, whose talent is perfectly in match with Tarkovsky's narrative strategy of filling the frame with symbolism that the audience can interpret in what ever way he/her wants. The disappointment with this rather expensive DVD is that, the transfer fails to catch the richness of Nykvist's work, and in the case of this particular film, it really hurts because it prevent you to create your own interpretation from what the film shows. The nature plays a big role in the story, and already at the very beginning, you cannot feel the richness of the green grass by the sea, the mystery of the trees surrounding the house. Later in the film you miss the richness of the shadows, the complex texture that the lights and shadows create on a simple wall, the subtle reflection on a framed painting (a study of the Madonna by Da Vinci). It actually looks like it was made from a video tape. The yellow subtitles are also build in the images, it's not an optional subtitling and you cannot erase it. I suggest you wait for a few years if you have already seen the film, then maybe KINO will come up with a better DVD. But if you have never seen it, well... it's a must-see film.
Rating: 
Summary: The healthy pain of the nostalgia !
Review: The word and the silence. The last opus of Tarkovsky . In Sacrifice , argument and form , technique and style are joined so perfectly that challenge all kind of viewers. Its intimate fascination is quiet and in contrast with the easy cinema , superficial so fashion , demands a contemplative attitude , to be understood justly .
The first shots with the dying tree symbolizes the painful spiritual state of the contemporanean civilization . Tarkovsky applies in this moment what you might be call the little stage of the world , with characters who are at the same time real and symbolic . Adelaide is an unsatisfied woman married in a convenience marriage . Victor is the disenchant scientist with clear echoes of Stalker -1979- (the previous film to Nostalgia) and Martha , the blossom girl lost in her own narcissism.
When the atomic attack occurs , Tarkovsky sets his characters in the edge of the knife . Hysteria and terror oppose to desperation . Alexander breaks his inner barriers and he is opened to the trascendence . These are two times of biblical references .
Finally you have to keep your word and the holocaust will come . Bitter metaphor : Tarkovsky seems to revel us there is no place for the trascendentalism in the present world.
But the last sequence is loaded with a deep sense of redemption . The child recovers the language and stood in front of the dying tree he begins to irrigate it with the inquiring statement : In the ancient times the verb was , and with the Bach music ( Mattheus Passion ) the camera climbs the tree and links with Leonard painting , the true icon od adoration and offering .
Tarkovsky is back in this way to his goal and the method of all his artistic and religious cosmovision.
Andrei Tarkovsky ( born April 4 1932) this superb and talented filmmaker, died In Paris ( December 29 1986 ) and the film was dedicated to his son Aliosha.
This film won the posthumous Ecumenic Prize in Cannes .
Rating:
Summary: Master Piece of Philosophical Art
Review: This is an unforgetable movie for a life time to me. Master piece of Art! Philosophical! Touching!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This is Andrei Tarkovsky's last film. He knew when he was making it that this would be his last, and this film more than any other is proof of what Tarkovsky said (a good film should not be entertaining). This film moves at a very slow pace, but this allows for a deep examination of the characters. The events in the film are not shown through special effects, or even any real visuals at all. Each event is instead talked about by the characters, thereby telling us what happened. The story invovles a man deciding to offer himself as a sacrifice ("The Sacrifice") in order to save humankind. Being that this is Tarkovsky's final film, it is deeply personal and at times painful to watch. The film is also very difficult to sit through at times. It runs at just under 2 1/2 hours and it's mostly made up of the characters' dialogue and silence. Although the film is better when watched all at once, it's hard. Most people will probably have to watch it over a longer period of time, watching only small bits at a time. This is a brilliant and incredible film and it's worthy of being Tarkovsky's last film. Anyone who is unfamiliar with Andrei Tarkovsky should first watch "Solaris" and "Stalker" to slowly work their way up to "The Sacrifice." You may not understand his work if you begin with this film.
