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

[Steve K.H.]

Excellent review Jason, looks like we have some films worth purchasing coming up (there's been a definite lag as compared to the Pre Christmas offerings).

Perhaps you could put the release date at the top of the review (or others could put their's at the bottom) just so everyone is consistent.

Bummer about the flipper, I would have prefered if they dropped the Dolby Five One

 

[Jough]

But those side/disc changes were annoying, and were only the "norm" because of the technological limitations of the medium.

For DVD, having to flip the disc to watch the rest of the film hasn't been "the norm" since early 1997 (before dual-layer DVD-9s were common).

And just because something is "the norm" doesn't mean it's a good thing or that we have to like it.

 

[Ray_R]

Just forget about whether the damn disc is DVD-18! Just buy the movie! Who cares about how the disc is when this movie should matter for all concentration camp victims! Think about them and buy it for them and not some petty issue.
I'm buying this movie for historical reasons and because it hits home with me because I'm PROUD of my Jewish ancestry. Thank you Schindler for what you did...


P.S. Did I mention I'm going to put this in my archive already?

 

[Ernest Rister]

"Seth L I think this was just dramatic compression. I'm sure I remember reading or hearing an interview sometime after the movie came out which said that Schindler did, later on in his life after the war, express those "I could have saved more" sentiments. But I don't see how Speilberg could have shot the scene in an emotionally affecting way if he'd done it as a flash-forward with Neeson in old-age make-up."

The scene was never in any of the drafts written by Zallian prior to production. During the filming, Spielberg decided he needed a "thank you" scene to express the gratitude of the schindlerjuden to Oskar. Spielberg thought, it would also be a way of thanking every other person who responded to their conscience and aided the persecuted peoples in the Holocaust. Zallian wrote the scene - I think - two weeks before it was shot. I don't care for Spielberg's angles during the moment and I feel that this moment was simply too far removed from the Oskar Schindler that Neeson had created, and hence, I think he struggled in that moment. I just didn't believe him.

If Schindler ever broke down later in his life and confessed his sorrow that he squandered money and could have saved more people, such statements are not to be found in Keneally's book, if memory serves.

Ultimately, the moment plays to me like a common weakness in Spielberg's trilogy of 90's dramas, namely Schindler's List, Amistad and Saving Private Ryan, all of which find a way to force a scene where the entire underlying theme of the film is expressed in a single sentence of dialogue, in moments that remain somewhat unconvincing. "I could have got more - one more person, a person, Itzhak", "Who we are is who we were", "Earn this"...the trend even pops up in Minority Report -- "You can choose."

Perhaps, after being burned by critics and audiences for Empire of the Sun, some of whom complained that the film was too obtuse, Spielberg felt he had to make his points crystal clear. I think Schindler's List is one of the greatest American films I've ever seen, it's just that one scene that troubles me. Everything else in that film - even the brief instances of colorization - work fine for me. Schindler breaking down and becoming unconsolable just didn't work.

"I too must admit I would prefer a 2-disc edition, not just because I'm so lazy that I'd rather be able to hit the 'skip disc' button than to have to get off the couch and flip the disc over....well, yeah, mostly because I'm that lazy. But also due to the smudge & scratch issues."

If it were any other film, I might complain more actively, and yet it seems shameful to complain about having to stand up and walk twenty feet to my DVD player, when the film in question shows children forced to hide waist-deep in human excrement, or old men forced to strip naked and run around in a circle to prove their health. Such scenes put these complaints in perspective. If that's all we have to compain about, we really have no right to gripe. I'll be picking this up the moment it comes out.

 

[Ray_R]

I will personally thank Steven for making this movie. And show him I own the DVD to prove my thanks. If he signs it, it won't be for eBay...
When does this come out again? I've lost my 'movies to buy in upcoming months' list...

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Ray, it comes out March 9.

This will be the first major movie purchase of mine in 2004, all the DVDs I've bought this year have been television related but this will break that trend.

I am looking forward to this, and I'm glad to have read that their are at least 2 or 3 others in this thread that have yet to see it.

 

[MaraKM]

Ah, I see what you mean now. I had that reaction to Amistad and Saving Private Ryan - there were too many moments where I felt I was being manipulated, where the musical score would swoop in as if to say "And now is the time for you to cry! Cry!!!" I was not involved enough in the movie for those things to be unobtrusive, so they just pulled me further out of the movie.

With Schindler's List, I was too caught up in the movie to be aware of the techniques. Schindler/Neeson's breakdown caught me by surprise, and just made me cry.

 

[Ian Currie]

I hate flippers - no matter how careful I am with the discs, I end up getting smudge marks on them - usually when I'm tilting the discs back and forth trying to read the microscopic "side a/side b" labels...

Yuck - this feels so antiquated - like a non-16x9 enhanced transfer or something.

 

[Jason Perez]

Hello all!

I am glad to see such intelligent discussion about this film. There are a few questions I have seen that I will address shortly (I don't have much time right now). Let me just say again that this film is well worth a purchase, and I will be proud to have it in my collection, flipper or no...although I am among those would have preferred two discs.

