Product Details

• Actors: Burt Lancaster, Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson, Frances Conroy, Sinéad Cusack
• Directors: Daniel Petrie
• Writers: Amos Poe
• Producers: Bob Fisher, Geoffrey Mayo, Jeffrey Weiss, Marcus Viscidi, Michael Ulick
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 11, 1996
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304068530
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,298 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich family movie, May 9, 2001

By	Paul Sayles (Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rocket Gibraltar (VHS Tape)

This movie is a fine ensemble performance. There is the afther, Burt Lancaster, who is reaching the end of a full life. His children and their families are joining him for a birthday bash that will be the talk of the town. Yet this isn't about a birthday party, it is about connections.

Lancasters children are all enmeshed in thier own lives and families. But it is the children who are closest to Lancaster's charecter. He tells them stories of Vikings and valhalla and the kids take not and remember. Lancaster expresses a final wish for what to do with his body after he dies. He doesn't tell his children, maybe sensing their opposition, so instead he tells the grandchildren - maybe not expecting them to do it but convey his wish to their parents.

There is comedy, despair, anger and sadness throughout the film. It doesn't dwell on one particular emotional level, rather it touches them and moves on, as we all do in life.

The conclusion is a remarkable combination of humor, suspense, sadness and togetherness. It is worth the whole movie to just watch the last fifteen minutes.

I recommend this to anyone with families and to those who want to watch a well crafted film production. It is a keeper for any video library.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah, Burt!, January 15, 2000

By	Joseph L. Schofield "leescho" (West Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rocket Gibraltar (VHS Tape)

If the words elegant and eloquence strike a chord with you, then view this film for Burt Lancaster's fine and lasting gift of both. Watch the ending first as Burt richly, if too briefly, narrates a glorious ending to a less than glorious life - then rewind and watch the unwinding of a story that ended so touchingly - you will lose nothing of the story through that process. In this story that seems so much about family, there comes shining through the triumph of the solitary man - a man truly in the world but not of it. And in his grandchildren - not yet tainted and corrupted by convention - there is the hope that compromise and accomodation will be be held at bay for yet another hour. Did we ever tell Burt thank you? Tell him now.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Said Children Should Be Seen and Not Heard?, July 16, 2004

By	Joan M. Weigert (Manalapan, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rocket Gibraltar (DVD)

This warm and sentimental movie brings to the forefront of our thoughts that as adults we become so enmeshed in the engrossing and all consuming details of day to day life, that we sometimes cannot see what the imminent event about to occur right in front of us is. Burt Lancaster portrays a loving father and grandfather who has had time to reflect on his life, and as a result, has expressed to his grandchildren his admiration for the Viking tradition of saying goodbye to their loved one as they pass on to Valhalla. His grandchildren take the time to understand his respect for this rich tradition, while their parents are too busy planning a birthday for the patriach. McCauley Caulkin is wonderful as the youngest grandson. He has a special relationship with his grandfather that is telepathic at times. Watch this movie with your children, and let them know that the death of a loved one is a time of sadness, but it is also a time of great reflection.