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Brazil (The Criterion Collection 3-Disc Boxed Set) [DVD]

Jonathan Pryce (Actor), Robert De Niro (Actor), Terry Gilliam (Director) Rated:
R
Format: DVD
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 914 ratings
IMDb7.6/10.0
$44.91
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DVD
September 5, 2006
The Criterion Collection
1
$40.79
$35.02 $11.01
DVD
January 1, 1985
The Criterion Collection
3
$44.91
$98.08 $12.98
Format Closed-captioned, DVD, Dolby, Color, Box set, NTSC, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Director's Cut
Contributor Kathryn Pogson, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan, Jonathan Pryce, Jim Broadbent, Sheila Reid, Katherine Helmond, Terry Gilliam, Bob Hoskins, Barbara Hicks, Simon Jones, Derrick O'Connor, Ian Richardson, Kim Greist, Charles McKeown, Brian Miller, John Flanagan, Bryan Pringle, Ian Holm, Ray Cooper See more
Language English
Runtime 2 hours and 22 minutes
Color Color

Product Description

Amazon.com

If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--this is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. However, Brazil was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam sure captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's The Trial (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek governmental clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. Not a software bug, a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous Metamorphosis insect) that gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly identifying an innocent citizen, one Mr. Buttle, as suspected terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). When Sam becomes enmeshed in unraveling this bureaucratic glitch, he himself winds up labeled as a miscreant.

The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. This DVD version of Brazil is the special director's cut that first appeared in Criterion's comprehensive (and expensive) six-disc laser package in 1996. --Jim Emerson

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches; 13.6 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Terry Gilliam
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Closed-captioned, DVD, Dolby, Color, Box set, NTSC, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Director's Cut
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 22 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ January 1, 1985
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins
  • Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Criterion
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0780022181
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 3
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 914 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
914 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

RL Erwin IV
5.0 out of 5 stars A Cult Classic!
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2024
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What makes this film so pivotal, is in how it combines dream sequences with the film's version of a high-tech metropolis under siege, played out by characters who are as memorable as they are credible in the roles they play!
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John Lindsey
5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic movie on an awesome 3-Disc Set.
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2009
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In the near future where it's a mix of the retro-eras all combined in one weird alternate futuristic world, bureaucrat are like busy bees in one giantic hive track down many anti-government terrorists. One particular bureaucrat geek named Sam Lowy (Jonathan Pryce) is a daydreamer who dreams of himself as a winged superhero in a world of psychedelic fantasy where she dreams of a beautiful nude girl only sometimes has to return to his daily nightmare. However a huge mistake on a wrong arrested man however creates one hell of a real nightmare for Sam as he seeks out his dreamgirl named Jill (Kim Griest) as he struggles in a battle of good and evil which plays in both real life and his dreams.

A unique and one-of-a-kind dark futuristic fantasy comedy epic from co-writer and director Terry Gilliam is the second movie of his major 80's fantasy trilogy that began with "Time Bandits" and finally ended with "Adventures of Baron Munchausen". The film offers the viewer a retro-esque future that mixes the past of the 40's, 50's, 60's and early 70's in one movie but in a brilliant kind of surreal and weird way that it's just scrumbcous like Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" or Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". The movie is inspired by George Orwell's "1984" and Gilliam's earlier "Time Bandits" here this movie represents a movie that is better then the first of the trilogy as it's also the darkest but most best. The film co-stars Katherine Helmound, Robert DiNero, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin and Ian Holm for the co-star cast is very solid including the acting and there's a good sense of humor to propell with a few good action sequences and of course imaginative special effects even in these days of CGI.

This 3-Disc criterion collection offers the first Disc which is the Final Cut that combines footage from both Euro and American versions in one including a more somber ending is presented wondefully in excellent picture and sound quality including audio commentary by Terry Gilliam. Disc two offers still galleries, Trailer, featurettes, storyboards including for some more fantasy sequences that didn't make it into the final film, and two documentaries including on the controversy of the U.S. release and the final disc offers an alternate 94 minute syndicated version with alternate score, never before seen footage, shorter pacing and alternate feel good ending presented with optional audio commentary. This is a must have for fans of futuristic movies and fantasy epics.

Also recommended: "Time Bandits", "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", "Blade Runner", "Metropolis (1927 and 2001)", "The Dark Crystal", "The Matrix Saga", "Batman Begins", "The Dark Knight", "Heavy Metal", "Gattaca", "Alphaville", "City of Lost Children", "Batman (1989)", "Batman Returns", "1984", "Big Trouble in Little China", "Flash Gordon", "Barberella", "V For Vendetta", "The Running Man", "Repo The Genetic Opera", "Inkheart", "Pan's Labyrinth", "Spirited Away", "Donnie Darko", "The Brothers Grimm", "The Wizard of Oz", "Return to Oz", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Watchmen", "Faherenheit 451", "Vanilla Sky", "Total Recall", "Delicatessen", "Dark City", "The Fifth Element", "Tideland", "The Cell", "A Clockwork Orange", "The Golden Compass", "Harry Potter Saga" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles".
14 people found this helpful
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IDontKnow
5.0 out of 5 stars ILHM Reviews: Brazil
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2013
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The world of BRAZIL is one of technological nightmares; a world devoid of life, where status and information have taken the place of love and happiness. The government has become so overly-concerned with efficiency and control that it has simply lost touch with the meaning of the two. It is in this world that we first meet Sam Lowry, a government paper-pusher who frequently retreats from his job at the Ministry of Information into the sanctity of his mind, where he dreams of flying freely over green pastures to meet the woman of his dreams. When he awakens, he finds himself caught in the midst of a bureacratic foul-up that has sentenced an innocent man to death while allowing an underground terrorist to continue subverting the "status quo." Lowry becomes entangled with the elusive Archibald Tuttle while attempting to settle the affairs of the now-deceased Archibald Buttle, which leads him to discovering that the woman of his dreams is very much a reality. It is then up to Sam to save this mysterious woman when she becomes the next unwitting victim of a government gone mad!

