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Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro. Filled with Terry Gilliam's trademark humor and visual inventiveness, Brazil takes place in a futuristic world where individualism is revoked by a controlling state. In spite of it all, a civil servant dreams of overcoming the bureaucracy, winning over the woman he loves and reinstating true justice. A satirical, imaginative and ambitious film. 1985/color/131 min/NR/widescreen.

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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. Although the DVD (at a fraction of the price) doesn't include that set's many extras, it's still a bargain. --Jim Emerson

Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.38 x 0.6 inches; 2.68 Ounces
Item model number ‏ : ‎ MHV62020168DVD
Director ‏ : ‎ Terry Gilliam
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 23 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ January 9, 2007
Actors ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm
Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Spanish, French
Producers ‏ : ‎ Arnon Milchan
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Unqualified (DTS ES 6.1)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0783225903
Writers ‏ : ‎ Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #27,821 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #714 in Science Fiction DVDs
- #3,670 in Comedy (Movies & TV)

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Jack Ryan

The Best 1984 Never Filmed

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2019

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The best version of 1984 never filmed, and still Gilliam's magnum opus. Like many Gilliam films, the art direction is brilliant. He basically invented the whole retro-futuro concept here. But unlike most Gilliam films, it's got a real story to tell and tells it well, an alternately hilarious (every scene with Katherine Helmond and her friends) and chilling cautionary tale about runaway bureaucracy and the relentless power of mediocrity and conformity to win out over independence and imagination. It's not without flaws. It might have been nearly perfect without the too-long dream sequences, the too-long De Niro set piece, and the amateurish, desperately miscast Kim Greist. But it's awfully good, and still holds up beautifully after all these years.

26 people found this helpful

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Uncle Stupidhead

Bon Appétit!

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2017

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You are living this movie right now. Watch this and see how it's all going to end! We're all in this together!

28 people found this helpful

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Stefan B.

Weirdly good.

Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2020

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The plot as well as the setting are really bizarre but at the same time I could see something like that happening in real life. The amount of bureaucracy, the inhumane reactions of people - you can experience all of it just by going to your local DMV, so I suppose this is more of a documentary rather than a dystopian sci-fi. Anyways, the movie is really weird but somehow captivating. Just watch it. You won't be disappointed. And if you are... well, we can't be friends. I will report you.

7 people found this helpful

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Jan

WOW

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2019

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Quite a spectacle. If you like abstract films that still contain a story, this is for you. Really incredible artistry, the fantastic performances are all played straight but it is no-doubt a comedy (or tragicomedy?). Not really for kids, but a fun and wild ride if you enjoy film-making and the skill that makes it something special. 5/5

10 people found this helpful

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stature

one man's break from expectations imposed on him

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2019

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This fantasy movie follows one man Lowry from his satisfaction in a dead end job to his first waking up moments born from romantic love fantasies to his longing for and then fighting for something in his real world after a mistake was discovered by him. He seeks freedom from forms, rules, and expectations of society and government. He is expected by them to accept the weirdness of his environment and the people and procedures in it, as normal. He wants to solve the mistake, but society and government react to the mistake with apathy and then by force. He is propelled forward by this love and the prospect of achieving happiness outside the rules.

5 people found this helpful

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Rand B. Lee

Nightmarishly funny and absurdly touching

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2019

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I streamed this on Amazon Prime Video. A brilliant piece of work, alternately horrifying and comic, with superb sets, pacing, choreographed fights, and acting ranging from over-the-top comedy to sensitive and anguished. I found it riveting. Also a very strong female lead, whose refusal to let a man touch her without permission—and his refusal to respect her caveat due to his claim of passionate love for her—was pretty revolutionary at the time. The only thing I didn't like about the film, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, was that her character sort of fades out at the end.

2 people found this helpful

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Looking Closer

A light at the end of the tunnel

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2019

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A brilliant journey through the phantasm of lost hope in a Kafkaesque world. I remember when I first saw the film in NYC. I came out of the theater without a firm sense of reality: in a dream world devised by my need for security in an uncertain world or in the illusory world that I was programmed to see and accept. The film is about government control, and reminded me of the horrors of the totalitarian regimes around the world, and the victims of their policies. No comedy in that, but the need to recreate a personal reality that is livable and hopeful.

6 people found this helpful

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Max Freeman

Gorgeous, but Unwatchable

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019

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Easily one of the top 10 most visually stunning movies of all time, but the plot keeps vaulting so violently between dark comedy and grotesque tragedy, that I just can't sit through it all, at least not in one sitting. If it were closer to 90 minutes maybe, but as it is, it's a movie I only need to see once. Still one of the best ending scenes in movie history.

