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Gremlins

Gremlins

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Still The King of Revolting Creature Features
Review: Footnote: Official Actual Review: **** 1/4 stars (four and a quarter star rating)

In 1984, scaly green revolting scene-stealing monstrous little hellions with large ungainly claws that kept mumbling "Yum Yum" and "Gizmo" lit up movies screens around the world as everyone became arrestingly monopolized and immediately overrun with Gremlin mania that was sweeping world audiences at the time. Around the globe at an amazingly astonishing pace, everyone appeared to have some Gremlin merchandise. The Gizmo doll, Gremlin action figures, Gremlin lunch boxes, Gremlin posters, Gremlin story-time audio cassettes (do you remember those?) and all sorts of other cherished child and adult paraphernalia that became incredibly dispensed at an glaringly astronomical pace to everyone in overwhelming mass. Yet at the heart of this significant immeasurable love affair with the Gremlins and it's essential myth, lies ultimately the film itself. After nearly twenty years and untold droves of imbecilic rehashes, moronic re-shoots, and Kindergarten retreads, the film remains an indisputable pop culture cinematic touchstone classic of the 1980's. Directed by cinematic maverick satirist Joe Dante (Gremlins 2: The New Batch, The Howling, Looney Tunes: Back In Action) and executive produced by the omnipresent commercial dynamo of the 1980's Steven Spielberg, Gremlins is the uncanniest ironclad combination of subversive divine parody (Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life) and thrillingly riveting acute joyride (Howard Hawk's The Thing from Another World) we've yet seen in the last generation of motion pictures.

Name me any one picture that can so instantaneously, ambidextrously, and completely shift gears from brutal savagery to out-and-out comedic lunacy (just think of the Christmas Cookies/Blender Sequence) with the stunningly ghoulish extraordinary clout that Gremlins accomplishes without ever batting a reptilian eye. You may attribute this attractive charisma entirely to the Gremlins. However it's also the Dante's steadfast no compromise craftsmanship that delivers the delicate balance of menace and perversity that remains so universally adored to this very day by so many legions of fans and new viewers alike.

Overflowing with the quintessential Looney Tunes spirit of jovial irrelevance pulsating throughout its daffy festivities, the Gremlins bar sequence remains one of the single most mentally arresting moments of Eighties cinema. With it's gleeful lunatic goofiness taken to the very optimal zenith of cantankerous hilarity, this definitive burlesque showcase of pricelessly gut-busting spectacle lampoons the shear shallow splendor of binge drinking, chain-smoking, gluttony, high-stakes poker, Dashiell Hammett film noirs (The Big Sleep), misogynistic anarchy, the television show Cheers, urban crime, and Jennifer Beals's cheesy Flashdance renown to the absolute euphoric dizzyingly heights of galvanizing comedic possibilities.

The transcendental majestic tribute to Disney's masterwork Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938) remains supernaturally priceless beyond the mere mention of words and continuing proof of Dante's ecstatically voracious exhilaration in ransacking the respectable into indelible comical genius. The exemplary majesty of Gremlins remains in it's encompassing of absurdity so effortlessly that it still leaves many viewers blushing way beyond adult modesty by it's close. Gremlins has carved its own permanent niche in American Pop Culture and it's definitely not likely to be carted away by any philosophical Asian mystic anytime soon.

As for the new Gremlins Special Edition DVD, it includes a 2001 remastering of the entire film with the inclusion of numerous extras including: a commendably impressive 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, a properly atmospheric Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, an impressive Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround audio track, a charmingly nostalgic director and star commentary track featuring Joe Dante, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Howie Mandel, and (Dante regular and greatly under-appreciated) Dick Miller, an intriguing director and special effects department commentary featuring Joe Dante, Michael Finnell (producer) and Chris Walas (Effects Supervisor), ten minutes of behind-the-scenes footages, theatrical trailer, and several other fascinating trappings to siphon through at your leisure.

P.S. Break-dancing Gremlins now that will be the day. Oh wait we do have hundreds of Agent Smiths by now so who knows.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: hah this movie is the best!!!!!
Review: this movie is so funny! haha "Billy's on TV!!" lol. when i first saw it i was really little so it gave me nightmares! but it is so hilarious!!! when the mom shoves the gremlin in the blender!!! lololol. Biiiilllllllllyyyyyy!!!! and he's driving up and down the aisles of the department store in the middle of the night looking for billy with a gun!!!! hahahahahaha. and their like,"Billy's on tv!!!" lol. best movie ever!!!! a classic

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific Dark Comedy!!
Review: Talk about your strange films! This one is in that category, and it's kind of a cult favorite, although I wouldn't call it "cultish." It got wide viewing when it came out, and there are so many great scenes in this movie. Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates head up this great movie, and when Zack's Dad comes back from the city with a gift for his son, beware, and make sure you don't feed it after midnight, or so the legend has it.

