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Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde

List Price: $14.96
Your Price: $10.47
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Landmark film
Review: Actually one of the most important american films. The actuall transfer is a little disappointing(far too much grain, the only problem really). If you are looking for a perfect print of this brilliant film, you may want to wait for a special edtition or criterion edition or something.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's so bloodly it's lovely.
Review: Bonnie and Clyde is the kind of film that has so much power and raw emotion behind it you would have to be dead not to want to own this film. This film glamourizes violence and in some sick twisted way through all the blood shed and violent behavior the The notorious Barrow gang is so enchanting that you too will want to join them in their escapades! ...This film never slows down, it takes you on a elevator ride from the floor of sex to the floor of violence to the floor of desperation and up and down and up again! The entire cast is game which turns the film into a kind of farce about violence and freedom. The stark images of blood seems to only paint the film with an extra layer power. The final scene and ultimate betrayl committed upon Bonnie and Clyde is a rush of pure raw violence and never once is it overdone or excessive. Few films leave such a deep mark in pop culture, if you wanna see the film that made Blade Runner, The Matrix or any other film that uses violence as an emotion, plot device or visual texture possible, due yourself the ultimate favor and own this masterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A classic
Review: Released in 1967 to controversy and criticism, now considered a classic film (the American Film Institute rated it #27 on their list of America's 100 Greatest Movies) responsible for a significant shift in cinematic direction in the late '60s, "Bonnie and Clyde" is one of those rare films in which every facet combines to create something truly extraordinary. Anchored by strong performances from Beatty and Dunaway as the titular characters, with Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, and Michael J. Pollard shining in supporting roles, the film also features a terrific script, riveting camera work, and a bizarrely amusing banjo soundtrack. Juxtaposing comedy and tragedy, history and myth, "Bonnie and Clyde" succeeds because it craftily grabs the viewer's heart, until they are left at the end of the final scene with their mouth hanging open in sheer amazement and their heart in their throat. See "Bonnie and Clyde" not for the entertainment, but for the experience.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the greats
Review: "Bonnie and Clyde" is not a sit-back-and-relax film. It horrifies, it hypnotizes, it challenges. It does not provide a storybook ending or a convenient moral to carry away with you. This last might be taken for granted since the story is based on facts, but actually the director and producer took a great risk in deciding to fairly present the film's protagonists instead of rendering them cardboard villains.

The story, of course, is about Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Although many of the facts were tweaked to make the storyline more linear and compressed, a lot of the more unbelievable accounts are taken straight from life. (For instance, the first bank they attempted to rob WAS abondoned, much to their chagrin. Buck Barrow lasted days in a hospital after a sizable chunk of his brain was blown away by two rifle shots. Bonnie Parker really did write the famous poem - she handed it to her sister at the last family gathering she was alive to witness.) The film has been critisized for its violent scenes, but I feel unfairly. None of that blood and gore is gratuitous; if you want to realistically portray the lives of two killers, there's going to be some messiness involved.

My main complaint with the film is its rather fuzzy dealings with the people who helped the two convicts. The fact is people were really, really mad at the government during the Depression, especially farmer victims of the Dust Bowl. They LIKED that someone was striking back at the banks - Bonnie and Clyde were considered heroes by many.

And so we come to the paradox of the film. Bonnie and Clyde were not vituous heroes. But they weren't psycotic villains, either. They could be childishly amused by their own tricks one minute and gunning down policemen the next. I think the film makes audiences uneasy, because its characters commit immoral and unjust acts, but aren't evil people. The final shot is a disturbing one. The audience watches as the lawmen cluster around the bullet-riddled body of Bonnie, realizing that the "good guys" have just committed a murder with more malicious intent and violence than any crime in the "bad guys'" entire career.

