Photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered.
Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the center of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbors (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbors' lives.
At minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humor, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland
Running Time 1630 Min
Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
Masterpiece indeed. With 14 films, each supplemented with numerous documentaries, commentaries, and other bonus materials, Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection will be the cornerstone for any serious DVD library. Packaged in a beautiful, conversation-starting velvet box, the individual discs inside come four to a case, decorated with original poster art.
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No doubt opinionated fans will argue about what should fall under the rubric of "masterpiece" in Hitchcock's body of work, but with the bona fide classics Vertigo, Psycho, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, there's plenty of timeless movie magic here. Eye-popping transfers and gorgeous sound make this set one of the must-have releases of the year.
Should the Hitchcock fan have the energy for more after imbibing on the movies themselves, a bonus disc provides additional documentaries. These include a revealing interview in which the master of suspense discusses, among other things, how much he dislikes working with method actors, going so far as to name names (we're talking about you, Jimmy Stewart and Montgomery Clift). In an American Film Institute lifetime achievement ceremony, the master of suspense is praised by the likes of Stewart and Ingrid Bergman, and seems to be suffering from severe boredom as celebrities pile on the flattery. Then Hitchcock opens his mouth to accept the award, delivering an endlessly witty stream of perfect bon mots that prove once again that he was a master of high comedy as well. Revealing documentaries about the making of Psycho and The Birds round out the feast of extras. The 36-page booklet, filled mostly with stills and poster art, provides little new information about the films.--Ryan Boudinot
Films Included in Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection
Saboteur
Robert Cummings stars as Barry Kane, a patriotic munitions worker who is falsely accused of sabotage, in this wartime thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. Plastered across the front page of every newspaper and hated by the nation, Kane's only hope of clearing his name is to find the real villain. The script as a whole is a clever one--Algonquin wit Dorothy Parker shares a screenwriting credit, and her trademark zingers make for a terrific mix of humor and suspense. Saboteur is a pleasure whether you're a die-hard Hitchcock fan or just someone who likes a good nail-biter. --Ali Davis
Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon
Rope
An experimental film masquerading as a standard Hollywood thriller, Rope is simple and based on a successful stage play: two young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) commit murder, more or less as an intellectual exercise. They hide the body in their large apartment, then throw a dinner party. Will the body be discovered? Director Alfred Hitchcock, fascinated by the possibilities of the long-take style, decided to shoot this story as though it were happening in one long, uninterrupted shot. Since the camera can only hold one 10-minute reel at a time, Hitchcock had to be creative when it came time to change reels, disguising the switches as the camera passed behind someone's back or moved behind a lamp. James Stewart, as a suspicious professor, marks his first starring role for Hitchcock, a collaboration that would lead to the masterpieces Rear Window and Vertigo. --Robert Horton
Rear Window
Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder. At deeper levels, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland
The Trouble with Harry
A busman's holiday for Alfred Hitchcock, this 1955 black comedy concerns a pesky corpse that becomes a problem for a quiet, Vermont neighborhood. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut as one of several characters who keep burying the body and finding it unburied again. Hitchcock clearly enjoys conjuring the autumnal look and feel of the story, and he establishes an important, first-time alliance with composer Bernard Herrmann, whose music proved vital to the director's next half-dozen or so films. But for now, The Trouble with Harry is a lark, the mischievous side of Hitchcock given free reign. --Tom Keogh
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his own 1934 spy thriller is an exciting event in its own right, with several justifiably famous sequences. James Stewart and Doris Day play American tourists who discover more than they wanted to know about an assassination plot. When their son is kidnapped to keep them quiet, they are caught between concern for him and the terrible secret they hold. When asked about the difference between this version of the story and the one he made 22 years earlier, Hitchcock always said the first was the work of a talented amateur while the second was the act of a seasoned professional. Indeed, several extraordinary moments in this update represent consummate filmmaking, particularly a relentlessly exciting Albert Hall scene, with a blaring symphony, an assassin's gun, and Doris Day's scream. The Man Who Knew Too Muchis the work of a master in his prime. --Tom Keogh
Vertigo
Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigo has since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigo is as lovely as it is haunting. --Jim Emerson
Psycho
For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. --Jim Emerson
The Birds
Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton
Marnie