As movies goes, this is terrific. And to see the part where the Gremlins wreak havoc on the small town, to include the minions of them singing "Heigh Ho" in the local theater is a riot!

Highly recommended!! Lots of laughs!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Boy And His Gremlins
Review: Steven Spielberg produced this dark and comedic fable about Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) and his new pet. While away on business, his dad (Hoyt Axton), shops for the perfect Christmas gift for his son. However, the Peltzer family gets more than they expected, when the creature multiplies. After that, they are changed into something more sinister, and try to take over the whole town. Directed by Joe Dante, with a script from Chris Columbus, GREMLINS is still a good mix of creature feature and comedy. After 18 years, some of it seems very 80s, but for the most part, the pre-CGI era special effects in the film, still seem better than those of the post CGI world. GREMLINS is also noted for helping to bring about the PG-13 rating debate, along with INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.

The new Special Edition DVD has a solid group of extras. There are of course the usual suspects, like theatrical trailers and cast and crew information Both of the commentaries are enjoyable, but not all that special. The vintage featurette is really vintage, shot on film stock, rather than video. The ten minutes of "never before seen footage" has some really neat stuff to see. The photo gallery and storyboards have some gems in that section as well

Gremlins is not a bad lttle disc at all The film has never looked better and the extras give us the complete history of the film. Recommended

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good,but a bit dated
Review: Note: does contain spoilers.

Gremlins is very coolmovie.Although it's somewhat dated and the sequel was a lot better,it's still a very cool movie that's well worth checking out.The story is very well written and highly creative.A Dad spots a cute lttle furry animal named Gizmo,who's from a weird line of creatures called Mogwais.He wants to buy it for his son Billy,but Gizmo's owner won't let him have Gizmo.The owner's son snatchs Gizmo and gives him to the Dad.The Dad is told a set of three rules that he must follow no matter what. 1,keep Gizmo as far away from water as possible (this includes anything with liquid).2,keep him far away from bright lights.And 3,never,ever feed him after Midnight.Billy receives Gizmo as a Christmas present.He accidently spills water on Gizmo,which causes him to spawn other Mogwais.One night,all of the Mogwais (except Gizmo) break a very important rule.They eat chicken after Midnight.This causes them to transform into scaly,vicious beasts who wreak havoc on Billy's hometown,Kingston Falls.The mutant Mogwais are called Gremlins.They attack people,hold Bartenders hostage,drive construction vehicles,and even employ some weapons in the process,including chainsaws,six-barreled pistols,and tennis ball serving machines.The special F/X are great.Although their a bit corny compared to some of the other monsters we see Today,they still are very well done.The Gremlin F/X are very cool. (...) The acting is very good and convincing.The direction from Dante is very tight and solid.Overall,Gremlins is a simply good movie. Although the sequel,Gremlins 2:The New Batch was much better in my opinion,I still liked Gremlins 1 very much.It's just somewhat dated.On a side note,although Gremlins is targeted towards kids,it's pretty violent.The Gremlins look really scary and nasty,and there's even some gore (this includes some human characters who dies during the Gremlins rampge on the town). It's a very nasty and scary movie for young kids,but older kids (9+) probably won't be too scared.

Rated PG for some violence and very mild language.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie.....but the extras's are forgettable :(
Review: Gremlins is a movie that you should have seen already by now, you either love it or hate it, and i love it! Both of them.

by now youve seen 100 reviews of the movie. So i'll skip that and just review what i think of the speichel edition.

The bonus features arnt really worth it. There is a couple of audio comentarys. The featurette is a short forgettable little thing from on the set, but dont expect there to be anything about how things where done or anything, its a featurette from while the movie was beeing made. The photos I never take intrest to. Theres 3 trailers, whoopie! and a few deleted scenes that are very forgettable! overall, I really dont see why this is called the special edition? It really shoul have been the way it was done in the first place, but there honestly isnt really anythign speichel about it! If your hanging out to see the bonus features, then you might be like me and just agree that there could have been much more?

But overall, the movie is still great, and thats always worth the price.... if your intrested in the bonus features, then go for this S.E version, if your not at all intrested....then the regular cheaper edition is the same. But this Speilberg classic will always remain a classic!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gremlins (1984)
Review: Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Frances Lee McClain, Polly Holliday, Glynn Turman, Dick Miller, Keye Luke, Scott Brady.
Running Time: 106 minutes.
Rated PG for non-PG worthy-violence and some language; keep in mind that the MPAA Rating System created the PG-13 rating in 1985 largely due to this film and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom".

