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Seven Samurai - 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2)

Actors: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki
ASIN : B000G8NXYG
Sales Rank : 952
Director : Akira Kurosawa
Brand : Image Entertainment
Studio : Criterion
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515019927
UPC : 715515019927
Release Date : December 05, 2006
Publisher : Criterion
Manufacturer : Criterion
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion
Running Time : 207

Product Description

Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 09/05/2006

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Hailed as the greatest film in the history of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai is director Akira Kurosawa's undisputed masterpiece. Arguably the greatest of all jidai-gecki (or historical swordplay films), Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set during the civil unrest of 16th-century Japan, as the cowering residents of a small farming village are seeking protection against seasonal attacks by a band of marauding bandits. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a peasant farmer's son, desperately seeking glory, acceptance, and revenge against those who destroyed his family. Led by the calmly strategic Kambei (Takashi Shimura, star of Kurosawa's previous classic, Ikiru), the samurai form mutual bonds of honor and respect, but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal.

Kurosawa masterfully composed his shots to emphasize these group dynamics, and Seven Samurai is a textbook study of the director's signature techniques, including extensive use of telephoto lenses to compress action, delineate character relationships, and intensify motion. While the climactic battle against raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed, Seven Samurai is most triumphant as a peerless example of character development, requiring all of its 2-hour, 37-minute running time to illuminate every essential detail of villagers and samurai alike, including an abundance of humor as Kambei's defense plan unfolds. In terms of its overall impact, Seven Samurai spawned dozens of copycat films (notably the American Western remake The Magnificent Seven) and cannot be adequately summarized by even the most comprehensive synopsis; it must be seen to be fully appreciated, and the Criterion Collection's 2006 DVD reissue is an essential addition to any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
According to the accompanying booklet, "the picture has been slightly window-boxed (in correct original 1.33:1 aspect ratio) to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors." The two-disc format was necessary "to maintain optimal image quality throughout the compression process," with dual-layered DVD-9's encoded "at the highest possible bit rate for the quantity of material included." The picture and sound quality are simply amazing compared to Criterion's one-disc release from 1998. The all-new, fully restored high-definition digital transfer takes full advantage of HD's clarity and crispness, resulting in picture detail far surpassing the previous DVD. This also applies to the soundtrack, presented in optional Dolby surround in addition to the remastered original mono track. The new transfer "was mastered in 2k resolution from a duplicate negative created with wetgate processing from the original fine-grain master positive" (the film's original negative is no longer available), and "several different digital hardware and software solutions were utilized for flicker, instability, dirt, scratch, and grain management."

The complete 207-minute film is accompanied by two full-length commentary tracks, including a new track combining the critical insights of film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Price (author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa), Tony Rayns, and the dean of Japanese film experts, Donald Richie (author of The Films of Akira Kurosawa). Each scholar is given approximately 40 minutes of film-time, and their commentaries represent a unique opportunity to appreciate Seven Samurai from distinct yet complementary critical perspectives. The commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck (from Criterion's original 1988 laserdisc release) remains useful as a thorough analysis of Seven Samurai, primarily in terms of visual composition.

The 50-minute "making of" documentary, from Japan's 2002 Toho Masterworks TV series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create emphasizes Kurosawa's collaboration with co-screenwriters Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni, including production footage, crewmember interviews, and a reverent visit to the rural inn where Seven Samurai was written over a six-week period of intense seclusion. The two-hour "My Life in Cinema" interview with Kurosawa was recorded in 1993, with fellow filmmaker Nagisa Oshima serving as a gentle admirer, colleague, and well-informed historian of Kurosawa's career. "Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences" is a richly informative documentary that places Kurosawa's classic in both historical and cinematic context, examining its place in the jidai-gecki (swordplay) genre, its accurate depiction of samurai codes and traditions, and its stature as the prototype for many films that followed. The lavishly illustrated 58-page booklet includes eight brief essays on various aspects of Seven Samurai, each written by noted film scholars or film directors (including Arthur Penn and Sidney Lumet). Also included is a reminiscence by the great actor Toshiro Mifune, excerpted from a conversation recorded in 1993. Taken as a whole, the remastered three-disc Seven Samurai ranks as one of the finest DVD sets ever released. --Jeff Shannon