Sean Connery, fresh from the second Bond picture, From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realizes that she's a professional thief; she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities. His patient program of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge. As it were. Not even D.H. Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute
Torn Curtain
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée, Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defense system that will "make nuclear defense obsolete," and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film--much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. --Ali Davis
Topaz
Alfred Hitchcock hadn't made a spy thriller since the 1930s, so his 1969 adaptation of Leon Uris's bestseller seemed like a curious choice for the director. But Hitchcock makes Uris's story of the West's investigation into the Soviet Union's dealings with Cuba his own. Frederick Stafford plays a French intelligence agent who works with his American counterpart (John Forsythe) to break up a Soviet spy ring. The film is a bit flat dramatically and visually, and there are sequences that seem to occupy Hitchcock's attention more than others. A minor work all around, with at least two alternative endings shot by Hitchcock. --Tom Keogh
Frenzy
Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, written by Anthony Shaffer (who also wrote Sleuth), this delightfully grisly little tale features an all-British cast minus star wattage, which may have accounted for its relatively slim showing in the States. Jon Finch plays a down-on-his-luck Londoner who is offered some help by an old pal (Barry Foster). In fact, Foster is a serial killer the police have been chasing--and he's framing Finch. Which leads to a classic Hitchcock situation: a guiltless man is forced to prove his innocence while eluding Scotland Yard at the same time. Spiked with Hitchcock's trademark dark humor, Frenzy also features a very funny subplot about the Scotland Yard investigator (Alec McCowen) in charge of the case, who must endure meals by a wife (Vivien Merchant) who is taking a gourmet-cooking class. --Marshall Fine
Family Plot
Alfred Hitchcock's final film is understated comic fun that mixes suspense with deft humor, thanks to a solid cast. The plot centers on the kidnapping of an heir and a diamond theft by a pair of bad guys led by Karen Black and William Devane. The cops seem befuddled, but that doesn't stop a questionable psychic (Barbara Harris) and her not overly bright boyfriend (Bruce Dern, in a rare good-guy role) from picking up the trail and actually solving the crime. Did she do it with actual psychic powers? That's part of the fun of Harris's enjoyably ditsy performance. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
Necessarily flawed.......2007-09-14
The best this set rates is 3 stars, and not only for packaging issues previously mentioned.
It's unfortunate that a deal couldn't have been worked out with MGM/UA so that NORTH BY NORTHWEST might have been included here rather than the boring TOPAZ. Even better would be the inclusion of such great WARNER BROS. titles like DIAL M FOR MURDER instead of MARNIE, THE WRONG MAN rather than ROPE and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN as replacement for TORN CURTAIN.
Let's tell it plainly here. This is not so much a "masterpiece collection" as it is the best Hitchcock titles that UNIVERSAL/MCA has in their vaults (along with some less-than-great filler). With such a substantial project as this, perhaps the various studios owed it to Hitchcock to cooperate. And if they had, wouldn't the four substitutions suggested above TRULY make this DVD set Hitchcock's masterpiece collection?
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - SEASON THREE features some of the best TV episodes from the Master of Suspense.
A GREAT SET FOR THE PRICE! MISSING SOME GREAT FILMS!.......2007-09-08
I didn't have any of these films on DVD so,..... When I saw it on sale for around $65.00 I thought it was a great deal for 14 films with some extra material. I would have liked to see a few different films in this set,but they ended up putting most of those in another DVD set with the exception of "LifeBoat" and "Notorious". I think all "Hitches" missing films should be put into similar sets. This is a nice set, but wait to see it at the right price. These will be dropping way down before you know it. The transfers look very good!
Pick this along with the Signature Collection and you're done!.......2007-08-23
First things first - This collection is brilliant and the packaging is also good. Its a velvet box containing 4 DVD boxes, each box containing 4 or 3 discs/films and a booklet with a short writeup on each film.
When it arrived, one of the 4 sets was missing, and one was duplicated.
That is: I had 2 sets of the same films, and one set was missing.
I wrote back to the Amazon Customer Support and got an immediate reply saying they will replace it.
This set does not include certain must-have classics like
Strangers On A Train
North By North West
Dial M For Murder
Foreign Correspondent etc.
All this is available in the Signature Series which I picked up from here.
So if you buy these 2 box sets, you're done!!!
5 Stars for the movies, 1 Star for the packaging.......2007-08-13
I would love to have most of the DVDs in this collection, but I won't get it because of the poorly-designed packaging. I don't want 4 DVDs crammed into one case with the artwork reproduced one-quarter size and overlapping. I want each DVD in its own case with full-sized artwork on the cover. If the idea was to make it more compact, the space saved is insignificant. I think the real reason is corner-cutting to save a few bucks. The other Hitchcock set did it the right way- 1 DVD per case. This is very disappointing. For a lot of us, aesthetics count for a lot. Actually, my ideal preference would for all box sets to be packaged chronologically, in the order each film was released.
