Customer Reviews

Winter Kills (2 Discs)

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This review refers to the Anchor Bay(2 disc)DVD edition of "Winter Kills".....

Based on the novel by Richard Condon("Prizzi's Honor"), "Winter Kills" is a somewhat dark comical thriller that seems to parallel the Kennedy Assassination investigation.

The story opens 19 years after the death of President Tim Kegan.The "lone gunman" theory is about to come to an end! A dying man gives his confession to the half brother of the President, Nick Kegan(Jeff Bridges).He was the second gunman hired by some very notorious characters. There's evidence to prove it and Nick decides to go after it.Nick soon finds himself involved deep in a "conspiracy theory" that leads to more deaths and suspects leading to some very surprising twists and turns along the way. Nick doesn't know who he can trust and may now be a target himself.

It's a very enjoyable film for it's neverending unpredictable turns of events that keep you on the edge of your seat. One that is certainly worth pulling out and viewing every so often.Bridges is excellent in the role and the list of Hollywood greats that make appearances as the larger than life and somewhat zaney characters is worth the view alone(even though some may be considered as mere cameos).
John Huston steals the show as the all controlling "Pa Kegan". The list also includes Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Sterling Hayden(as a crazy billionaire war freak),Toshiro Mifune, Ralph Meeker,Dorothy Malone, Belinda Bauer, Richard Boone(sorry... no "Pallidan" music),and Elizabeth Taylor, who only has one line, that is mouthed, but what a line it is! Maurice Jarre supplies the wonderful music and William Richert superbly directs.

This 1979 film looks fabulous on this DVD. A nice clear picture with good color in widescreen(2.35:1). The sound is good in DD2.0(Mono) with all the dialouge, music and background noises clear and distinguishable.There are 2 discs. Disc one contains the film and commentary by the director. Disc 2 has a ton of special features to peruse including, interviews on a feaurette called "Who Killed Winter Kills", a trailer, a still gallery and more(see tech info for complete list).It is also very nicely packaged with the case inside a slip-sleeve. I agree with the other reviewers that the price is a little high, but it's definatly worth the view. You may want to rent it, or put it on your wish list and watch for a reasonably priced used edition.

It's something out of the ordinary with a few chuckles and some great thrills..check it out....Laurie

single disc edition(check for best deal):Winter Kills

also recommended:
L.A. Confidential - Special Edition / The Usual Suspects (Special Edition) (2 Pack)
Luzhin Defence (Full Screen Version)
The Ice Storm
Someone Behind the Door(this one stars charles bronson and anthony perkins - may be a good rental)

First, this film blew me away. And second, I would never have discovered this movie had I not chanced upon it at the library ... and I'm baffled more people don't mention it. Huston's megalomaniacal Mr. Burns cum Palmer Eldritch cum Citizen Kane is diabolically delicious and the kind of character that should show up in one of the Hollywood retrospectives they show when a host is caught up snorting lines backstage during the Oscars. In fact, "Winter Kills" teems with offbeat characterizations that might flutter off into self-absorbed zaniness if not for Jeff Bridges in a competent everyman role. Perkins performs the kind of inspired cameo that makes you shake your head he couldn't have broken free of the "Psycho" mold. Sterling Hayden, interestingly, plays a character that could very well be the same power-mad general he played in "Dr. Strangelove," retired now and protecting his land with tanks. And Liz Taylor is perfect in her split-second appearance as a sort of doughboy Heidi Fleiss, dolled up and glassy-eyed. Bridges, tempered amid the maelstrom and a smart, multilayered "whodunit" script keeps the film grounded. The biting parallels to JFK are even more poignant today, now that business interests have unseated our country's ideals completely.

I love this movie, it's one of my favourite American films because of its continuous odd and intoxicating humour - Anchor Bay's dvd transfer is technically good but the bad special effects are highlighted by the deluxe treatment and more importantly the enigmatic and poetic ending featuring the woman and waving child riding past Jeff Bridges on a bicycle (which happens throughout the film just before someone gets killed) is simply and amazingly not there - instead we get a tracking shot on a "futuristic" answering machine which is definitely lame in comparison. I think I'll be returning more frequently to the VHS.

This was a really good movie. It was just loaded with old screen legends from the past in classic roles. Jeff Bridges is perfect as the role of the brother of the slain president of the United States. John Huston is excellent as Pa, his rich and powerful father. Sterling Hayden is also excellent. This movie is full of wild speculation and crazy, paranoid and zany characters.

