95 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie aborted by Kino, December 8, 2004
Ignore other people's opinions about the content of the film. Anyone who is a fan of Bunuel, Surrealism, or revolutionary and historically important filmmaking will truly enjoy this film. Easily five stars, but because of Kino's terrible transfer (which granted is not too bad considering the age of the original film), terrible sound...trust me, just terribly substandard everything. From the packaging to the pathetic special features this a total slap in the face to all real film collectors. The only special feature is a "commentary" by some monotone, nasal british film historian who recites nothing that you haven't heard a thousand times from other sources. Also, considering this is only a 62 minute film it is unacceptable that he goes for long stretches (upwards of 12 minutes in some cases) without saying a single thing. I'd estimate that he talks for a total of maybe 14-20 minutes on the "commentary" track. Absolutely horrid. The other sole "special feature" is also an utter failure, the Bunuel filmography is innacurate... how can you possibly mess something so simple up? Ask Kino...
At 23 dollars I cannot possibly recommend this, rather save your money and buy the recent Region 2 release by the British Film Institute which has Un Chien Andalou and L'age D'or together for a better price, with much better picture/sound and extras. Shame on you Kino...
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48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Again: No, NOT just for arty types...., December 17, 2004
L'Age D'or is one of the supreme surrealist films, but it's actually surprisingly accessible for Bunuel. In fact, one of his most accessible. That's not to say that you don't have to work a little, but far, far less that you would for, say, Brakhage or even some Fellini.
The film actually works on several levels, many of which offer Bunuel's often biting commentary on various aspects of life, including the blind acceptance of organized religion (for which the film was banned by the Catholic church for decades, and Bunuel was excommunicated), love and sex, human tolerance, class distinction (short but brilliant), and more. To be honest, to describe the various areas of the film is to pretty much ruin it for anyone who's never seen it. It's really best going in totally unexpectant. Again, though, remember that it's not going to unfold in a logical pattern, and will likely require a few watchings to catch it all. It's just that kind of film. In addition, the things that were absolutely appalling then may not be so much so today, or at least not to the same degree.
Still, it's a genuine work of genius, done for far, far, far many more reasons than just to stir things up. (And hopefully Amazon won't pull my review again because I dared to offer a contradicting opinion to someone else)
Absolutely a must-see for serious film-lovers, and probably a must-own, too. It's a serious work of art and nothing about it -- nothing -- is random. Oh... to clarify one thing: Yes, the film opens with a French documentary on scorpions. But as the narrator notes, the scorpion's tail has five segments, the last one containing the sting. L'Age D'or also has five segments; and the last one most definitely contains the sting.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Where's Criterion When You Need Them?, January 27, 2005
Bunuel's first feature "L'Age d'Or" provoked such a fierce reaction among the Right that it was almost immediately banned by the French authorities after its release and not shown for another 50 years (it was finally allowed to play in Paris again in 1980). Suffice it to say, when you see it, you'll understand why: especially the final sequence.
While it is wonderful to have this landmark film finally available on DVD (as well as "Un Chien Andalou" in a separate release), I'm rather saddened by the lack of restorative effort here. The film has the visual and aural quality of the old 16mm prints I saw 15 years ago and there's virtually no extras worth mentioning. By all means get this release if only because it may not come out in any other format here in the US (and some of us can't afford a code-free DVD to buy the BFI version) but it would be nice if the rights holders would lease these films to Criterion to create a: "Bunuel: The Early Years" disc.
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