Subtitles?

Can you confirm me that the 60th anniversary edition has subtitles in english? thankyou!! and happy holydays!

Pink! Blue! Pink! Blue! PINK!

My daughter, like many others, is obsessed with Disney Princess and has watched this a few times now.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the transfer. The picture quality is superb - and the animation is the smoothest I've seen in a hand-drawn feature. It's probably wrong of me to assume that an animated film released 50 years ago wouldn't have the same level of animation quality as a modern film, and this has certainly quashed my preconceptions.

The story is simple, and the humour is basic - but there's a real charm to this early Disney film. Maybe it's the flawless animation, or the jaunty songs - but you soon see past the cheesy Prince Charming and enjoy this for the fairy tale that it is.

Magical and Timeless, a joy from start to finish !

Enchanting and wonderful story about a boy who lives in the jungle and comes across some brilliant characters along the way from a posh panther to a fun loving bear, clumsy elephants, swinging monkeys, seductive snakes and a ferocious tiger. The songs are timeless and will live forever and this special DVD has some great extras from deleted songs to lost characters !

A classic to be enjoyed by everyone !

A Disney classic

Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary edition) is truly a classic movie and a real treat for Disney fans, to experience watching and reliving the magical moments of Disney at your home.

What make it a great movie? An all round cast featuring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke (with his rather dodgy London accent). A great setting based in a dark and gloomy London. Not forgettinng Disney’s trademark of musical songs. Remember songs like A Spoonful of Sugar, that just a simple and nice worded song. A good mix of animation , which is pretty amazing. The extra featured are excellent with rare and exclusive interviews with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. For the kids, you can sang along to the songs featured in the movie.

The perfect treat for Dinsey fans and a good collector item.

A Rather Inferior 2-Discs Release from Disney, But Nonetheless...

Disney's"Peter Pan" is an entertaining watch. Barrie's play meant a lot to Walt Disney and the passion put into the project is evident. Unfortunately, though unfairly perhaps, the original has far too much in it to not leave something lacking in this film. I cannot believe that the creators would really call their Peter a boy any more, and Bobby Driscoll sounds the age of their Peter, which basically is too old. Considering that Peter is more of a prankster than mischievous anyway, for Peter to be as old as they envisioned is unsavoury. Tinkerbell is simply unfortitudinous - that the character is so popular must say something about the correctness of today's feminist ideals.

Musically it is not outstanding, falling way short of its predecessor"Alice in Wonderland", itself a low-key player in Disney's musical history, and certainly a great foil for"Cinderella". The characterization of Hook is just so Disney-esquely goofy that he would only be a good villain for the very young (which I suppose is not outrightly a setback given the premise of the Peter Pan story, but it would not transport the grown-up audience back to their experience of childhood again like Barrie's version does). The animation is certainly pleasing, though without any elegant movements to show off as in"Cinderella" it is not a high point of animation artistry. And while its Americaization only lowers its potential, it does not detracts its pleasurability.

The film's real saving grace is Wendy. Voiced by an English actress, her diction is undetectably authentically flawless. Michael and John adds to the colour of the film, but they are quite collateral. Poised on becoming grown-up, it is yet her whose well of imagination is the deepest, and it is her who is in touch with both the real world and the world of childhood fantasy. As such she is the bridge, the sole bridge in Disney's adaptation in fact, that connects the practal-minded grown-ups among the audience to their exuberant childhood and once fertile minds. John and Michael are adorable children in their own way, but only Wendy rivals (Lewis Carroll's, not Disney's) Alice and (again, although the disparity is less severe, A.A. Milne's, not Disney's) Christopher Robin. As a child I never found the film's as enchanting as Neverland is meant to be for the young, but as an older person I have now noticed that the Neverland of this film is but a composite of the pieces of the imagination of the three Darling children, traces of which exist even in their home in London; Nana's status is sentimentally questioned by Mr. Darling who sorrily asserts that she is a dog not a nursemaid and the children are not puppies.

Though it can feel a little disjointed, being without the proper underlying rationale as the dream setting of"Alice" or the episodic, incrementally advancing nature of"Winnie-the-Pooh", the excellent ending sums it all up satisfyingly.