A truly amazing film.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The beginning of the seduction of America by a violent movie
Review: This film is a spiritual and moral landmark - in a very bad way. It is the first film to portray bloody murders of human beings in balletic, hedonistic/sadistic slow motion. For the first time in a popular medium since the gladiator games in the Roman Colliseum 2,000 years ago, murder and blood have become entertainment for the masses. There is no moral anchoring here whatsoever. The two robbers/killers of the title are portrayed by beautiful and beautifully dressed and filmed individuals. The bad guys here are drawn in depth with great sympathy while the good guys are shallow and physically unattractive men and women. The backdrop of the Great American depression provides an occasional and failed attempt to make Bonnie and Clyde folk/political heroes. This is all filmed with such cinematic skill that the confusion may stay with the audience long after the film ends. The final slo-mo bloody shooting of Bonnie and Clyde is murder transformed into sick eye candy. From this film on, Hollywood felt free to run its own modern version of the gladiator games for the masses. Murders could be depicted in great detail in order to feed the newly discovered bloodlust of the masses willing to plunk down a few bucks in order to see the latest filmed torture and killing. There is a direct connection between this film and the ending of "Hannibal", where a live human has his brains eaten from his split open skull. A friend and I were discussing this and we predict that it is only a matter of time before Hollywood feels the need to meet the increasing threshold for violence in the masses by making animals and children their next on screen victims. You have to keep upping the ante if you need to maintain shock value to bring them in at the box office. This is a film that, in retrospect, produced nothing but evil in society. At the time, it's style and flashy directing compelled people to take it seriously. Now we know better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beatty and Dunaway Are Brilliant
Review: A minute or so into the first scene (which begins with a close-up of a luscious, red-lipsticked, sensuous mouth) a young woman goes to the window of her second story bedroom and looks down on a young man milling about the family car parked in front of the house. "Hey, Boy!" she calls to him, "What c'you doin' with my mama's car?" And with that, the world got it's first glimpse of what was to become one of the most celebrated couples in cinematic gangsterdom, as portrayed by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, in "Bonnie & Clyde," directed by Arthur Penn and produced by Beatty. The red lips, of course, belong to Bonnie Parker (Dunaway), and in the first moments of the film, as she looks at herself in the mirror, then sprawls pensively across her bed, you feel her sense of longing, of wanting "something," of yearning for that intangible element that is seemingly just beyond her grasp. And then she meets Clyde Barrow (Beatty). Just released from prison, Clyde has a twinkle in his eye and a devil-may-care attitude that fits Bonnie's needs like a hand in a glove; and so begins the story of two real life criminals as they embark upon their now legendary, if infamous, spree of bank robberies and murder. How they actually met and came together is of no consequence here; the fact is, it happened, and unbeknownst to Bonnie and Clyde, their exploits and short lives would become--some thirty-odd years later-- the subject of a cinematic masterpiece. Beatty makes few movies, which apparently works to his advantage, because when he does, it's usually a film worth waiting for. And this is arguably one of his best, if not the best, he's every done. As Clyde, Beatty fairly oozes charm, with a down-home, southern, easy-going manner that belies who and what his character really is. But Beatty makes him memorable with an Oscar worthy performance in the role that will most likely be THE one for which he will be remembered, and with good reason, for he has never before or since been more charismatic or accessible than he is here. It is quite simply a remarkable performance by a talented actor at the top of his form. And Faye Dunaway, as well, has never been more beautiful or appealing, ever. Period. Her Bonnie is without question the stuff of which legends are born. But does her portrayal reflect the real Bonnie Parker? Of course not; neither does Beatty's reflect the real Clyde Barrow. But Dunaway's work here is nothing less than extraordinary and-- as with Beatty's Clyde-- this will probably be the role for which she will be remembered, as it showcases not only her exquisite beauty but here abilities as an actress more than any other part she's played, including her role in "Network," for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. As the director, Arthur Penn-- it goes without saying-- played a tremendous part in the success of this film. It may have been Beatty's vision originally, but it was Penn who summarily made it his own and brought it to fruition. His handling of the camera to enhance the drama of the story is acute, from his use of close-ups (as in the opening scene of Dunaway's mouth, and later her eyes), to the more expansive vistas he uses to capture the action that is so well choreographed and staged. His pacing of the film, which maintains the necessary tension and emotional level throughout, is perfect, and the expertise through which he elicits exemplary performances from his actors is evident. Of all the elements that go into the making of a great film, choosing the right director is of unparalleled concern, and in this case it is obvious that Penn was indeed the right man for the job. The memorable supporting cast includes Michael J. Pollard (C.W. Moss), Gene Hackman (Buck Barrow), Denver Pyle (Frank Hamer), Dub Taylor (Ivan Moss) and Estelle Parsons, as Blanche Barrow, the role for which she