DVD Review HTF Review: Schindler's List (Highly Recommended!) (1 Viewer)

[Joel Vardy]

Same as my experience with the noted exception that I saw this in a crowded theater in downtown Philly with my mother who is a firsthand witness of the Auschwitz experience. Several of us met in a cafe afterwards to reflect and discuss the film. The group was close to 20 people (mostly strangers).

I'll just be glad to have this film in my library. A close relative living near me also experienced the 'trauma' with her husband and I'd probably want to revisit it with them if they can 'stomach' another review.

The only decision I have is whether to go for the Collector's Set or the straight up DVD-18 only.

Joel

 

[WillG]

Count me in as someone who thinks this whole DVD-18 complaint is overblown. Some people here would have you think that the damn thing disintegrates the second it is touched by human hands. Just be careful when handling the damn thing. If you have kids, don't let them get their grubby paws on it. If a fingerprint gets on it, wipe it off. Every other type of DVD is suceptable to damage. As for having to change sides, is it really that much of a hardship? Schindler's List has never been on home video in any format where there was not an interruption.

 

[Terry H]

Good question. I saw this at release but it has been a while. Was there an intermission? I can't recall. If there was... does the dvd break there also?

 

[Jason Seaver]

There was no intermission where I saw it, though I've heard that there was at some theaters.

I must say that I'm very disappointed that the disc has a side break. While some try to rationalize it with "you people who never had LD don't know how good you've got it" or "I appreciate a chance to get up, stretch my legs" or "it's only a minute or two, what's the big deal?", I think part of why this film is so effective is that it puts you in an environment and doesn't let you out; adding a break seems like it can only lessen the impact.

 

[Craig S]

TCP was from Warner - SL is coming from Universal. If this was a Warner release (or New Line, or Fox, or Dreamworks, or any other studio that actually has a clue), it would undoubtedly be a 2-disc set.

 

[Ray_R]

EVERYBODY...

I'm just glad this film is coming out so I can honor those who were in the concentration camps and those who were saved by Schindler and the Allies. This film makes me realize out of all the injustice in the world, even one man can make a difference.
Screw whether or not it's a DVD-18, I'm buying this because it has much sentimental and historical reasons as my family history and heritage. Long live Steven Spielberg and I wish him the best.

Ray Rogers

P.S. I wasn't lying when I said everything up there but I had to cut it short because it was overwhelming...:b

 

[Max Leung]

Just as an aside: Grave of the Fireflies is another movie with the same effect.

As for flipper versus 2-disc set: With HD-DVD and the proper equipment, it should be fairly trivial to cook your own seamless version, fitting everything uninterrupted onto a single HD-DVD disc. I would never settle for a single disc version with all those soundtracks crammed onto it, with the resultant compromised video quality.

 

[Richard Kim]

I think I'll pass on the DVD. I've seen it once theatrically and that was enough. Not a knock on the film mind you, but it's so powerful and emotionally draining that I don't think I can sit through it again.

 

[Seth--L]

To add onto Ernest Rister comments:

There should have been no moment of epic redemption.

What makes Schindler a complex and interesting real person, and novel and film character, is that he wasn't a nice person, he was highly individualistic and self serving, yet he used his influence and money to save the lives of Jews. Spielberg though sees the Holocaust as black & white. Germans were either pure evil like Fiennes, or were inherently good, able to do the right moral thing no matter how moraly corrupt the situation such a person found themselves in. In Spielberg's Holocaust, there can't be a person like Schindler, and thus he gives us the melodramatic speech at the end where there is no question about Schindler's redemption. Spielberg doesn't have enough faith in the audience to realize on their own that Schindler was a good man even if he did flee the country with tens of thousands of dollars that could have been used to save quite a few more lives.

 

[WillG]

Well yes in most cases no breaks are optimal but I don't agree with this statement completely. A very logical break in the film will not do any damage as far as I'm concerned, and probably in some cases can enhance the experience by taking you of something when the break occurs and putting you into something else when you resume the film

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...LD+Side+Breaks

There is a mention of a LD side break in "2001" that emphasizes this point.

With all due respect, I think that the idea of an intermission or side break every so often damaging a viewing experience is just not valid. A good film with stand up to that. It is tantamount to saying that commentary "destroys the magic" of film

 

[Robert Anthony]

I just wish I knew where the break was and how it's handled.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, the commentary's optional, isn't it?

