Caprice

Description

Plunge into a world of high-flying adventure, pulse-pounding excitement Â- and outright hilarityÂ- in this captivating comedy-thriller starring Doris Day and Richard Harris. Featuring breathtaking stunts, tantalizing romance and exotic locales from the Swiss Alps to the shores of Southern California, this ingenious spy spoof is a gorgeous "kaleidoscope of international intrigue" (The Hollywood Reporter)!

Industrial spy Patricia Fowler (Day) is hot on the trail of a secret formula with the power to change the world...by keeping ladies' hair dry in the water! So important is this miracle hair spray that cosmetics operatives everywhere have mobilized to find it. But when Patricia crosses paths with sexy spy Christopher White (Harris), she discovers something much more sinister behind her quest...a plot that could cause bad-hair days the world over!

Customer Reviews:

Doris, you make my Day!!.......2007-08-29

Doris Day's image has sometimes been mocked as 'the good girl.' To me she's the 'good girl who got the guy'--and what guys! Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, James Garner, Rod Taylor...and in "Caprice" Richard Harris gets the honor as a 'cockney James Bond' double-agent who becomes Doris' worst and sexiest complication as she goes undercover in the cosmetics industry to find her father's killer and bring an international narcotics ring to justice. I have always loved this movie and was delighted to find it on DVD at last. The plot is, well, the ultimate hair spray/swinging beds, but who cares? It's a lot of fun, great music, the clothes and sets are gorgeous, and as usual, Doris gets her man. If you're a fan of the goofier spy spoofs of the '60's as well as "Austin Powers," get "Caprice." You won't regret it.

fly lookalike.......2007-08-26

absolutly nothing is interesting or surprising, or even funny in that so-called "spy movie". with such a poor script, it was obvious Doris' carreer was going to decline quickly (and it did). Doris looks lovely in these (still) modern outfits, though her dark sun glasses sometimes make her look like a fly...

Poor Doris!!!.......2007-05-12

I was hoping Caprice would not live up to its bad rep over the years as one of the worst pictures Doris Day ever made (even she didnt like it and disparaged it), but sadly it does. A costly critical and financial flop made near the end of her film career, Caprice certainly hasnt aged well. The movie cant make up its mind weather its a thriller or a send up of spy movies 60's style. Doris is a bit too old to be playing a Mata Hari, but nothing in this movie makes much sense,anyway. Doris is a sort of cosmetics spy, who is trying to avenge her father's death. The satire of the beauty industry sounds full of promise, but not in this movie. Director Frank Tashlin is so desperate, he even sends up Doris herself several times (having her fall from a balcony while watching the film Caprice starring herself). It's a lot less funny than it sounds. Doris is nothing if not game here, doing all sorts of strenuous stunts. (She threw her back out and had to be hospitalized during filming) Her over the top wardrobe has to be seen to believed. She and co-star Richard Harris have little chemistry and their romance is hard to swallow. On the plus side the title song is one of Day's better ones and the production design is stunning (when studios still had backlots and could recreate the rest of the world without leaving town) There are also 2 well shot ski chases, but they really dont help the story. The ending brings new meaning to the word stupid and will have most people scratching their heads. WTH??? If Caprice were better one could enjoy it for 60's camp, but its only fitfully entertaining. You have to give credit to Doris, though, she does all she can in a losing game to put this one over. It's not her fault the movie is so lame. (she does have a few amusing scenes here and there) Watch it for the fashions and sets and play some Doris Cds after. It'll make you feel better!

Delightfully Doris Day .......2007-05-10

This must be Doris Day's best movie of the 60's. Caprice is 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' with colorful flare (Day's clothing will knock you out). You'll be on the edge of your seat the whole time-guessing and double-guessing. Sheer delight.

Bit Disappointed.......2007-05-07

Not the Doris Day movie I was hoping for.It was a bit too hokey for me, but fashion-wise, it was fabulous: great Doris Day outfits as usual. She really had an eye on how to dress for her movie roles.

Average customer rating:

a classic, but...
Really good horror flick!
Nice Attempt
VERY SCARY AND FRESH!
ENDING OUT OF THIS WORLD

The Ring (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Jane Alexander , Alan Blumenfeld , Keith Campbell , Gary Cervantes , and Joseph Chrest
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005JLTK
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Amazon.com

With its disturbing images and a few good shocks, The Ring is the kind of frightfest you'll watch to set a chilling mood or spook your susceptible friends, but when you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake (of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel) becomes a batch of incoherent parts. The negligible plot follows a Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to urban legend, causes the viewer's death seven days later. (Fear Dot Com borrowed the same idea while avoiding this film's lofty pretensions.) The countdown structure follows the reporter, her son, and her estranged boyfriend into deepening layers of terror--all quite effective until the movie attempts to explain itself. At that you're better off shutting down your brain and letting the creepy visuals take over. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

