Customer Reviews

American Graffiti: Collector's Edition (Widescreen)

5 star:		(159)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Where were you in `62?"

I wasn't around in `62 -- I was born in `63, as a matter of fact, and I was 10 when George Lucas' American Graffiti was released. I wasn't really aware of either George Lucas or American Graffiti in 1973, although four years later I would know Lucas from his next -- and most popular -- film, Star Wars. I did not go to the movies much in 1973, but I saw this wonderful film when it was broadcast by ABC some years later. (ABC, capitalizing on its "hot" new sitcom, Three's Company, shamelessly promoted it as "starring Suzanne Somers." In fact, Suzanne is not even billed with the eight "stars.")

If film and television historians have it right, though, American Graffiti was the catalyst for the 1950s Nostalgia fad that begat TV's Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and the blessedly short-lived Joanie Loves Chachi (not to mention Sha Na Na and Broadway`s Grease). And it isn't terribly surprising that Happy Days and its spin-offs owe their inspiration -- if not their very existence -- to Lucas' first major culturally significant film. Happy Days starred Ron Howard, who (as Ronny Howard) had second billing in Graffiti, while Laverne and Shirley costar Cindy Williams was the female lead.

American Graffiti is a bittersweet yet comedic look at what the DVD publicity blurb says was "America's last age of innocence." In the summer of `62, JFK was in the White House, the Beatles were still unknown in this side of the Atlantic, and drive in diners and movie palaces were very popular. There was no Internet or even Studio 54 just yet, so kids went cruising, looking for girls to pick up or rivals to race in their souped-up hot rods. (Lucas, in the Making Of documentary on the 25th Anniversary DVD, says his intent in making American Graffiti was to document cruising as a socio-cultural phenomenon that died in the more turbulent half of the 1960s.)

The movie's structure -- commonplace now but it was revolutionary at the time -- intertwines several plots involving a group of recently graduated Southern California high school seniors on their last night before going to college. Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) is fretting about going to college in the East with his friend Steve (Howard). Wracked with indecision, he spends his last night in town searching for The Blonde in the White Thunderbird (Suzanne Somers in her first, albeit small, role). His misadventures cause him to step out of character, especially when he crosses paths with The Pharohs, the local gang of miscreants.

Curt's sister Laurie (Williams) must not only cope with her brother's last minute bout with "cold feet" but with the fear of losing Steve. In what may be a typical situation for couples who are "steady" but are going to be separated by circumstances, she's devastated by Steve's suggestion that they "see other people" while they are in school. "I can't expect you to be a monk," Laurie says with false bravado, but in "The Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" sequence, it is obvious that she is hurt and angry.

The other two subplots of this wonderful film center on Toad (Charlie Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat). Toad is the car-crazy, girl-deprived nerd that we either knew in school or that we recognize in ourselves. His attempts to impress the lovely Debbie (Candy Clark) are hilarious -- rivaled only by a similarly themed scene in Summer of '42 -- only to discover that Debbie likes him for who he really is. John, on the other hand, is the Han Solo of this bunch, the high school dropout who loves fast cars and even faster women. He, too, discovers a tender side as he is saddled with 12-year-old Carol (a pre-One Day at a Time Mackenzie Phillips). Not only must he learn patience while driving around with Carol, but also he is being challenged as the top drag racer by Bob Falfa (played by the man who would be Han Solo, Harrison Ford).

All these stories will converge in a climactic, winner take all race, and several Lucas touchstones will resurface in his later Star Wars series -- the choice to either take or reject a certain path, the relationship between men and their machines, and the quest for either love or adventure.

Serving as a unifying thread to all these subplots is Wolfman Jack, mostly heard on the radio but seen briefly in a Yoda/Ben Kenobi style of mentor for restless Curt.

Lucas uses music here very effectively. Each song (and there are over 40 here, ranging from Rock Around the Clock to The Great Pretender) was chosen to provide emotional context, not just period atmosphere. He envisioned American Graffiti as a musical "with no singing or dancing."

This film is fun to watch and definitely deserves having been votes as one of the American Film Institute's top 100 Films of All Time. Watch it with a friend or alone, and if you were of age in the 1960s, answer the movie's famous log line: "Where were you in `62?"

I originally watched this movie in high school. Despite having been told about most of the best scenes in advance by my friends, it was still a lot of fun. Of course, a lot of other people thought so too, as it spawned a nostalgia craze for the 50s and early 60s resulting in many (too many?) seasons of "Happy Days," among others.

A few years ago, I saw the movie again on TV. I realized that, even though I was much more mature (at least physically), this movie still seemed very very good.

