Product Details

• Actors: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Cecelia Ann Birt
• Directors: Steven Soderbergh
• Writers: Charles Lederer, George Clayton Johnson, Harry Brown, Jack Golden Russell, Ted Griffin
• Producers: Bruce Berman, Jerry Weintraub
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, Italian
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 7, 2002
• Run Time: 116 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (574 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000062XNA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,616 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ocean's Eleven improves on 1960's Rat Pack original with supernova casting, a slickly updated plot, and Steven Soderbergh's graceful touch behind the camera. Soderbergh reportedly relished the opportunity "to make a movie that has no desire except to give pleasure from beginning to end," and he succeeds on those terms, blessed by the casting of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, the title role originated by Frank Sinatra. Fresh out of jail, Ocean masterminds a plot to steal $163 million from the seemingly impervious vault of Las Vegas's Bellagio casino, not just for the money but to win his ex-wife (Julia Roberts) back from the casino's ruthless owner (Andy Garcia). Soderbergh doesn't scrimp on the caper's comically intricate strategy, but he finds greater joy in assembling a stellar team (including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Carl Reiner) and indulging their strengths as actors. The result is a film that's as smooth as a silk suit and just as stylish. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

Steven Soderbergh's remake of the famously lazy Vegas heist movie from 1960 bristles with energy. Instead of the ineffably casual Rat Pack, Soderbergh has a cast of hardworking guys: George Clooney in the old Sinatra role as the criminal mastermind, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, and, in colorful support, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner. Soderbergh constructs the movie in layers with lines of terse dialogue winging on and off the screen and fitting perfectly together. The robbery itself also depends on many interlocking pieces of theatre-moments of imposture and fakery which allow the gang members to breach the inner sanctum of the cASINos. Despite all the cleverness and good humor, however, the movie peters out, and, by the end, you may wonder what it's all for. With Julia Roberts in a senseless role as a magnificently dressed art expert who works as "curator" at the Bellagio. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, smart and cool - just don't think about it too hard, January 22, 2003

By 

Mike Freed - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ocean's Eleven (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

"Ocean's Eleven" is a Ferrari of a movie: cool, stylish, and classy. And if, like a Ferrari, it doesn't always work, that's OK - who will complain when it's so stylish?

The premise is lifted right out of the 1960 Rat Pack original: Danny Ocean (George Clooney, suave as hell) is released from prison, and plots to steal over $163 million from the vault of a Las Vegas casino during a heavyweight fight. He recruits his old buddy Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), and they put together a dream team of crooks, each of whom has a specialty. There's a computer geek, a demolition expert, a con man, a pickpocket, and so on.

And, of course, there's Danny's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), who's now involved with the manager (Andy Garcia) of the casino Danny intends to rob. So, Danny's not only after money - he wants his girl back as well. But she's having nothing of it, as evidenced by this neat dialogue piece:

Danny: "I've paid my debt to society."

Tess: "Funny, I haven't gotten my check yet."

Dialogue like that is one of the great pleasures of this movie; watching it delivered by the likes of Clooney, Roberts, Pitt and the stellar supporting cast (Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, et al) is the other.

And, in fairness, it's a good thing that the dialogue and acting is so good, because as a pure caper flick, "Ocean's Eleven" is, to be charitable, a little thin. In the best caper movies ("The Heist" comes to mind), the theft itself is the star of the movie - the intracicies, the backup plans, the intrigue. In "Ocean's Eleven," we're expected to believe that a casino with over $150 million in its vault wouldn't have a backup power generator, or that the vault's security system wouldn't have a motion sensor.

But criticisms like that are akin to nitpicking that red Ferrari 575 because it has a small trunk - the point isn't realism, it's style, and like a Ferrari, "Ocean's Eleven" has it in droves.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Cool, A-List Stars, February 25, 2002

By 

J. Daniel (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: OCEAN'S ELEVEN (VHS Tape)

OCEAN'S ELEVEN is one of the five best films of 2001. I mostly wanted to see it because some of my favorite actors- Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon- star. I was disappointed that Julia Roberts didn't even show up until 45 minutes into the movie, and didn't even speak until several scenes later. She has a pretty small part, but when she is on screen, she steals the spotlight.

Here's the basic plot of the movie. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is a thief just getting out of jail. He meets up with Rusty (Brad Pitt) and comes up with a scheme to rob the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas. The vault in this casino contains more than $150 million (including money from the MGM Grand and Mirage casinos). The catch is that Danny's ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) is dating the owner of all three casinos, Terry (Andy Garcia). So Danny hopes to win her back while robbing her boyfriend. To help him pull off the elaborate heist, he seeks the help of eleven men, all with different expertises. Two are great with explosives or electronics, another is a pickpocket,two are drivers, one is a casino security expert, another is a former casino dealer, another is a acrobat, and two others are professional theives. The men are introduced, and after training the men (some of which have no skill in stealing whatsoever) the robbery comes into action. The plan to rob the casino is so detailed it's a little difficult to keep up with. There are a few surprises, including the fact that they actually call Terry and tell him they are robbing him (don't worry, that doesn't give away anything). I'll let you see the rest when you go see this great movie. Most kids could probably see this. The reason this film was rated PG-13 was mostly language (a certain four-letter word is heard once or twice, and the finger was shown) but also for a little sexual content. Most kids over 11 are probably mature enough to see this.

I don't quite know what category this movie fits into. Drama, I guess, although there is some comedy and romance, and certainly action. I would recomend it to anyone. I have yet to meet someone who didn't like this. It's great entertainment that Hollywood could use more.

THE BEST THING: The twists in the plot that
even fool the audience.

THE WORST THING: Julia Roberts is not on
screen nearly enough, but she does do a good job with the acting, as usual.

I hope you see this movie, and I also hope this movie gets nominated for the Oscars' Picture of the Year. It certainly deserves it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Stars, Great Movie, May 26, 2002

By 

"krizisrad" (Ada, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ocean's Eleven (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

I've got to admit, half the fun of this movie is the star-gazing. George Clooney is great as a convict recently released from jail, Brad Pitt is Mr. Suave as his right-hand man, and Julia Roberts plays the icy ex-wife beautifully. Throw in Matt Damon as a pick-pocket and Andy Garcia as a casino mogul and you've got the gist of this movie's star power.
The plot is pretty simple: Danny Ocean (Clooney) organizes a group of eleven highly skilled criminals to simultaneously rob three of Vegas' biggest casinos. Their plans are over the top and outrageous-and you can't help but smile watching them put into action. There are also some really memorable touches in the movie: including Brad Pitt teaching Shane West and Topher Grace how to play poker. This movie kind of serves as a who's-who in Hollywood. "Oceans" probably won't spark any deep conversations or teach you any life lessons, but it's fun watching the celebrities interact onscreen. If you want something deep and thought-provoking, this probably isn't your movie. But if you want to watch something purely for entertainment, this is a great and fun film.