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91 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FIVE STAR FILM - ZERO STAR DVD... what a shame!, March 6, 2003
This film is an absolute work of art! It tells the beautiful story of a young boy and his only friend: a big red balloon. Their friendship is true and the living balloon follows the little boy wherever he goes. They play with each other, trust each other... they are together for good!A very simple and beautiful story... one that makes you remember how good it is to be a kid. ...all the possibilities... all the imagination and the innocence we lose when we grow up. This film will touch everyone who sees it. The only problem is the print they used for this DVD. Absolutely horrible! Full of scratches and marks... (there are silent films in better shape!) it seems someone dragged the film stock on a street to make it look bad. I cannot believe such an important film had such a lack of caring. The soundtrack is also bad and the rich Technicolor is gone. I was lucky enough to see this film on the big screen during the seventies and... believe me... it was beautiful. Nothing like this. I knew this print was bad because I read the other reviews, and yet, I bought it because I felt I must have it (for I love this film). But it was still shocking to see how bad a bad print can be. I think this film is a masterpiece and I will buy it again if this is ever restored and released again... but this is an european film and I do not see that (restoration... or a new print) coming soon. So I bought it anyway - think like this: not even in France this film is available... go figure why! A beautiful film that is worth every scratch... but it is a shame... Films like this one should be seen over and over and I am sure if it was to be rereleased it would be a success. Perhaps one day someone like Criterion (who for once released it in Laserdisc a looong time ago) will take this film and give the treatment it deserves. By the way, the DVD comes with an american animated cartoon : "The Pincushion Man". It is about a ballon-like city with ballon-like characters. The print is equally bad. It is an early thirties "silly symphonies-like" color cartoon produced by Castle Films. The film is nice and it leaves you wondering about how many great films are there left to rot. ...
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Video On Demand ~ Michel Bouquet
Video On Demand ~ Gerhard Bienert
Video On Demand ~ Edouard Molinaro
Video On Demand ~ Yves Robert
Video On Demand ~ Jean-Pierre Leaud
Video On Demand ~ Federico Fellini