Poor packaging........2007-06-01
This is a great set minus the annoying packaging. As someone mentioned earlier the DVD cases are fitted to go in a certain order and if they don't go in in that order then they get stuck and the edges of the DVD cases get frayed. The corners of the cases get frayed anyway because the cases are a paper and cardboard-based binding with the plastic DVD holders glued on to them. So I put them in spine first now. Open and close them enough times and you get those white, worn edges on the spine. Another problem with the cases is that the plastic glued on part that hold the DVDs in place are notorious for getting de-glued. Yet another thing. . .one disc is now not holding in the case properly. How could I remedy this problem? Buy an entire new set??? The door on the velvet box doesn't snap shut in anyway so if you hold the wrong side down. . .the DVDs will fall out. So watch out. The velvet box looks and feels nice but it collects dust very easily and is not easily cleanable. I tried to brush off some of the dust and the silvery logos and such began to flake off.
Amazon.com
Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character's propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Disturbia
Why We Love Shia LaBeouf |
The Soundtrack |
Rear Window |
Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Great Thriller .......2007-09-09
Loved the movie it has just the right ingredients to make a good thriller without being too violent or made for kids. Looks fantastic on Blu Ray
If it wasn't for the girl in the bikini, I would have given it 1 star!.......2007-09-01
If it wasn't for the girl in the bikini, I would have given it 1 star!
I'm not sure how this movie got rated so high (7.2/10 on IMDB, bikini votes), it was a less than average movie, nothing special.
The story was pretty weak, many cheesy lines and instances, and the acting not so great.
It starts cheesy and ends predictable, a typical Hollywood revisited idea made worse.
Don't waste your money, rent it first.
Great Movie Overall.......2007-08-31
I remember seeing this movie on a special sneak preview occasion and I must say that I was impressed with it then and I am totally even more impresssed with it now in HD on Blu-ray. Although I usa a PS3 as my primary and only Blu-ray, it does the job very well!!! I purchased this title mainly because of its great storyline, cinematography, and the fact that its one of the last titles made on Blu-ray before Paramount's switch to HD-DVD which I think was a huge mistake! Anyhow, the movie does not feel low-budget, but offers a great sense of action, thrill, and suspense. Go watch it.
And I'd Have Gotten Away With it Too if Not for You Meddling Kids!.......2007-08-27
Three months before Shia LaBeouf's leading role in the Summer of 2007's blockbuster Transformers, he appeared in Disturbia. And he seems to have gotten into the same character for his roles in both films: a kind of missing link from Scooby Doo's gang Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - The Complete First and Second Seasons .
"Every killer lives next door to someone" is the tagline on the movie poster, and the movie's trailer expands on the spoiler-tagline by coming right out with the detail of how a high school senior (LaBeouf) living under house-arrest discovers his neighbor is a serial killer. So all that's left untold for viewers in Disturbia is what LaBeeouf's character and friends do about it.
Disturbia makes frequent attempts at humor, but most of the intended funny moments border on corny. The target audience of this movie clearly comes off as 13 - 24 year olds...the Scream crowd Scream Trilogy - Boxed Set . But Disturbia is far from how well done the Scream films were done. Kids and young adults will find some of the humor in Disturbia amusing, but serious thriller fans will tire quickly of some of the campyness.
There are some good, thrilling moments in Disturbia, but the suspense is lost in how predictable the movie is...especially after how much of the plot is deliberately given in advance to viewers that saw the trailer.
Overall the movie was good, and the I-just-have-to-see-what-happens-next factor kept me interested enough to be entertained. But this weekend I also watched 2002's Scooby Doo - The Movie Scooby Doo - The Movie [Blu-ray] , and I found it much more entertaining than Disturbia, and Scooby Doo was even less predictable. Zoinks!
Product Description
Dreamworks Disturbia (HD-DVD)
After his father's accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself undera court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herselfand her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both physical and emotional - of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those ofhis neighbors, including a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale's cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime thatcould cost them their lives?
Amazon.com
Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character's propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Disturbia
Why We Love Shia LaBeouf |
The Soundtrack |
Rear Window |
Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Why you think you'll hate disturbia and why you shouldn't........2007-09-16
Why would people think they are going to hate Disturbia? First off any new film at all linked in any way shape or form to anything Alfred Hitchcock has done has a built in crowd of people who are going to hate it, regardless if it's good or not. Plot wise it is in some ways taking from Rear Window as the Amazon plot synopsis says, I can see that, but pretend you didn't hear that. Hitchcock's Rear Window is a great classic, this isn't that, end of story.