I recently got the DVD and watched it properly and I have to say that, after careful scrutiny, this really is one of the finest films ever made. I won't retell a story that's much better told by the movie, but: it has a lot of laughs, but it's not entirely a comedy (especially the ending); it has plenty of music, but it's not a musical; it has plenty of action, but no blood and gore; it seems incredibly realistic, but there is never a dull moment; there are multiple storylines and an ensemble cast, but it never gets confusing.

Every aspect of this movie is impressive, but I'm particularly struck by the genius of George Lucas and associates when it comes to casting. Every actor in this movie seems perfect for the role they play. If you look hard you'll see quite a few familiar faces getting their start (including Suzanne Somers very briefly as the girl in the Thunderbird). Many, particularly Harrison Ford & Richard Dreyfuss, went on to long, successful careers. Although they were all great in this film, I thought that Candy Clark was a standout.

If you get this collector's edition of the DVD you'll also be able to see an in-depth "extra" on the story behind the making of the film - very interesting. It's inspiring to see that somebody as currently renowned as Lucas had to be incredibly patient and persistent (and put up with a lot of incredible Hollywood idiots) in his early days before his idea was finally realized. His success in making this movie under such tough circumstances makes the end product even more impressive. It's also very impressive to me that George Lucas went from writing/directing/creating a movie like "THX 1138" to this and then to "Star Wars" - all three very good and VERY different films. I don't know of anyone else who has accomplished anything quite like that.

Although I'm now quickly approaching middle age, I wasn't really old enough to be a part of the era depicted in the movie, so this isn't a nostalgia trip for me. The music isn't my music - I'm more of a post-British Invasion fan. But the fact that a movie can make you relate deeply to characters from a realistic time and place you've never been says something significant. Also, the fact that it I've now enjoyed it on several different levels and at widely varying ages says even more...

Simply one of the greatest movies ever made.

I think you'll find that the cash you'll fork over for this DVD Collector's Edition of 1973's "American Graffiti" will be money very wisely spent. Because the outstanding, in-depth, 78-minute documentary feature, "The Making Of American Graffiti", is worth the cost all by itself.

Every single one of the film's major cast members takes part in the documentary program. Director George Lucas and Producer Francis Ford Coppola (plus other members of the production staff and crew) also participate in this fascinating behind-the-scenes "Making Of" feature, which is one of the best documentaries I've ever come across on a DVD.

Mr. Lucas talks openly and extensively about the making of "Graffiti" and guides the viewer, step-by-step, through the many aspects of creating this unique film -- from the difficulty in getting a studio interested in the project, to the movie's filming on the streets of two small California towns, and through to the release of the picture in theaters (the movie opened on August 11, 1973).

Many interesting tidbits of information are revealed in the documentary, including Harrison Ford's recollection of his "cowboy hat". It seems that Harrison was opposed to getting one of those awful '60s-style haircuts (as were others in the cast). So Ford talked Director Lucas into letting him wear a cowboy hat instead. And then there's Charlie Martin Smith ("Toad"), who had some problems parking his motor scooter in the film's very first scene. But Charlie's gaffe was left in the final cut of the movie by Director Lucas. (Which is a good thing too; it's a great moment in the picture.)

Some original actor Screen Tests are also included in the Making-Of documentary. If you keep your eyes peeled on the "clapboards" that are shown in a few of these Screen Test shots, you'll note that the date of filming is "May 26, 1972" (which is 15 months before the movie finally got released into theaters).

"Graffiti" took just four weeks to film, but Mr. Lucas, during the documentary, said that it took him six months after filming was completed to edit the movie down to a manageable size. He tells us that his first cut of "Graffiti" was a mammoth three hours in length. Therefore, much paring was required.

Other bonus features on the DVD include the Original Theatrical Trailer, which I found very good. Plus, a goodly number of "Cast & Crew Bios" to scroll through; as well as some informative Production Notes. All text pages I found most rewarding as well.

Then, of course, the DVD (which was originally released by Universal Home Video on September 15, 1998, to commemorate the movie's 25th anniversary) offers up a nice-looking Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 version of "Graffiti" itself. Colors look rich and saturated and the black levels during the many outdoor night scenes look very sharp as well, with little in the way of video distractions. Some fans of the film will no doubt be disappointed that a Dolby 5.1 re-mix was not included here (just a 2.0 Surround Sound track is employed for this DVD). But I think the Surround track does quite nicely. But a full-fledged 5.1 would also have been nice, to highlight the amazing number of rock-and-roll oldies in the film.


OTHER INFO ABOUT THIS DVD RELEASE....................

