Customer Reviews

Hearts of the West [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This film is full of scoundrels and opportunists and still manages to make life seem delicious. Long before Gwenyth Paltrow was famous her mother, Blythe Danner, was known by aficionados as someone that picked superb material. She's here as The Girl, savvy but still sweet enough to fall for the truly endearing and monumentally naive Jeff Bridges. Alan Arkin does a sublime high strung director of 1920s cowboy movies, and you won't believe what Andy Griffith can do. See it and feel great not in a sappy way: a truly grown up delight.

What a pleasant surprise! Caught this little gem by lucky accident.

It's a sweet, simple story that gets almost everything right. Every character -- especially the old-timer who sidles over to the next stool at the Rio, or the old-timer who watches in mute alarm as Tater acts out a whip-Lash Larue scene -- is right-on right & memorable.

More important, every hat is right & memorable. Every Stetson here is a tip-of-the-hat tribute to Tim McCoy, William S. Hart, Bill Boyd, Hoot ... all those great guys from the days of yesteryear who never, not even once, snuggled in together for a two-dog night in a one-pup tent.

(Question: Does it seem likely that the one-building town of Titan, Nevada, would have had electricity in 1933, before REA? Don't think so. Question: Is the wall of the Rio Cafe in this 1975 film an homage to 1972's Godfather?)

This is a nice simple melodrama about an young aspiring writer whose love of the west comes into conflict with the mythology of the west. He ends up in California making movies. The casting is excellect across the board. Andy Griffith shows the level of acting he was capable of. Its a smart and sentimental film that can poke fun at the mythology of the west without attacking it. It really deserves to be on DVD.

Who knew that Andy Griffith could really act? And he's the bad guy! See this movie, you won't regret it.

A would-be writer with a fervid imagination heads west to enroll in a "Famous Writers School" to further his ambition to pen Zane Grey-type westerns. The "school" is just a mailbox in a whistle-stop town, but the young writer finds himself with a suitcase of grifters' money and bumbling killers on his trail. The natural destination for this fantastical story is Hollywood, and that's where the movie smartly (and lovingly) pokes and jokes at the myths of both the Wild West and movie-making. Jeff Bridges is perfectly cast, Blythe Danner is every boy-man's dream of affection, and Andy Griffith does some serious acting. PLEASE get this into DVD.

This movie should be released on DVD, as it is a minor comedy classic. It has always been one of my favorites, so felt like I should go ahead and get the VHS version before it vanishes. Jeff Bridges is great in this one, and there are many supporting roles that are filled with great character actors.

Jeff Bridges was wonderful in this little gem- a hint of good things to come! What fun seeing Andy Griffith as a meanie! Glad I found this video at amazon.com

Very enjoyable to watch. Great family fare. Highly recommend this. Not sorry that I made the purchase. Nice to see to see the old stars who can make you laugh.

I only saw some of this movie but i think it is very funny. Jeff bridges can act very good. and andy griffith plays a very good meanie. i remeber the last scent when griffith saves the day. i think it is funny movie

First off, I have to say that this movie is one of my favorites, and I have been waiting a long time for it to be released on DVD, but this DVD is a low quality rip off. For the movie alone I would give it somewhere between 4 - 5 stars, but for the DVD, 1 star is stretching it. Amazon is currently selling this DVD as a remastered version of the original for $26.99, but they are also showing it available, new, from other sellers, for only $14.98, and it was just released 2 weeks ago - that alone ought to tell you something stinks. This DVD is one cheap sucker. Even played on a very good multimedia system it looks like a poor job someone did of transferring a VHS tape to a DVD. The case is also cheap, and the main menu only has 2 choices: Play & Trailer (which is of even worse quality than the movie itself). That's it, the poor quality movie transfer, the worse quality trailer and no options or extras. My advice is to wait and pick it up used or in the bargain bins for less than $5.00, and it shouldn't take very long for that to happen. For all of those out there that are likely to say something like, this is a very old movie, what do you expect or it is supposed to look like that, I say, I have numerous movies that are a lot older than this one, they are of a much higher quality that leaves this one in the dust, and I got most of them for under $10.00 - even Blu-Rays of movies similar in age to or older than this one are going for under $15.00. Perhaps I have it all wrong and the picture contains all of those glitches and strange colorations because the director wanted it that way, and the price is just so high because of high demand and what other choice do you have?