Compared to the studio's other stellar double-discs release,"Pan" got a comparatively inferior treatment. The most distracting of all is, whereever there is a large pool of water, the lame replacement of the original animation with CG animation. (Mind you they did not insist on such an imposition when the patch of water is small or flowing.) The Production featurette is from the VHS release some decade ago and is very short; the original '50s featurette, a featurette made from Walt Disney's own article about why he made"Peter Pan", an interersting documentary made from some new research into the storyboard development and a mind-dumbingly feminist featurette on Tinkerbell probably intended to offset this. I was surprised that the two unused songs on the accompanying OST release do not make an appearance when they must have been plenty of space for it (all such tracks, and more, are on the"Cinderella" DVD), although the lost song completed by Sherman and newly recorded is more glorious than any song in the actual film, although I think Paige O'Hara's pronunciation is a little murkier here than I expect from having listened to Belle in"Beauty and the Beast".

The games in this one are actually organized into some trial challenging you to a test to become a lost boy and have some very minor replayability value, which ought to at least hold the little ones' interests for some time longer than the games on other Disney's DVDs. Quite worthy is the virtual flight simulation over London and to Neverland - if only the graphic could be more lavish, or that it was made in animation! The rest is made up with plenty of previews, which made you wonder if there really was that little extras they could put together for as big a title as"Peter Pan". The then up-and-coming"Tinkerbell" even gets a longer one for herself - the new CG heroine is so ugly you wish they had used one of the lost boys.

Perfect in every sense...

I bought this DVD recently having not seen it for at least 15 years. I couldn't have imagined how profound an effect it would have on me watching it now in my late twentys. As a child I remember the colourful characters, catchy tunes and an enjoyable story. Watching it now it's as if all of this has been magnified a thousand times. In a flash everything came back to me but this time I can clearly see the messages of acceptance, loyalty, companionship, courage etc.

It's not difficult to see why this film has survived for so long (since it's release in 1941). It's a simple tale without any complexity but with so much compassion. It's neither too long or too short and every scene focuses on delivering a powerful sentiment without over-doing it. The mother-child dynamic is very touching culminating in an emotional scene where they are briefly re-united. The vigour and energy of Timothy Mouse is a real marvel to watch not to mention his compassion towards Dumbo.

The musical score is a gorgeous accompaniment and really adds to the impact of the scenes. I've since found out the film won an Oscar for its musical score and was nominated for best song with the heart-felt"Baby Mine".

I noticed that there was some stereotyping of African-Americans with the Crow characters which passes you by as a child. However, it's not a negative stereotype at all and in the end the Crows come out looking like heroes for their part in the finale.

This is a film that just couldn't get made today without an audience feeling cynical about it. So I hope this one remains a classic for years to come. After all, films like this are the reason cinema was invented.

Finally, one of the special features is a clip of Walt Disney himself introducing a television screening of Dumbo. He states it is his favourite of the films he's produced and as you might have guessed, I'd have to agree with him on that.

The special features make it even more entertaining.

Note: This review is of the most recently issued (2008) version.

I find it difficult to believe that it has been 47 years since this film first appeared. (I also find it difficult to believe that I now have ten grandchildren with whom to watch it.) Credit the Disney organization with providing with this latest restored version a generous selection of bonus features that substantially increase the pleasure of seeing this classic film once again. They include a DVD-ROM of a"Virtual Dalmatians Game,""Op-Up Trivia Facts," and"The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmations," and correspondence between"Sincerely yours, Walt Disney" and Dodie Smith, author of the novel on which the film is based.

The basic plot involves two lonely dalmatians (Pongo and Perdita) who meet in a London park and whose owners then meet and marry. Over time, the dalmatians become parents of 15 puppies who are stolen by Cruella De Vil who is determined to make a fur coat out of their skins. That doesn't happen, of course, but younger children get all caught up in efforts to rescue the puppies (at least when viewing the film for the first time) just as they do when hoping that Pinocchio will be reunited with Gepetto, that Snow White will awaken from her deep sleep, and that Belle and the Beast will live happily ever after. In the best of Disney's animated features, there always seems to be a subtext of menace and this film is no exception. When observing Cruella De Vil's behavior, many of those in my generation will be reminded of Gloria Swanson's portrayal of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. In terms of quality of its story, art, and music, 101 Dalmatians deserves to be ranked among Disney's finest animated films. The special features offer an exceptional"bonus."

My only concern, frankly, is that once again, many adults who are charmed by the Dalmatian puppies will decide -- or feel great pressure from children -- to purchase one. They would be well-advised to learn all about the breed first. Perhaps the next time around, Disney could add a special feature that provides such information. Just a thought....