a classic, but..........2007-08-21

i saw this in theatres when it first came out and it scared me so bad! i loved the style, the look of it, all green and mildewy and dark... it reinforces ideas that i have about horror - - that horror can and SHOULD be beautiful, it should be quiet, dark, haunting. the first part of the film is so artistic, so gorgeous, full of symbols and themes; drowning, death, motherhood, insanity, all so beautifully done. the pace works, slow and dreamy, the actors are competent (naomi watts can be a little hammy, but not enough to condemn her whole perfomance outright).
the movie's undoing is unfortunately the LAST TEN MINUTES, when it seems as though another director takes over, all art and pacing and everything is sacrificed for tying it all up very neatly. and i'm sorry but it was lost on all fronts when the little girl climbed out of the tv... the movie was inside my head, it had all it's hooks in, and then it turned out a cheap trick like that? ew.
i love a movie that creeps in with an outrageous story, but presents it in such a way that you start to believe it... but that girl coming out of the tv! nyeeerggh...
if you are a fan of pure psychological horror/thrillers, you will go crazy over the first part, and the last bit will disappoint. if you love to be shocked by a fast paced disturbing horror movie, this film has a few jarring cuts, but not enough to please and the slow pace will likely drive you crazy instead.
personally i wish i could have seen what it would have looked like had hollywood (or japan, i guess) not stepped in with cheap gimmicks and special effects, if it had kept with the exquisite slowly-building-dread feeling and not been so efficiently explained. i think it might have been truly epic.

Really good horror flick!.......2007-06-10

Whether you like horror films or not, you'll LOVE this movie. This is more of a puzzle, whodoneit-type movie than a typical horror movie.

So what's this movie about? Rachel Keller investigates the death of her niece when she learns that her death may have been caused by a tape. Yes, a tape. Apparently, when you watch this particular tape, you receive a phone call that lets you know that you will die in 7 days. Scary, huh? Though it may not sound all that scary, each scene will send chills down your spine when Rachel begins to put together this puzzle that will explain why this tape exists and how she can stop it from killing more people (including her son).

What's to like about this movie? As I said above, this movie will pull you in with every scene. It will have you guessing and reguessing. What makes a good scary movie is not just the killing or the surprising scenes or creepy guys. Scary movies also need to have a bit of mystery in order for it be any good. And THIS is a good movie. Not to mention that Naomi Watts is in it and her acting in this movie is great.

What's not to like? Not much. The swearing and drug talk can be a negative to some people but that's the only thing that I can find remotely bad about this movie.

Watch this movie! You'll really like it!

Nice Attempt.......2007-04-11

This is an American version of a Japanese film based upon a comic. Unlike The Grudge, which was directed by the same director as the Japanese version, this is a very different story from the Japanese (although there is a quick reference to the Japanese version).

There is a rumor of a videotape that can kill people. If you watch it you will get a phone call and be told you will die in seven days. When a reporter's niece dies the reporter starts to look into the story. First she finds out her niece had a secret boyfriend. Then she finds out the boyfriend died at the same moment as the niece. There is definitely something strange going on. As the reporter digs through the story she discovers others died at the same time. Then she learns about, and finds, the videotape. She watches it before believing it.

But soon the reporter does believe, but not before showing it to her ex. She starts to become frantic with trying to find a way to break the curse and that means learning more about it. But when her son watches the videotape she really begins to panic. Now she not only has to solve the mystery for herself, but for her son. Her son seems to have some connection to the video and its images and it somehow revolves around a young girl. It becomes a race against time and the reporter finds a way she thinks will stop the curse. Will she succeed? Will she save the ones she loves? Watch and find out.

The videotape in Ringu makes more sense to me than the one here but the story has been rewritten in such a way as to make it work. Here we have a film that kept the core of the original (the videotape, the ring, and the force behind the curse) and recrafted it into more than just an adaptation. I found this film to be far better than I had thought it would be. A pretty good and creepy film. Check it out.

VERY SCARY AND FRESH!.......2007-03-26

Its nice to see a different horror film these days. I thought this movie was pretty spooky and held my interest from beginning to end. The DVD transfer is excellent. This is a fresh idea for the horror genre.

ENDING OUT OF THIS WORLD.......2007-03-21

THIS IS NOT UR AVERAGE RUN OF THE MILL HORROR FILM....I AM A FANATIC WHEN IT COMES TO HORROR FILMS AND HAVE FELT FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS THAT THE MOVIES THAT ARE BEING FILMED AND DIRECTED HAVE BEEN BASICALLY A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!I MEAN PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY READING THESE SCRIPTS AND FINANCING THEM MUCH TO MY SURPRISE. BUT THIS GEM OF A MOVIE ACTUALLY FREAKED ME OUT. I HAD NOT BEEN SO FREAKED SINCE I DONT KNOW.....CANDYMAN? AND THAT MOVIE HAD GIVEN ME MY FIRST NIGHTMARE IN YRS. I HAD NOT HAD ONE SINCE THE ORIGINAL NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST WAS RELEASED. AND THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING. BUT ANYWAYS THIS MOVIE IS DEFINITELY A MIND F***. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE WHO IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE OR EASILY FRIGHTENED TO WATCH THIS MOVIE ALONE IN THE DARK....AND THE ENDING....I HAVE NEVER HEARD SO MUCH SCREAMING AND SO MANY OBSENTITIES FILL A THEATRE LIKE IT DID AT THIS MOVIES SHOWING,(AND I WAS DEFINITLEY ONE OF THE PEOPLE CURSING AT THE SHEER GENIOUS OF THE CREATOR0)...CUDOS! I MEAN REALLY TO THINK SOMETHING HAS ENDED LIKE ANY OTHER MOVIE, HURRAY THE HEROIN SAVES THE DAYM, THE SPIRIT HAS BEEN SET FREE, LAID TO REST, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. AND THEN TO HAVE UR WHOLE WORLD JUST RIPPED RIGHT FROM UNDER YOU IS LIKE THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD....CUZ UR EXPECTING THE SAME OLD ENDING AND TO HAVE IT TOTALLY FLIPPED ON YOU IS JUST REFRESHING AND GAVE ME A BIT OF HOPE FOR FUTURE FILMS...
I WAS A BIT SKEPTICAL ABT THE SEQUEL. ALTHOUGH I WAS HOPING FOR MORE CLARITY ON THE CHARACTER OF SAMARA, I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED BUT NOT SURPRISED. THERE ARE FEW FILMS THAT CAN SAY THE SEQUEL LIVED UP TO THE ORIGINAL....HOPE MY REVIEW HELPS SOME OF YOU DECIDE TO IF NOT BUY THIS MOVIE DEFINITELY RENT....

