Customer Reviews

Our Town

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Our Town is an underrated classic, and I would recomend it to anyone. However, this is without a doubt the worst DVD transfer I've ever seen. To be honest, I'm not sure I've ever seen a truly clean copy of this movie, but I've seen better than this. The audio is the main problem here, as much of the dialogue is indecipherable. I can't believe anyone would have the nerve to release a film in this condition...it's an outrage.

I resent even having to put one star, as a rating, but Amazon will not allow anything less. Here we have one of the important plays of the last century, a quintessentially American work, translated onto film, photographed and designed by the masters of cinematography and...and...Well, hold onto your Edollars, it's going to be a bumpy night. Without a doubt - and I speak as one who has purchased, and viewed, over 160 DVDs from Amazon - this is the worst DVD transfer I've seen so far. The picture disintegrates almost immediately. The audio is near unintelligible from the opening credits onward. Aaron Copland must be spinning is his grave trying to discern what the hell happened to his almost unrecognizable, beautiful score. Most lamentably, one can barely make out half the dialogue for the wholly distracting background din. PLEASE, steer clear - nay, protest, return, or refuse - any release that has FOCUSFILM ENTERTAINMENT's imprint on it. And complain to Amazon. To state - as FOCUSFILM does, on the reverse of OUR TOWN's jacket - that this is "Digitally Remastered From Original Negative Elements" is an outright fabrication. I have seen finer prints screened on morning television in Schenectedy. An unsettling first alarm is the pitiful art work on the cover [as well as no interior brochure]. A young man and woman, who bear no resemblance to either William Holden or Martha Scott, set against a sunset which looks to be straight out of HIGH NOON, instead of New Hamphire 1900! Why couldn't FOCUSFILM ENTERTAINMENT [or another DVD offender MADACY ENTERTAINMENT] be honest in their abject greed, and state, "We don't care about the consumer. Just buy this famous film and give us money! " Beware, be vigilant and be vociferous...

I've seen this movie countless times, yet each time, I discover something new. As history, it is an excellent look back at life in the early 1900's. The sets and scenes teach great lessons about what day-to-day life what like 100 years ago. The houses, stores and dress are all remarkable. The movie has a great cast and a great message. Every moment of life is precious far beyond what we may see from our current perspective. We all tend to sail through life without taking a moment to savor all the little blessings of each day. Watching this movie, I sometimes wish I could crawl into the video and live in Grover's Corners for just a day or two. It looks so lovely and simple and peaceful and inspiring.

(This isn't a review of the film itself. Just the DVD itself.)


This DVD isn't an official Region 1 DVD. It's a cheap, pirated Region 0 bootleg!
Be careful when ordering DVDs from amazon, because some of the DVDs they sell (albeit, a small percentage) are bootleg (I.E.: "Sailor Moon Stars-The Complete Bootlegged Collection" (!?))
Luckily, amazon has included in the description that this is a region 0 DVD (when I ordered this it wasn't in the description). But still, it's ridiculous that amazon KNOWS this is a bootleg, and doesn't take it down!

This movie is terrific. William Holden especially gives a sincere and touching performance as the young George Gibbs. The story is beautifully told despite the tacked on Hollywood ending; I think we all still get the message! My mission now is to find a DVD worthy of the content. I notice that there are at least two editions on the market. Before I shell out any more hard earned cash (I am a poor Film History student) I wondered if anybody out there could let me know of a better quality copy? Also anybody who enjoyed this movie should check out Sam Wood's fantastic KIngs Row.

Our Town is a play that brings a simple message in a very compelling way; one of my favorite stories of all time. I can say that the people behind this motion picture version trivialized the ending of the story, and took back some of what the story gives. But this moive is from the forties, and that was the Hollywood style back then.

Despite the ending, this still manages to be a wonderful sensitive rendition of Our Town.

Technically, the print is poor quality, but the depth of the story made me forget about the print quality while I was watching it.

As noted in the previous DVD reviews, the picture and sound quality are abominable. Shame on me for not checking the reviews before buying the disk.

Perhaps the VHS transfer is better.

This VHS copy of Our Town has horrible sound and picture quality.

This version of the play is quite faithful to the original play by Thornton Wilder until the third act. Well, there is that little bit just before the wedding when George and Emily each have their separate moments of cold feet and their parents remind them of how much they are in love with their intended spouses and how the family is depending on them to go through with the wedding---the movie did skip that little bit in Act Two. But Act Three is very different from the original play. We get voice-over as the camera scans the graveyard and only after the camera pans the sky of sparkling stars do we see the dead sitting on chairs and talking---clearly the audience is supposed to think these people are in heaven. I really think Thorton Wilder clearly states that the people in the cemetery are in the process of forgetting their old lives and preparing for what comes after, so I don't think Wilder wanted us to think they were in heaven yet. And then to top it all off, Emily lives--the whole funeral procession, the coming back to see herself celebrate her 16th birthday (in the play it is her 12th birthday, but Martha Scott looked way too old for 12)and the being frustrated that life went by too fast and she did not take time to really reach out to the people she loved----it all turns out to be a dream! I have not been so disappointed since Patrick Duffy stepped out of the shower and an entire season of "Dallas" turned out to be a dream. When I showed this part to my students, they started yelling at the screen that it was just wrong, that the third act in this version missed the whole point that Wilder was trying to make in his play. The sound and lighting were good, a little fuzzy, as it represented a blurred look at life a century ago. William Holden is so young and his voice does not have the deep gravelly tone it had later after a lot of cigarettes, so he is perfect as George. Martha Scott is beautiful, if a little old-looking for Emily at the age she was supposed to be in the play. I recommend this movie version of the play to anyone who thinks that a happy ending is necessary for a movie to be good. A happy ending for "Our Town" is just wrong.

Don't be afraid of the reviews, while sure its not a "Lucas film" quality DVD, its still a beautiful production. It leads are wonderful its story beautiful, it ending heartbreaking and touching. How could anyone not love this film! Oh of course the stage version is better, and its maybe not something that was meant to be transferred to film but I would say they did a a pretty great job considering the feat of turning some so theatrical and stagey into an epic romance. You will come out of this film the way you should... perhaps a little more appreciative of your life.