On another note, a few of you have expressed a desire to see release dates at the top of reviews. I think this is a good idea, especially in the case of lengthier reviews, so I will be incorporating it into all of my future reviews. Keep the suggestions coming, as these reviews are for you!!!

Regards,

Jason

 

[DaveF]

I missed Schindler's List in the theaters, and never caught it in on video afterwards. Now I'm considering buying this DVD and finally watching it. Maybe have a party, get a group to watch this.

But I'm disapppointed it's on a dual-side disk. I originally thought they were a great idea but I've since changed my mind. There is no disc artwork -- this is not just an aesthetic issue (though movies are all about the best presentation). Full disc art is much easier to read than the microscopic text on the inner ring of a flipper. And if I ever get a DVD changer, flipping the disc will be more incovenient than changing to the second disc.

I also don't understand the attitude "movies were inconvenient with laser-discs and they should be with DVDs." Yes, and my father walked uphill both ways to the coal mines when he was a kid. Doesn't mean I want to.

Yes, the burdens of life in a wealthy country ...

It's a mass-produced commodity, easily replaced. Why the concern? If it's such a fantastic and important movie, don't you want to share it with as many people as possible?

Flippers and vaults aside I'm looking forward to finally seeing this highly regarded movie.

 

[Carlo_M]

It's all about the film for me. Flipper, 2 discer, whatever, just get this excellent film into my hands.

And for those disc changer owners (I hope to become one soon) why not buy two copies? This title will be at loss leader pricing and if it's really a pain in the a$$ to flip discs, just buy 2. Or wait a bit and buy a $9.99 used one (or less) in a couple of weeks. That's what I will be doing if I do enter the realm of changers.

 

[Jough]

If you don't care about the film's presentation, you could've owned it for years on VHS. It's still available. Why wait until the 9th? Go ahead and get that version. It will get the film into your hands.

Me? I really like the DVD presentation of films for the advantages that DVD offers - better quality, instant scene access, non-degradeablity, etc.

Sure, compared to the Holocaust hardly anything seems like more of a trifle. Your entire family was killed in a house fire? Big deal, 6 million people died in the Holocaust.

I can't *do* anything about the Holocaust. It happened long before I was born. But I *can* try to affect change in the present. And the biggest problem in the world today (and in the years leading up to the Holocaust in Europe) was that people just let things slide. "Oh, it's not my problem. Let someone else worry about it" is an attitude which lets evil flourish.

So if I don't at the very *least* voice complaint regarding things that I think are wrong with the world, I'm not doing my duty as a human being.

Whether or not a disc is single or double-sided is the result of someone's DECISION. This isn't just something that happens, or is uncontrollable. Usually these things come down to one person. Someone, either Spielberg, or more likely, someone we've never heard of at Universal, made the decision to split this film over two sides of a disc. There have certainly been longer films that have fit on a single dual-layer platter and have looked and sounded wonderful.

But if they needed the space for the audio, fine. But why the flipper? Is saving ten cents really more important to Universal than consumer satisfaction?

So yes, it's a minor point - but the mindset of "oh stop complaining it's no big deal" is the same kind of mindset that enabled the Holocaust to happen.

(Please note that I am not comparing Home Theatre Forum members with the Nazis - just pointing out that it is valid to stand up for even a minor point that you believe in).

 

[Robert Anthony]

This whole disc flipping thing has gotten blown WAY out of persepective here. Really. If you have to put a disclaimer at the end of your post that you're not comparing home theater to nazi-ism, or that you're not comparing flipping discs to concentration camp atrocities--something's gone wrong somewhere.

It just seems very overblown to me. Sorry.

 

[Carlo_M]

Just as it was my decision to simply want this film on DVD, flipper, 2 discer, whatever. But thanks for attacking my desicion.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

So how do they handle the break in the film? Does side 1 end like a laserdisc side or do they put an artificial fade and/or "intermission" card in, and does side 2 start right away or do you have to go through a menu?

 

[Phil Carter]

Jason, great review, thanks!

I am delighted to be seeing this on DVD at long last. It is my favorite film of all time, despite the fact that I just can't watch it more than once or twice a year. It's that powerful. Those of you who've mentioned you haven't seen it yet are in for quite an experience.

This is still the only film I've been to where there was complete and utter silence after the credits rolled. The entire audience was so thunderstruck that we just exited in mute awe and respect for the experience we'd just had. I didn't even hear anyone talking out in the parking lot.

I'll be there to pick this'un up on release date.

cheers,
Phil

 

[Richard Schultz]

if anyone has a problem with DVD-18's and smuge marks for a film over 3 hours long with 3 dolby digital tracks and a DTS track. then they should wash there hands or use a pair of latex gloves. ha ha ha.

just kidding.

 

[Ruth_F]

Nope Jeff you are not alone - looking forward to the disc. They did such a wonderful job on The Color Purple - too bad they did nto make this a two disc set.

 

[Richard Schultz]

I would imagine side B would take you to a menu to choose options like dolby digital or DTS am i correct?

thanks RICH.

 

[Robert Anthony]

I'm with Jesse: How is the side break handled?