Average customer rating:

A step down from previous Death Wish movies, but still a good one
Good Fun
excellent addition to the series
Deathwish Resurrected
Great Death Wish installment

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown
Starring: Charles Bronson , Kay Lenz , John P. Ryan , Perry Lopez , and George Dickerson
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000YEERG
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Description

The streets are filled with death and destruction. Ruthless drug traffickers prey upon the poor, the lonely, the helpless. L.A. is a city desperate for deliverance until now! Charles Bronson returns as Paul Kersey, the original urban vigilante and one-man demolition force in this pulse-pounding, take-no-prisoners thriller! Two rival drug gangs have a death-grip on L.A.'s battle-torn inner city. But their brutal reign of terror is about to come to a violent end. One man is out to avenge the cocaine-induced death of his girlfriend's teenage daughter. His name is Paul Kerseyand he's armed, dangerous and mad as hell!

Customer Reviews:

A step down from previous Death Wish movies, but still a good one.......2007-08-20

Death Wish 4 (1987.) The fourth film in the Death Wish series.

INTRODUCTION:
By 1987, everyone most likely thought the Death Wish series was done. Charles Bronson had starred in three controversial but still excellent films, and it's not likely anyone expected anything new from the series. But just the same, a fourth entry arrived in 1987.

OVERVIEW:
Death Wish 4 was released in 1987. The film stars Charles Bronson and co-stars numerous others.

BASIC PLOT:
Paul Kersey (Bronson) is back in Los Angeles, trying to get on with his life. Everything seems to be going fine. He has a wonderful woman who could be his future wife, and his future daughter-in-law thinks the world of him, and even helps out at his architecture firm. Unfortunately, this is Paul Kersey's life, so you know things won't stay smooth for long. His future daughter-in-law dies of a cocaine overdose, prompting his wife to go undercover and find out what she can about the growing drug trade. Meanwhile, a rich newspaper mogul who also holds a grudge against the drug trade recruits Kersey to hunt down and kill the high-ranking men in both major drug organizations.

FILM OPINIONS:
This is a good movie but definitely a step down from the classic "trilogy" that came earlier. The simple fact is, even in 1987, there were just too many "war on drugs" films out there already. But fortunately, this is still distinctly Death Wish. The plot is paper-thin, but let's be realistic - we don't watch these movies for their storylines, we watch them to see Charles Bronson wasting punks. And you do get plenty of that here. If you want to see the continuing Paul Kersey saga, give this one a viewing. It's no masterpiece, but it's still a solid entry in the series.

DVD:
The Death Wish films got screwed for their DVD releases. Not only are all the films cropped and fullscreen, but most of them feature scenes that have been EDITED. This is most noticable in the rape scenes in the first and second film. For the first two films, import the Region 4 DVD that combines the first two films. For 3 and 4, import the Region 2 European DVDs. Or if you can find it, get the import Vigilante Collection that has all five films in widescreen. Just be sure you have a multi-region player first!

OVERALL:
Overall I recommend this film, but only if you're already a fan of the series and want to see how things play out for Kersey. Watch it if you're a fan, but any Death Wish newbie should start at the beginning.

Good Fun.......2007-07-28

Plenty of people here have summarized what the film is about, so I won't. I'll try to add something original to the mix, so forgive me if I don't confine myself to describing the film's plot. The popularity of this film cannot be explained without a wider understanding of cultural conditions and sentiments at the time of its release. Death Wish was a bombshell, as it gave voice to how hundreds of thousands of people were feeling, sentiments people felt and may not have publicly expressed for fear of backlash from the PC movement. In a few sentences, the cultural circumstance referred to was a growing discontent with what was growingly considered to be misguided attempts to solve society's "problems." In the sixties the government gave itself the responsibility to "fix" many problems, from teenage pregnancy to poverty to drug use to discrimination to crime, with social "programs," judicial activism and new legislation. Ironically, ALL of these problems were already rapidly decreasing in the early sixties. Crime was HALF what it was in 1930, even if you don't control for the increase in the population!! Poverty was lessening each and every year. What happened after the social programs of the late sixties and the generation of the welfare state? Well, the crime rate literally exploded. So did teenage pregnancy. Poverty quadrupled. Another thing that happened was the rewriting of law to lessen the punishment of criminals to the result that even the criminals that were arrested and successfully prosecuted often ended right back out on the street in a matter of months to commit even more crimes. People were sick and tired of this crap. Some filmmakers new it, and tapped into this sentiment with wildly popular films like Death Wish, The Stone Killer, and Dirty Harry. An entire genre of "vendetta/revenge/let's take out the human garbage" films was born, and Charles Bronson, after Death Wish, was for a decade the most popular actor in the world. Bronson's presence is undeniable. The seventies threw up some wonderfully gritty films drenched in utter realism, and the Death Wish films are some of the greatest of all time. Death Wish 4 isn't the greatest in the series, but it's still better than most of the crap that passes for action films today.