Secondly the way we see teens these days could annoy anyone. Growing up in an age where it's against the law for parents to discipline a kid now. Also if you've ever watched MTV, specifically "The Real World", which basically is the opposite of it's title. In the show they take seven models who they know are going to disagree and are young spoiled and immature mostly, put them in a mansion, and give them a dream job without working for anything, That's the real world? Hardly. Perhaps you have privileged kids that grew up in the suburbs, who, have never been in a fight of any sort, acting all ghetto, claiming you best give them respect when they've never earned any, and think there tough because they saw a rap video, and think turning there hat to the side makes them a gangster.
And sometimes you get directors and writers of horror flicks that I have to think base how they think teenagers act by what they've seen solely on MTV or the latest cell phone commercial. Disturbia is none of those things.
The Negatives, sure there are a lot of plot holes, but before you yell them out give the film a chance, it may answer them and may not need our feedback at the screen. Somethings get far fetched but the good out weighs the bad in my opinion.
So, what's good about Disturbia. You have a character in LaBeouf who is actually a good and likable kid, and Labeouf shows his acting chops and great range. He shows great anger and passion without saying much but more than a look in his eyes when a teacher makes an out of line comment about his father who passed. Then he shows us convincing rage when his friend plays a joke on him. None of it is over the top and it's all believable. When his mom walks up behind him in his room as he is peering out the window and scares him, he doesn't yell at her and say something like, "like mom like what are you doing in my room like totally get out", he's cool with her and jokes with her "your like a ninja or something" and it's actually funny. You have to give credit to the writers who apparently know teens beyond what they see on MTV and write relatable lines and scenarios for Labeouf that he adds to with his acting talent.
To recap, you get a good entertaining thriller from literally start to finish, with a script that is teens could relate to in a horror/thriller like Apatow does with comedy. And a rising star in Labeouf with that it factor who grows beyond the Disney kid, or the project greenlight guy, and keeps moving forward. He also pulled of a hilarious hosting job on SNL earlier in the year as well. I would recommend this for some good fun and entertainment and I think teenagers, the one's we like, will love this film.
It may not be this artistic film but I actually bit my nails, no lie.
The Hd dvd looked and sounded amazing as usual.
not your typical kids movie.......2007-09-10
This movie is Shia laboeuf at his best. It has a generous mix of intrigue and action suspense. Overall, i thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It is meant for adults that are young at heart.
Good HD DVD Title.......2007-08-20
I am still searching for the best movie to show off my HD DVD other than Planet Earth. Is the the movie... Well picture is great and crisp, thes sound is great, the story is pretty good, no major plot holes, the acting is very good especially from Shia LaBeouf, who is very funny. Yet even though I liked this movie it was not impressive enough for me to buy to feel the urge to buy. My advice rent before you buy.
A THRILLER TO THE VERY END!.......2007-08-12
I have been purchasing various HD DVD titles for my new Toshiba HD A2 DVD player. I was anxious to see this movie, so decided to purchase it on HD DVD. The movie itself was a nail biter from start to finish and did not cease to keep my attention for one minute. The acting was great, the musical score added to the intensity of the film, and the story itself was intriguing. As for the HD quality, it was equally impressive, with crisp, clear images and equally clear, crisp audio. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone who loves a great thriller and for the HD quality as well.
Customer Reviews:
Stewart rides again.......2006-06-15
James Stewart won over the masses with a drawl and slight stutter, a good guy image, and some endearingly ordinary good looks.
And he also had a long and distinguished career, with everything from suspense to westerns to... giant white rabbits. "The James Stewart Hollywood Legend Collection" brings together five of his best known movies in pristine condition, although it could have used a tad more diversity.
"Vertigo" afflicts James "Scottie" Ferguson after a traumatic event on a rooftop, forcing him to retire. But when an old classmate asks him to investigate his wife Madeleine's (Kim Novak) odd behavior, Scottie agrees. When he falls in love with the woman -- and loses her to suicide -- Scottie begins to pursue a woman who is her mirror image, as he descends into madness...
"Rear Window" is a somewhat less shocking Hitchcock movie. L.B. Jeffries has a nasty broken leg, so he's stuck in a wheelchair. He passes the time by spying on his neighbors, and contemplating his incompatibility with his pretty rich girlfriend (Grace Kelly). But L.B. spots someone acting suspiciously, and believes that the man has murdered his wife...
"Harvey" remains one of the most enchanting movies to come out of Hollywood. Elwood P. Dowd is a sweet, considerate man who has a giant white rabbit (invisible, of course) named Harvey as his companion. Unfortunately, it's driving his sister Veta (Josephine Hul) and niece Myrtle May (Victoria Horne) completely nuts. Soon a bunch of mental health professionals are after Elwood... but is he crazy, or has he just found a way to be happier than everyone else?
