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Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $15.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Quite likely the best acting ever in one film
Review: It's no small praise that Elizabeth Taylor's acting in this one at one time was taught in college acting classes, and she's at her best as Martha, the drunken, bawdy and disillusioned wife to then-husband Richard Burton's professionally and emotionally blunted college professor George. Together, Taylor and Burton subject two young neighbors, played stunningly by George Segal and Sandy Dennis, to a night of hell where the line between reality and vicious fantasy of cruel mind games isn't clearly drawn. Taylor, in a class all her own in this one, earned a second Oscar for her tour de force while looking every bit the deglamorized unfulfilled shell of a beauty goddess Martha undoubtedly was. Burton is as compelling in his viciousness that is George's life blood. He was Oscar-nominated as were Segal and Dennis with the latter winning Best Supporting Actress. Shot in black and white and centered in Martha and George's hell house, the intensity of the sense of being penned and the desire to run are urgent and, in the end, we leave George and Martha with a sigh of relief, hoping neverto return and a sense of pity for these two battered souls who, for whatever reason, gave up on life in favor of mutually assured destruction. Taylor is awesome: her performance her may well be the single best ever in cinematic history.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Houseboy.
Review: If you're looking at my film reviews, one of the things you must know is that I like movies with great stories as well as great acting and directing. Without a great story, the movie loses most of its clout. Acting and directing can only go so far. Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf happens to have all three. The play, written by Edward Albee, was a classic to begin with, and the screen adaptation is perfectly executed by an ensemble cast and a great director. The story of a husband and wife's emotional games and the innocent couple they involve in their games for one night of company is a remarkable film. I don't think you will find too many other films about the psychological dynamics of a relationship explored in such painstaking detail. The dialogue will make your head spin. Elizabeth Taylor won best actress for her role and you can see why. This is a must have for any film collector.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best goddam movie I have ever seen
Review: Great performances, great dialog, great cinematography, great music. It just doesn't get any better and I don't think it ever will.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who's afraid? I am, George, I am...
Review: Highly kinetic, cinematic and troubling. Enter into the bowels of a marriage based on desperate needs and disastrous chemistry. George and Martha provide the linguistic gymnastics, which, when mixed with more than enough booze and vitriol, combust on the screen with more firepower than any blood-drenched thriller. Here is emotional assualt of Ivy League caliber. The violence is all too real, and the destruction palpable. Oscar winner in several categories, this one bears up over the decades! Recommend for literate, non-sqeamish, mature and loving couples as a cautionary tale.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Watch this movie if you want to be an actor...
Review: If there is ever a film acting students must watch, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? is it. Personally, I had no problem with the DVD. Burton and Taylor are simply marvelous in their roles as two seriously disturbed people who have been married for...much too long. Taylor won an Academy Award and Burton should have won (no disrespect towards Paul Scofield for A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS). Edward Albee's brilliant characters and writing is simply breath-taking. That is if you can take 2 1/2 hours of absorbing drama about four miserable people (George Segal and Sandy Dennis are also excellent as the guests). It is true that a film like this isn't for everyone. The negative reviewers concern themselves with the mood of the film...why would anyone want to watch 4 people yelling at each for over 2 hours...but that isn't a review, and people expecting a Disney version of Albee's play shouldn't be watching it in the first place. Real life isn't easy to watch. Albee's story about an alcoholic professor and his over-bearing alcoholic wife is not easy to watch. Instead, the viewer must watch the film as life-like art, and an example for all filmmakers to follow. Director Mike Nichols had it filmed in black and white (Haskell Wexler), and most of the original play (screenplay by Ernest Lehman) remained intact. In a day when your average movie-going experience involves empty-headed entertainment (Matrix, X-men, Hulk, American Pie, Dumb and Dumberer, etc. - you know what I mean), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, even if you need to be in the mood to watch it, is far easier to take in the long run.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a movie that stays with you in your mind.
Review: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor play malevolent marrieds George and Martha in this unforgettable, magnificent adaption of Edward Albee's exceptional Broadway hit. Burton plays George, a broken down college professor married to Martha, a profane alchoholic, who drives George crazy every chance she gets. They invite a college professor and his mousy wife for an evening of fun and games. What follows is a dramatic upbringing of doomed relationships, secret revalations, and nonstop drinking. The way the film tells the story of two innocent individuals being lunged in to a world of hysteria is excellent. Burton is probably the most memorable of the film. Although he lost his Academy Award nom, he still rockes the cinema world today with his outstanding performance. Taylor is also awesome in her hardest (and best) role ever. Segal, and Dennis are unforgettable in their excellent film debuts. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a magnificent, exemplary story about two people, who after one evening, lives are changed along with two unaware people in their little private ways. So as I was saying, this film stays with you for a long time in your mind, and you won't forget it. Ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Get Ready to Be DEPRESSED!
Review: I've only got a few things to say about this movie: BEAUTIFULLY ACTED, AMAZINGLY CRAFTED & DON'T EXPECT TO BE HAPPY AFTER SEEING IT!!!