BRAZIL is one of Terry Gilliam's finest films, and one whose social significance is perhaps more relevant now than ever before in an age where information and accessibility have taken such a prevalent role in our daily lives. Many of the darker themes involving the government's oppression of its people are broken up by Gilliam's light-hearted humor. We take great joy in laughing at the absurdity on screen, while recognizing that BRAZIL is as much a black comedy as it is a sad reflection of our own bitter reality. The talented cast is led by Jonathan Pryce as our reluctant hero, Sam, who is thrust into a world of political upheaval despite all of his efforts to remain unnoticed. Pryce is wonderful in the role, as he is able to point out the lunacy of all that surrounds him with a range of frustrated looks and snide remarks. He is joined by Robert De Niro and Katherine Helmond in leading roles, with brilliant appearances by Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Richardson as government busybodies who try desperately to uphold a system that is falling apart around them. The incredible production design imagines a future in which the technology has become terribly outdated, where tiny computer screens are viewed through gigantic magnifying glasses and ugly metal ducts protrude from every building in the name of "efficiency." It is no wonder that Sam chooses to dream of the open country when he is locked inside the cold, cement prison walls of the city.

Bleak and depressing, yet utterly entertaining at the same time, Terry Gilliam captures the perils of a not-too-distant future with clever wit and satire. BRAZIL is essential viewing for any film fan, and a unique experience that is unlike any other.

-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
28 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Rahv
5.0 out of 5 stars Una obra de arte
Reviewed in Mexico on July 27, 2018
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Uba verdadera gema en la historia cinematográfica. Excelente pelicula con temas tan simples, pero reales. Una crítica que perdura aún en estos tiempos
2 people found this helpful
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Wayne Santos
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Own For Fans
Reviewed in Canada on December 30, 2012
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This is one of the most widely requested Blu-Ray transfers from the Criterion collection and it does not disappoint. There's no point going into the details of one of the great, critically acclaimed films in Terry Gilliam's body of work, there's already massive amounts of critique and analysis dedicated to that. What's important is that Criterion finally stepped up and gave fans of the movie an alternative to the bare bones, Universal edition that came out previously.

While both transfers are generally comparable in quality, the new Criterion edition still slightly edges out the Universal transfer for overall quality. There's still a layer of film grain apparent, especially in effects heavy portions like Sam's dream sequences, where the softness of the shots due to optical effects really stands out now. Also for sticklers of digital noise reduction, if there is any used here, it's not as apparent to scrutiny at it was in the Universal release. Best of all of course, is the gamut of Criterion extras included here, all of which come from the previous DVD release, including the studio "Love Conquers All" version and the attendant documentaries. For fans of Brazil, there is simply no question; this is the best the film has ever been to date. For people that have somehow never seen this movie, this is a good place to start.
8 people found this helpful
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hell-oh-kitteh
5.0 out of 5 stars Criterion Blu Ray is THE ONLY way
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2013
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If, like me, you're a big fan of Terry Gilliams' Brazil then do yourself a favour and avoid the UK Blu ray editions of this magnificent film and pick up the US Criterion version. It is, head and shoulders, the best edition out there at this time.

I like to think of Brazil as Terry Gilliams' take on George Orwells' 1984. Certainly more humorous than the magnificently bleak 1984 it is a definite study of the insanity of bureaucracy and totalitarian states. Boasting incredible production design, beautiful sets, a great cast including De Niro and Ian Holm and a quite wonderful score from Michael Kamen, Brazil is a modern(ish) classic.

While the transfers of the movie are apparently, almost, if not entirely identical (and the film does look as good as I've seen it) it's the extras on offer on the Criterion release that win the day.

First up a brilliant, as always, commentary from Gilliam, a half hour documentary entitled What Is Brazil?, The Production Notebook, which is a collection of discussions, visual essays and unfilmed storyboards and the 'Love Conquers All' version which was edited for syndicated TV and is interesting but clearly a watered down version. BUT.....best of all we have The Battle For Brazil documentary which is just a fascinating look at the troubles the film had in getting a release. Thankfully Brazil was released. And for me, it's Gilliams' masterpiece. Thank you Criterion for such an exhaustive package covering a brilliant film which is still influencing directors today.
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"ketchababylone"
5.0 out of 5 stars Un chef d'oeuvre absolu , point.
Reviewed in France on September 25, 2002
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Ce film d'une très grande sensibilité enchaine les trouvailles, les situations délirantes et les personnages atypiques, le tout avec une virtuosité encore jamais atteinte. Derrière cela ,une histoire particulierement bien montée, et jouée par des acteurs d'exceptions. Brazil est une gigantesque métaphore retroactive de notre mode de vie , une histoire avec une ambiance bien particulière , dont on sort marqué à jamais.
LE chef d'oeuvre alternatif.
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Davor
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in Canada on March 20, 2023
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The future is now.
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