excellent addition to the series.......2007-03-09

The Death Wish series is an interesting collection of films, featuring revenge ("Death Wish 2", "Death Wish 5") and vigilante ("Death Wish", "Death Wish 3", "Death Wish 4") tales and starring Charles Bronson as "The Vigilante" Paul Kersey. The first three films in the series were surreal, hyped-out urban fever dreams with the first two being believable and serious (and with DW3 beginning seriously and slowly turning into an all-out cartoon culminating in an all-out street war with chainguns, rocket launchers, Home Alone-esque booby traps, and entire buildings exploding like a war zone). The first three films featured Bronson fighting various thugs, rapists, muggers, and "creeps". In "Death Wish 4", he abandons the street war and starts dismantling white collar criminal drug empires.

"Death Wish 4" takes a different direction than the first three by amping up the plot and easing back on the sleazy feel that permeated through the original Michael Winner-directed trilogy. Once again Bronson is propelled to vigilante action when a loved one dies, but this time the circumstances are different. Instead of a direct rape and/or murder, it's drugs that are the killer this time, so instead of attacking lowlifes, Bronson sets to work against the drug kingpins ruling the trade in LA as a favor to Nathan White (in a performance that goes from distinguished and calm in the beginning to hilariously over-the-top in the finale....those who have seen this know what I mean). It shouldn't be spoiling anything to say that, more or less, Bronson accomplishes his goal in no time at all, but to his chagrin White is more than what he seems.... The directing of J. Lee Thompson (Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear) gets the job done and the musical score is excellent (some have complained that the excellent Jimmy Page score featured in "Death Wish 2" and "Death Wish 3" is missing, but it seems fitting as Page's score had a more discordant and twisted feel that meshed well with the films' atmospheres, whereas almost all of that scummy atmosphere is gone in "Death Wish 4").

This is an excellent 80s actioner and a definate improvement over "Death Wish 3". Bronson does what he does best and John P. Ryan gives a hilarious and memorable performance ("I warned you.....I'd kill her!!). Fans of Bronson and these types of movies should be pleased.

Deathwish Resurrected.......2007-01-28

After the classic original Deathwish, numbers 2 & 3 may have supplied the violence, but lacked the heart that made Paul Kersey an interesting character. Unexpectedly, in #4, Bronson brings back the heart and soul of this remarkably unmarketed series (c'mon, where's the Vigilante action figure with assorted Punks and Gangsters?). This episode reminds us of the baggage Kersey carries and truly portrays him as a man who is unconcerned about his own survival unless it prevents him from fulfilling his mission of death without mercy. This is what sets the Bronson character apart from other great action heroes: he is never confused or hesitant in his killing. He is the Messenger of Bad Karma. His targets are already damned, he just stamps their ticket on the way to Hell.
Not only is this second only to the original in quality, but it does a nice nod to an excellent earlier film of Bronson, The Mechanic. His "hits" involve interesting technique showing us that Kersey is no amateur; he's really gotten damn good at what he does. The battle at the oilfield looks like lost footage of The Mechanic, and is surreal as Bronson slowly approaches his kill to the spooky metallic sounds of oilfield pumpjacks. The ending presents a terrible philosophic conclusion: Evil has been soundly thrashed, but the collateral damage goes on and the world seems no better. Obviously, Bronson's work is never done.

Great Death Wish installment.......2006-12-01

Once again, this is a major improvement from DW3. Bronson is as great as ever and I really loved his performance here. The plot is okay, not oscar material, but acceptable. At least it has more to it than just shooting people.

Very good movie for Bronson fans.

Average customer rating:

a classic, but...
Really good horror flick!
Nice Attempt
VERY SCARY AND FRESH!
ENDING OUT OF THIS WORLD

The Ring (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Naomi Watts , Martin Henderson , David Dorfman , Brian Cox , and Jane Alexander
Director: Gore Verbinski
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000087RFC
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Amazon.com

Disturbing images and a few good shocks don't stop The Ring from being a hash of half-baked ideas. It's the kind of frightfest you'll watch to set a chilling mood or spook your susceptible friends, but when you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake (of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki's popular novel) collapses into a heap of incoherent parts. The negligible plot follows a Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to vague urban legend, causes the viewer's death seven days later. (Fear Dot Com borrowed the same idea while avoiding this film's lofty pretensions.) The reporter, her son, and her estranged boyfriend view the tape, and the film's countdown structure follows them into deepening layers of terror--all quite effective until the movie attempts to explain itself. At that you're better off shutting down your brain and letting the creepy visuals take over. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

a classic, but..........2007-08-21

Really good horror flick!.......2007-06-10

Nice Attempt.......2007-04-11

VERY SCARY AND FRESH!.......2007-03-26

ENDING OUT OF THIS WORLD.......2007-03-21

Average customer rating:

Primal Plate Tectonics in a Good Man's Soul
Ring of Fire
The Man is Interesting - The Film is Pedestrian.
Ring of Fire - The Emile Griffith Story
WOW!

