Product Details

• Actors: SCOTT WILSON, STACY KEACH, George DiCenzo, Ed Flanders, Moses Gunn
• Directors: William Peter Blatty
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 17, 2002
• Run Time: 118 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000696IA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,772 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Ninth Configuration" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The lunatics are running the asylum... but are they really lunatics? Is Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) really a noted psychiatrist, assigned to supervise patients in an experimental government clinic, or is he really "Killer" Kane, a decorated U.S. Marine who committed atrocities in Vietnam before going insane? And why did Captain Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) go berserk just seconds before a scheduled rocket launch? These are just some of the puzzles that will eventually be solved in The Ninth Configuration, a giddy and often brilliant drama created by William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist before directing this adaptation of his own novel, Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane. A satirical study of war's traumatic aftermath, the film uses battle psychosis as the springboard for a delirious and scathingly intelligent human tragedy, laced with some of the wittiest dialogue you're ever likely to hear.

The movie boasts a veritable menagerie of crazy characters, all brought vividly to life by a stellar supporting cast. One patient is preparing a production of Shakespeare with an all-dog cast. Another is convinced he's Superman, and the resident doctor can't seem to find his trousers. But there's a method to this madness, and it takes a barroom brawl--one of the most memorable in movie history--to provide the harsh slap of reality to Blatty's elaborate group therapy scheme. When the true purpose of The Ninth Configuration is revealed, the film (and particularly the fine performances of Keach and Wilson) reveals a depth of compassionate sanity that may take you completely by surprise. --Jeff Shannon

Reviews

“Visually stunning, immensely moving and hugely entertaining, The Ninth Configuration stands as a landmark in American cinema history.”

--South Bay Magazine

“The finest largescale American surrealist film ever made. It belongs in a textbook for directors on how to build suspense.”

--Peter Travers, People Magazine

“Hilarious… with endlessly quotable dialogue and an amazing barroom fight scene that has audiences screaming from their seats.”

--Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide

“The film is a masterpiece.”

--The Cincinnati Post

“It’s a cosmic love story, a Gothic war movie and a metaphysical murder mystery. You have never seen anything quite like it.”

--Santa Monica Evening Outlook

Product Description

A stunning meditation on God’s existence in a form that might be best described as Catch 22 meets Spellbound, the film received 3 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture, and won the award for Best Writing against a field of nominees that included Ordinary People, The Elephant Man and Raging Bull.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest movies you've never seen, April 23, 2000

By 

Stewart McGregor Cook (Fountain Inn, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ninth Configuration [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Roger Ebert once said that Casablanca was the sort of movie that improves upon multiple viewings, because the first time we see it we're too involved in the plot, too concerned about what is happening and why; seeing the movie again gives us the chance to appreciate the nuances. Those comments certainly apply to The Ninth Configuration.

The plot is a good one, and people who enjoy thrillers and mysteries will find enough action and plot twists in the film to rival Hitchcock's best works. But what makes this movie so special are the terrific performances (by Stacy Keach, Scott, Wilson, and Ed Flanders), the witty dialogue, and the religious undercurrents. Too often movies treat religious belief with sentimentality or scorn, but the Ninth Configuration deals with faith and doubt in with a deftness and dignity that isn't patronizing to either side.

It's the sort of movie that you immediately want to talk about with someone...which could be difficult since so few people have seen it. Case in point: I host a movie party every Thursday night. Every time a new member joins, I ask him or her to compile a short list of movies that he or she has seen but thinks others haven't but should. These lists serve as our guide for film selections, and the attendees love movies and have broad tastes. But not one of them had seen The Ninth Configuration. My father recommended it to us, and we watched it last October, and thus far it remains the club's hands-down favorite, beating out classics such as The Sting or The Lion in Winter. Many of them have passed the title along to friends, who have also enjoyed the newly discovered gem. And it has provoked hours of conversation among us.

I can't think of a movie that would appeal so well to the casual viewer, the mystery lover, the film buff, the occasion bible study group for that matter.

