Controversial Classics, Vol. 2 – The Power of Media
Posted: January 29, 2010 at 12:24 pm | Tags: classics, Controversial, media, power, Vol.
Description
Warner Home Video releases three of the most explosive films from the 1970’s – All the President’s Men, Network, and Dog Day Afternoon – all in one collection. This three title, six-disc giftset boasts the star power of Al Pacino, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, John Cazale and more, and tackling the media mania of American journalism and reality TV, thirty years later these films are just as exciting and relevant as… More >>
Controversial Classics, Vol. 2 – The Power of Media
The Discussion
see what everyone is saying
DVDS In Excellent Shape. Very Fast Delivery. Awesome Seller. Will Buy From Again.
Rating: 5 / 5
Being involved in the media myself, as a youngin’ back in the day – these classics were films that I found quite interesting,
and since they came out on DVD and I now have a nice home theater to truly enjoy them in at my leisure, I felt compelled to purchase
this dvd so I could not only enjoy the movies again, but pull some sound bytes from them as well.
I’m not a critic (movie wise) but all I can say about each of these films is they are terrific! Loved All the presidents men,
) and as for Dog Day Afternoon – loved the line by Pachino when
Network (what can I type except: I’m as Maddddddd As Hell!
he picks up the phone & say’s “WNEW Plays The Hits” (if you’ve seen the film & know the inside joke, you’ll appreciate it)
Bottom line, this dvd will remain a prized item in my audio & video library for years to come.
Rating: 5 / 5
CLASSIC, WELL DONE, OLD STYLE REALITY, GREAT FLICKS THAT REMAIN AS MILESTONES FOR MOVIES EVEN TODAY TO SURPASS!
NETWORK TODAY HOLDS MUCH MEANING , ABOUT HOW CONTROLLED WE ARE BY MEDIA, HOW THE AMERICAN TODAY RESEMBLES SHEEP, THAT FOLLOW SPORTS, NEWS, RELIGION, POLITICS! WE HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO LEAD,NOW WE FOLLOW WHAT EVER WE WATCH ON THE BIG SCREEN!
Rating: 5 / 5
Controversial Classics indeed. We were looking to purchase just the movie All The President’s Men, but when I mentioned the other 2 movies in the set, my husband said – “those are all my favorites!” No more to be said. For the price, it was a go. Comes in a nice bookcase type box, good quality DVDs. Would definitely buy again!
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this set primarily for All The President’s Men and Network. At the approximately $44 USD price I paid, that made the set just slightly more expensive than buying these two movies separately, but I did not own Dog Day, not had seen it, for years. The latter is a good movie as any of you who’ve seen it will know, but it’s my least favorite of the three. I would have preferred, say, The China Syndrome, but that’s just my preference.
I will leave more thorough content description up to others — it’s probably more thorough to look at each movie separately on Amazon and see the reviews just for that movie, but I will add a what I found interesting. I thought I would try doing something that has helped me when reading other movie reviews, which is to suggest films that might be of similar interest. They may or may not be for you, but I have discovered many fine movies this way. Note the links I embedded were the best available at the time from Amazon. If you are interested in any of these, you may find a non-special edition version or similar that is cheaper than what’s linked here, so be sure to look around in order to ensure you’re getting exactly what you want (DVD region 1 vs. 2, directors cut vs. regular version, etc) as prices differ.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
I have a ‘presidents’ movie collection, with movies like Nixon [Blu-ray], JFK – Director’s Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition), Path to War (LBJ), Truman, Thirteen Days (Infinifilm Edition) and The Missiles of October (JFK). While at first this type of theme sounds like a collection only a C-SPAN watcher could love, many would agree that these are some terrific movies, although some are more fact-based than others. ATPM is one of the most fact-based, almost docu-drama. This may lead some to like it more or less, but this movie is the only reason I understand as much about Watergate as I do. This was a difficult web to understand even at the time, and I think I finally now know the roles that Woodward (Robert Redford), Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), Bradley (Jason Robards), Dean, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Liddy, and of course Deepthroat (the inimitable Hal Holbrook) all played. We never see Nixon in the movie, which makes it more intriguing. If it sounds dull today, well, perhaps it is history now. But this movie really helped me to see how the Executive branch was supposed to work, how it actually did work, and how individual people who didn’t fully understand their roles were involved. If you’re interested in these movies, you might also like The Parallax View (which was also directed by Alan J. Pakula) or Quiz Show, both of which I find myself watching soon before or after seeing the above. The miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance – Volume 1 – Parts 1-7 and War & Remembrance – Vol. 2, The Final Chapter: Parts 8 – 12 also are helpful in showing a little bit what the FDR/Hopkins Whitehouse was like, should you wish to duplicate my theme of watching presidents, and are excellent miniseries in their own right.