Ring of Fire - The Emile Griffith Story
Starring: Emile Griffith , Howie Albert , Bill Gallo , Neal Gabler , and Benny 'The Kid' Paret
Director: Dan Klores , and Ron Berger
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0009UC7NE
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Product Description

In this tender yet haunting story, filmmakers Dan Klores and Ron Berger (directors of THE BOYS OF 2ND STREET PARK) capture a provocative saga of love, violence and redemption. New York City, March 24, 1962: Rival boxing champions Emile Griffith and Benny Kid Paret entered the ring for their feverishly anticipated world title bout. Earlier, Paret had taunted his allegedly homosexual opponent with a shocking slur. That night, as millions of fans watched the fight on live television, Griffith brutally beat Paret to death. The sport of boxing, the life of Emile Griffith, and the innocence of America would be changed forever. Through startling archival footage and revealing new interviews with journalists, historians, champion boxers, Paret s widow, and Griffith himself, experience the Sundance sensation that begins with one tragic night nearly 45 years ago whose impact is still being felt today.

System Requirements:
Starring: Emile Griffith
Directed By: Ron Berger giDan Klores
Running Time: 87 Min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Primal Plate Tectonics in a Good Man's Soul.......2007-09-04

Ring of Fire
Reviewed by Richard Arlin (Dick) Stull

JULY 9, 2007 archive - Arete, Sport Literature Association
Primal Plate Tectonics in a Good Man's Soul

[Ring of Fire]

On March 24, 1962, I sat in the living room with my dad to watch Gillette's Friday Night at the Fights on an old eighteen-inch Zenith black and white TV. It was a regular ritual. My dad would drink Falstaff beer, we'd discuss the newest rankings in Ring Magazine and look forward to watching Carlos Ortiz, Kid Gavilan, Jose Torres, Floyd Patterson and Emile Griffith. At a time before instant replay, my father, in his quest for reception perfection, habitually got up during the fights to adjust the long rabbit ears antennae. It drove me crazy because he'd invariably cause a blizzard right at the critical knock-down or knockout. That night, Emile Griffith, an artful, powerful boxer, fought Benny "Kid"" Paret, a tough Cuban counter-puncher for the welterweight championship live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the twelfth round, Griffith pinned Paret in the corner and unleashed a barrage of punches that left Paret helpless along the ropes. As Griffith continued to pound away with straight right hands and tremendous uppercuts, Paret slumped along the ropes slowly to the canvas. According to one observer, Griffith threw seventeen unanswered punches. My dad never moved to adjust the antennae. The picture was crystal clear this time. Paret never regained consciousness and died ten days later.

Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story is a documentary of uncommon power, a modern day Greek tragedy with individual and cultural twists and contexts that make unforgettable viewing. From the opening scene of the swollen streets of late 1950's New York City, James Brown's soulful rendition of "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" in the background, Ring of Fire has you hooked. The back-stories and subsequent developments surrounding that night in 1962 are told by a colorful array of New York writers and boxing people and like Pete Hamill, Howie Albert, Juan Gonzalez, Jimmy Breslin, Jack Newfield, Neal Gabler, Hank Kaplan, Griffith's trainer Gil Clancy, boxers Gaspar Oretga, Jose Torres and Lupe Pintor, Ruby Goldstein Jr., Paret's widow, Lucy, his son, Benny Jr., and, of course, Emile Griffith himself, age 67 at the time of the filming.

Griffith and Paret were immigrants from the Virgin Islands and Cuba, respectively. They grew up in adjacent neighborhoods and had even played basketball together as kids. For the Irish, Italian, Jewish and other immigrant groups of the past, boxing was a way out of poverty. But the two fighters were on a collision course in more ways than one as they ascended to the top ranks of the welterweight division. Griffith was a popular, likable fighter, supremely gifted, who was genuinely respectful to his peers and opponents alike. Paret was a cocky, courageous counter-puncher willing to take four punches to land one. Griffith had won the title against Paret the previous year but lost their rematch. The third fight was more than a clash of boxing styles and personalities. Rumors on the street circulated that Griffith was gay. At the weigh-in for their third fight, Paret taunted Griffith with the word 'maricon.' Griffith, while never directly confirming or denying his sexual orientation, said ominously in the opening interview for the documentary, "He called me a 'maricon.' I knew 'maricon' meant faggot. And I wasn't nobody's faggot." During the fight Griffith was sharp, focused, moving skillfully, fighting cleverly out of the clinches, beating Paret to the punch from long and short range. Although Paret knocked Griffith down in the sixth round, it was Griffith's fight. Finally, in a 12th round that was comparatively benign, Griffith caught Paret on the ropes in the corner of the ring. What happened then was described by writer Norman Mailer as Griffith's right hand "like a piston-rod unhinged from the crank-case" with the effects of a "ball-bat smashing a pumpkin." Referee Ruby Goldstein, lauded on the Ed Sullivan Show because he had the courage to step in and stop fights before fighters were permanently hurt, inexplicably stood by as Griffith pounded Paret. After finally stepping in to separate the two, Paret, wrote Mailer, "went down like a large ship that turns on end and slides second by second into its grave."

