Product Details

• Actors: Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mercedes Ruehl, Eric Michael Cole
• Directors: Michael Cristofer
• Writers: Michael Cristofer, Jay McInerney
• Producers: David R. Ginsburg, Ilene Kahn, James D. Brubaker, Marvin Worth, Richard Licata
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 24, 2004
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (298 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002KPIQY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,677 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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

  #5 in	Movies & TV > Television > HBO > HBO Films
  #17 in	Movies & TV > Television > Made-for-TV Movies

• For more information about "Gia (Unrated Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed "Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene. Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British, Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of complications from AIDs (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight, and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real Carangi was--effective, and stunning.

With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza

Product Description

It's late 70's New York. Studio 54 designer jeans drugs and disco. This is the outrageous breathtaking story of the first fashion super-model - her rise to the top and her fall caught up in a whirlwind of drugs sex and celebrity.Running Time: 126 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359154027

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing 6 Minutes , June 11, 2005

By	David E. Hill "Malice N Blunderland" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Gia (DVD)

This is a terrific movie and I was thrilled to see Angelina Jolie playing this part, (I first saw her in Hackers). But in case you don't know this, the DVD is missing 6 minutes of the movie. the only way to have the extra 6 minutes is to have gotten the original release on VHS (or recorded in from HBO). After Angelina became more popular, 6 minutes of her nude scenes were deleted from later re-releases of the movie including this DVD. But it still is a good movie.

120 of 129 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Film - Wonderful Acting - Good Storytelling, June 25, 2001

By	turtlex "turtlex" (PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gia (DVD)

This is it folks - a genuine "breakout performance". We don't get them often enough so we should pay attention when we do.

WARNING ::: This review reveals some plot points !

"Gia", a film for HBO, stars Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell and Mercedes Ruehl.

This film is the life-story of Gia Carangi, one of the first "supermodels". How big a star/model was Gia? Well, Cindy Crawford was dubbed the "young Gia" and the "next Gia" - that's how famous she was.

Unfortunately, besides being the "face" of the day in the modelling world, she was also fairly famous for her drug addiction and ultimate fall from grace.

If you want a more indepth depiction of Gia's life - there are a couple of books available. The best being "Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia".

Back to the film.

Angelina Jolie BECOMES Gia in every sense of the word. Her performance is one of the best portrayals of real people in years. She is completely and utter believable. She captures what is surely the essense of Gia. She brings a desparate wanting to the character that you can feel.

Elizabeth Mitchell ( recently of "ER" fame ) co-stars and really provides an excellent touch-stone for Gia's tortured existance.

There's nothing pretty about this film - it shows the whole story, the drugs, the parties, the sex, the pain and the suffering. It depicts, with little filter, the USING of Gia and her decent into her fate.

It's no surprise that Angelina won a Golden Globe for this amazing performance. It's no surprise that she was nominated for an Emmy either. You're not able to take your eyes off her. As a matter of fact, this is a much awarded film - including a best actress award for Angelina Jolie at the LA Outfest.

Faye Dunaway is mainly here for star power - almost as if they weren't sure Angelina Jolie could pull it off. She's okay here, but we all know that Faye has done some amazing work and here, she sort of phones it in.

Mercedes Ruehl plays Gia's mother and she does a good job. She's a little over the top but you suspect it's an accurate portrayal.

For the Angelina Jolie fan - it's a MUST SEE, MUST OWN film. For others, it really is worth the time and money.

You don't often get a chance to see a young star make an amazing film like this. You'll see small tales of "Lisa" from her Academy Award winning performance in "Girl, Interupted" in Gia, but mostly you'll see an INCREDIBLE performance by Angelina Jolie. Really remarkable.

FYI : There is an UNRATED version available on VHS that is currently not available on DVD. The UNRATED version contains more explict scenes ( specifically the shower sequence is longer ).

In all, a great film. Well written, directed and acted. A real gem. Thank you HBO.

All The Best, turtlex

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another extraordinary performance by Angelina Jolie, February 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gia (Rated) (Spanish) (Sub) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In this intense and heartfelt film, Angelina Jolie captures the essence of the sad and turbulent spirit of Gia Marie Carangi, the fashion model who struggled with abandonment, fame and drug addiction. Elizabeth Mitchell is Linda, a character who represents several of Gia's relationships. She is an angelic "square" whose attempts to put Gia on the right track are constantly frustrated. Although the film takes some poetic license with this enduring love interest, it does provide us with an accurate glimpse of the kind of monogamous relationship Gia longed for but was unable to obtain. Faye Dunaway as Whilhelmina Cooper (Wilhelmina Models founder)and Mercedes Ruehl as Kathleen Sperr (Gia's mother) are wonderful. Ruehl has a complex character to portray. The movie will not win the modeling industry any new friends, and you'll think twice if you were planning on farming your daughter out to young miss fashion competitions. Angelina Jolie as Gia lets us learn from her mistakes and the movie leaves an indelible mark that cannot be airbrushed away.