"Gremlins" gets its title from the nickname given during World-War II to mysterious malfunctions that took place on American fighter planes. No one could explain some of the break downs, so they determined that evil little monsters created by Japan were the culprits. The 1984 film which is directed by Joe Dante ("Piranha"), written by Chris Columbus ("Home Alone") and executively created by the one-and-only Steven Spielberg ("E.T.", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"), inducing much media acclaim and criticism alike. It is an extremely violent film for the rating and especially dark, but overall is a touching, terrifying story that works on all levels and became one of the most popular formula-producing horror films of the entire decade.

A quirky inventor (Hoyt Axton) brings home a mysterious furry creature as a Christmas present for his son (played very well by newcomer Zach Galligan), not knowing the horrors that the purchase would later produce. The furball is named Gizmo, which looks like a cross between a Kuala bear and a Cabbage-patch kid, is not only unique in appearance-it multiplies when exposed to water, hates the sight of light, and creates horrific, flesh-eating creatures when it is given food after the clock strikes midnight. When Galligan accidentally feeds some of his pet's furry buddies, the little creatures morph into green, scaly little monsters that proceed to wreck havoc on the city and ruin Christmas.

Excellent special effects, a wonderfully hilarious script-writer Columbus, an exceptional musical score from composing genius Jerry Goldsmith, and top-notch direction from the veteran Dante-making "Gremlins" a ghoulishly scary comedic romp that is like no other. Phoebe Cates is very good as the love interest of Galligan and Dick Miller is humorous as a paranoid, cranky war veteran. A petrifying, splendid finish. Special Note: The film gives some special insight to the true spirit of Christmas-SHOULD NOT be viewed by children anyways, but especially those who still believe in Jolly Old Saint Nick.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gremlins Rocks!
Review: This is an amazing movie. Zach Galligan and Pheobe Cates are a perfect pair. I love thi movie so much. It rocks! Gizmo is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: DVD REVIEW
Review: Warners has previously issued GREMLINS on DVD twice in different packaging. Both releases featured the same contents, including a very lacking transfer and soundtrack. With the release of the new GREMLINS Special Edition DVD, fans are finally rewarded with a nice DVD.

A few nitpicks to start, however. First, the packaging on this release is too similar to the reissue DVD cover. This may prove confusing to consumers, as the old discs are still out there on shelves. The only difference (and hopefully this will be enough) is that the keyart is framed by four red streaks, and the disc is decreed a "special edition" below the title. The spine of the disc, besides the part number (which means nothing to the average consumer) is exactly the same.

On to the second gripe: the DVD menus. These menus are simply hideous. I know older titles need to be very budget conscious, but the menus on the disc are an altered reproduction of the original DVD's menus, which back in 1997 were too, simply hideous. Jerry Goldsmith's "Gremlins' Rag" has been added on the soundtrack of the menus for a little kick, but wouldn't an animated menu with gremlins wreaking havoc on the screen be a blast? Even if the budget wouldn't support this idea, a redesign for the new disc of still menus would have even been welcomed.

PICTURE
The video is from a brand new transfer created especially for this special edition DVD. While it is noticeably better than the original DVD, the picture is still not state-of-the-art, but fairly forgivable considering the film's age. GREMLINS is a very dark film visually, with a majority of its scenes taking place at night or in dark locations (remember, them critters hate light...). Cinematographer John Hora also gave the film a very stylized, comic bookish look, with lots of gelled lighting setups cutting through the darkness. A film like this cries out for a solid transfer that replicates the blacks, reds, blues and greens of Hora's visuals as deeply as DVD can reproduce, but sadly, film stocks and age haven't made this happen. Some shots can appear a bit grainy, a bit soft, but not as distracting as on the original disc. Overall, a better visual experience, and that's something.

SOUND
The sound, like the video, has been remastered as well, in 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Surround. Like the original DVD's audio, the inclusion of a 5.1 track is fun, if not as dynamic as you could hope for considering the antics the gremlins could play with your surrounds. Overall though, the sound is solid enough and for an older film, sometimes that's all you can ask for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: hah this movie is the best!!!!!
Review: this movie is so funny! haha "Billy's on TV!!" lol. when i first saw it i was really little so it gave me nightmares! but it is so hilarious!!! when the mom shoves the gremlin in the blender!!! lololol. Biiiilllllllllyyyyyy!!!! and he's driving up and down the aisles of the department store in the middle of the night looking for billy with a gun!!!! hahahahahaha. and their like,"Billy's on tv!!!" lol. best movie ever!!!! a classic


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