NETWORK
In case you’ve never seen it, Network is both an editorial and a warning about what TV — and particularly TV news — could become, although the producers at the time may not have seen it quite so precisely that way. This movie is scary because most of it has come true — in fact, even the ending seems to have really occurred with recent headlines out of Brazil. I remember hearing about Network when my brother snuck into a movie theater in 1976 and reported how everyone was swearing on TV! At the time, the premise of deteriorating television standards to this extent seemed ridiculous, what with Walter Cronkite the order of the day. The UBS Evening News and its antics as depicted in this movie just seemed inconceivable. Little did anyone know that it would only require 10-12 years for most of it to come to pass, and with greater regularity. The movie will probably be more profound for those 40 and over, but it’s a fascinating study of how television started to change for anyone so interested. Faye Dunaway simply owns her character — I forgot she’s an actress in a movie. I’m also a huge fan of William Holden and ‘mad as hell’ Peter Finch, for both of whom this was amongst (or was) their last performances on film. I have no similar suggestions for this movie as it’s quite unique, although in a very basic way, I think newsroom movies like Broadcast News and the curious Groundhog Day (Special Edition), put me in a similar frame of mind. The China Syndrome (Special Edition), as mentioned above, also does represent to an extent power of the media in an interesting and what initially was a fictional concept when it was released, though not for long. (Sorry, I had added hyperlinks for suggested movies here and below, but Amazon restricts me to 10 links, so if interested, you’ll have to search for them manually.)
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
One of Al Pacino’s better-known films, and for good reason, DDA is based on a true story of a bank heist gone astray, and television plays a significant role in the way the story plays out…both on screen and in the real-life incident the movie was based on. Actually, the film is somewhat humorous in parts, something intended by director Sidney Lumet, and I found this interesting, as it seemed quite believable with its Stockholm-syndrome reactions between the robbers and the hostages. It also stars popular 70’s stars like James Broderick and Charles Durning. It’s a well-made movie, but the subject matter at it’s core does not appeal to me in the same way as the first two movies described. However, once you start watching, you will probably have to see it all the way to the end, and it’s interesting. Will the bad guys get shot as you see so often on TV, or are they actually going to get away this time? Although not entirely similar, those who like this might also like The French Connection (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition) or The Conversation, if only because they are similar-period movies that involve some aspect of crime, intrigue and to an extent, technology.
QUALITY, EXTRAS
The transfer for all 3 movies is excellent, as good as possible for conventional DVD. Color, sharpness, sound, are all perfect. I have not seen all of the extras because there are a lot of them, as you will see from the Amazon description. There’s a reason there are 2 DVD’s per movie. For example, Dog Day has a Making Of, a 4 part 30th Anniv Documentary, a vintage featurette and a director’s commentary. The other two movies each have similar (but even longer) length documentaries. They didn’t skimp on the extras in these sets.
There is little doubt that if you are interested in all 3 movies, this is a great way to get them, but even if you were just looking for any 2 of these movies, while you might be able to get any two at a slightly better price, the fact is that when you add shipping, getting a set like this might make more sense for you. However, prices do vary. I certainly enjoyed all 3 movies and would get the set again if I had to, even though I was just looking for ATPM and Network.
Rating: 5 / 5