The documentary about the making of the movie was just as compelling as the origional film. The things that they went thru to make it and getting it made were just the things that you would normally see on film. Gangsters, threats, porn producers, drugs, alcoholism and big money in paper bags were just some of the many things that went into the making of this movie.

One of those 70s films that haunts me (John Huston's Wiseblood is another, there are lots more). This was based on a story by Richard Condon who also wrote The Manchurian Candidiate. A great cast with a very young Jeff Bridges as the lead in this partially based on fact, darkest of comedies, paranoid controversy theoretical waking nightmare of a movie.
Richard Boone, Sterling Hayden, Toshiro Mifune, Liz Taylor, JOHN HUSTON, Anthony Perkins, Ralph Meeker, Eli Wallach, Tomas Milian, many only get a scene or two, some only a scene, but they are all used for all the iconic power they are capable of generating. Not to mention exquisite cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond and an astounding debut for director/actor/etc., William Richert. This film was way too early for it's time, and in the same way Welles' Citizen Kane stepped on the feet of a giant this film also played with the thinly veiled mythology of real people, in this case the Kennedys. The story of why this brilliant film was stillborn upon it's initial release is likely a story worthy of the intrigue and rampant angst that fuels this spectacular film itself; though it's only hinted at in the Who Killed Winter Kills documentary, (that helps to flesh out the second disc disc of this set). I must admit that this all could have fit well onto one disc; but whatever the form, this is a film that is well worth seeking out, and it holds up very well to repeated viewings. It's one of those movies you'll want to turn other people on to. Check it out.

REALLY GREAT MOVIE AND I AM SO GLAD THAT THEY RE RELEASED IT...REALLY WORTH WATCHING,,,GREAT,,,THANKS FOR THE RE RELEASE

In this "Special Edition" DVD you see just how hard and how dedicated all involved were to making trhis movie. A film I consider far ahead of its time and in the same vein to close to the JFK death for most to watrch comfortably.
All involved are superior and the writing is cutting edge even by todays standards.

Twelve years before Oliver Stone dazzled (or repelled) audiences with "JFK," director William Richert delivered a more potent vision of a political assassination, and the country that fostered the implements of such an act, with his unbelievably radical adaptation of the late Richard Condon's novel.
As surreal as it is plausible, Richert's 1979 movie about a man's search for the truth behind the slaying of his president-brother ranks among the best political thrillers Hollywood ever produced during the conspiracy-happy '70s. As with "The Parallax View," "Executive Action" and other similarly themed films, "Winter Kills" is enthralling entertainment that puts the viewer on the front seat of a rollercoaster ride through an eerie labyrinth of deceit and corruption.
The two-disc DVD version of this neglected gem is way overpriced and could have been included on the reverse side of a single disc but the package does include several extras that complement this wild movie that reflected the public's growing distrust of the government and the people who run it.

The much anticipated DVD release of WINTER KILLS is a cause for celebration to cult film fanatics everywhere.

Richard Condon's dazzlingly paranoid comic novel about an American president's assassination investigation has been perfectly captured by writer-director William Richert. This little seen film, barely released in 1979 after a torturous, much delayed production, received strong reviews and then disappeared.

There was talk the Kennedy family didn't approve and put pressure on parent company Avco Embassy (which had military contract associations) to withdraw the film, Condon suggested in an article, "Who Killed Winter Kills" for Harper's magazine. Whatever the case -- and the story behind the filming is certainly as interesting as the film story -- this marvelous, all-star thriller about the brother of a murdered president looking into the killing plays with the darkest, almost subconscious fears this country has collectively harbored about the death of JFK.

The once in a lifetime cast includes: Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Sterling Hayden, Richard Boone, Elizabeth Taylor, Eli Wallach, Ralph Meeker, Toshiro Mifune and Belinda Bauer. Plus a great score by Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia). Extras on this two-disc set (seems like it could've all fit easily on one disc) include a lively, sometimes startling, commentary from Richert and OK interviews with Bridges, Bauer, cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and production designer Robert Boyle. Highly recommended.

I first saw this film when it came out in general release sometime around 1970. At that time, it was a rousing good story, full of all sorts of meaningful allusions. Now, not too meaningful, but even more fun! Some great acting from some stalwarts, like Perkins, Bridges, and Huston.