Customer Reviews

The Shooting Party

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Shooting Party shows the decline of the British aristocracy (and why they became irrelevent) through the story device of a weekend of country shooting and the relationships among the manor head (James Mason), those he has invited, those who are retainers on his estate, and those protesting the shoot.

Mason is absolutely superb. He was a subtle actor who made some awful role choices in his career. This was one of his great roles. In the Shooting Party, he embodies the sadness of the loss of values he treasures as well as an understanding of why these values are being lost.

Update as of November 3, 2006: Please note that I have just looked through the BBC Video's new release of the film. It does the the movie justice. The picture is just a little soft, but the colors are rich and the transfer has clarity. The audio is excellent. The BBC's version is worthy of the film. If I could now change my rating to five stars, I would.

Jusr remember that the version from Jef Films, for all practical purposes, is unwatchable. It looks and sounds as if it had been made from a fifth generation home recorded video tape. Color is faded, the images are out of focus, the sound is variable.

After a long wait, the quality of this DVD is dissapointing, and not worth it at any price. Without the deep fall colors and contrasts of the original, "The Shooting Party's" minor flaws, its sentimentality and heavy symbolism, take over. The print look like a fifty year old Kodachrome slide--washed out, flat contrast and no shadow detail. And the sound is almost as bad.

That said, the secenes between James Mason as the estate owner, and John Guielgud as the animal rights activist, are priceless. But why should this print be worse than the one shown on television...?

Having waited for ages to find a DVD of this, one of my favourite films, I was thrilled to find it available Across the Pond in R1. That thrill has now turned to despair, however ! This is a classic example of an otherwise beautiful movie ruined by a truly appalling transfer. The perpetrators of this monstrosity should be punished by being locked in a darkened cell for a year, fed only on a diet of bread, water, and a perpetual tape of Britney Spears (any album will do).
Save you money for the professional version.

I cannot say enough good about this film. It is brilliant on so many levels. James Mason and John Gielgud were never better and the rest of the cast were perfectly chosen and rose to the occasion. This is what Gosford Park wanted to be but just did'nt make it and I liked Gosford Park. I am so glad a good quality DVD is available at last. In my opinion a must for any film collection. Please watch this with the time to devote your full attention to it, you will be well rewarded

I have to say immediately that I have no technical knowlege concerning this DVD. I know absolutely nothing about film technology. All I can say is that I now own this movie in the DVD version by the BBC and it is simply fabulous. I never saw this either in a movie theatre or on video cassette so I have no point of reference concerning quality. The story appeals to me because of the subject matter and the quality of the casting. The location, costumes and makeup are simply the best. It is very much a film which holds the interest of anyone interested in the life styles and moral standards of Edwardian England. So many things are about to change in the lives of all these people and yet they cannot know this and go on about their lives just as they always have. One of the most moving aspects of the film for me is at the end when the characters names are flashed on the screen with the information of what happened to them during the war. Also, the extra feature where the casting and location details are discussed adds much to the enjoyment of this fine film.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in period English drama. I also purchased the book by Isabel Colegate and read it. I found that the film was very, very faithful to the book. In the extra features included with the DVD the author seemed to be well pleased with the efforts made by the producers to present her work as she would have wished. Good, enjoyable entertainment. Well worth it for any true Anglophile.

I caught this movie on late-night TV one time, and wanted to own it. I hesitated to buy the original DVD because of the negative comments about the quality of the transfer.

I just got the new DVD and I'm watching it right now. It's like taking a bath in pure Englishness. The color is perfect English autumn - washed-out, foggy, muted, and the sound is perfect. James Mason is perfect as the tired, end-of-an-era lord, while Sir John Gielgud is perfect as the upcoming liberal society. In the two of them you see the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. All that's missing is the transition, and it's about to arrive - in the form of WWI.

This is one lovely movie.

