Product Details

• Actors: John Glover, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Wallace Langham, Doug Hutchison, Corey Gunnestad
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: March 16, 1994
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303031323
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #446,311 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After acting in literary adaptations like Christine, Keith Gordon returned to the well for his directorial debut. His smart and stylish adaptation of Robert Cormier's controversial youth novel marks him as a natural. Based in a frequently overcast Pacific Northwest, Jerry Renault (Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Weird Science) enters a Catholic boys' school in the wake of his mother's passing. The freshman already has enough worries, but then Brother Leon (a ferocious John Glover) instructs each student to sell 50 boxes of chocolates during Trinity's annual fundraiser. Jerry refuses. Leon is taken aback, but then he finds that Jerry's refusal--his assignment--was handed down by Machiavellian upperclassman Archie (CSI's Wallace Langham, then known as Wally Ward), head of the Vigils. The secret society also instructs Jerry to recant, but he sticks to his guns. At first, a few kids congratulate him on his stand, but then Leon and Archie, threatened by the iconoclast, turn the school against him. The climactic showdown between Jerry and Archie deviates from the book, but retains its cynical spirit. As Gordon explains in his DVD interview, "They both threaten the system, and in the end, the system is a much bigger problem than any one individual." Like his mentor Brian DePalma, Gordon aims more for emotional than visual truth, which translates into dramatic lighting and fantasy sequences (which are, at first, more confusing than illuminating), but the performances remain grounded in reality. Interestingly, Mitchell-Smith, who never overplays his hand, abandoned acting in the 1990s--for teaching. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Subtly stylish, June 1, 2010

By 

Frank Gorshin (Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chocolate War (DVD)

Rarely, if ever, does one see a movie about high school that has artistic merit. This one does! Lots of POV shots and sequences that illustrate a state of mind. Captures the stupidity, cruelty, and quiet despair of those awkward years. Not "Citizen Kane," or anything, but almost poetic.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a Cult Classic, August 26, 2006

By 

Ken Essay "Ken E" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CHOCOLATE WAR (DVD)

With an excellent story line, great music by "Yaz" and superior photography, this movie should be a staple of anyone's collection. I was very glad to see that it is finally coming to DVD. I have never seen it on television or cable which is unfortunate because I think that its storyline has much universal appeal. The opposition of Jerry Renault to the dreaded secret society known as "the Vigils" would probably appeal to today's "DaVinci Code" crowd. The movie is full of symbols, intrigue and even a certain amount of violence. In my opinion, this movie has a little bit of everything for everyone and is one of the true "lost gems" of Hollywood.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A disturbingly realistic view of collusion in cruelty..., April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Chocolate War [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Archie Costello is one of the cruelist characters in the so-called "literature for young adults" genre. He is an accurately rendered, charismatic sadist who is brought to the screen convincingly by Wally Ward in this nearly-faithful adaptation of Robert Comier's fascinating study in the "collusion in cruelty" of supposedly good people. Robert Comier cuts no slack in his story...the bad guys win and the consequences are even worse in the sequel, Beyond the Chocolate War. The film (with its avenging angel ending), however, is neither sacchrine, nor as tidy as some viewers contend. True, Archie...anti-hero, to the max...gets his. But Jerry Renault, the would-be hero of the film (who gets hell beat out of him in the novel) does not escaped unscathed by the "Something Wicked" that has come the way of Trinity High School in the carnival guise of a fund raising candy sale. The Chocolate War is that...Archie knows how to punch the buttons of cowardice and fear. The film...like the book...is unpleasant, but engaging because of the truths it posits about human nature. Ignore the bogus ending of the film and you'll be left with an ugly taste in your mouth which certainly isn't chocolate but might serve as the necessary medicine of reality. Recommended with caveats!!!