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Twelfth Monkey

You'll already know what you think of the film...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2019

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...personally (and despite being a huge Gilliam fan) I think it loses its way a little in the second half, but is nonetheless visually stunning, pointed and funny. If you want to know whether to replace the DVD, the picture quality is massively better, so that' s a yes if you love the film. Just beware the soundtrack a little - the dynamic range is rather off, so the quiet bits mean you need to turn the sound up, but the loud bits then require it turning down again - this grates just a little after a while.

4 people found this helpful

Elleppi

A gothic, nightmarish, absurd and genious film on an excellent blu ray

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2015

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Brazil is the most celebrated Gilliam's film, the perfect mix of all his obsession and most peculiar features. The most distopian place in cinema history where middle-age hints and ultramodern, heavy and plastic design creates an environment that looks like an oppressive and concentrational mix between a mall, a prison and a fortress.
A concrete manifestation of a nightmare and also a giant metaphor of totalitarism hidden behind a capitalistic system based on consumerism and corporation.
But, apart from that, Brazil is not just a sociological film, but an intimate, absurd and compelling tale of a man's solitude, whose surreal and dreamy (or nightmarish) parts are maybe the best, not only visually, but also dramatically. The supporting role of De Niro is surprising and darkly ironic.
It is quite excessive and heavy, so not enjoyable on any occasion, but such a personal and visually beautiful film.
The blu ray is excellent, exposing the complex and rich visual quality of the film

10 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

BRAZIL [1985/2014] [Limited Edition Steelbook] [Blu-ray]

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2014

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BRAZIL [1985/2014] [Limited Edition Steelbook] [Blu-ray] The Truth Will Make You Free! It’s Only A State Of Mind!

It's only a state of mind. Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry in this surrealistic spectacle about a daydreaming bureaucrat trapped in a future dystopia where love is forbidden from interfering with efficiency. But with the help of an underground superhero [Robert De Niro] and a beautiful mystery woman [Kim Greist], Sam learns to soar to freedom on the wings of his untamed imagination, or so he thinks. Acclaimed filmmaker Terry Gilliam directs with an acerbic wit and poet's eye that dazzles like never before in glorious high.

FILM FACT: Awards and Nomination: Academy Awards®: Nominated: Original Screenplay. Nominated: Best Art Direction for Norman Garwood and Maggie Gray. Ary Barroso's 1939 song "Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil", often simply "Brazil") in a version specifically performed by Geoff Muldaur is the leitmotif of the movie, although other background music is also used. Michael Kamen, who scored the film, originally recorded "Brazil" with vocals by Kate Bush. This recording was not included in the actual film or the original soundtrack release; however, it has been subsequently released on re-pressings of the soundtrack. According to Gilliam in an interview with Clive James in his online programme “Talking in the Library,” to his surprise ‘BRAZIL’ is apparently a favourite film of the far right in America.

Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Kim Greist, Jim Broadbent, Barbara Hicks, Charles McKeown, Derrick O'Connor, Kathryn Pogson, Bryan Pringle, Sheila Reid, John Flanagan, Ray Cooper, Brian Miller, Simon Nash, Prudence Oliver, Simon Jones, Derek Deadman, Nigel Planer, Terence Bayler, Gorden Kaye, Tony Portacio, Bill Wallis, Winston Dennis, Jack Purvis, Elizabeth Spender, Antony Brown, Myrtle Devenish, Holly Gilliam, John Pierce Jones, Ann Way, Don Henderson, Howard Lew Lewis, Oscar Quitak, Harold Innocent, John Grillo, Ralph Nossek, David Gant, James Coyle, Patrick Connor, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Russell Keith Grant, Sue Hodge, Sadie Corre (uncredited), Margarita Doyle (uncredited), Dominic Ffytche (uncredited), Terry Forrestal (uncredited), Terry Gilliam (uncredited), John Hasler (uncredited), Frank Jakeman (uncredited), Sergio Kato (uncredited) and Peter Sands (uncredited)

Director: Terry Gilliam

Producers: Arnon Milchan and Patrick Cassavetti

Screenplay: Charles McKeown, Terry Gilliam and Tom Stoppard

Composer: Michael Kamen

Cinematography: Roger Pratt

Video Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Audio: English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio

Subtitles: English SDH

Running Time: 137 minutes

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘BRAZIL’ [1985] is from director/co-screenwriter Terry Gilliam, and is a combination of science-fiction, despairing black comedy and fantasy that combines elements of Fritz Lang's ‘Metropolis’ [1927], Stanley Kubrick's ‘Dr. Strangelove’ [1964], ‘Fahrenheit 451’ [1966], Stanley Kubrick's ‘A Clockwork Orange’ [1971] and Ridley Scott's ‘Blade Runner’ [1982].