(VHS, not DVD, edition.) Set in the autumn of 1913, just before the outbreak of World War I, this stunning film captures the last days of a way of life--the English country life of large estates, shooting parties, and aristocratic leisure--all of which will be swept away with the war and the subsequent industrialization of the country. Director Alan Bridges emphasizes this theme symbolically in the opening scenes of this 1985 film, as a litter is borne across a field against a backdrop of brilliant autumn foliage.

A lively cast of characters has been invited to Sir Randolph Nettleby's 1000-acre park for a weekend shoot, and as the characters converse, interact, and dally romantically, the reader learns the details of their "civilized" lives, their attitudes and prejudices, and their understanding of their code of behavior. James Mason stars in his final film role as Sir Randolph, a man who loves his aristocratic obligations as host, but who also enjoys associating with some of the locals who live around his estate. Tom Harker, wonderfully played by Gordon Jackson, is a beater and also a poacher, with whom Sir Randolph has a tacit understanding and friendly relationship.

Sir John Gielgud playing an activist who opposes blood-sports has only a small role, but his confrontation with Sir Randolph (Mason), following his attempt to interrupt the shoot, becomes one of the most memorable scenes in filmdom--two greats at the peak of their powers. Personal rivalries develop among several of the guests, who adhere to the "correct" etiquette of their class even as they deal with injuries to their pride--a nicety of behavior that will soon vanish with war. When the shoot begins and the orgy of bloodshed occurs, the symbolic parallels between the world as it has been, as it will be during the war, and as it will change are unmistakable.

Edwardian interiors, manicured grounds, and costuming set the period, and the clever use of light and darkness emphasizes the themes. Melancholy music echoes throughout, and camera shots emphasize the waning days of this way of life. Julian Bond's screenplay from the book by Isabel Colegate, accurately captures her straightforward tone and style, and the closing scene, in which another litter is carried across the field, is a clear message that an age and way of life are at an end. (VHS edition.) Mary Whipple

After reading Isabel Colegate's novel, The Shooting Party, I was interested in seeing whether the movie would correct one of the major flaws in the book, and indeed it did. Colegate is a wonderful writer, but she is more dedicated to creating beautiful prose than providing satisfying resolutions to her plots. Much like the book, the movie was slow paced. But unlike the novel, the film resolved the central theme of the book in an entirely unequivocal manner.

The Shooting Party, set on the eve of WWI, is a portrait of the last of the Edwardians, that generation of English aristocracy who at least gave lip service to their role as the guardians of "sporting conduct." While not quite a defense of the upper class, neither is it an indictment (in spite of the fact that the sole concern of the aristocracy on the eve of the "war to end all wars" seemed to revolve around how best to amuse themselves). The Shooting Party is simply an eloquent and unjudgmental description of loss. Both the book and the movie share a sense of foreboding (beautifully expressed in James Mason's soliloquy, in which he virtually welcomes the descending "hordes of barbarians"), as well as a feeling that something significant is about to happen. What happens is the end of an era--the end of "gentlemanly" behavior, the end of privilege, the end of safety, and most of all, the end of an illusion. Through the combination of Colegate's exquisite writing and Tammes' profoundly evocative cinematography, the world of the lost Edwardians, and of their fading Empire, is forever captured in this subtle and poignant film.

by Warner BBC. They usually can be counted on for a decent transfer. This is an altogether wonderful 5 star film deserving of a DVD transfer better than this version. Here's hoping the new one this October will be it.

I've seen the cover art for the Oct 17, 2006 release and it says: "Stunning new digital transfer." Wait for this very excellent movie and purchase it then.

A weekend shooting party in 1913 at the estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby (James Mason in his last worthwhile role) gives a glimpse of the social and personal interactions of a generation about to be changed forever by the Great War. A wonderful cast of name (Mason, John Gielgud, Edward Fox, Gordon Jackson) and no-name (Robert Hardy, Judi Bowker, Cheryl Campbell, Dorothy Tutin) actors play together and apart with sensitivity and quiet humor. Worth watching if only for the brief scene between Mason and Gielgud - the best scene ever filmed of two men discussing the merits of pamphlet printers.