This movie is amazing in every sense. The script is fabulous and the actors couldn't have done anything better with this movie. Liz Taylor was absolutely "the limit" with this role - her best one ever. Richard Burton was marvelous, too - he played the downtrodden husband better than anyone could hope for.

The basic guts of this movie are that Liz and Richard invite a young couple over to have dinner and drinks but PLAY WITH THEIR MINDS throughout the entire show. You have to watch the movie to understand the level of this ugly game that they are imposing on their guests. To put it plainly, this movie is a mind f***.

Beware ye, all extremely sensitive viewers, you may watch this movie and be depressed for a few days straight! That's not a joke - it has a tremendous effect on all who watch it.

This movie should be seen just for the fabulous performances of the actors. See it and be depressed, weep, WHATEVER!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Remarkable
Review: 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' is that rare thing; a movie adaptation of a stage play where we know, ever without having to be told, that it originated on the stage. It is a completely character-driven piece, full of intense dialogue, isolation & repression, and a sense of desolation and sadness that not even the most accomplished contemporary movies can match.

George and Martha (Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor) are having newly-employed University colleague Nick (George Segal) and his wife Honey (Sandy Dennis) back for late-night drinks, after a faculty party. While there, the hapless young couple stumble upon the web of lies and psychological abuse that passes for a marriage between George and Martha, and through a process of drinking, seduction and cruelty, leave with their own young marriage in tatters.

It is simply not possible to make tangible exactly how absorbing Taylor and Burton are in this picture. Certainly Burton's finest hour, he plays the part of the henpecked, abused George with brilliant depth and pathos, and ranges from abusee to abuser with such believable energy and commitment that we dare not look away. The same can be said of Taylor; this film is her absolute finest hour, and in the character of the ugly, foulmouthed Martha she takes the viewer by the throat and keeps us close to her for the whole film. Hers is a character on a par with Bette Davis in Baby Jane, a monstrous bundle of complex neuroses that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled, but far more human and believable than Jane, Martha creates fear because she could so easily be real.

Sanders and Dennis are also excellent as the unlucky young couple forced to re-evaluate their own marriage. Although Dennis won an Oscar for her portrayal as Honey, Sanders gives a hugely noteworhty performance as Nick, the ayrean hero subverted by the sickness of George and Martha's situation.

In such a piece, direction is never required to be more than competent, and while the typcial Hollywood decision to have three different locations for the movie will cause some chagrin to fans of the stage play, the rest of the direction is done in the true noir-style. Camerawork is unobtrusive and lighting is used sparingly, to create an atmosphere as emotionally detached as it is devastating.

'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' is not a happy movie. It is the antithesis of the feel-good flick, to the point where you may feel some initial dislike for it. However it affects you, and it will, you cannot help but feel awestruck by the magnificence of the performances or the amount of emotion generated by the leads. A true example of the power of fine acting, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' is an absolute must-have addition to anyone's collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A powerful movie that will grab you!
Review: I saw this movie with my parents and let me tell you...this movie really grabbed me into being part of the story, part of the movie! Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton play exceptionally well! I couldn't help but drop my jaw on their powerful performances between eachother. They made me want to further
become a great actor. This a great movie for anyone who wants to be a
successful actor, director, or anything else that goes with movies. Teenagers (like myself) should see this kind of movie that really makes you think about life and just overall observe the movie and be touched. Nowadays, as other reviews here have said which I totally agree is that many people just watch non-thinkable trash movies. This is a masterpeice which everyone should love! When the movie will be over, it will literally take days to talk about the ending...because it is THAT good!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Flawless. All the way through.
Review: There are only a few movies one get to see where a 10 out of 10 is really warranted after you've seen the film several times. It's easy to jump to conclusions shouting "This is the best I've ever seen" just after seeing one particular film. This one, however, is my fave movie, and I've seen a lot of both contemporary and old movies. Countless viewings after my initial, I still stand tall and proclaim this to be the best drama ever made.

Martha's and George's relationship is that of a long married couple who have grown weary of each other. Yet they cannot leave each other, it's the only life they know. It's the only reality they've set for themselves and they dare not get out. The fights and arguments are, at the end of the day, worth the trouble of keeping your identity, your everyday life, your grasp of reality.

The cast, all four of them, are meticulous in their performances. They complete each others presence, nurture the rivalry, fill the gaps and most importantly-delivers to the maximum of their potential.

Watching this is more like seeing it performed on stage than in a theatre or on your TV in your home. Early on, you get the feeling all is not well between George & Martha, and as the guests arrive, the story is just about

to begin. The presence of the characters adds to the overall authenticicty of the story and the parts they play. It's a clichee, but I know many plays of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" has been set up: none can match the original.

If Citizen Kane is regarded as the best story ever told on the screen, this has to run very, very close.

In a heart-beat, I will give this 10 out of 10. That is saying A LOT, because I am a ferociously discriminating b***ard when it comes to movies!


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