Feature Film:

> Video -- Widescreen 2.35:1 (Enhanced for 16x9 Widescreen Televisions).
> Audio -- English (2.0 Dolby Digital Surround); French (2.0 Dolby Digital Mono).
> Subtitles -- English and Spanish.
> Running Time -- 1 hour, 52 minutes.
> Chapter Stops? -- Yes. There are an abundance of chapter breaks here (49 total).


"The Making Of American Graffiti" Documentary:

> Video -- Full Frame 1.33:1 (With clips from the actual film shown in 2.35:1 Widescreen).
> Audio -- English only (2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo).
> Subtitles -- English, Spanish, and French.
> Running Time -- 1 hour, 18 minutes.
> Chapter Stops? -- Yes. There are 7 total chapter breaks.


>> Menus -- All "Static". No music. No animated transitions.
>> Packaging -- Keep Case. (One Disc.)
>> Enclosures/Inserts? -- Yes. There's a very nicely-done 8-page fold-out booklet, which includes behind-the-camera photos and quotes from George Lucas and many other cast members on their memories of the film. Plus: Full Chapter Lists for both the movie's Scene Selections and the Making-Of Documentary.

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"American Graffiti", IMO, is in a class by itself. It has the perfect 1960s "feel" to it, that Director George Lucas strives so hard for (and succeeds in portraying). Each time you re-visit this film you are immediately transported back to the Summer of 1962, and to all those great oldies blaring away on the car radio.

-> BLU-RAY review

Film: 8/10
Picture quality: 8/10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (orig.)
Run time 24fps: 1:52'29"
Audio: GB (dts HD MA);J;F;D;I;E;POR;
ST: GB;J;F;D;I;NL;DK;N;S;FIN;ISL
Chpt.: 50
Extras:
- Making-of, 78' (in SD, same as on DVD)
- Screen tests, 23' HD (16mm, 1972, DP Haskell Wexler)
- "U control":
--PIP video commentaries by George Lucas
--"The music of A.G." title/performer info on playing music
- Trailer
Studio: Universal

Despite some discouraging reviews here, I must say this BD is worth the upgrade from DVD! Image may not be perfect but it is fairly good. I have checked the BD against the DVD and it really is a BIG step up picturewise!
This BD release shouldn't be blamed for the very few limitations that the source material had. It's interesting to hear what George Lucas had to say in his video commentaries (= GLvc) on this.
I'm sure American Graffiti has never looked better in home theatres. Enjoy!

When it comes to picture quality one has to keep in mind that
- the film was shot in "Techniscope" (i.e. 2 perforation holes instead of 4, as in "Cinemascope" ) hence cutting stock costs in half - unfortunately same goes for picture resolution. Therefore a slightly lesser picture quality than in usual Cinemascope Blu-ray transfers is the result. (GLvc TC 00:14:40)
- shot mostly with 'available light' camera operators had difficulties to stay in focus (-> 'depth of field') e.g. TC 00:02:05; 00:03:24-31; 00:12:15 (GLvc 00:11:28, 00:39:48)
- fortunately they kept the DNR mallet in the box and the transfer shows some decent healthy grain in very good images e.g. 00:10:52; 00:12:33; 00:14:47.
- unfortunately some edge enhancement is visible here and there (e.g. light reflections on chrome parts of vintage cars 00:38:14)

I always loved this movie and admired George Lucas' tenacity to pull this off against all odds! Every effort had been put into production design ("embossed" vs. "painted Coke bottles" GLvc TC 01:01:54) to re-create this marvelous '62 time bubble - but they got (at least) one tiny detail wrong: The high school band's guitarist plays a blonde(?) Stratocaster with 'enlarged headstock'. This wasn't introduced on Strats until mid/late '65 after Leo Fender had sold his company to CBS.

PS: If you're still not happy with your home theater's performance there might be another reason for it: Unfortunately many manufacturers' tv-presets are faulty ("...what a waste of machinery!"). To optimize your Full HD monitor (no easy task with today's complex high tech flat tvs; -> color gamut, gamma, white balance etc), you might like to check out this UK website:
"hdtvtest.co.uk"
It will provide you with expert tests+reviews and settings that can make the best of your tv set and help reduce power consumption too!
- Simply go to: "all reviews",
- select your tv (knock off last characters/digits on model no. -> UK plugs),
- go to "settings"/"calibration"
- adjust your flat tv - done!

...sure helped me with my 46" Full HD Samsung, and "I'm not feeding a line here Debbie!"

Brief comments on the Blu-ray. I feel like a woodpecker in a lumberyard! Folks, this is one of the really GREAT digital re-masters and transfers to Blu-ray out there. The video is clear, and a thousand times improved over my DVD version. The color pops, blacks are deep, and the re-master isn't so slick you lose all of the original feel of the print. There's a little noise and grain (if you sit three inches away from the screen you might be able to see it).

