Product Details

• Actors: Sally Field, Joanne Woodward, Brad Davis
• Directors: Daniel Petrie
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007L6NQM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,370 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Abridged Version, March 24, 2005

By 

Sheryl L. Ross - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sybil (VHS Tape)

This version has has omitted some very powerful and crucial scenes, from 196 minutes to 122 minutes, which leaves out more than an hour of the original movie. The ending was particularly disappointing because it had originally been so beautifully and creatively done, and was the culmination was eleven years of grueling work to integrate the personalities. Why on earth anyone would choose to remove this scene is beyond me. Other scenes had been omitted or cut to the point they weren't fully explained, so while it was still a good movie for someone who's never seen the original, I feel that the high prices on this severely edited version are not warranted.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars LESS IS NOT MORE, June 22, 2005

By 

Timothy Kirby "Movie Lover" (Evanston, Il) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sybil (VHS Tape)

I orignally saw this superb television movie in 1976. It was a two-parter, as TV movies often were in the 70's. Now, in it's un-edited state, I would have given SYBIL 5 STARS. Sally Field is unbelievable, and had this been a theatrical release, she surely would have won her 1st Oscar for this film. Joann Woodward, as the psychiatrist, is also profoundly moving and excellent in her role. This movie is quite disturbing, and extremely difficult to take at times, especially the scenes where Sybil's hateful mother is torturing her. However, it is important, psychologically and socially, and ought to be viewed by any student studying the subject. SYBIL is a frightened young woman who loses time, sometimes up to 2 years of it. Her psyciatrist discovers that Sybil has 16 personalities, all of whom are operating on a daily basis w/o Sybil's knowledge. These personalities guide her through each tumultuous day of her life. This film is powerful and shocking, and it is a crying shame that the VHS version has been chopped into pieces! More than one hour of the original telecast has been deleted, leaving some headscratching moments when there should be significant drama and understanding on the viewer's part. I once taped this film in its entirety off TBS; omitting the commercials, so I have the original film and will not watch the hacked-to-pieces VHS version. So beware! Don't pay $20 for the VHS, you'll be sorry! Hopefully, in this day and age of the release of seemingly EVERYTHING EVER RECORDED, this film will be restored, and released in it's original version on DVD. This excellent movie deserves such treatment.

76 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sybil Finally Finds It's Way Unto DVD...With Special Feaures It So Rightly Deserves!, February 18, 2006

By 

Laurie Lear (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sybil (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

The film that set into motion Sally Field's long acting career, "Sybil" was an emotional tornado of multiple personalities, child abuse, and modern psychology. Set in a now distant New York, the mini-series settled down upon an introverted young woman by the name of Sybil Dorsett. Living in constant fear of social situations, she struggles to understand what is happening within herself. But when things steadily worsen, she must seek the help of a psychiatrist: Dr. Wilbur.
The two women soon become one in each other; Sybil depends on Wilbur to help get her out of this mental mess while Wilbur depends on Sybil for the knowledge of the unknown world of multiple personalities. However, as the answers to Sybil's illness creep closer, they both suffer emotional breakdowns, whilst Sybil begins to understand the Knifes, the Glass, and the Green Kitchen.
A horrific yet beautiful series, Sybil stands alone as one of the best made for television movies of all time.
And now, it is finally being released, uncut, on this special DVD.

Originally released in a condensed volume on VHS, fans of the film have been dying to get their hands on a more complete edition for years. But the long wait was all worth it.

This DVD includes the following special features: a look at the real Sybil's drawings, an actual therapy session between the real Sybil and Psychiatrist, a featurette with cast interviews and more, along with the original 3 hour long broadcast version. And *though not confirmed* there is word of possible commentaries included in this 2 DVD set as well.

May 23rd: year one.