Product Details

• Actors: Karl Malden, F. Murray Abraham, Anne Bancroft, Kathy Bates, Ellen Burstyn
• Directors: Jeff Margolis
• Writers: Hal Kanter, Stephen Pouliot
• Producers: Jeff Margolis, Howard G. Malley
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: December 7, 1992
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302288975
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,746 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

To answer the first and most important question: no, this compilation of Oscar broadcasts from the 1970s through the '90s does not feature the infamous duet of "Proud Mary" between Rob Lowe and Snow White. This being an officially sanctioned documentary look from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, anything extremely embarrassing has been conveniently excised. Minor and cute gaffes, sure; political statements, no problem (thanks, Vanessa Redgrave); famous no-shows, upfront and center (George C. Scott and Marlon Brando); fashion statements, let's take a long look (Cher, step right up!). But, if you're a fan of the Oscar show, you might wonder: where's the camp? The cheesiness? The fun? Granted, a look at production numbers goes from the sublime (Isaac Hayes doing the "Theme from Shaft," Aretha Franklin belting "Nobody Does It Better") to the ridiculous (Debby Boone and a host of deaf children performing "You Light Up My Life," Sheena Easton in an excruciating production of "For Your Eyes Only"), but this is a pretty serious look at Hollywood's most famous awards ceremony. Highlights include Bette Midler's trashing of the Best Song nominees of 1980, Billy Crystal's early (and funny) opening monologues, a fashion montage featuring Oscar poster girls Anjelica Huston and Jane Fonda (check out Fonda's innumerable hair transformations), and Louise Fletcher's touching acceptance speech for Best Actress in 1975. However, like the awards show itself, this documentary runs a little long on self-congratulation and a little short on humor. Someday someone will put together Oscar's Campiest Moments, but for now you'll have to make do with this official, straight-faced look at the awards. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OSCAR'S GREATEST MOMENTS, October 9, 2000

By	Sean Orlosky (Yorktown, IN United States) - See all my reviews

From Liza Minnelli's show-stopping production number, "Oscar", to Charlie Chaplin's emotional thank you for his 1971 Honorary Oscar, "Oscar's Greatest Moments" is indeed a compilation of some of 1970-1990's Oscar shows' greatest moments. The show, affectionately and candidly hosted by former Academy president Karl Malden, looks at everything: Best Pictures, Best Actors, Best Actresses...and we get to have some fun, too. We see some of Oscar's infamous fashion statements, from the memorable (hi, Cher) to the... odd (when Carrie Fisher and Martin Short walked onstage- wearing the same dress). And we see some of those unforseen "technical difficulties"...when David Niven was in the process of introducing "a very important contributer to world entertainment" (Elizabeth Taylor) in 1973, a mustachioed streaker ran across the stage. Liz: "That's a pretty hard act to follow."

And we have speeches galore: from the extremely gracious: Louise Fletcher, Diane Keaton, F. Murray Abraham, Barbara Stanwyck, Whoopi Goldberg, to the infamous... Remember Vanessa Redgrave's attack on "Zionist hoodlums"? (Paddy Chayefsky later made a particularly rude stab at Redgrave's speech.) And who could forget dear, sweet Sally Field's "YOU LIKE ME!" speech.

We have our moments of humor, too, from Oscar's greatest hosts: Johhny Carson, Bob Hope, Chevy Chase, and Paul Hogan. Our humor also comes from other sources: Bette Midler cracking about 1980's "Best Song" nominations, and Miss Piggy lambasting Johnny Carson: "It's because I'm a pig I did not get the nomination for Best Actress!".

And we have production numbers: Madonna's overtly sexual "My Man", to Sally Kellerman, Ricardo Montalban, and Burt Lancaster's multilingual "Thank You Very Much". We have tributes to some of Oscar's friends, as well: Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Steve McQueen, Rock Hudson, Natalie Wood, Rosalind Russell, Danny Kaye and Lord Olivier among them. And there are special little tidbits sandwiched in between.

For all fans of the show who love it, never miss it, and even manage to stay awake into the third and fourth hour of the show, "Oscar's Greatest Moments" is one to buy, and trust me: you'll stay awake through all 110 minutes.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That's the one!, August 29, 2001

By	Max Fulton (Portland Oregon) - See all my reviews

This is a great video! I love how it opens up with Liza singing the oscar theme and shows the stars walking down the red carpet. It is divided up in to many sections such as funny moments, mess ups, musical numbers etc. and has great moments in between. My favorite parts are where they show all of the best actor, actress and picture winners over the two decades. When they show the montage of best picture winners they have this wonderful soundtrack that changes a little to fit every movie. It is so neat! I definately reccomend it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And the Oscar Goes To..., October 16, 2005

By	Thayer - See all my reviews

The video compiled some of the most memorable and infamous moments of the most popular award show in the world from 1971 up to 1991. I don't know the significance of the year span that they chose to include in this video, but it would've been interesting to see the earlier clips of the show.

I like the Goldie Hawn-Kurt Russell clip when they presented an award in 1988. They poke fun at themselves as they acknowledge the fact that their relationship ranges from lovers, colleagues, and companions but never married. When Kurt Russell brought that up Goldie Hawn pretended to mistaken it for some sort of "proposal". The audience went nuts. That was really a funny moment and showed again the effectiveness of Hawn as a comedienne. There was also a great Elizabeth Taylor moment as she feigned to be uncomfortable following the infamous naked man who out of nowhere ran through the stage.

The video showed some notable speeches. I like Shirley Maclaine's speech when she won for Terms of Endearment. She said that she always wondered how winning the Oscar would feel like, and she thanked the voters for finally cutting the suspense. Another great moment was when Dustin Hoffman upon winning the award for Kramer Vs. Kramer in his speech said why he was very critical of the Academy Awards. Vanessa Redgrave was booed for her politically charged speech. Louise Fletcher brought the house into tears (okay not really) as she thanked her parents through sign language. Another great moment was when Meryl Streep won for Sophie's Choice, her speech written in a piece of paper could be seen in the ground, she picked it up and was embarrassed by it. That was really hilarious. Those were some of the memorable speeches included in the video.

Another great moment was the impromptu tribute of William Holden to the never honored Barbara Stanwyck. He attributed his career to Stanwyck's generosity, professional dignity, and friendship. And then when Barbara Stanwyck finally get her Honorary Oscar which incidentally the year Holden passed away, she dedicated her award to her good friend. Those two were really beautiful moments.

My only complaint is that they didn't include the only appearance of Katharine Hepburn in the show. I was anticipating to see that but sadly it wasn't shown. I also wished they included the Honorary speeches of Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, and all the other Hollywood stalwarts.

Grade: B+