Paret remained in a coma, never regaining consciousness, and died after ten days. Griffith was inundated with hate mail. Politicians called to ban boxing. Television, which had become the new national medium, had literally shown an execution as mass entertainment.

The documentary also points out the inverted vice bowl of poverty and exploitation of those in the fight game. Paret, who had already suffered tremendous punishment in his previous fights, was likened by writer Pete Hamill to a car that had been in a crash and could never be the same. His manager, Manny Alfaro had simply used him for one more big payday. Ironically, Griffith, a genuinely likable, respectful, thoughtful, humane human being, never intended to become a boxer. At the age of fifteen, he was working as a hat designer in the garment district when he took his shirt off on a hot day. His boss, noticing his Herculean body, immediately took him to fight trainer Gil Clancy, who taught him how to box.

Griffith was shattered by the death of Paret. He nonetheless continued to fight into the seventies and won five additional world championships. Incredibly, after he retired, he was severely beaten by thugs outside a gay night-club and sustained brain and memory damage far worse than he ever had taking blows in the ring. He is cared for by his adopted son, a former inmate in a correctional facility where Griffith used to work. Griffith still has nightmares about the fight.

There are some unforgettable scenes. One, showing Benny Paret Jr. as a toddler playing on the floor with a picture of his late father in his boxing attire on the wall in the background, is heart-breaking. Paret's young wife, Lucy somehow carried on, never remarried, and is shown laying flowers on the grave of her late husband forty-four years later. Finally, there is an emotional meeting of Griffith and Benny Jr., now in his forties, where Griffith, haunted for years by that fateful night and his fears of meeting Benny Jr., embraces the fighter's son. Lucy was never able to bring herself to meet with Emile. "I understand," Griffith said to Benny Jr.

Ring of Fire is a profound commentary on fate, violence, primal pathos, cultural and class complexities, sexuality, wives and mothers, fathers, sons, tragedy, what it means to be a man, what it means to be human - a fiction writer couldn't have invented this story. See it for yourself. Unforgettable. Like that night in 1962.

Ring of Fire - The Emile Griffith Story (2004). Starring: Emile Griffith, Howie Albert Director: Ron Berger, Dan Klores. Running Time: 87 Min., Format: DVD MOVIE

Copyright © 2007 by Richard Arlin Stull.

Ring of Fire.......2007-07-23

Superb feature recreates a forgotten, life-transforming moment in time with admirable balance, insight, and sensitivity. Particularly intriguing is that Griffith was in fact a closeted gay, and that Paret's thoughtless taunting (and outing) of him before their final fight fueled a volcanic rage in Griffith. Years later, it's clear Emile paid a steep psychological price for those fateful punches, and the closure the film facilitates between Griffith and Paret's son is incredibly moving. A must-see.

The Man is Interesting - The Film is Pedestrian........2006-08-15

I just finished watching this film about the captivating and tortured boxer, Emile Grigffith. Luckily, his story (which I won't reiterate since other reviewers say what it's about) is a compelling one that saves this rather mundane approach from being too dull to watch. I also feel the filmmakers gloss over certain subjects, like Mr. Griffith's sexuality, far too much. For those who say his sexuality is his business (and to a certain degree, it is), I say it's such an integral element of the story that it needs more prominence in the film. It feels too much like an afterthought, mostly because Mr. Griffith appears entrenched in denial. The filmmakers should have pressed more to get at the core of this obviously important issue in his life. However, having said that, I still recommend the film to anyone interested in this tragic and ultimately redemptive story.

Ring of Fire - The Emile Griffith Story.......2006-02-17

I was eleven in 1962 and my family was among those who were regular television fight fans. I'm sure that we were in from of the set for this fight. I enjoyed the archival footage and the interviews with all of the participants. Of course, like others, I became weepy in parts of the footage.

I thank Misters Klores and Berger for giving me a chance to relive, not a tragic moment, but a joyous era when American enjoyed the art of boxing, fathers and sons could share moments. Long live Emile Griffith, Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Robinson, Gene Fulmer and the gladiators who entertained us with the sport of boxing during the golden days.

WOW!.......2006-02-09

I asked my mom if she was aware of the Emile Griffith controversy, and if she knew of the documentary that was made. I watched this documentary, and I was sobbing at the end of it. 1st, I am a gay male. 2nd, I am a sport fanatic. I used to go to all the Eagles games when I grew up in Philly. I now go to Ohio State and enjoy every football and basketball game I go to.
So this story hit a little close to home. I can't imagine what Griffith went through being a gay male, in the boxing profession, and being called a "faggot" by another fighter.
What happened was tragic. I have to ask this question though. What if Griffith had died? Would the outrage have been as great. Anyone who says it would, is being completely dishonest.
Still. Watch this film. It is well worth the time.