Apparently Stewart was searching for something a little less cuddly than his past roles, so he tried out westerns with a noir sensibility. "Winchester '73" is a gun that Lin McAdam wins in a shooting contest, and which is soon stolen by his rival, Dutch Henry Brown (McNally). Since McAdams already has a grudge against McNally, he goes on an obsessive quest to get his gun back... no matter what.
But he had done some previous western roles, like in "Destry Rides Again." It takes place in the town of Bottleneck, whose sheriff has just died in suspicious circumstances. The town bad guy (Brian Donlevy) arranges for a drunk to be the new sheriff -- but the new sheriff brings in Tom Destry, the mild-mannered son of a local hero. And Tom Destry is going to clean up the town of Bottleneck... in his own unique way.
There aren't really any flaws with this collection, in terms of the movies' quality -- all of them were brilliant in their respective ways. The only problem is that it doesn't really give a glimpse of all the roles that Stewart could do; for example, he was also great in romantic comedies like "Philadelphia Story." So where is it?
But whatever movies he was in, Stewart was outstanding as a wry photographer, a lovable "nut," an unstable detective, and two cowboys. He nailed every one of those roles, no matter how odd or creepy. He's deeply unsettling in "Vertigo" and "Winchester 73," likably crusty in "Rear Window," and completely lovable in "Harvey." You love him or hate him as his character demands.
And the movies themselves are top-notch: two are vintage Hitchcock, and one had the unique twist of taking place entirely in one room. They're all well-written and intelligent; wry humor is peppered through them, giving Stewart some of the best lines ("I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it!").
James Stewart's excellent acting is on display in the "James Stewart Hollywood Legend Collection," which shows us some of the films that made him a Hollywood legend.
Great old-school stuff by a Grand Master director and a world-class actor!.......2005-12-13
Jimmy Stewart has been my favorite actor since I was a teenager (I'm in my thirties now), and two of my top three Stewart movies are in this set (Harvey and Winchester 73), so it was a no-brainer that I buy it when Amazon had a 50 percent off sale last week!
The other three films (Vertigo, Rear Window and Destry Rides Again) are all three great, and the two Hitchcock films are clearly the best two in the set, even if they aren't among my favorites (If only Rope, my third favorite, could have been in the set).
I found it unique and quaint when I put in the first disc (Vertigo) that there was no title menu. Instead, the movie just started playing. At first, that seem so darn cheap, but then I thought of how much time I had wasted over the last few years on DVD menus. Now I wish more discs just went straight to the good stuff! Why isn't that done more?
All five movies here are quite famous, so I'll concentrate on technical matters. These versions are all fully restored enough that they are again theatre-quality, and if - like me - you first saw these movies on local TV during afternoon matinees using bad copies, then it will be like seeing them for the very first time. Vertigo in particular was a much more powerful experience than any previous copy I had seen (this is the restored version that played several years back on limited release at theatres). The b and w tones on Harvey, Winchester 73 and Destry are all crisp and beautiful. These are nice copies all around!
A nice package!
Four Aces and a Joker.......2005-07-07
I don't know, it's a great collection but I disagree with the other reviewers who claim that this is one boxed set with no clunkers. I admire Stewart's work in the movies, and four of his greatest are here, but although HARVEY does have "classic status," and Stewart clearly loved the movie, to me it's a tedious bore. I want to like it, but it just doesn't have much staying power. There must have been a whole genre of Hollywood movies back then, these light fantasies like ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, Broadway comedies with zany old folks lost in the fog belt, and younger people joining in the fog. During World War II these plays were especially in vogue. HARVEY was a big Broadway hit by the Denver playwright in 1944, featuring Frank Fay as Elwood P. Doud (what we think of as the Jimmy Stewart part, but when Stewart made Harvey he had to overcome people thinking that he had stolen away the part from the beloved Frank Fay, the man who married Barbara Stanwyck before Robert Taylor did.) People loved Frank Fay the same way we love Tom Hanks now. But the rights to film HARVEY were so tangled up that it took years to bring to the screen, and by the time it did the vogue was pretty much over for ther kind of light, bibulous trifle it represented. It's a tough picture to enjoy because all the actors (including Stewart) seem to be trying too hard. The complications of the plot may have worked onstage, but characters just keep mounting up and Elwood P. Doud seems more sinister as time goes by.