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W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (The Bank Dick / My Little Chickadee / You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / It's a Gift / International House)

Actors: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph
ASIN : B0002MHDY2
Sales Rank : 1397
Director : Edward F. Cline
Brand : Universal
Studio : Universal Studios
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781417015740
ISBN : 1417015748
UPC : 025192578120
Release Date : December 09, 2004
Publisher : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Universal Studios
Running Time : 373

Description

W.C. Fields is an American original, the curmudgeonly master of wit and good, mean fun. In this collection of madcap classics, the famously top-hatted Fields unleashes his unique comic zing, proving himself the king of the one-liner. This special DVD collection includes The Bank Dick, My Little Chickadee, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, It's a Gift and International House. The W.C. Fields Comedy Collection is Fields at his finest, and a must-have for anyone who loves to laugh!

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For anyone who loves classic comedy, the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection is absolutely essential. Film for film, this may be the best DVD showcase ever devoted to a single comedian, including all five of Fields's acknowledged classics in a sturdy, beautifully designed library-quality slipcase. One could easily lament the relative lack of bonus features (it would have been nice to have some vintage Fields radio shows and newsreel footage), but the inclusion of A&E's 1994 Biography documentary W.C. Fields: Behind the Laughter is sufficiently informative about Fields's life, career, irascible personality, and tragic alcoholism. That's all that's really needed when the films themselves are so timelessly entertaining, and they're all remarkably pristine in sound and image quality. The best way to appreciate Fields's evolving screen persona is to view these films in chronological order: In International House (1933), Fields was merely one of many Paramount stars of screen and radio (including Rudy Vallee, Burns & Allen, Bela Lugosi, Sterling Holloway, and manic bandleader Cab Calloway), but he handily steals the show, invading a Shanghai hotel in his airplane/helicopter and delivering the classic line (to Franklin Pangborn), "Don't let the posy fool ya!" It's one of Paramount's best all-star revues.

It's a Gift (1934) is a remake of Fields's 1926 silent It's the Old Army Game, and was the first sound feature devoted to Fields's inimitable talent. As beleaguered husband and would-be orange farmer, Fields revives vintage routines from Vaudeville and Broadway, and his first encounter with Baby LeRoy is comedy gold. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) features Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and Fields's classic, still-hilarious ping-pong routine, while 1940's My Little Chickadee matches Fields (as "Guthbert J. Twillie") with Mae West, whose unforgettable on-screen banter with Fields shows no sign of their notorious off-screen animosity. In his raucous masterpiece The Bank Dick (also 1940), Fields is "Egbert Souse," lowly bank guard, unlikely hero, and manic driver in perhaps the greatest slapstick car-chase scene ever filmed. Despite the regrettable absence of Fields's final starring feature Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, this classy five-disc set is a veritable cornucopia of comedy, offering ample proof of Fields's comic genius through classic one-liners, physical routines, memorable costars, and perfect bits of business that never grow old. --Jeff Shannon

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Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 2

Actors: Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Melissa Gilbert, Melissa Sue Anderson, Lindsay Greenbush
ASIN : B00009QG5P
Sales Rank : 1822
Director : Michael Landon, Victor French, William F. Claxton
Brand : Lions Gate
Studio : Lions Gate
Region Code : 0
Format : Box set, Subtitled, Widescreen, Special Edition
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0069458110938
UPC : 069458110938
Release Date : December 08, 2003
Publisher : Lions Gate
Manufacturer : Lions Gate
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Lions Gate
Running Time : 1080

Description

Charles must work at several jobs to pay off their debts while the entire family pitches in – Laura makes a new friend and helps him get over his grief - Charles promises a dying widow that he will care for her three children – Walnut Grove sees the opening of its first bank – Mary becomes the pride and joy of the town – The sensitive subject of drug abuse is addressed in the second to last episode entitled "Soldiers Return". These and many other exciting adventures are featured in this Collector’s Edition!