Average customer rating:

Classic Movie / Awesome Soundtrack
1969
Everlasting human conflict
When We Were Young
Excellent soundtrack/solid cast

1969
Starring: Robert Downey Jr. , Kiefer Sutherland , Bruce Dern , Mariette Hartley , and Winona Ryder
Director: Ernest Thompson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005V9HO
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Description

Scott and Ralph (Sutherland and Downey), two small-town class-of- 67 high school graduates, venture off to college to sow some wild oats and stay one step ahead of the draft board. But when Ralph is expelled from school, he suddenly becomes a prime candidate for serving in his country's armed forces. And when the lifelong friends take drastic and illegal measures to ensure Ralph's freedom, they trigger a chain of events that will forever change theirfriendship, their lives and how a town thinks of war.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Movie / Awesome Soundtrack.......2007-05-07

Greetings,

This was a classic movie with a feel close to home, even though in the movie they delt with Vietnam its a real good movie today with the war in Iraq. The soundtrack brought back memories of the late 60's and the story balances out the music. If you enjoy Winona Ryder and Kiefer Sutherland than this is the movie for you..

1969.......2007-04-13

great movie, very emotional at times..long list of stars and music that brings back a flood of memories...good movie to watch for what was happening in the late 60's not only with vietnam but on the homefront to all the families.

Everlasting human conflict.......2007-03-28

between peace and war - and to sue one's one goals by force or flee from it.

When We Were Young.......2006-01-03

Dopy yet captivating, 1969 wears its heart on its sleeve. Winona Ryder has beautiful hippie outfits. Robert Downey Jr is fascinating to watch. His character just seems like him. Because he always plays drugged-out losers whose worlds are about to collapse, his movies always seem to be his autogiography, just like the old time-stars like Lana Turner or John Wayne. Yet in this film Kiefer's the real star, and he isn't bad. With his blond, blond hair he looks very much as though he might actually have been the son of Mariette Hartley.

The anti war stuff was a little cimplified but good. Winona makes a startling speech at her high school graduation, asking the crowd why we have to go fight a war that no one in the US actually understands. Watching it today, we realize we should be asking ourselves these questions all over again. I wonder if the movie might have been more of a success today than in 1988. Ryder made this film right between BEETLEJUICE and HEATHERS, when she was still a giant star, and yet it barely saw release.

Among the elders, Bruce Dern, Mariette Hartley and Joanna Cassidy are all excellent. Joanna Cassidy isn't as lean and mean as she is on SIX FEET UNDER, she has more flesh on her, but she looks marvelous, like Claudia Cardinale playing a hippie.

There's a scene where Sutherland's VW van, decked up in hippie colors, passes a convoy of soldier boys on a lonely highway, and Ryder leans out the window and makes the peace sign at them with a beatific smile. At first the soldiers respond violently and obscenely and then, as more and more trucks are passed, the mood of the soldiers seems to shift and a few give the peace sign back. Then more and more of them. All the while on the soundtrack "Wooden Ships" is playing (the Jefferson Airplane version). Some of the scenes were touching, others a little goofy.

Excellent soundtrack/solid cast.......2005-03-24

By now, we're used to the coming-of-age theme in movies about this era. But what makes ''1969'' special is its subtlety, in recognizing the differences in the way we reacted to news, gestures, comments in 1969 as compared to now. The term ''innocence'' is overused; it was simply one of fewer dimensions... no internet, fewer TV channels, when newspapers and radio took on a far greater role in forming our decisions. In the hitch-hiking and driving scenes through scenic Maryland, we remember that travel wasn't always comfortable, that we didn't take for granted getting from point A to point B.
Keifer Sutherland, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder are all fantastic, but Mariette Hartley really does a stellar job as a mom that keeps a family together through incredible strife.
And the soundtrack is really what'll have you hooked. There are the usual 60's staples like Blind Faith (''Can't Find My Way Home''), but also some songs younger viewers might be unfamiliar with or older ones might've forgotten (like the underrated, powerful ''When I Was Young'' by the Animals).
Not a definitive look at an era, but a likeable cast of characters that will have you coming back to watch again.

Average customer rating:

Good Fight Scene Tournament (Catfight)
CAT FIGHT? YEs...terrible script/acting,but, oh, Cat... .
Angelflop
Great Woman Action
A Very Misleading Movie

Angelfist
Starring: Archie Adamos , Catya Sassoon , Ronald Asinas , Sibel Birzag , and Denise Buick
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
Manufacturer: New Concorde
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006II6C
Release Date: 2002-11-12

Customer Reviews:

Good Fight Scene Tournament (Catfight).......2005-06-27

Good fights in the tournament seeing hot girls in their tight shorts & bathing suits.The movie is OK to watch,only the fight scenes in the movie was the best.I've seen this movie lots,now whenever I watch Angelfist I normally just skip scenes and watch the tournament fight scenes from the first match to the last match.