The commentary with Lucas is excellent. Plenty of other reviews on the story and the screenplay, etc. This is an American treasure, now looking and sounding as good as you could ever hope. Highly recommend the Blu-ray. It is a BIG upgrade over the DVD.

Having gone to high school at the same time as the teenagers in this movie classic, I can tell you with some authority that it rings true. All of the classic characters are there--the popular class president, played by Ron Howard; the cheerleading captain, Cindy Williams; the nerd; the tough guy with the heart of gold who drives around in his souped-up car looking for a race; the young wannabe who acts tough just to fit in, MacKenzie Phillips; the young man who can't make up his mind as to what he want out of life, Richard Dreyfuss; and the challenger for other guy's girls and their bragging rights while drag racing, Harrison Ford. Half of the fun is the classic rock 'n roll music played in the background, along with the clothes and hairdos which are defintive early 60's. Come cruisin' with the great cast of "American Graffiti" and see what life was really like back then.

I'm not sure what it is, but alot of films that deal with the past and nostalgia (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) have held a fascination with me. Just the differences, no information age, cars that looked cooler, and the styles and music weren't as grained down and commercialistic as today. American Graffiti was a film I had heard about quite a bit (being a Star Wars fan), and it was last fall during the early morning hours that I sat down and watched it. Well, the people who love it are not kidding: it really is a great film!

Taking place in Modesto, CA (a nod to George Lucas's hometown), we begin at sunset (redone for the special edition, the once overcast sky is now ablaze in orange and blue) at Mel's Diner. Here, we meet Terry, Steve, Curt, and Curt's sister Laurie. Tonight is the last night before graduation, and some of them are wondering what the future holds for them. As the sun sets, Steve and Laurie begin to question their future together (Steve wants to go to the East Coast for college, and Laurie is unsure of their relationship), Terry is loaned Steve's car, and picks up a cute blond (he manages to convince her that the car is his, and that he is of legal age to buy alcohol!), and Curt spends the entire night, tracking down a girl in a white Ford T-Bird(one of the most intriguing plots of the movie!), as well as getting into some fun trouble with a gang of teen punks. The plot also includes John, almost the image of the teenage rebel, who cruises down main street in his bright yellow hot rod (with his THX1138 license plate), and Carol, the only girl out of a carload next to him that wants to ride with him. However, John did not know that she was 13! But, the play off of John's toughman compared to Carol's "I know everything, I'm 13!" attitude is great dialogue. In a slightly cameo role, Harrison Ford plays cowboy hat-wearing Bob Falfa, driving a 56 Chevy, cruising for a drag race with John. Lucas does an incredible job piecing these teenager's stories together, with everything taking place from the dusk of one day to the dawn of the next. As you watch, you almost wish the night would never end. The town seems so small and almost intimate, it's an entitiy in itself, from the downtown crusing streets, all the way out to Mel's Diner. Right now, there are some parts that words just can't describe what I mean about the film.

But, I can't say enough about the soundtrack. I hadn't enjoiyed a timeline soundtrack since the 2-CD set of Forrest Gump. All the music is great, not a bad song in the bunch. The music fits in the entire film's continuity, being croadcast by The Wolfman, a radio entity that almost everyone has an interpretation of who he is (but only one of our teens finds out, but I'm not going to say which one). The film was Lucas's first major hit, and it almost did not get made. If you can believe it, Lucas worked like a dog on this film on the tightest of schedules and budgets (the same type of mood on Star Wars almost led him to a total breakdown). But, out of the complexity of his work came this hit. Almost none of the studio executives had confidence in it, except for Lucas, his friends, and Francis Ford Coppola (a man who is credited for helping Lucas in his early days). DVD is the best way to experience this film. In terms of teen movies, I'd choose this hands down over the 90's films being released today. Instead of a picture cranked out by studio execs leaning to make a buck, Lucas made Graffiti with his past and nostalgia in mind. It truly deserves to be seen and heard.

*** THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE 2011 "BLU RAY" REISSUE ***

George Lucas' "American Graffiti" is remembered (and quite rightly so) with great affection - a five-star masterpiece that's almost unique in its vision of growing up in 1962 America listening to music on the radio in your car, getting up to no good and generally enjoying the sheer blast of a 'boss' Saturday night on the town. It also has one of the most atmospheric and brilliantly woven-in soundtracks 'ever' - an MCA 2LP set released with the movie in August 1973 that the public adored and kept on buying for decades after (it peaked at Number 10). It's also forgotten now, but "American Graffiti" virtually kick-started the massive Rock'n'Roll revival of the early Seventies that saw every major label reissue R'n'B, Doo Wop and R'n'R LPs to beat the band - much to the delight of music fans. And who among us wouldn't have wanted to spend the night in the company of the awesome Wolfman Jack (dialogue above).