"It Isn't Easy Stretching These Things Out to Thirty Minutes."

Monty Python is so famous and its sketches are so well known that I almost wonder if there's any point in ANYONE writing a review. But although they were possibly the greatest comedy team in history and Graham Chapman's genius was equalled only by Spike Milligan, (may they both rest in peace,) the best thing about these DVD's is that they allow you to skip past the rubbish.

After the response that I received for my BTVS review, I'm already strapping on my safety helmet, preparing for the hoards of hardcore `Pythonists' who will accuse me of heresy and of drawing the wrong conclusions.

"When two or more are gathered in his name, they shall perform the Dead Parrot Sketch."

But in the end, the sad truth is that even six of the greatest comedy geniuses to ever walk the earth couldn't produce solid gold every time. Their contractual obligation to fill thirty minutes every week meant that they had no choice but to pad out most of the episodes. And after a while, their inability to come up with a punchline for some sketches literally became a punchline in itself.

Even the title of this review is a quote from the original Dead Parrot Sketch.

When John Cleese travels to Bolton to claim his replacement parrot, Terry Jones is playing the role of a Train Station Attendant and is ranting about the fact that he's a qualified brain surgeon. And when John Cleese asks him what the heck he's talking about, Terry Jones drops the act for a moment and whispers"It isn't easy stretching these things out to thirty minutes."

And the examples don't end there.

The Colonel who keeps interrupting the sketches because they are"Getting Silly."

The police officer who arrests the entire show for breaching the"Trying to get out of a sketch without using a proper punchline Act."

The episode that ends with a view of the sea, and John Cleese dressed as a Conquistador announcing that the programme ran a little short that week.

In the words of Mel Smith on `Not the Nine O'clock News,'"Don't they remember how often the sketches failed? I mean, Monty Python DIED for us! Repeatedly!"

As I stated in my introduction though, because they are now on DVD, I would strongly recommend that everyone buy this box set to see the sketches that have been criminally ignored by history.

Everyone remembers the Dead Parrot Sketch and `Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!' But who remembers the Working Class Playwright? The Sheep who Believe That They Are Birds? Climbing Both Peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro? (The joke there being that Kilimanjaro does actually have two peaks.) The Expedition to Lake Pahoe or"Bing Diddle Diddle Bang?"

The glory of these hilarious sketches would be worth ten times this price.

A Very Powerful Message

This thought-provoking film is set almost entirely in one room, a room in which a jury have retired, to discuss their verdict on someone who has been accused of murder.

To begin with Henry Fonda's character is the only one who is prepared to argue a verdict of not guilty. The others laugh at him and do not understand how he can have reasonable doubt. Slowly, however, more and more of the men who make up the jury begin to agree that all is not as it originally seemed, and that there is indeed a very real chance that the accused ISN'T a murderer.

One by one, the men slowly change their minds, and several members of the jury are revealed to be severely predjudiced, nursing the usual misconceptions about the American underclass.

This thoughtful and thought-provoking film has a very great deal to say about human nature, and how nothing can be taken at face value. It also encourages the viewer to realise that sometimes people deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt. The acting is excellent, the dialogue is realistic and the overall plot development is enjoyable to watch. This is an all-time classic.

One of the greatest films ever made - fullstop

Ok, I'll carry on. If you try hard you can pick some faults with this / the musical version of Pygmalion in the ending (a bit naff in the film, though a good moment for the actors) and yes the whole plot is slightly far fetched. Now go back in time to when George Bernard Shaw wrote the play, and he too had various endings in mind; on its opening night people wanted to cancel it for profanity (the horse race scene). Even so it is a magnificent story of class divide, pretension and London poverty whisked with a liberal dose of chirpy, cockney spirit polished up a treat in the film.


The sets are wonderful, Audrey Hepburn is divine (ok it was Julie Andrews on Broadway who wanted the part, and Audrey didn't do the singing), the costumes are lavish, the music full bodied.

I don't particularly like Rex Harrison, though he is good for this role, Wilfred Hyde White is good and we have a huge performance in Alfred Dolittle.

If you've never seen it and like a bit of musical then the price makes this a no-brainer, if you have seen it you must know how good this is - go on get a copy!

"Gentlemen, You Can't Fight In Here, This Is The War Room!"

