Product Details

• Actors: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner
• Directors: Jon Favreau
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Thai, French, English, Indonesian, Portuguese
• Dubbed: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2004
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,173 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002F6BRE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,662 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Elf (Infinifilm Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Elf is genuinely good. Not just Saturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity; Elf is a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who returns to the human world to find his father. And because the writing, directing, and acting are all genuinely good, Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb. Zooey Deschanel, as a department store worker with whom Buddy falls in love, is adorably sardonic. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) shepherds the movie through all the obligatory Christmas cliches and focuses on material that's sometimes subtle and consistently surprising. Frankly, Elf feels miraculous. Also featuring Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage, and Ed Asner as Santa Claus. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Elf (click for larger image)

Product Description

This hilarious Christmas film tells the tale of a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf. Years later Buddy learns he is not really an elf and goes on a journey to New York City to find his true identity.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:2 commentaries with Will Ferrell & Director
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes
Featurette:Film school for kids Tag along with Will Ferrell How they made the North Pole Kids on Christmas and more!
Other:2-Disc Infinifilm DVD Widescreen version on Disc 1 and Fullscreen version on Disc 2 Spanish Language Track Elf Karaoke Read-Along Infinifilm Fact Tack Buddy's Adventure Game Elf Decoder Card and more!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bonkers But Beautiful November 13, 2003

By Phome

I loved this movie. It was totally bonkers: a human baby accidently ends up on the north pole and grows up among the elf community that supports Santa Claus. Buddy, as he comes to be known, knows that he's "special" however, since he can't keep up with the other elves. Never mind the fact that he's about three times as tall as any of them and barely fits in the shower.

When he's 30, and still young by Elf standards, he learns that he's really a human. Buddy decides to go in search of his father (who's on Santa's naughty list), to find out where he belongs. He walks to New York (through the Lincoln tunnel), and is immediately run over by a cab. The chain of events starts at that moment ...

Buddy is a delightful and enchanting character with many special talents and a childish personality. He is naive to the point of stupidity, but charming all the while. His lovable demeanour gains him friends in spite of his clumsy efforts. He is sweet, kind and generous. When his father at first rejects him, Buddy ends up in a department store where other elves (people who pretend to be Santa's elves) are working, and stays up all night to decorate the place. When the department store Santa isn't the real Santa, well, you can guess what happens ...

Buddy eats spaghetti covered in syrup, smarties and pop tarts; he gets drunk in the mail room of his father's office and his young half-brother shows him to ask a girl out on a date.

But all the while, things are looking bad for Santa Claus (and also Buddy's father). How will Buddy rescue the day? When Santa crashes his sleigh in Central Park, it's Buddy's moment to shine.

Abstract, enchanting, child-like madness all make up this beautiful movie. Absolutely delightful and recommended to viewers of all ages. If you want a Christmas feel-good movie, this is it.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SWEET, FUNNY AND ORIGINAL August 21, 2004

By Darcie B

Format:DVD

I rarely go see movies twice, but after taking my four children, I treated my parents and watched it again! You fall in love with Buddy, you just can't help it! Will Ferrell is not the kooky nut in this one as in most of his movies, he truly shows the innocent, sweetness of Buddy the elf. Full of laughs, and not as predictable as you might think. I just can't wait until it is released to purchase. I will own this one, please note that after viewing you will need to decorate your house for Christmas immediately !! :)

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A real "Feel Gooder"! March 22, 2004

By A Customer

Elf will land a spot alongside The Grinch (cartoon), Charlie Brown & A Christmas Story in my holiday video library! Will Farrell was hilarious & touching as the ever-cheerful,naive and polite Buddy. Bob Newhart, deadpan & stuttering as ever, was the perfect Papa Elf. The rest of the cast were ideal picks. A nice movie & a clever story. I needed a "feel-gooder" the day I watched it, and I wasn't disappointed.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Anarcho-Christmas cheesey brilliance March 25, 2004

By Swiss Bob

First of all, this was the funniest film I have ever seen; I was in tears half way through. Yes, it is a kids' movie, but adults get to watch Will Farrel rip the heart out of Christmas by camping it up and being ridiculously sincere. Watching Farrel start a fight with a fake Santa for "sitting on a throne of lies" is about as fun as films get.

Those reviewers who think that this was cheesey nonsense - duh. It was supposed to be, and that is what made it so funny. And you seem to have missed the whole essence of the film.

Oh, and the kids liked it too.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this movie and can't wait to buy the DVD January 20, 2004

By Peggy Sue

Elf is an unusual movie in this day and age. It is not manipulative and speaks of simple values and simple, true love. I went to see it with my 10-year old, a 28-year old, and a 38-year old (I am 47). We all laughed and cried and came out of the movie amazed that such a simple movie could be so much fun and say so much.
Anytime you have a movie in which the main character is totally innocent and naive, it brings up how calloused and hardened we have all become to the things in life that matter. That's the message of this movie. I highly recommend it and am adding it to my Holiday DVD collection - you can bet we'll watch it every year and some inbetween!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas classic April 2, 2004

By Benjamin Lukoff VINE™ VOICE

I see a fair number of movies, but it is only rarely that I leave the theatre feeling I truly got my nine dollars' worth. The last six months have been exceptional for me in that there have been three films which have been more than worth my time and money. The first was "Lost in Translation"; the third was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"; and the one in the middle was none other than "Elf"!

Oh yes, I kid you not. I am usually not the biggest fan of Christmas movies, but "Elf" kept me smiling for two straight hours. This is no small achievement, especially during the holiday season. James Caan is perfectly cast as Will Ferrell's father, and I was really impressed with Ferrell himself. I always thought he was funny on "Saturday Night Live," but this really is classic stuff. There is no danger of him going the way of Rob Schneider or David Spade, "Old School" notwithstanding. Throw Bob Newhart into the mix and how can you lose?

Roger Ebert said it best: "I thought it would be clunky, stupid and obvious...foisting upon us a chaste romance involving the only girl in America who doesn't know that a man who thinks he is an elf is by definition a pervert.... It took me about 10 seconds of seeing Will Ferrell in the elf costume to realize how very wrong I was.... He convinced me that this was a good movie, and that's a miracle on 34th Street right there."