Many movies are worth seeing. This one is worth owning.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who are you? You're too human to be human . . ., April 16, 2003

By 

the wizard of uz (Studio City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ninth Configuration (DVD)

That's what Captain Cutshaw says to his psychiatrist. He continues:

" Maybe you're P.T Barnum. . . He put a panther and a lamb in a cage together and there was never any trouble. The public went lollypops! Look at that! A panther and a lamb, and they don't even argue!. . .but what the public never knew was that it was never the same lamb. That (expletive deleted) panther ate a lamb every single day at intermission and then they shot him for asking for mint sauce. . . Animals are innocent, why should they suffer?. . . Why should children suffer? "
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There's an in joke in Hollywood: You don't ask a director if he's seen " The Ninth Configuration ", you ask how many times.

It's a cult classic. A supernatural horror film without anything seemingly frightening or supernatural, set in an insane assylum, set in a gothic castle. It's a mystery, a Christian martyr movie (no,I'm not kidding), an ensemble production of superb actors speaking some off THE best dialogue written, it's --it's-- Wiliam Peter Blatty!

Who, after writing "The Exorcist" (another easy 5 stars) put out a couple of lame "sequels" until he gathered enough clout to write and direct what he considered the TRUE sequel, which has nothing to do with little girls possesed by demons, but still everything to do with Good vs. Evil.

It's Vietnam and a number of officers have gone psycho--or are they faking it? Due to the controversial nature of the war, it's being kept secret. At one of these bases--set in an abandoned castle in a remote forest, of course--top USMC psychiatrist, Colonel Kane (Stacey Keach) is sent to investigate.

Astronaut and head loon Captain Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) wonders if fellow officer/inmate Jason Miller (Father Karras in 'The Exorcist') may be right when he says " I tell ya he's Gregory Peck in 'Spellbound', he's sent to take over the assylum but he's crazier than all of us! "

For his part Kane is determined to help the men, especially their 'leader', Capt. Cutshaw.

The film focuses on the clash between these two bizarre and enigmatic characters.

Cutshaw: " You're on your way out! I'm acting on orders so to inform you. "

Kane: " Who ordered you Cutshaw? "

Cutshaw: " Unseen forces far too numerous to enumerate."

Their psychotherapy slowly becomes a metaphor on the ancient debate of the impossibility of God, given the reality of evil. Brilliantly scripted by Blatty.

Kane: "Perhaps we're all fish out of water...I mean if fish could survive, actually survive out of water, they'd all go crazy. Perhaps we're all meant for a much better place. "

Cutshaw: "You're so dumb you're adorable."

Naturally, more than talk is needed. The action in the film is the turning point upon which the author/director hangs the plot twist as to who among them--and among us --is really crazy.

The answer might surprise you. An amazing film.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind film, May 27, 2003

By 

Christopher Dalton (Louisville, Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ninth Configuration [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've seen my share of films that have been good and bad. I've also seen movies that could similar to others. When it comes to The Ninth Configuration, I now know that there can be films that are original and don't borrow from other sources. This movie is not only one of a kind, it is also very moving and philosophical. If not dramatic with some twists and turns. Even the scene involving a bar room brawl between Stacy Keach and various actors playing vicious bikers (who literally get their tail-ends kicked brutally and fatally by Keach)was very original, if not unique.

The Ninth Configuration examines the after effects of the Vietnam War on various veterans who have suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome and other various traumas. It also examines the various themes of religion and why the world itself is going to hell in a handbasket. It also points out the old question that many have often asked. Is there a God? And if so, why does he let evil get away with various things?

A cult-classic like Blade Runner, with elements of witty black comedy that are almost like those from the movie M*A*S*H, The Ninth Configuration is a moving drama and excellent masterpiece. Not only does it have solid acting from the likes of Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson (who won a Golden Globe for his role in the film), Ed Flanders, Steve Sandor, Richard Lynch, the late Joe Spinell, Will Luckling, Robert Loggia, Jason Miller (as a soldier directing Shakespearean plays with Dogs, a very original and enjoyable plot element), Moses Gunn, and Tom Atkins, it also has some very interesting and powerful moments. Especially the surreal scene where a NASA astronaut discovers THE crucifix on the surface of the Moon.

If you enjoy films that are original and touches upon serious themes, like faith and religion, and state of humanity, then you are in for a surprise when you view The Ninth Configuration. It is a movie that still entertains many, and still keeps asking the same questions that man is still seeking the answers to.