"In the days after it first opened in early 1964, Stanley Kubrick's"Dr. Strangelove" took on the enchanted aura of a film that had gotten away with something. Johnson was in the White House, the Republicans were grooming Goldwater, both sides took the Cold War with grim solemnity, and the world was learning to be comfortable with the term"nuclear deterrent," which meant that if you blow me up, I'm gonna blow you up, and then we'll all be dead."Better dead than Red," some said. Others said the opposite. The choice was not appealing. The Bomb overshadowed global politics. It was a kind of ultimate hole card in a game where the stakes were life on earth." Roger Ebert

I purchased the 40th Anniversary CD and this is my third or forth viewing, but"Dr. Strangelove" seems fresh and undated - an irreverant dangerous satire. The willingness of the Director to follow the film to its logical conclusion - nuclear annihilation - has a touch that today's happy-ending films would never condone. Its black and white photography puts a face on its political messages.

Commanding a wing of the Strategic Air Command, General Ripper orders the B-52 bombers under his command to attack the Soviet Union. When the British military attache in one of his three roles, Peter Sellers, tries to stop him, Ripper explains the Commie plot to taint our water supply and deplete our"precious bodily fluids." He won't even discuss the re-call code. Eventually, he realizes he will be caught and he ends his personal game. Events on the Army Base are interspersed with the B-52 nearest the intended goal, and with the War Room in the Pentagon. President Muffley learns of these events from Dr Strangelove and the Doomsday Machine. It appears that neither the Doomsday Machine nor one of the U.S. bombers can be turned from their missions.

"The movie's screenplay, by Terry Southern with help from the Director Stanley Kubrick turn this scenario into a dark comedy of errors, illuminated by flashes of brilliant satire. Some of the dialogue has entered the language -"precious bodily fluids," of course, and also the way the dim-witted Col. Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) hints darkly of Commie"preverts." The scene at the telephone booth between Guano and the British attache, who does not have the correct small change to call the White House and save the world, is one of the movie's best-constructed gags." Roger Ebert

The acting in this film is superb, in fact it would be very difficult to top this crew. Sterling Hayden is the epitome of a paranoiac Gen. Ripper. George C. Scott, however, steals the movie and is brilliant as, Gen. Buck Turgidson, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who chews gum, makes faces, and breaks one piece of bad news after another to the President. And Peter Sellers, as President,as Dr Strangelove and RAF Group Captain Mandrake has a series of roles that portray the epitome of humor, satire and acting. Maj."King" Kong (Slim Pickens), who promises his crew there's going to be promotions and decorations all around is perfect in the role of the pilot. His exit from the movie, riding a bomb like a bronco, remains one of the most famous moments in modern film, and is my favorite scene from the movie.

"When you consider the history of motion pictures, certain watershed films leap to mind -- productions which have left their mark on the craft. Without a doubt, one of those is Stanley Kubrik's 1964 masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove (or, as it's subtitled, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). As political satire, few movies -- even those as incisive as the hilariously vicious 1992 release Bob Roberts -- come close to this level of accomplishment. In the case of Dr. Strangelove, the barbs and quips (both subtle and obvious) hold up as well today as they did thirty years ago." Bosley Crowther

Stanley Kubrick's film opened with the force of a pail of cold water, right in the face. What Kubrick's Cold War satire showed was not men at the mercy of machines, but machines at the mercy of men. This film shows that it is possible to laugh and to laugh continuously at a shocker of a film that is filled with black satire. It is only when Slim Pickens is riding the bomb do we realizae that this could be real. There But For The Grace Of God, Go We.

Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 08-0507

2001 - A Space Odyssey [HD DVD]

A Clockwork Orange

Being There

Patton

Blazing Saddles (30th Anniversary Special Edition)

Oliver! with Sing and Dance Along

Just bought this for my daugter and its a superb buy. its easy to forget how good these classic musicals are. this perticular edition is great becasue it includes the Dance and singalong versions of the song. you are shown through all the moves for perticular songs and then can dance to them like a pro well maybe not. Only negative and its a really small point as this is fantastic value is there are only 3 dance along songs would have been great with more. still 5* though!

Masterpiece

Absolutely incredible, one of the first movies I bought just to see the wonder of Blu-Ray.

All scenes are so finely detailed, bearing in mind this is downscaled 1080i onto my 720p 32inch Samsung and still it looks unbelievably beautiful.

Definitely recommended to join your collection.

