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

[Ernest Rister]

Never mind.

 

[Jough]

I happen to like most of Spielberg's films - but sometimes he steps over the line from sentiment to sentimentality. Spielberg has a good eye and would have been a wonderful silent film director.

I believe Schindler's List would have been more powerful as a silent film. It's that dialogue that sometimes just makes me roll my eyes when tears should be coming from them. Even the most oft-quoted line from the film is tacky and melodramatic "The list is an absolute good. The list is life."

This is the voice of a cheesy history teacher talking about the list with a great deal of hindsight - not someone who was actually present at the time.

There's so much dialogue in the film that sounds like soap opera characters talking about the holocaust. Most of this dialogue was from the novel, of course, and transferred word-for-word to the film - but should it have been? What works in a novel doesn't always work on screen. Ultimately every word or image that appears onscreen is the director's decision. So you can't really blame the novel.

I found the film to be very powerful, but was taken out of the movie several times by bad dialogue.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Never mind.

 

[ScottR]

I don't feel like going through this entire thread...does the boxed set come with the collectible pictures that are on some packages of the regular release?

 

[Seppo]

Great review. I have not seen Schindler's List but I'll definitely buy the DVD. Can't wait!

 

[Eric Peterson]

I finally watched my disc and to say that I was underwhelmed with the transfer would be a fair review. I encountered serious pixellation problems on Side A for about a one minute stretch very early in the movie. I'll check the disc on a few more players tonight to see if it's player based, but I have my doubts. I also found the whites to be so intense in the film that I found myself turning my head at times. My TV has never been professionally calibrated, but I watch a LOT of B&W movies and have never seen whites that hot. It looks like I'll be taking my disc back for an exchange, but I wish I hadn't caved in and purchased it. As much as I enjoy this movie, Universal doesn't deserve anymore of my cash. I would have much preferred a 2-Disc set.

In response to those who don't see the problem with double-sided discs, my experience hasn't been negative handling wise, but with production problems. I'd say that it's a rarity to find a double-sided dual layered disc that hasn't had problems.

 

[dpippel]

I watched the film for the first time two days ago and must say that despite the trying subject matter, I enjoyed it immensely. I loved the cinemetography, and Liam Neeson was superb as Oskar Schindler. His best performance to date in my opinion. Ralph Fiennes was also superb as Amon Goeth, portraying him as a casual, psychopathic monster without dipping into stereotype.

That said I agree with the poster above about some of the somewhat cheesy, melodramatic dialogue. There were several moments that made me cringe, including the noted Kingsley lines about the list being "life". I could live with them however. What I could not live with was this scene at the end of the film:

When Schindler breaks down crying as he and his wife prepare to leave the factory and go into hiding. The whole "I could have saved more! This car! This car was 20 people! Why did I keep it?" thing just felt SO contrived and tacked on. I think Spielberg made a huge mistake leaving this scene in. One of the things I really liked about the development of Schindler's character during the course of the film was his rather offhanded way of helping the Jews "working" for him. It felt "real". His breakdown speech was just so out of character it literally pulled me right out of the movie at a time when I should have been completely immersed in it. Bad editing choice in my opinion.

Other than that one major stumble I really liked Schindler's List, thought the transfer was fantastic, and had no trouble palying the disc at all.

 

[Jason_Dan]

This Film and Amastad are Two of the most important movies I have ever seen. These two should be required viewing for late grade school and middle school students the world over so that the power of Hatred can be fully understood and the power of Love fully embraced.

 

[Jeffrey N]

I just got my copy this week. As I was watching side B, at abotu 41 mins into the movie, the video went dead - complete black. There was a 15 second return when they were hanging Amon Goeth, and complete black until the credits.

Do I have a defective disk? I scanned through this huge thread and did not see any complaints that would suggest that this is a widespread problem.

Any insights anyone?

Thx,

Jeffrey