Sorry to be a naysayer, but HARVEY sticks out in this collection--it may have been one of Jimmy Stewart;s signature roles, but times have changed to the point where we like Stewart in his tortured persona (VERTIGO, BEND OF THE RIVER, ANATOMY OF A MURDER, ROPE, TWO RODE TOGETHER) than when he plays the kook.
However, the set is still a bargain and you can always use the HARVEY disk as a coaster, so I give this 5 stars.
Captures Jimmy Stewart in top form.......2004-10-11
By the time James Stewart returned from World War II he was a changed man. The horrors that he witnessed in the war almost made him give up acting because he thought it might be too trivial a profession. Luckily for us he didn't. Ironically, it deepened his art as an actor and this terrific boxed set has five of Stewart's greatest movies with four from the latter part of his career and one early classic.
Hitchcock found in Stewart the quintessential American hero. Originally, Cary Grant wanted the role in "Vertigo". Hitchcock knew he was absolutely wrong for the role and turned to the only actor that could portray both the world weariness, sense of obsession and the longing needed for the role of Scotty the police officer who develops a fear of heights after when he nearly dies in pursuit of a criminal. Scotty retires prematurely from the force but is hired by a college friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to follow his wife Madeline (Kim Novak). It seems she has become obsessed with the fact that she is the reincarnation of an ancestor who went insane and died. Gavin believes that she possibly may harm herself. Scotty saves her from drowning and gradually falls in love with her when tragedy strikes him again.
Brilliantly restored, Hitchcock's "Vertigo" is one of his best films and features one of Stewart's best performances. Highly recommended.The widescreen anamorphic transfer looks dazzling with the restoration reclaiming the lost, rich colors of the film. Re-released to theaters and on DVD in the late 90's, the film still looks remarkable considering how badly it had faded.
There's an interesting commentary by associate producer Herbert Coleman, restoration producers James Katz, Robert Harris and Steven Smith the author of a book on music composer Bernard Herrmann. We get an alternate European ending that has never been seen in the US, storyboards, production drawings, advertising materials and "Obsessed with Vertigo" a great AMC documentary narrated by Roddy McDowall produced in 1999.
"Rear Window" stars Stewart as L.B. Jeffries a photography confined to a wheelchair with two broken legs due to an accident while shooting a race. His girlfriend Lisa (the wonderful and beautiful Grace Kelly)stops by to keep him company from time to time. Jeffries becomes fixated on his neighbors in the apartment building he lives in observing their lives from his back window. When he sees suspicious behavior by one of his neighbors (Raymond Burr) suggesting that he has murdered his wife and and Lisa become amateur sleuths to try and determine if, indeed, the woman was murdered and why.
Another marvelous restoration, "Rear Window" doesn't quite look as dazzling as "Vertigo" but then the film's use of color wasn't as impressive as Hitch's ultimate masterpiece. Nevertheless, the restoration adds lost luster to a classic that had disintergrated considerably while Hitch retained ownership of it. It's a remarkable movie and one of Hitch's and Stewart's best. Extras include a featurette with writer John Michael hayes, "Rear Window Ethics" which discusses the restoring of the film, production photos and a re-release trailer narrated by James Stewart. there's also a DVD-Rom which has the original script (which is great since the copy I had obtained years ago from the UCLA library is faded beyond belief).
"Winchester '73" is one of director Anthony Mann's best westerns and helped bring the genre back into vogue with its success in the 50's. Stewart plays Lin McAdam who engages in a marksmenship contest with rival he has been hunting named Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally)for a unique Winchester rifle. McAdam wins the rifle only to have it stolen by Brown. McAdam pursues Brown to reclaim the rifle, settle a quarrel and, ultimately, face him in a memorably shot show down.
The transfer looks quite good for "Winchester '73" but it's clear that the source transfer was the same laserdisc master that the audio commentary track featuring Stewart was recorded for in 1989. It looks quite good but could look much more impressive.
Finally we get Stewart with Marlene Dietrich in the early classic western (1939) "Destry Rides Again". This western classic combines comedy and drama in a unique winning package. Unfortunately, the DVD transfer here is pretty poor. The print has faded signficiantly (no chance to restore the negative either as Universal had many of their negatives dropped in the Pacific during a bonehead administration in the late 40's)but there was the possibility of restoring the print from other prints available around the world like "Vertigo" and "Rear Window" Sadly, this doesn't happen here. Still, it's a great little gem of a film. Unfortunately, there's no extras with this disc.
There's the round up of a series of classic Stewart films in this boxed set. Each is packaged individually in their own case (and can be purchased that way as well).