Rating:
Summary: The Soul of Andrei Tarkovsky
Review: This is the final masterpiece of the Earth's greatest filmmaker, Andrei Tarkovsky. To me, the speech made by Josephson at the beginning was an extension of Tarkovsky's feelings. At the time, Tarkovsky was dying of cancer. Like many of his other movies, 'The Sacrifice' moves like a dream, drawing the viewer further and further into its bitter realm. In all of his movies, the characters have such intense emotions that it is almost too much to take. The film's final scene is absolutely stunning. It will live forever in the memory of anyone who will see it.
Rating:
Summary: DVD quality is average
Review: This is the latest Tarkovsky movie, and we could expect just a perfect transfer. It seems to me that the master is probably perfect but the transfer (compression) has been done too fast or wrong. There is much grain in the picture, pixels visible especially on edges of objects lokks scintillating, and the dark scenes are horrible. The scene at night when Alexander walks to the maid's house is crispy and garbled. And besides the picture looks squeezed vertically (slightly) which makes a very slight concave effect. Otherwise the film is very good. DVD is OK.
Rating: 
Summary: What can I say ?
Review: What can I say? Director of this film Andrei Tarkovsky (one of the best Russian directors) was already an immigrant at the time when he made this film. Soviet government made him leave his country. Same as "Nostalgia", this film shows how much he was heart. At the same time he was very sick and he didn't have much time left. He was in hurry ... you can tell. Used his cinematography from previous films but it didn't work.
Last 15 minutes - was a movie "The Sacrifice". The privies 2 hours? Just trying to put all his thoughts in one film.
If you want to se best films by Andrei Tarkovsky, go to : "Stalker", "Solaris", "Andrei Rublev", "Mirror".
Mr. Tarkovsky, I still think - you are the best! Your film "Stalker" changed my life.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond words...
Review: When I first encountered Tarkovsky I had no idea what to expect, and after seeing one of his films for the first time I could only regret that I hadn't discovered him sooner. Tarkovsky successfully creates what so many directors have attempted and what the audience unknowingly has been longing for. He proves that film is an artform, not merely a form of popular entertainment or a slightly glorified version of the same. I am a fan of many great directors, but I have to say I place Tarkovsky at the top. Even Bergman is humbled by Tarkovsky's work, as the liner notes to ANDREI RUBLEV (Criterion Collection) illustrate. THE SACRIFICE is and incredible film, an amazingly enthralling sequence of a man's journey in search of spirituality. For this, his final masterpiece (for my money, all his pictures were masterpieces) he goes to Sweden, to the island Gotland (where Ingmar Bergman's estate also happens to be) and uses many of Sweden's finest actors, including Bergman's close friend Erland Josephsson, who also performs brilliantly in NOSTALGHIA. The choice of using cinematographer Sven Nykvist pushes one to believe that Bergman may have been involved in some corner of the making of this film. Like all of Tarkovsky's films, THE SACRIFICE is simply gorgeous to watch. Every shot is astounding, each frame a perfect painting. The actors are superb, in particular Erland Josephsson who brings a certain grounded, earthy feel to a somewhat unrealistic and supernatural aura. Everything in this film appeals to me, from the music and the meticulously constructed shots to the gradual saturation of colors and awe-inspiring acting. Being Swedish, I might add that the translation is one of the better ones I've seen. The DVD features include the documentary DIRECTED BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY, which not only provides an in-depth look behind the scenes of the making of THE SACRIFICE, but also lets us take a peek within Tarkovsky's mind and life. This documentary, by itself, deserves a 5-star rating. Any of Tarkovsky's films will astound you. It is just a pity that only a select few are available on DVD. In addition to THE SACRIFICE, NOSTALGHIA and THE MIRROR are both available from Kino. And the recent release of ANDREI RUBLEV from the Criterion people is a much welcomed appreciated addition to the collection. Now we wait for rest to follow...
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic Perfection
Review: Words can not accurately describe Tarkovsky's last film. It is sublime, hypnotic, spiritual and and stunningly
photographed by Sven Nykvist. Erland Josephson is magnificent in the main role. If you appreciate the films
of Dreyer, Bergman, Antonioni and Bresson then you will also like this film as well as other films by Tarkovsky.
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