I mean, if we're going to argue for OAR on the basis of "director's intent", shouldn't we object to forced breaks for the same reason? If the goal of home theater is to capture the ideal theatrical experience, then an interruption of the movie should be right out unless there's absolutely no other way around it.

And I've never seen a defense of side breaks, especially laserdisc ones, that didn't sound like a rationalization.

 

[WillG]

Hey, that wasn't me talking in the thread I referenced. But what if for Schindler's List, for the entire film to appear on one side, we would have to sacrifice picture quality or DTS, then there would just as many people pissed off for different reasons. I'm sure Universal (as much as they have blown it in the past) didn't say "Let's spread the film onto both sides of the disc" for no valid reason.

Take the LOTR EEs. You have to change the discs. Techincally the films could have been placed on one DVD-9 but then we would lose commentaries, DTS and A/V quality. A forced break did not ruin the film for me.

 

[Ernest Rister]

I have to disagree on some points here, Seth.

In Spielberg's Schindler's List...

"Germans were either pure evil like Fiennes, or were inherently good, able to do the right moral thing no matter how moraly corrupt the situation such a person found themselves in."

Fiennes was not pure evil. He was a tortured Sadist at war with his own indcotrination. He deeply loves Helen, and yet the very feelings of love for her causes a violent response in him. It conflicts with everything he has been taught to hate. The treatment of Goeth and Schindler in the film shows two men who share a remarkably common trait -- deep self-loathing. Schindler gives in to his humanity, Goeth reacts violently to his human impulse towards compassion.

One of the trademarks of every Spielberg film ever made - with the exception of the comic-book Indiana Jones films - is the way he always takes time to humanize his antagonists. In Sugarland, the Texas Ranger in charge of the pursuit has empathy for the fugitives, and the film ends with a lawman falling to his knees in shocked quiet contemplation over what has just happened. Jaws takes a moment to show Mayor Vaughn in deeply-conflicted shock over how his actions almost killed his own children. Close Encounters presents a dual-vision of Federal Power, at once oppressive, but by the end of the film, it is shown to be at the service of a greater good. Even Belloq in Raiders is shown to have a heart. "Mister" in The Color Purple is an abusive jackass, and yet it is he who has the greatest moment of redemption after he rejects his father and tries to atone for his sins. The Japanese prison camp commander and a young Japanese soldier both end their presence of the film throught tortured tears at their defeat. Goeth is not forgiven but his humanity is indeed a key feature of the film. The hand-picked federal Judge who must decide the Amistad trial ultimately makes his decision based on Christian principles. Even in Saving Private Ryan, the Germans are not presented as "evil" men. They are just soldiers. In Minority Report, a key character enacts justice upon himself rather than endure another murder. In Catch Me If You Can, there are no villains, just opposing human forces. The only "bad" person in the film is perhaps Abignale's mother. Even she is presented with human reasons as to why she does the things she does.

There is no "black and white" vision of the world in Spielberg's films. The closest he comes to such things is the Indiana Jones films, and the theatrical cut of E.T. As we all know by now, the presentation of Federal Agents in E.T. as antagonists who would wield guns against children is a choice he has always regretted.

Spielberg's films are deeply human, but as I keep saying, his reputation has been overshadowed by E.T., just as Disney's work will forever be overshaowed by Snow White, and Kubrick's work forever over-shadowed by 2001.

I find it amusing how The Passion is now causing people to go back an re-interpret every film Gibson has been involved in, focusing on the torture his characters endure. The same syndrome is happening again...a singular film defining a lifetime of work.

My complaint about Schindler, Ryan, and Amistad is the use of simplistic scenes summing up the entire film for viewers, rather than letting the work speak for itself.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Personally I would like to have to have seen the film on a single disc (extras on a second) with seperate DTS and Dolby releases.

I'm glad the film is finally being made available but having the film split is a tad disappointing.

 

[DanFe]

I don't want a flipper.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Then I guess you won't buy it.

 

[DanFe]

No, I'll be buying outside of region 1.

 

[WillG]

Well, then write to Universal. Personally, I'm not losing sleep

 

[TonyD]

i guess it's a secret were the side break is and how it's handled.