Product Details

• Actors: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Shelley Duvall, Allen Garfield
• Directors: Robert Altman
• Writers: Joan Tewkesbury
• Producers: Robert Altman, Jerry Weintraub, Martin Starger, Robert Eggenweiler, Scott Bushnell
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 159 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000003KIU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,859 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an American masterpiece as it deserves to be seen, August 18, 2000

By 

D. D. Sullivan "mondoego" (the back of the Tides Restaurant, cowering with Mrs. Bundy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nashville (DVD)

At last! After years of watching the disgraceful video edition of this with more or less half of the picture missing, Altman fans everywhere can rejoice in this DVD release. It's the movie that finally made me buy a DVD player for it truly demands to be viewed in widescreen. Much of the action takes place within the margins of the frame; likewise, the dialogue is sometimes spoken by characters at the frame's edge and counterpoints the image entirely. Spatially, there's no way this movie is intelligible in anything but widescreen which I believe is one of the reasons it's been neglected since its release; the minute it left theaters, it never translated its brilliant mixture of comedy and tragedy as well again (it would be completely destroyed on commercial TV). "Nashville" is one of the most democratic movies this country has ever produced. Altman weighs every aspect of it equally and every actor comes through just as strongly as the next. It's a career-high for most of them: Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Lily Tomlin, Karen Black, Barbara Harris, Ronee Blakley, Allen Garfield, and Henry Gibson have never been given material this rich again (not coincidentally, many of the performers worked up their own material and some wrote their own songs). Most American movies are centered around the idea that situations and/or objects are only worthy of the camera's attention. This movie declaratively states that it's really people who are endlessly fascinating once you stop and listen long enough to what they have to say. I sincerely hope there is enough interest in this release to warrant future Altman movies on DVD. My list of nominees: California Split, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 3 Women, Buffalo Bill and the Indians and A Wedding. Many of Altman films from the 1970s are shamefully unavailable in this country. DVD to the rescue!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Altman is alive and well..., December 14, 2004

By 

R. Gawlitta "Coolmoan" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nashville (DVD)

After "MASH", Robert Altman made some exceptional films, most notably "McCabe & Mrs. Miller". He loved the idea of the ensemble cast. "Nashville" is the first of his mind-blowing endeavors to bring multiple incredible characters together. At 3 hours, the film is not boring for a minute, Character development is so complete. To single out a performance would be tough, but I really liked Barbara Harris as the confused and goofy wannabe who actually brought it all together at the end. Oscar nominated performances from Lily Tomlin and Ronee Blakely (in her film debut) were impressive, as well as Henry Gibson, and a particularly touching performance by Keenan Wynn.Altman is a very precise director, and his devotion to the proceedings is prevalent throughout. The fact that Joan Tewkesbury's amazing screenplay received no recognition still escapes me. Every song in this film is original, and all are great. Blakely's songs are well presented, but one of the most devastating moments is when Keith Carradine sings "I'm Easy" (Oscar winner). It's the first time I remember a Best Song winner being an integral part of the plot of the film (possible exception: Que sara sara from "The Man Who Knew Too Much"). While Carradine sings this song, every woman in the audience thinks he's singing it to her. There are repercussions. Altman is always great, and only gets greater. His next film, "Three Women", was more intimate and so brilliant. The epitome of Altman ensemble has to be "Short Cuts", but don't miss "Cookie's Fortune" or "Gosford Park". "Nashville" is a true American original. Don't miss it!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite Possibly the Most Patriotic Film Ever Made..., July 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nashville (DVD)

Robert Altman's NASHVILLE, an perfectly exhilarating film and an even better cinematiic experience, follows twenty-four characters through the Country Music Capital of the World for three eventful days, and by the end we have grown to love them all (even the ones we hate). The film is structureless (characters wander in and out, and we merely wander around with them to hospitals, restaurants, and hotel rooms) while also being perfectly constructed (it feels carefree and spontaneous, and yet it builds and builds to an unbelievable finale). At once, Altman skewers the music industry, the government, and American hospitality in general. It's not officially a satire, but if it is, then it's easily the most entertaining one ever made, hilarious and heartbreaking. We laugh at the ridiculous BBC reporter (Geraldine Chaplin) and her pathetic, quasi-intellectual ramblings. We despise the womanizing musician (Keith Carradine) who, before one woman is even out the door, is already calling another one up to sleep with him. We pity the poor, naive, untalented, bra-stuffing waitress (Gwen Welles) determined on becoming a singing star, despite the fact that, as one of the other characters puts it wonderfully, "she can't sing a lick." We cry out for the unstable country diva Barbara Jean (played devastatingly by Ronee Blakley), frail and fragile, as her brain unspools before a crowd of merciless, unsympathetic fans. We simultaneously love the Country King himself, Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson) for being so damned out there and loathe him for being so damned slimy. Robert Altman never intended to make NASHVILLE a specifically patriotic film--he intended to simply make it a representation of American life in its bicentennial year--and by doing just that it *became* patriotic. NASHVILLE portrays American life like no other film or any other piece of art ever has; here, in this fake version of real life which feels more like real life than almost any other movie ever made, America is beautiful, is tacky, is corrupt, is joyous, is ultimately strong, despite all of its faults. As the film reaches its exultant conclusion, we experience a genuine high from the sheer emotion it has given off--and it's a high that, as Pauline Kael emphasized in her now-famous review of the film, doesn't go away when the movie is over. It stays with you.