CAT FIGHT? YEs...terrible script/acting,but, oh, Cat... ........2005-01-10

Shocker of a movie, but I just bought a new copy from the US, lol..

most of the existing comments here are spot-on, I just watched a new copy of it, and the martial-arts which I don't even really care about, seemed very, err, underwhelming compared to some movies, but hey, maybe it was actually more realistic, more that you could actually expect, than a whirl of perfect stylish moves. Also, the blond chick seemed possibly a better fighter, more co-ordinated, than main-star Cat Sassoon.

the comments about Sassoons boobs are I'm sure, correct, but hey, you looked, and didn't stop looking, right?

anyway, this unusual even strange-looking but magnetically attractive woman, that Id seen in Bloodfist 4, which i also own, was the reason I bought the vid.

Its one tragedy of our time that she lost her life 2 or 3 years ago, in what sounded like a very LA/Hollywood type of death: and another that her presence and look, , especially as a villainess as on BF4, was not even a little better filmed and scripted,even to an average standard, to make better use of what she offered, Bf4 was a mess in many ways, and this one, probably even worse. But its all about her. Hilarious perhaps that Don Wilson, whos a pretty-good martial-arts star, remade B-F 4, under a different name, because he wasn't happy with it, fair enough, but apparently it was far worse, not better.It lacked Sassoon, even , anyway.

Sassoon maybe should have been Tomb Raider over the over-rated diva-ish Angelina Jolie, but of course Jolie was that mainly because already established big-name with an Oscar or something from that mental-hospital movie, anyway, Sassoon should have become the #1 femme-fatale action villainess, on the strength of her sheer presence in BF 4 and this movie...was wasted and made cult-obscure by her presence in films with d-grade scripts, budgets and directors like Sziller and Santiago...no matter how much of a presence and potential she had, was never going to get much propulsion from vehicles like this and BF-4...

Angelflop.......2002-09-12

Awful actioner has Cat Sassoon entering a Filipino martial arts tournament to investigate the death of her sister and discovering a plot to assassinate a U.S. ambassador. The fight scenes are poorly choreographed, Sassoon scowls through the whole film, and our male "hero" is a doofus. There are, count 'em, three different shower scenes to up the sex factor. Really bad.

Great Woman Action.......1999-12-25

Tomb Raider? Nah, but she's sure got the breast down pact. Cat Sassoon is a great fighter, and she did a great job in this video. If you want to see woman action, and some great street fighting scenes. Then you have to check this video out!

A Very Misleading Movie.......1999-11-05

Even though I watched this movie in fast-forward, I could barely sit through it. The Box Art told me about one movie, but the one inside was a completely different one.

Average customer rating:

Beware of the Killer Peacocks!
the first one stank,why did we need a second one
ric meyers said it best, "if you see that seasonal film logo, you know it's gonna be good.
Good Choreography, Bad Movie
Can't agree with other reviews

The Game of Death II
Starring: Bruce Lee , Tai Chung Kim , Jang Lee Hwang , Roy Horan , and Casanova Wong
Director: Sammo Hung Kam-Bo , See-Yuen Ng , and Corey Yuen
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001NBMLM
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Customer Reviews:

Beware of the Killer Peacocks!.......2007-06-13

Game of Death II (aka Tower of Death) is a dichotomy of a film. It is a Bruceploitation film (though it is one of the better ones) and it is an exiting revenge flick. Raymond Chow had apparently not made enough money off of the insipid Game of Death and was slowly leaking "newly found" footage of Bruce so it was bound that he would create another film with spliced in footage, redubbed dialog and, of course, Bruce's namesake. A lot of people were using Lee's name to promote their own productions, but Golden Harvest (who Bruce worked for; though technically this was a Seasonal production) was the worst of these offenders.

The first act of the movie is the least interesting and worst part of the film. Bruce Lee stars (posthumously edited in) as Billy Lo (Bruce Lee) who visits his friend Chin Ku (Hwang Jang Lee) who is currently beating up an under-classed challenger. After an reestablishment of friendship between the two (never a good sign in a Kung Fu film), he visits an abbot (Roy Chiao revisiting his role from Enter the Dragon so they can reuse and redub footage) to discuss about his contumacious brother Bobby Lo (Tong Lung who also starred in Game of Death).

Of course, the scenes that compromise the first act are not only exploitative of Bruce Lee they are also poorly done. The most obvious is that the backgrounds do not match between Bruce's footage and the new footage. Also check out the sculpted back muscles of Bruce and compare them to his double. It is not even close. The fight scenes with Bruce (and his double) do not flow well. However, anytime you see a fight scene and that Bruce (or his double) does a difficult move such as a flip you will notice that it is the incomparable Yuen Biao (he even has a small role toward the beginning.)
Bruce later visits the funeral of his friend Chin Ku and he is prevented from examining the body (this must mean something to the plot.) When the ceremony takes place a helicopter comes by and snags the coffin. For some strange reason, well to dispose of the fake Bruce character, he jumps on the coffin as it is flying away and is hit with a dart and falls to his death. This is absolutely absurd. Though this is not as bad as the 70s clothes at the funeral or the tacky real funeral footage of Bruce Lee that would come next.

Now the movie gets more interesting and less exploitative. Bobby learns of his brother's death from his father who tells him to meet Sherman Lan. Sherman tells him to go to the Palace of Death. Now this is an interesting place. It is owned by Lewis, played by Roy Horan who has been an executive at Seasonal, an actor who also acted in Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, a student of Hwang Jang Lee and currently a lecturer at HK Polytechnic University; obviously his life is more interesting than this film.