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Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem

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Frantic

List Price: $9.97
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Harrison Ford is "Frantic" and must find Betty Buckley
Review: Here's a little known Harrison Ford film that was made in France. It's a Warner Brothers film. A Roman Pulanski film. With actors that we are comfortable with, Harrison Ford ("Indiana Jones", Raiders Of The Lost Ark), Betty Buckley (ABC TV series "Eight Is Enough", Broadway's CATS) and John Mahoney (NBC TV series "Frasier"). Harrison Ford and his wife played by Betty Buckley are in Paris, France. They check-in to the Le Grand Hotel. While he is in the shower, his wife receives a strange phone call. He can not hear what his wife is saying because of the shower water. When he steps out of the shower, he notices she is gone. Everyone likes a mystery, so I will not say anymore about the plot. Shown in Standard version. No special features or bonuses.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic Thriller
Review: This is a classic thriller, with a strong plausible story line. A simple twist of fate turns the world upside down for Harrison Ford leaving him to fend for himself in a strange land and its seedy underworld.

This is the first film that I saw with Harrison Ford not playing a cartoon hero, turning me into a fan of his.

Roman Polanski's direction is flawless and the story is riveting...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a lousy transfer of a great movie
Review: The movie is really excellent, 4 stars anyway. The following comments pertain to the quality of the transfer to DVD. In that respect, let's make sure we're on the same page. On the spine of the case of this DVD is the WB logo, the designation "DVD Video", and the number 11787. In the back description on the case, it is designated: "STANDARD VERSION: This film has been modified from is (sic) original version: It has been formatted to fit your screen." In other words, it's a pan-and-scan version, and indeed one that is so bad that critical information during the movie is lopped off the visible viewing area. The image quality is grainy and disgusting, like a transfer from some old VHS video tape that's been laying around on a dusty shelf ever since the movie was made. The sound quality stinks: One must turn up the volume to near maximum in order to hear the dialog, which even then is badly muffled at times. Whoever at Warner Brothers was responsible for this mess demonstrates their total contempt for the customer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Poman Polanski and Harrison Ford , what a team !
Review: Roman Polanski doing it again as director . Harrison Ford at his best on a very chalenging role ( second after Regarding Henry ). Very attractive Emmanuelle Seigner as a mistery girl Michelle . Polanski returned to her again as a mistery girl in " The Ninth Gate ", and she is exellent choice for that role .
American doctor ( Harrison Ford ) comes to convention in Paris with his wife ( kind of second honeymoon ). One of their bags was mixed up in the airport , but everything will be allright ...they think . Doctor ordered some food and went to take a shower in hotel room . When he gets out...his wife is gone . No trace , no note ...just gone . He has to find her but doesn't even know were to start . The feeling of this crasyness of normal life being gone with it in a second ... made me feel this horrow strait in my heart . We got everything in this film : the secrets , the terrorists , the Paris , the dead body , CIA , the police , the mistery girl , the exellent music .

But not too much , everything mixed in perfect balance .
I watched this film so many times , but never get tired of it . Even that this DVD doesn't have special futures , a must have film for any DVD collection .

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Phantasm
Review: I love this movie,it has originality,the cool music carries each visual scene to the next beutifully,I have seen all Phantasm films and also the Beastmaster(the same director) I really believe the director Don Coscarrelli has a unique gift in creating something really special.
If you compare Phantasm with some of the other Horror movies,to me the others are just typical horror films and are predictable,Phantasm is not,a real Phantastic experience.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: frantic
Review: This is an excellent polanski film for personal film noir. Ford does a great yet subliminal character formed from a simple plot to recover his wife from a mysterious disapearance. An involved story that is more eclectic than straight forward in it's telling.
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Bad-Not Good
Review: Harrison Ford and his wife flies out to Paris for a business meeting and his wife disappears. Harrison is then forced to join with a [prostitiute] to try to find his wife. The story line is painfully obvious. I was longing for anything to happen just to change it up the obvious plot, but I didn't get my way. Harrison saved the movie though with his excellent performance that does a pretty good job of drawing your attention away from the cheep plot.

Go for the movie "Fugitive" also Harrison Ford; it's the same type of movie, and one of the best in the world.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perhaps the most underrated thriller ever
Review: danger.desire.desperation this Polanski thriller is outstanding,every level mr.FORD ,THE ultimate actor/storyteller...we feel everything his Richard Walker is feeling,and never does it feel false...saw this about 7 times in 1988 on the big screen...wish warner would treat it better on vhs/dvd..i.e. letterbox,trailers,outtakes...if viewing it for the first time,let it draw you in...mesmerizing work...FORD,Betty Buckley,Emmanuelle Seigner,John Mahoney..and the Ennio Morrocoine score is beautiful...Polanski is a true artist.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, engaging thriller...
Review: Fantastic Parisian locations. Decent thriller, nice soundtrack.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Really good movie...really BAD DVD.
Review: Firstly, this is a great movie. "Hitchcockian" is the most frequent adjective used to describe it, and it fits pretty well. Harrison Ford is cast against type as a decidedly unheroic American heart surgeon whose wife is kidnapped within hours of their arrival in Paris for a medical convention, shortly after discovering that they've picked up the wrong suitcase from the airport (Indiana Jones/ Jack Ryan fans beware: Ford's Dr. Walker in this movie makes Rick Deckard from "Blade Runner" look like an Arnold Schwarzenegger character).
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Rather than finding assistance from the local gendarme (and the US consulate), he finds bureaucracy (sp?) and an unwillingness to
believe that foul play may be involved. Only after breaking open the suitcase does he start to find clues as to what has happened...and why. Eventually he follows the trail to the apartment of a known smuggler (who is "in serious need of medical attention") and the "mule" employed whose suitcase was accidentally switched.
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The mule in question is quite possibly the finest-looking piece of 1980's Eurotrash I've ever seen, the deliciously feline street urchin Michelle, played by Emmanuelle Seigner. She reminds me a bit of Anne Parillaud from "La Femme Nikita", even though that movie was made a bit later than this. It turns out that Michelle hasn't been fully paid for the job she's just finished, so she decides to help Dr. Walker find his wife in order to collect the difference she's owed.
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Without giving away the story, the chemistry between the two stars is very good...Ford is especially believable as he never once looks comfortable in this movie (aside from his wife going missing, he speaks no French and hasn't been to Paris in perhaps 20 years; his awkward sense of displacement comes off as being incredibly genuine).
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The DVD package itself, sadly, is far below form. A DVD doesn't require the "bonus features" package found in "Memento" to be a quality purchase...but a quality transfer is the least that should be expected. This DVD's transfer is exceptionally poor...at times it seems as though it were downloaded from a VHF telecast. And I was astonished to find that there wasn't even a widescreen option available...the scenes on Michelle's apartment rooftop would've been particularly more effective in this format...indeed, this is the first DVD I've ever owned (short of my little girl's Powerpuff Girls and Digimon discs, which are formatted for TV anyway) where the presentation defaults to full-screen. Shame.
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I recommend this movie because the story, performances, soundtrack (that's a GREAT Grace Jones song, by the way...and anything Ennio Morricone touches turns to gold...everyone knows that), and price are all exceptional. 4 stars minimum for the movie based on these features. Considering that this is only a dollar or two more expensive that the VHS edition, it's actually cheaper to own on DVD...but with a DVD you expect so much more than what this package offers...and that's what brings down my review.


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