Not what it was

This used to be my favourite. I went to see it at a cinema in the 70s, when it was distinctly arthouse. Times change, though. Now the racism grates too much. When it was made I'm sure it was meant to be radical. Rick saying he does not sell human beings when offered a price for Sam might have been cutting edge in '42. Not now.

It does not matter how captivating Ms Bergman is, I cannot see past her using that American racist insult, 'boy'.

Sam, of course, does not even have two dimensions to his character.

''Are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch''

The Wizard Of Oz [1939] I first saw this film with my Grandad on his television when i was a little boy and i still love it (who couldn't love this film). Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Larh, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton all perfectly cast. This film is as lovely today as when it was first made and i think this particular DVD release is a wonderful transfere to Disc, such lovely warm sepia and deep colours, it looks like a modern film, beautifully restored. (i wonder what the seven cast members would think of the film they made , not only restored but still loved by so many after all these years). Judy Garland is perfect as Dorothy and Jack Haley comes across so well as the Tin Man longing for a heart ''If I Only Had A Heart'' (Peep Peep)!. No review on 'The Wizard Of Oz' would be complete without a mention of my favourite charecter, The Wicked Witch Of The West played more than perfectly by Margaret Hamilton. She has frightened children for generations in the same way as Robert Helpmann did as the Child Catcher in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. Though Margaret Hamilton is one of the film's main cast members, her appearance apparently on the film is about 15 minutes. Everything is so lovely about this film, the songs and all those wonderful sets, just think the special effects they had in those days, (I think for the time the special effects are superb). This DVD is a must for all friends of Dorothy, or you can't decide if your 'a Good Witch or a Bad Witch'. A good companion to this DVD is the release of the full screen version of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', like this 'Wizard of Oz' DVD, 'Chitty Chitty' is an equally wonderful transfere to Disc, with lovely deep colours, beautifully restored and looking like a modern film.

Not PC

To the previous reviewer who complained about stereotypes...this is actually one of the reasons to get it....anyone fed up with the political correctness of today's world, including children's TV of course, will love it...

A Savage, Biting and Cruel Satire

Not all satire is funny - this isn't. The film is a masterpiece by a master film maker. Other reviewers will tell you how good it is. That said, I should imagine if you were a Japanese prisoner of war who worked on the Death Railway and saw this film in 1957, you possibly found it to be extremely offensive.

The author of the book Pierre Boulle realised that the juxtaposition of British Upper-class stiff upper lip and the Japanese Bashido sense of honour were two sides of the same coin. Both the book and this film exploit this. For a start, both postulate the fact that the Japanese were poor engineers and even worse bridge builders. Neither of these facts were true.

The first half of the film deals with the stand off brought about by the two entrenched positions just described. Eventually, though sheer pluck and dogged determination, the British have their way and effectively take control over the building of the bridge themselves - thus aiding the Japanese war effort! In fact, they make such a good job of building the bridge that the allies, lead by William Holden, then have to mount an expedition to destroy it. It is this premise that returning P.O.W.'s might have found so offensive.

The Japanese did not sign the Hague Convention on Human Rights. Their code of honour stipulated that the defeated enemy should act honourably and commit suicide. The fact that the British surrendered instead meant they were seen as beneath contempt in Japanese eyes who treated them accordingly - 16,000 died making this railway. Think about that as yiou watch the film. Enjoy it by all means - it is a great film, but it is also a travesty of what actually happened.

a BRILLIANT musical!!

I never saw this when I was younger and I really wish I had. I love everything about this movie, especially the songs. I am taking singing lessons and several times I have sung the entire score. If I had to pick a favourite song, it would be a tie between, You Two, Toot Sweets, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hushabye Mountain and Lovely Lonely Man. I really think that the behind-the-scenes team could not have picked a better cast.

If you love Shakespeare - AVOID THIS!

Some of the most atrocious acting even committed to celluloid. Just awful, awful, awful!
I watched 15 minutes before I could stand no more.
Save yourself the hassle & buy Zeffirelli's version instead. You won't regret THAT!

treasure

i love this film, i found it in my dad's partner's movie stash a couple of years ago and it's always brought out around about christmas time along with 'it's a wonderful life'. the story is lovely, about an angel sent down to help david niven sort his life out, cary grant is as always charming, suave and sophisticated and everytime i watch any film of his i realise why i love him so and how much i wish i'd been alive seventy years ago to meet him.