Customer Reviews

Requiem for a Dream & Pi

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Here's the thing. These are both great movies. I want to give it 5 stars on that. But I can't, because a) it's just a combo pack of the two Artisan releases, and b) it's deceptive about the aspect ratio of Pi.

Since this is the existing discs, Pi is not anamorphic widescreen. The Requiem disc is excellent, and it's the uncut version with all of the nifty bonus material (including the easter egg for Tappy Tibbons Rule #3). But the fact that they just stuck the old Pi disc in there is bad.

Point is: if you don't have either of these movies, this is a great bargain (mostly, I've seen it retail for $9.99). However, if you have either, wait for them to finally release Pi anamorphic because this ain't it.

my brother bought requiem for a dream a while ago and i watched it for the fourth time today. instead of just watching, i really thought about what was happening during the movie and i have never been as shocked by a movie as this one. requiem for a dream shows in plain reality what heroin and amphetamines can do to people and others around them, without glorifying them like trainspotting does. What makes this movie even more powerful is the fact that it can happen to anyone. this movie is like a scared-straight video.

I simply love this director. His style is so intense and forward that it's almost scary, but with each film here, he leaves you with a movie so powerful and unafraid of itself that you will never forget a single minute of it. They may shock you, they may frighten you, they may nauseate you, but they're never indulging, only giving you the truth. The descent of each movie is not glamorous, but it's bound to impact you. I recommend that even if you have never even heard of either of these, you should buy them both site-unseen. A great deal for such great movies!

These are both fabulous movies giving us the world on drugs and the mathematical thriller. Both by Darren Aronofsky, these films rank on my top ten of greatest. Pi, filmed in black and white, explores the world of Max Cohen and his knowledge of the 216 digit number everyone wants. The ending is quite a shocker and wil stay in your head for days. The music accompanied by the movie is also quite powerful. Requiem for a Dream explores the rise and fall of four very similar people on drugs. Ellen Burstyn, who takes diet pills not knowing they are drugs, gives a knock out preformance and should have won best actress. Jared Leto i very real and powerful. Jennifer Connely bares from waist to bottom in an inspiring scene and also gives a powerful preformance. Marlon Wayans gives one if on his only great acting display. The quick cut shots and the fifteen minute ending, will also stay in your head. But the both of them. You will not regret it.

A 'Requiem for a Dream' is about both a mother and son losing sight of their dreams. They get pulled under by the pleasant advances of their addictions, and they forget who they once were. It is a beautiful portrayal on others' reflections of reality at large. It gives you a chance to put your feet in other peoples shoes and experience a 'dose' of the agony they face on a daily basis. All of this so you can reflect their experience through your memory and perception without living in their own manufactured hell. After seeing this movie I felt as if I had a better understanding of life. I could see how we are all like moths to the flame, and happy in our own sympathetically imagined worlds. This movie shows how a person can lose sight of their goals, if they stumble in their own addictions that only give them temporary happiness and release.

'Pi' on the other hand is about a man who stumbles on the definition of God. Max (main character) is an excessively private man that eats pain pills like they are candy, and studies the nature of the stock market from the privacy of his own home. He is also a whiz with numbers and computers. Although, he is very self righteous and doesn't like the attention that he gets from any one else. After he predicts a couple stock standings, his computer crashes and acts as if it had a mind of its own. Later on he finds out that his computer was trying to communicate with him, but he gets attacked before he can make any good use of it.

Both of these movies are crafted very well, and give you the chance to understand the world through another persons eyes. Beware with these movies though, because they will bring you down if you don't watch them with the right frame of mind. These movies were made so you don't unknowingly fall into their slice of hell at full speed without any attempt to put your brakes on. It's a sad life when you fall into your own addictions and blindly press on as if you didn't have a care in the world. Every one is hooked on their own kind of medicine. Whether it is anti-depressants, TV, books, or sports everyone defines and traps themselves by what they can't live without. Although, some addictions are more healthy and fluid in order to mesh better with the dynamics of all life. You just have to be able to identify the hinges as they are, and use control when the time is right, so your sobriety stays on top of things. And these movies were made as a demonstration of that.

I recently viewed the film Requiem for a dream and was extremely shocked. I have never seen a movie like this before in my life. A mix of sex, drugs, and vulgar language make Requiem for a dream not appropriate for a young audience, but i agree with many critics that this film should be viewed by every high school student. It teaches you about reality and how rough it can be when people start to do drugs. Everything is all good to begin with, but then there is a downside to it. No one has an endless amount of money to get drugs so in conclusion you must have to do something to recieve that money. Not everything in life is peachy keen, and some people are willing to do just about anything to aquire this drug money. Thats what makes this film almost like a slap in the face. You almost can't believe that you are seeing it. Your eyes widen and you may have to cover them. All i can say is Requiem for a Dream has made quite and impact on my life, because i learned things that i might have never learned. And i am only fourteen.

Wait a minute, it's not a dream...it's the "Darren Aronofsky Collection"! If you're a fan of either film, this collection is a bargain. And, yes, the "Requiem for a Dream" version included here is the UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT. That's right: No blurred images. You won't be disappointed.

Requiem for a Dream is a directing masterpiece, and all four lead actors give impressive performances. Often directors make their movies confusing with too-frequent cuts, or distract from the emotional impact. But in this case the rapid cuts strengthen the emotional power of the movie, showing the parallel course of the four lead characters' stories, without creating any confusion.

Pi had elements of greatness, particularly in the directing. The paranoia, madness, and mathematical mumbo-jumbo in the story might not appeal to all viewers. (And some people just don't care for black and white.) But the real point isn't the story, it's the emotional effect of the directing. One thing that makes it an important movie is that it shows director Aronofsky's skill almost full-grown. The dirt-cheap credit card budget limited the director to a small story, but didn't keep him from showing directorial greatness. No wonder he got a real budget for his next film.

Yes, yes it's uncut and whatnot. The important part here (besides the incredible price - I got mine at Best Buy for $9.99!) is the quantity and quality of special features included for both films. Great special features for a SINGLE film are worth a $20 price tag and you get two awesome movies, both packed with great bonus features for under $10. Dang.

We need to know about this pairing..I have purchased Requiem for a Dream 2 times and each time it was listed as uncut and unedited and not rated and all the drug sceneces were blurred out, also all graphic images were blurred or missing also...Beware that these may be edited even though they say they are unrated....The cut up versions really bite....