Special Features:

Interactive Full Motion Menu

Character profiles

The Ingalls Photo Album

The "Little House" Episode Quiz (Season 2)

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Deadwood - The Complete Second Season

Actors: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Jim Beaver, W. Earl Brown
ASIN : B000EULSR0
Sales Rank : 1966
Director : Alan Taylor, Daniel Minahan, Edward Bianchi, Gregg Fienberg, Michael Almereyda
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : HBO Home Video
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0026359277924
UPC : 026359277924
Number Of Discs : 6
Release Date : December 23, 2006
Publisher : HBO Home Video
Manufacturer : HBO Home Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : HBO Home Video
Running Time : 720

Description

1877. A new day is dawning in the Black Hills outlaw camp of Deadwood. For better or worse, times are changing, and the transformation from camp to town is imminent. Unsavory new arrivals - looking to cash in on the lucrative anarchy -- and a government of outsiders usher in an era of hard decisions and brutal power struggles among the camp's founders, all learning the hard way...fortune comes with a price.

DVD Features:
3D Animated Menus
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Featurette
Photo gallery

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Deadwood: The Complete Second Season continues the Shakespearean brilliance of the landmark first season, created by NYPD Blue head writer David Milch. Milch either wrote or supervised the writing of each of the 12 episodes in this stunning follow-up, which contains more than a few surprises for anyone who thought they knew the myriad characters in the late 19th century town of Deadwood--a mucky, ungoverned, exceptionally violent development in South Dakota. As with the first season, Deadwood continues to be about many things--survival, loyalty, alliances, duty--but all of them are happening against a titanic battle between several parties to consolidate power and real wealth in the territory. Despite his cutthroat ethics, astonishing profanity, and bursts of cruelty, it's hard not to side in this bid for a piece of America's future with saloon owner Al Swearengen (a magnificent performance by Ian McShane), a visionary monster who is nevertheless more recognizably human than his rivals.

Entering an uneasy partnership with Al is Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant). Seth begins the second season by teaching Al a few lessons in chivalry, and their brief but bloody feud commences physical ailments for Al that become increasingly shocking to behold. Yet Al's difficulties have the practical effect of sidelining him for a couple of episodes while the story sets up more complex power struggles. Al takes on Deadwood's other saloon-brothel owner, the unstable Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe), as well as an off-screen millionaire who is intent on owning all the gold-mining interests by buying out weary prospectors' claims. Meanwhile, Seth's wife and son (actually, his late brother's widow and child) arrive, an unsettling development for Seth's lover, the widow Alma Garret (Molly Parker), who soon reveals herself to be a more complicated person than in the first season. The prostitute Trixie (Paula Malcomson) begins thinking about her future and asserts independence from Al by having sex with Seth's friend, Sol Star (John Hawkes). Best of all, Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) is back and more endearingly uncivilized than ever. Special features include actor commentaries on select episodes, the best of which finds Olyphant and McShane cracking each other up while watching the season premiere. --Tom Keogh

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Sukiyaki Western Django [Blu-ray]

Actors: Kaori Momoi, Koichi Sato, Quentin Tarantino, Takaaki Ishibashi, Teruyuki Kagawa
ASIN : B001CITQWW
Sales Rank : 4595
Director : Takashi Miike
Studio : First Look Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0687797123268
UPC : 687797123268
Release Date : December 11, 2008
Publisher : First Look Pictures
Manufacturer : First Look Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Label : First Look Pictures
Running Time : 98

Product Description

Studio: First Look Home Entertain Release Date: 11/11/2008 Run time: 98 minutes Rating: R

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The prolific Takashi Miike co-wrote and directed this strikingly postmodern remake of Sergio Corbucci's 1966 Spaghetti Western, Django. The story is much the same, but the highly stylized fusion of Japanese gangsterism and operatic musings on the Western form makes for a wild and unexpected cult movie. Still, there is not much here beyond the film's relentlessly creative surface, making Sukiyaki a bit wearying. Feuding for centuries, the Genji and Heiki clans both arrive in a 19th century Nevada town, determined to find hidden treasure rumored to be there. In the midst of their fighting comes a solitary gunslinger (Hideaki Ito) courted by each clan to work for them. When he refuses, the cross-currents of betrayal and murder escalate, and hidden truths behind at least one tragedy, and the real identity of an unlikely shooter, come to the surface. The film's energy, dynamic camerawork and almost tongue-in-cheek performances are fun and admirable, and Miike has a fascinating sense of composition. The story gets a little soft just past the halfway point and Miike attempts to fill the void with exhausting new ways of filming bloody mayhem for its own sake. Quentin Tarantino has a small role as a mystery man with a link to these events. --Tom Keogh