Throughout this superb film that satirizes modern technological society; one can glimpse numerous government propaganda signs, billboards, posters and writings that preach conformity and Big Brother wariness - all references to Orwell's 1984. [The signs are credited to co-scriptwriter Charles McKeown.] Police are represented as Nazi-like storm troopers, and the names of two major officials have stereotypical German names: Kurtzmann and Helpmann.

The influential film's enigmatic title refers to the popular Latin song from the late 1930s by Arry Barroso, often used as an escapist theme in the orchestral soundtrack by Michael Kamen. Other titles were considered for the film: ‘The Ministry of Torture,’ ‘1984’ (homage to Fellini's ‘8 ½’), and ‘How I Learned to Live with the System,’ so far. The normal workers in society are docile, powerless, and obedient - to avoid calling attention to themselves and ending up eradicated (literally and figuratively) from the files in the Ministry of Information's flawed computer system.

This popular and compelling film with a large cult following is one of the most visually imaginative, breath-taking, eccentric films ever created, with incredible sets, dazzling inventiveness and production design by Norman Garwood. The film is so visually dense that it takes several viewings to fully comprehend i.e., the billboard slogans, the user-unfriendly technical gadgets, the unforgettable images, etc. The most memorable and outrageous components in the absurdist film include the ugly, violent, nightmarish urban environment, and the miles of inept plumbing, piping and ductwork that continually proliferate and threaten to malfunction. The title is based on the Ary Barroso/S.K. Russell song of the same name, with the lyrics: "Brazil” and includes the words, “Where hearts were entertaining June.” “We stood beneath an amber moon.” “And softly murmured 'someday soon,'” “We kissed and clung together,” “Then, tomorrow was another day,” “The morning found me miles away” and “With still a million things to say."

The morose and complex plot, set in a decaying, terrorist-threatened London type metropolis with a Fascist government, revolves around a meek, unambitious, and humble urban worker/computer expert named Sam Lowry [Jonathan Pryce] in the red tape-plagued, bureaucratic Ministry of Information. As a lone hero, he combats the real technological threat of “The Machine Age” to his life by his fantasies of defiance as a winged saviour during his nightly dreams. To escape reality and his grinding down by oppressive, official forces, both in the real world and in his imaginative dreams, in the form of evil creatures, he dreamily wings his way into the sky with lofty but doomed flights and away from technology toward a blonde fantasy-dream girl [Kim Greist]. The film's chain of events is set in motion by a clerical error, which condemns an innocent man, and causes Sam to meet his dream girl who is a suspected terrorist. His apparent salvation from the nightmarish, chaotic, paper-choked, poorly-functioning society comes in the form of a guerrilla heating-engineer and terrorist enemy of the state Harry Tuttle [Robert De Niro], whose renegade behaviour is opposed by the state's own Central Services representative [Bob Hoskins] and Sam's friend-turned-sinister MOI official Jack Lint [Michael Palin]. But in the end, the lowly and self-deluded worker is persecuted and tortured to death while again imagining escape to an illusory idyllic paradise that is free of societal restrictions.

However, it may be argued that the existence of “terrorists” in the film i.e., Jill Layton [Kim Greist], Harry Buttle [Robert De Niro] and Sam Lowry [Jonathan price] are all accused of being terrorists, and various “terrorist” acts, i.e., the restaurant and shop bombing, the blown up car, are deliberately made ambiguous and it is very probable that the central threat of terrorism is the government's way to silence deviation, provoke fear, cover up its multiple errors, and provide a scapegoat enemy. Viewers must interpret this central theme of the film for themselves and recognise the fact that ironically and there may be no terrorists at all.

Former animator Terry Gilliam, is famous for his work in the TV comedy ‘Monty Python's Flying Circus’ and in his two previous films ‘Time Bandits’ [1981] and ‘Monty Python's The Meaning of Life’ [1983], and wrote the screenplay for the bleak, futuristic film with playwright Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown. Its two Academy Award nominations were for Best Screenplay and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration both unrewarded with Oscars. The film, a merging of fantasy and reality, was considered part of a "dreamer" trilogy, of sorts, an Age of Reason trilogy reflecting the different ages of man's reason and of Terry Gilliam himself, in which reason is the opposite of fantasy and dreaming.