received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. A landmark film, "Bonnie & Clyde" has received criticism for glamorizing the lives of notorious criminals; but upon reflection, though the stars involved may have "beautified" the subjects of the film, there is certainly nothing in the presentation of the way they lived, and especially the way they died, that could be construed as "glamorous." What this film does, however-- and so successfully-- is evoke a sense of the desperation of a particular time and place in the history of America. Some may deem this perspective of infamy as politically incorrect; but the Great Depression was a fact of life, and gangsters like Bonnie and Clyde-- as with Jesse James before them-- were often hailed as heroes by certain factions who were themselves struggling to stay alive. The importance of a film like this, or perhaps on a grander scale, one like "Schindler's List," is that it maintains an awareness of events that for posterity simply must not be forgotten.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Deadly Romance Of Doomed Duo
Review: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are the perfect pairing in this stylish action BioPic. Beatty portrays Clyde Barrow, a brazen if sometimes guileless depression era stick up artist who just might as well hold up a general store for a sack full of groceries as he would knock over a bank. Dunaway is Bonnie Parker, a Texas waitress saddled with small town enui and romantic frustrations. What they lacked in criminal skills, their attempts were often botched, ill planned, or just plain lucky, and usually violent, they made up for in charisma. The real life Bonnie had a flair for publicity shown well here when she practically acts as the gangs press agent. The vivid depression backdrop, probing of the couples odd intimacy and a great supporting cast including Gene Hackman, make this film stand the test of time. The eye-popping ultra-violent conclusion is a moment in film history not to be missed. Highest rating without hesitation.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Romantic Gangster Movie
Review: Bonnie and Clyde is a fast paced, very suspenseful movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Bonnie and Clyde meet early in the movie and start their life together reaping havoc on Texas and a few of the surrounding states. This was a good movie, but definitely not worthy of any more publicity that what it has had. I wouldn't suggest it for a Saturday night rental with a significant other, but it isn't that bad. It especially isn't for someone with a weak stomach. But, if blood and gore won't bother you then you just might like this exciting adventure of murder and mayhem. The Barrow gang works together to create one of the most famous and biggest killing and robbing sprees too ever cross the state of Texas. The chemistry between Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway is mesmerizing. They play two of the best lovers that I have seen in a movie in a long time. She is a small town girl, but she is not in anyway innocent or helpless. He on the other hand is a big city man who has seen the world. Mostly from the inside of a jail cell, but Bonnie doesn't care. Nothing could ever come between them and their very strange intimate relationship. It is easier to understand what I mean once you have seen the movie. I would definitely suggest renting this movie, as long as you have a strong stomach and if you are looking for something romantic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: Bonnie and Clyde was a brilliant film directed by Arthur Penn. He presented the notorious Barrow gang in such a way that I wanted them to succeed. The way Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway portrayed the characters drew me into their lives and into the movie. I really enjoyed watching this film. The violence in the film was so real, it looked as if it were happening right before my eyes. The terror Bonnie and Clyde brought into the eyes of their victims made me feel the horror of the crimes. During the fight scenes, I found myself jumping and sitting on the edge of my seat. Every time the Barrow gang was on the run, I was wanting to yell at the television to tell them which way to go. I thought the plot was suspenseful and inviting. The love story thrown into all of the chaos was an incredible distraction. From the beginning I wanted Bonnie and Clyde to be together. Clyde kept pushing Bonnie away which made me want it even more. The chemistry between Beatty and Dunaway was amazing and made the attraction real. I wasn't sure if they would end up together, if they would fall in love. At the end of the film, the look in the eyes of Bonnie and Clyde made me feel the emotions they must have been feeling. I thought this film was surprisingly good. I would recommend this to anyone who likes action and love story mixes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best of the sixties?
Review: Although B&C is frequently mentioned along with "Easy Rider" and "The Graduate" as the quintessential 60s American countercultural film, it easily eclipsed either of these lesser efforts and continues to stand the test of time. Easy Rider and The Graduate were both period pieces, the former amateurish and the latter obvious, precious and self-posturing (Benjamin represented all of my classmates' fantasies of being seduced by an Ann Bancroft). B & C explodes with freshness and energy from the very first frame, representing in its humor and good spirits the demonstrations and sit-ins that were the "animal house" frat parties of the times --until Kent State and the Chicago Democratic convention. Like the movie, our fun and innocense blew up in our faces. And the film retains its power to disturb at deep levels, reminding us of the creative-mortal dichotomy of our human and biological nature. The final sequence is a stunning display of montage rivaled in the history of cinema only by Hitchcock's famed shower sequence in "Psycho."


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