Customer Reviews

A Matter of Principle [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been searching for this movie for many years, and have scoured the TV guide every Christmas in hopes of seeing this again. A wonderful movie and Alan Arkin, being one of my favorites, is the most believable skin-flint grouch. The ending will put everyone in the Christmas spirit. Thanks Alan for a great and memorable performance.

A superb holiday story. This has been a family favorite for many years, with our only copy a grainy VHS recorded from PBS when it was first aired. Funny, genuine, with surprisingly well-developed characters for only a sixty-minute feature. We will continue to watch this one each year.

This is probably one of the best movies made. My only copy was "kept" by a neighbor who borrowed it. That copy was off PBS from nearly a decade ago. I have searched all around for this movie and am thrilled to finally find it.

I second the reviewer below on the DVD. Apparently they did not solve the problem that appeared when this was released on VHS, which was the nighttime scenes are so dark, it is hard to watch. I gave this DVD to my dad for Christmas, and he said the problems with it being too dark (almost unwatchably so) are no better than the ealier VHS version release. His home-recorded VHS, off a rooftop antenna in 1984, is of better quality than the DVD.

Flag Purdy(Alan Arkin) is a man of many principles, and it's driving his family from him. A Matter of Principle is a humourous, heart-warming anecdote of a man who has to learn the hard way. It is a Christmas story, so the happy ending is inevitable, but the creative names of the Purdy children, and the quirky, irksome character portrayed by Alan Arkin more than make up it. This is a short, entertaining film that has been enjoyed by my family for many Christmas eves.

5 Stars if this was a good copy of the movie. This is a great story, but I am extremely dissapointed in the DVD version. As two of the other reviewers said, the night time scenes are so dark, it makes it difficult to enjoy. I have a VHS copy I made from TV which is a little grainy, but it is far better than the DVD version. If I had read the reviews before, I never would have purchased the DVD.

We had an old VHS copy of this wonderful program taped off TV. We wanted to upgrade the quality to a DVD so we ordered this one. The DVD we received is very poor quality. It is so dark at times it is hard to make out the characters. Returning it would not give us a full refund so we are stuck with it. Very disappointing.

The DVD was in new condition. The only issue, I was told to expect delivery in 2 days by UPS. It took 5 days.

Have it on VHS bought years ago. Wanted it on DVD.
It is much brighter on VHS than the DVD.

I finally watched it again tonight after 25 years...I still remembered the dialogue about spelling "Myrrh" lol You will not be disappointed by the story about a man of many principles...yet it drives his family away from him. It teaches the power of forgiveness, and love. Thanks Amazon!