Home :: DVD :: Classics :: General  

Action & Adventure
Boxed Sets
Comedy
Drama
General

Horror
International
Kids & Family
Musicals
Mystery & Suspense
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Silent Films
Television
Westerns
Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $22.49
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pretty Good Edition of an Excellent Film
Review: "Don't look at the camera" is one of those unwritten rules that should be immediately discarded in even a conventional filmmaker's mind. When you look at it, great movies have benefited from flat opposing this rule, "My Life to Live", "Buffalo '66", and this one. A woman's face, covered with glass and blood, hurtles a scream right into the face of the camera. It is only a few seconds, yet it is very effective. Eisenstein was a master of the montage, and this film contains some of his best work. His style benefits from chaos, and this film has a mutiny and a massacre to play with. Though thickly-laid with bias against fascism and the church, it is nonetheless a fascinating film to watch, and I recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Truly A Great Movie
Review: Although this movie predated the Academy Awards, there is no doubt that this movie would have won some of the prized awards.This exciting film is a great dramatization of a 1905 mutiny on a Russian battleship. This is a hugely influential motion picture directed by the great Sergei Einstein.

This film also has some special effects. The "Steps Sequence" was partially filmed by an acrobat with a camera strapped to the waists.

The day it premiered, reels of film were being rushed to the theatre on motor cycle and were held together with spit, and Einstein was afraid his movie wouldn't be completed in time. It was, and it turned out to be a big hit. That is why I love this movie so much!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You've probably already seen segments of this film...
Review: ...because it's been parodied, mimicked and imitated since it came out. Homages to "Potemkin" can be found in everything from Woody Allen ("Love and War") to DePalma's "Untouchables." It's a real landmark in cinema. I'm happy to see it restored on DVD, because some of the early VCR versions were not well-done. This book is one of the great early textbooks on cinematography and editing, and is a fascinating watch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great classic, enhanced by Shostakovich's music.
Review: I would like to poinnt out that the musical score on the DVD is by Shostakovich, but although he was one of the great film composers, with over 30 scores to his credit, he did not write one for "Potemkin". The score you hear on the DVD was adapted from his symphonies, mainly nos. 5 & 11. (The latter, subtitled "The Year 1905" is particularly appropriate for this film.) Needless to say, this score works stupendously well for this most musically-constructed of all silent films. Though the visuals show their age somewhat, with faces sometimes obscured in darker scenes, this DVD is an essential acquisition for any film buff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: one of the most influential films ever made
Review: the best film EVER made with one of the most famous sequences in history:the odessa steps sequence which was recreated in brian de palma's masterpiece the untouchables (also one of the best films ever made).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Words cannot describe how brilliant this is
Review: The other reviewers have said it best, but I'll make an attempt. No less than my favorite film of all time. As stated above, the part most often talked about (the Odessa Steps) is but one (albeit amazing one) part of the most awe-inspiring cinematic visions ever. I own two copies-one to watch and one for just in case. Every time I watch it, I notice something new that grabs me in that same old way. Some call it pretentious, some call it propaganda, and some belittle it by comparing it to MTV and commercials. It is not any of these, but also unfortunately one of the most underseen "classic" films.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A cinematic milestone!
Review: The notoriously dated aspects of silent cinema (maudlin storylines, theatrical acting, silly makeup, tinny music, intrusive dialogue cards, abysmally slow pace, etc.) that make sitting through them a trying experience for today's audience are nowhere in sight in this rightly acclaimed milestone in cinema history. Legendary Russian director Sergei Eisenstein here pioneered his innovative use of "montage"--a method of storytelling through the juxtaposition of expressive images--that every director since has owed their cinematic expression to (and that possibly none have surpassed). Orson Welles, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, all named this film among their top ten. In fact, it's revolutionary ideas trancended language barriers, and in the '20's became a hit in cinemas around the world, including the U.S. The brilliant Eisenstein had created a "universal language" through which his ideals could be conveyed to all. That his ideals were nothing less than Communist propaganda cannot tarnish the genius of his grasp of cinematic grammar. His striking use of image and rapid cutting to tell the (partly fictitious) story nearly render the dialogue cards redundant; narrative velocity is relentless; every character portrait is convincing and touching; riveting suspense and atmosphere is summoned beautifully; it's photography was recently named by "American Cinematographer" as one of the screen's 25 finest ever; and finally, the Shostakovitch score (written sometime after it's release) is fittingly nationalistic and epic in scope. That film students speak of "gleaming nuggets of montage" from it's superlative framework (such as the magnificent "Odessa Steps" sequence) really do the film injustice; for surely "Potemkin's" greatest triumph is the tremendously successful union of it's many excellent parts (an achievement that "Citizen Kane" does not attain, among others). For any film fan interested in either silent cinema, or just cinematic art, this is one those handful that are required viewing! P.S.: For the best of "montage" in sound pictures, see David Lean's "Oliver Twist"; particularly Nancy's murder, and the scenes bordering it. I review the Criterion DVD edition of this film at Amazon!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AN EXCELLENT EISENSTEIN MASTERPIECE
Review: THIS 1976 RELEASE ALONG WITH THE DMITRI SHOSTAKOVITCH SCORE IS THE EPITOME OF VIEWING AND LISTENING. THE SCENES ON THE ODESSA STEPS DURING THE MURDEROUS ATTACK OF THE COSSACKS IS AWE INSPIRING AND AN UNFORGETABLE EVENT WHICH SHOULD BE VIEWED BY OUR MODERN DAY F/X FANATICS. AS A NAVAL WORLD WAR II VETERAN AND PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR I CAN REALLY APPRECIATE THIS FINE CLASSIC.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic cinema history at its finest!
Review: Even the socialist propaganda cannot hide the wonderful work by Sergei Eisenstein and his cinematographer Eduard Tisse in establishing the basic theories in editing and montage. A must-see for every film student or general film lover.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my favorite
Review: I've watched this movie repeately, I never tire of it.

I was first exposed to this movie when I was in college, at the time I didn't appreciate it. About a year or so later I had to view it again, that's when it got me.
When it came out on tape I grabbed it up. Now that it's available on dvd, I have that version too.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates