Product Details

• Actors: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston
• Directors: George Roy Hill
• Writers: David S. Ward
• Producers: Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips, Robert Crawford Jr., Tony Bill
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 1998
• Run Time: 129 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (220 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783225873
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #781 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > Crime > Con Artists
  #2 in	Movies & TV > Mystery & Suspense > Crime > Gangsters
  #5 in	Movies & TV > Comedy > Comic Criminals

• For more information about "The Sting" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, this critical and box-office hit from 1973 provided a perfect reunion for director George Roy Hill and stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who previously delighted audiences with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Set in 1936, the movie's about a pair of Chicago con artists (Newman and Redford) who find themselves in a high-stakes game against the master of all cheating mobsters (Robert Shaw) when they set out to avenge the murder of a mutual friend and partner. Using a bogus bookie joint as a front for their con of all cons, the two feel the heat from the Chicago Mob on one side and encroaching police on the other. But in a plot that contains more twists than a treacherous mountain road, the ultimate scam is pulled off with consummate style and panache. It's an added bonus that Newman and Redford were box-office kings at the top of their game, and while Shaw broods intensely as the Runyonesque villain, The Sting is further blessed by a host of great supporting players including Dana Elcar, Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, Charles Durning, and Harold Gould. Thanks to the flavorful music score by Marvin Hamlisch, this was also the movie that sparked a nationwide revival of Scott Joplin's ragtime jazz, which is featured prominently on the soundtrack. One of the most entertaining movies of the early 1970s, The Sting is a welcome throwback to Hollywood's golden age of the '30s that hasn't lost any of its popular charm. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
The winner of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, The Sting has become one of America's favorite and most critically acclaimed films. Robert Redford and Paul Newman star as two con men in the 1930's out to avenge the death of a friend. They seek revenge on a crime lord (Robert Shaw) with a "sting" that is one of the greatest double-crosses in movie history, complete with an amazing surprise finish. Directed by George Ray Hill and written by David S. Ward.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

379 of 414 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop whining about "full screen"!, December 17, 2004

By	Ander (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

Please stop whining about this DVD's aspect ratio. It's not "full-screen." It's widescreen with the original top and bottom sections restored.

According to film historian David P. Hayes, THE STING was filmed in 4:3 (equivalent to "full-screen") ratio because director George Roy Hill wanted it to look like an old movie. The studio (and/or the exhibitors) apparently had second thoughts about it, though, so theatrically-released prints had the top and bottom sections blocked ("matted") to fit the widescreen format.

What you see on this DVD is not "pan and scan" (with missing left and right content), but the original format with the top and bottom restored.

(...)

64 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHY NOT GET THE FACTS BEFORE COMPLAINING???, December 16, 2004

By	J. Caruso (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just bought this DVD for my father because this movie IS a classic, no matter what anyone says. But, when it came in the mail, I was surprised to see "Full Screen" on the front of the box. So I did what many of you did NOT do (with the exception of reviewer cammonro dated Sept 2, 2003), I went to the Universal web site and emailed their Home Entertainment division.

From Universal Studios Home Entertainment:

'The Sting' is only available on DVD in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which in this case displays the same picture information side-to-side as was seen theatrically. Also, more information is shown top-to-bottom than in the theatrical version because of the way the film was originally shot.

One process used in creating movies for theatrical exhibition is to place 'mattes' over the top and bottom of the 35 mm film frame to alter the aspect ratio to 1.85:1 'Widescreen.' To avoid black letterboxing bars on the top and bottom of the picture when it is displayed on standard television, the original mattes are removed in a process known as 'Open Matte.' (This is not to be confused with 'Pan & Scan,' a completely different process of transferring film to Video and DVD.) 'Open Matte' was used with in the production of 'The Sting.'

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. For all of you complaining about how this DVD is PAN-AND-SCAN, you are WRONG. And for all of you still waiting for WIDESCREEN, you ALREADY HAVE IT with this DVD if you understand what Universal is saying above; you are actually seeing MORE than what you'd see in the theater version because of the "Open Matte" process Universal used, NOT pan-and-scan.

If anyone begs to differ with these facts, argue with the source, Universal.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOTS OF "FUNNY MONEY", March 3, 2005

By	Scamp Lumm "Littlesorrel/christian zionist" (Perseus-Pisces cluster, ~100Mpc) - See all my reviews

What a great movie. The action in this movie seems real even though the money eluding the Chicago mobster Lonegan is fake. And there's a lot of action in this movie, so much so, that I was glad my mother was around to translate these 1930's grifters'/con artists' street talk. (My parents saw this movie in the theatre when it first came out in 1973). I don't remember much or any cursing. As another reviewer noted, what little adult material there is in this movie is mild by today's standards; the story line would keep your attention regardless. Times were tough in those depression years, my mom commenting that there was a lot of crime going on then. But Lonegan (Robert Shaw) is a straight-laced mobster, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't chase women. His only weakness is gambling, especially betting on horses. Doesn't sound so bad, yet he hates to lose, and when he loses big money, he kills. His chief sins are unseen, except by those grifters, like Redford and Newman, who dare to interrupt his extortion racket. This movie won a lot of oscars in 1973, and is ranked by AFI as one of the top 400 films. Redford and Newman are so much fun to watch acting together. The last scene fooled me. Although no actors won any oscars for this film, the movie won Best Picture, Best Director among other awards. I can't really comment on the film quality of the dvd, since I saw it on a cable station. I defer to those reviewers who argue that the director wanted to film the movie the old fashioned way which accounts for the transfer problems/complaints. I just love a good story, this one's a keeper.