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True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)

Actors: John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Jeremy Slate, Robert Duvall
ASIN : B000O179FY
Sales Rank : 2449
Director : Henry Hathaway
Brand : Paramount
Studio : Paramount Pictures
Region Code : 1
Format : Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Extra tracks, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0097361207742
UPC : 097361207742
Release Date : December 22, 2007
Publisher : Paramount Pictures
Manufacturer : Paramount Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Paramount Pictures
Running Time : 128

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/05/2008 Run time: 127 minutes Rating: G

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A wonderful/rueful running gag in El Dorado involves the Edgar Allan Poe line "Ride, boldly ride" being mangled by toupee-wearer Wayne into "Ride, baldy, ride." Two years later, in True Grit, Wayne put the joke in italics by donning an eyepatch and several inches of girth to play cantankerous territorial marshal Rooster Cogburn. Critics belatedly noticed that he could be a marvelously entertaining actor, and Hollywood finally gave him the Oscar they'd failed to nominate him for in Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, et al. But make no mistake: True Grit is a splendid movie, with lovingly textured storytelling and sturdy characters, Henry Hathaway's finest high-country action set-pieces, intoxicatingly ornate frontier language, and a couple of formidable bad guys (Jeff Corey's Tom Cheney and Robert Duvall's "Lucky" Ned Pepper). It's a compliment to say that, from a technical standpoint, the movie could have been made any time in Hathaway's 40-year career, yet its feeling for the reality of violence ceded no ground to The Wild Bunch, released around the same time. Still, the film's most sublime passage falls between bursts of gunplay: Rooster sitting on a hilltop at night recounting his life story, as John Wayne metamorphoses ineluctably into W.C. Fields. --Richard T. Jameson

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Old Yeller 2-Movie Collection (Old Yeller/Savage Sam)

Actors: Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker, Tommy Kirk, Brian Keith, Jeff York
ASIN : B000AJJNIG
Sales Rank : 1064
Director : Norman Tokar, Robert Stevenson
Brand : Old
Studio : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780788859526
ISBN : 0788859528
UPC : 786936283945
Release Date : December 15, 2005
Publisher : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Manufacturer : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Running Time : 188

Description

OLD YELLER: Walt Disney's first and quintessential film about a boy's love for his dog is now an American original as much as it is a Disney classic. No film better portrays the powerful emotions of hope, courage, and friendship. When his younger brother adopts a frisky lop-eared stray, 15-year-old Travis (Tommy Kirk), acting "man-of-the-house," tries to shoo him away. But Old Yeller soon proves he is anything but "yellow" when he protects the family farm and saves Travis' life. From its charming simplicity to its gripping conclusion, the drama, humor and heart of OLD YELLER belong in everyone's collection. SAVAGE SAM: Now discover what happens next in SAVAGE SAM, the sequel to Walt Disney's classic adventure OLD YELLER, where adopting a new pup sets the stage for more thrills in the untamed West. With his two young masters Travis and Arliss Coates (Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran), gentle and true-blue Sam faces even greater dangers than Yeller. From the ferocious attacks of wolves and wildcats to tracking renegade wrongdoers, our four-legged hero proves his pedigree. SAVAGE SAM is a compelling story of love, devotion, and trust that is sure to win your heart.

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Seven Samurai - 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2)

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Daniel Boone: Season 6

W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (The Bank Dick / My Little Chickadee / You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / It's a Gift / International House)

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Rooster Cogburn (...and the Lady)

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Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 2

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Deadwood - The Complete Second Season

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Sukiyaki Western Django [Blu-ray]

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Love Comes Softly Series, Vol. 2

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True Grit (Special Collector's Edition)

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Old Yeller 2-Movie Collection (Old Yeller/Savage Sam)

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