Amazing collection....all bonus features intact!!!.......2004-09-09
This is a wonderful collection.....normally in box sets you get a lot of fluff with a classic or two if your lucky....well this set offers up pretty much nothing but classics. Harvey is of course a legendary film and performance by Stewart and the bonus features on this DVD being the introduction by Stewart himself is wonderful. The two Westerns are interesting because Destry Rides Again is a very very early film for Mr Stewart and something of a minor classic while Winchester '73 is a major movie which many feel brought back the Western in the early 50's and also ignited a decade plus reign of Mr Stewart as a major star of Westerns as well as working with this same director Anthony Mann on many occaisions. This version of Winchester '73 ..while showing some age on the negative is pretty high quality but the BONUS audio track which runs the feature length with Mr Stewart is priceless. So ...what's left? Ony two of Alfred Hitchcocks greatet films...Vertigo and Rear Window.....the remastered versions which look great and feature wonderful bonus materials on the makings of the films and restorations of them....
I don't want to waste your time with plot lines etc...for all 5 films....but want to congratulate Universal for giving us "all killer , no filler" on this James Stewart "collection" ....a great value and a wonderful look at some of the most important work by this Hollywood Legend!
Average customer rating:
- Outrageous remaking of a master piece
- rear window
- A superhero in his determination and tenacity...
- A PROFILE IN COURAGE
- "Rear Window"
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Rear Window
Starring:
Christopher Reeve ,
Ruben Santiago-Hudson ,
Anne Twomey ,
Robert Forster , and
Daryl Hannah
Director:
Jeff Bleckner
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
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Similar Items:
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Rear Window (Collector's Edition)
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The Aviator
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North By Northwest
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Village of the Damned
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Vertigo (Collector's Edition)
ASIN: B0006HBL6E
Release Date: 2005-02-08 |
Customer Reviews:
Outrageous remaking of a master piece.......2007-04-10
The idea is great since it comes from a master mind of suspense. The main actor is also great because he plays his own role as a crippled victim of a dumb accident. But at the same time something is wrong in the extraordinary exhibitionism of these Americans who do not know what a blind is and who broadcast every single of their sighs to the whole neighborhood through open windows and paper thin walls. It makes the voyeur in this case practically justified since there is no other way but hear and see. But that's too easy. It takes a lot of the secrecy of this voyeuristic knowledge out of the story. The suspense itself is even in many ways reduced, crippled. From a dark and frightening film we shift in this remake to a plain action film with a cripple as the main character who is beautifully rendered by Christopher Reeve, but that is not enough to make a great film. This remake is not really improving, nor even getting close to the original.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne
rear window.......2007-02-27
this is the movie that people should get christopher reeve performace is get.
A superhero in his determination and tenacity..........2007-01-12
Christopher Reeve was forced to stay on a wheelchair since his tragic 1995 equestrian fall... He was lonely and with emptiness in his new life... His approach to the window was not an act of voyeurism, but a sincere wish to see how life was going on...
Reeve was observing what he could never do again... He was watching the movements of everybody: lovers, newlyweds, lonely hearts, old people... And for the fact of being a real-life quadriplegic, he gave the performance of his life... He was the perfect choice in the role of a distinguished architect whose life becomes altered after a violent car collision...
Paralyzed from neck down, and surrounded by cell phones, computer, voice-activated technology, Jason Kemp is in complete control from his astonished therapy operation suite... He is able, with only his voice, to turn on the lights, to open the elevator, to exchange e-mails with the killer...
But Reeve was also communicating to us his severe moments with great close-ups to his anguish face... We watch his breathing difficulties from the breathing machine...
Reeve was seen as the man, who was not acting all the time... His face related it several times... We felt his distress, his bitterness, his agony, his vulnerability... And as much as he suffered in silence, he fought for life... His weakness was his endeavors for perseverance...
Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) was a superhero in his determination and tenacity... He proved it in being the first Quadriplegic actor on a high-tech wheelchair in a leading role... He gave, under Jeff Bleckner wise direction, a perfect, chilling performance and a highly entertaining remake...
A PROFILE IN COURAGE.......2006-09-25
Watching this rather pedestrian remake of Hitchcock's classic film is somewhat sad but uplifting. Christopher Reeve displayed a tremendous amount of courage in playing a role so shadowing his real life. Knowing that the late actor had to go through so many of the therapeutic remedies and the horrifying life of paraplegia makes his performance more emotional. As for the plot itself, it's formulaic and the ending is not a very satisfying one. But Reeve is impressive and he gets some decent support from Darryl Hannah, Ritchie Colter and Robert Forster. It's not as suspenseful as the original but is a testament to Reeve's endurance and determination.