I say all of this as a preamble, because I have no beef with the movie or what surrounds it. BUT - I have very real misgivings about the quality of the print on this 2011 BLU RAY reissue (hence the 2-star rating). It's not great at all, and in places, it's truly awful.

The opening Universal Logo looks ancient and scratched to bits, but as the movie credits begin to roll the picture-quality looks more promising if not a little blurry. You also see that we're in the early part of an evening still bathed in fading daylight, but as the movie quickly progresses, every shot becomes a night time scene - and the blocking and terrible grain of the original print just gets worse and worse. It's infuriating, because one moment the print quality is lovely - full of colour and depth - the next it's like a bad videotape - grainy to a point where the fuzzy picture is 'all' you see. The real bad news is that as the movie progresses to the Harrison Ford/Paul Le Mat car race showdown - there are scenes where the print is appalling - as bad as "The French Connection" (and anyone who has bought that turkey of a Blu Ray will know what I mean).

This is how Lucas filmed it I know - but the point is that this BLU RAY affords you a better picture only in 'certain' places - but for the majority of the time it gives you an accentuated version of wildly haphazard cinematography - and it makes for a very disappointing watch indeed. The DVD was always 'good' rather than great, but this 2011 BLU RAY is not a 'full on' upgrade as some have suggested - nor does it have the beautifully cleaned-up and restored stills that are suddenly peppering the net at the time of release. Anybody claiming this is a GLORIOUS transfer is talking absolute knob.

Fans may be unable to resist replacing their beloved DVD with this - fair enough - but anyone else considering buying it - I would advise a rental first to 'see' what I mean.

I hate doing negative reviews, but sometimes you need to. I wish someone had told me how bad this looked 'before' I wasted my money on it and had to sit through one of my favourite Seventies movies looking worse rather than better.

Credits:
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition Widescreen, 2.35:1 Aspect
AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French, Italian, German, Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese DTS 2.0 Stereo
SUBTITLES: English SDH, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Icelandic, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Traditional Mandarin

EXTRAS:
PIP Commentary with Director George Lucas
U-Control: The Music Of American Graffiti
Screen Tests
The Making Of American Graffiti
Theatrical Trailer

I recently purchased and took delivery of this new Blu-ray edition of one of my Top 10 movies of all time. I have a copy of this film on VHS, Laser Disc, and the most recent Collector's Edition DVD. This newly restored Blu-ray has the best looking picture, yet! Whoever did the restoration and transfer made the film look like it was shot yesterday! The sound (which drives the storyline) is still in 2-channel stero, but it is in DTS. I remember seeing this movie shortly after I was discharged from the military in 1974 and I remembered how great the soundtract was, blaring out at appropriate times and becoming a surrounding echo on the occasions when the cruise scenes were shot and everyone on the strip had their car radios tuned to the exact same channel that the Wolfman Jack Show was on. This was a small movie in 1973, but it's charm and influence will carry it through whatever future media it is presented in.

I am glad that Lucas remastered this one for THX Digital sound because the old time rock 'n roll has never sounded better(also rent the THX version of Animal House-same effect!), and there is a THX sighting in this one. This film boasts a cast-of-thousands, but when it was released(I did see this on big screen) these players were unknown. Interesting film unfolds on screen as we our treated to one night in the life of high school buds(for some it is their last night in town as they prepare to go off to college)in 1962 California. The most important character is John(Paul Le Mat)Milner. Milner is like the patriarchal "father" figure to the kids, and what he experiences on this night is an awareness that maybe it is time to make a change in his life(maybe the catalyst was the challenge by Falfa(Harrison Ford) to a drag race, which comes near the end of the film. He remarks in one scene"I ain't goin' off to some GD fancy college!I'm stayin' right here!Havin' fun as usual! "

What makes this film work is the way it is done. We are not just treated to the adventures that centers around one central character.There is a plot and then there are subplots throughout the film. The film winds its way back and forth past each character's adventures into the night with the haunting echo of Wolfman Jack who, if you listen closely, seems to have a song or a quote for each scene! By the end of the film, you have just realized you have seen reality unfold before your eyes. Nothing in this is fiction. Everyone who has been through High School can relate somehow to this picture. End captions before ending credits roll is a chilling sequence.An excellent sequel follows(MORE AMERICAN GRAFFITTI).