"Rear Window".......2006-08-18
I don't get the bad reviews on this movie. I LOVE it and have it watched it more than once. In fact, I searched a long time for this one with Christopher Reeve, it was hard to find but I finally found it at Big Lots. :)
Average customer rating:
- More annoying than entertaining!
- TERRIFIC HITCHCOCK THRILLER...
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Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
General
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
ASIN: B0009I2LBO |
Customer Reviews:
More annoying than entertaining!.......2005-11-10
Although I am a huge fan of Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr, I was embarrassed for all three that they were part of such a ridiculous and annoying plot. Stewart plays an injured photographer recuperating at his home. He has a large cast on his leg and hip that makes it impossible for him to leave the apartment for several weeks. So to pass the time he becomes the neighborhood peeping-tom, using a powerful zoom lens to get a closeup look through his neighbor's windows. When he observes one neighbor (Burr) engaging in what he deems "suspicious" behavior, he enlists the aid of his girlfriend (Kelly) to investigate (can anyone say Gladys Kravitz?). Before long the two of them, believing themselves to be "amateur experts" in human behavior, have appointed themselves judge and jury and decided Burr is unquestionably guilty of his wife's murder. These self-righteous busybodies actually go so far as to attempt to goad the police into arresting Burr, and they are thoroughly indignant when the police refuse. So they bait him out of his apartment and Kelly breaks in to search for evidence! By this point I had decided the only thing that could salvage this farcical flick (and keep me from tossing my cookies) was to have them end up with egg on their faces. I can't say any more without spoiling the ending. If you're into voyeurism and you keep your Junior Detective Kit always at the ready, you may enjoy these stereo busybodies who are more annoying than entertaining.
TERRIFIC HITCHCOCK THRILLER..........2005-08-18
This is a superlative film of suspense. It is a tribute to the direction of Alfred Hitchcock that one is never bored watching this film, though it entirely takes place within the confines of a claustrophobic New York Greenwich Village apartment, the windows of the neighbors across the way, and a courtyard that separates the buildings.
Professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) is recovering from an accident that occurred while on assignment. Encased in a cast covering his left leg and hip, Jeff is pretty much immobilized and temporarily confined to a wheel chair. Despite regular visits by his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his beautiful, sophisticated girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), Jeff is chafing at his confinement. Bored stiff, he does what he does best. He peers at those around him from his window. Jeff finds the lives of his neighbors both immensely interesting and amusing. He watches them through their windows and in the courtyard, enhancing his experience with binoculars and the zoom lens of his camera. Jeff draws inferences and conclusions about them, based upon his own experiences with human behavior.
This interest intensifies and takes a strange turn, when he believes one of them, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), may have committed a grisly murder, killing off his invalid wife, Anna. Though Jeff never actually sees the murder, what he does see is its aftermath and some peculiar behavior that puzzles him. Putting two and two together, he becomes absolutely convinced that his neighbor across the way has done away with his invalid wife. Jeff then informally involves his friend, Lt. Thomas Doyle (Wendell Corey) of the New York City Police Department, who initially scoffs at Jeff's assessment, though he does a cursory check . With Lisa and Stella also becoming fascinated by the strange behavior of Lars Thorwald, their interest and amateur sleuthing propels the film to an exciting climax.
Jimmy Stewart is terrific as the housebound voyeur, drawing the viewer in with him. One finds oneself peering along with him into the lives of those around him. Grace Kelly is stunningly beautiful as Jeff's girlfriend Lisa, with whom Jeff is finding it difficult to make a commitment. It is interesting that as Jeff gets more intimately engrossed in his neighbors' affairs, his intimacy with Lisa seems to grow, drawing them closer together. Thelma Ritter is funny and sassy as the tough talking, no nonsense nurse. Raymond Burr, looking eerily as he would half a century later, is well cast as the neighbor whose wife got on his nerves. Wendell Corey is very good as the congenial, though jaded, detective.
All in all, this is a terrific film that clearly shows the mastery and deft direction of the legendary Hitchcock. With a well written script and a stellar cast, this is a film that is well worth having in one's personal collection. Bravo!
Product Description
Four Disc Set Each disc contains bonus features for each film
Customer Reviews:
A Good Hitchcock Starter Set.......2007-03-19
This is a terrific Hitchcock sampler that those unfamiliar with his films would especially enjoy. "Rear Window" is probably the most widely known of the four films and Hitchcock at his most entertaining. "Shadow of a Doubt" and "Saboteur" are great in their own right, however, and will surprise those who haven't seen them yet. "Rope" is the weake
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Brutally...Boring!!!!.......2007-05-21
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