The film fared poorly and disappointingly at the box-office. However, in intervening years, especially after the release of the original, full-length Director's Cut (142 minutes long, combining footage from both the American and European theatrical release versions) which of course is the shorter version with this particular Blu-ray disc, and it has been critically-acclaimed as a social satire on the dehumanising, claustrophobic effects of technology and government, and regarded as one of the greatest cult classics ever made.

Blu-ray Video Quality – The film has been framed at 1.85:1 for this 1080p transfer. It’s a stunning-looking encode with superb sharpness which offers tons of detail to the viewer and colour saturation which is rich without ever going overboard. Flesh tones are very realistic and appealing throughout. While black levels may be a shade or two lighter than optimum levels, the wonderfully dialled-in contrast makes the most of the image quality and is by far the best the film has ever looked on home video.

Blu-ray Audio Quality – The 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio track might not have the rich fidelity of more modern movie fantasies, but it plays quite well for the purposes of this film. If the explosions lack a bit of depth and impact and there are a fair number of them in the film, the other sound effects and the music all come forth very well in this lossless transfer. Dialogue is always discernible, especially as it is always placed in the centre channel with the 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio track.

Blu-ray Special Features and Extra:

Special Feature: What Is Brazil? [1985] [480i] [4:3] [29:08] This is on-set documentary directed by Rob Hedden, Terry Gilliam, editor Julian Doyle, co-writer Tom Stoppard, co-writer Charles McKeown, co-producer Patrick Cassavetti, and actors Jonathan Pryce, Katherine Helmond, Kim Greist and Michael Palin, among others, discuss what ‘BRAZIL’ is and what is its messages is. Sadly the quality of this documentary is of totally shocking quality and would have been best it had not been included and have had some other extra from The Criterion Collection for example.

Theatrical Trailer [1985] [1080i] [1.77:1] [3:30] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for ‘BRAZIL,’ but for some unknown reason it starts off as Black-and-White images, then eventually goes into colour, very strange?

Finally, arguably Terry Gilliam's magnum opus, 'Brazil' is a bizarrely surreal, highly-imaginative black comedy set in a bleak, mechanical future. The frightful vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic hell is a visually-arresting film where fantastical dreams merge with dreary nightmares and features terrific performances by Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro and Michael Palin. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and this controversial, cult sci-fi classic arrives onto Blu-ray with an excellent audio and video presentation and very badly lacking in any decent supplemental material, but despite this, I am so pleased to add this to my ever increasing Limited Edition SteelBook Blu-ray Collection. Highly Recommended!

Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom

8 people found this helpful

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Monty Orwell

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2012

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Brazil is a funny, scary and creative film which takes a whimsical look at the world of George Orwell's 1984. I don't think it's quite the groundbreaking masterpiece some people claim - its plot can be messy and characters unfocused - but as a dystopian satire Brazil works very well.
Jonathan Pryce plays Sam Lowry, a Ministry of Information employee. His job is soul-crushing, and he relieves the tedium with daydreams about himslf as a winged hero who saves a beautiful woman from a masked monster. These fantasies are the film's most fascinating element; they incorporate details from Sam's everyday life and create wonderful images, like a brickwork creature with the face of Sam's boss. When he sees a rebel (Kim Griest) who's the spit of the woman from his dreams he's inspired to find her and take on their repressive government.
Brazil is a satire of beauracracy. Everything in director Terry Gilliam's world, even human life, is controlled by machines and paperwork. Early on we see an innocent working-class family torn apart when their father is accused of terrorism. This turns out to be an error though it's not spotted soon enough to reverse the damage, and the government cares more about assigning blame anyway. Gilliam presents this dystopia beautifully. I loved all the weird machines which are meant to help but only hinder, like a breakfast maker that isn't as useful as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's.
Brazil's major flaw is its scattershot narrative. The plot doesn't flow so much as lurch from one point to another, leaving behind characters who seem like they should be around more. Robert De Niro and Kim Griest, for instance, are underused. I'd have liked to know more about Griest's rebel, who has few lines which don't simply push the plot forward. That said, her counterpart in Orwell's 1984, Winston Smith's lover Julia, is presented much the same way.
Ultimately, Brazil is a film of imagery and performance rather than plot. Gilliam evokes a world which is fun to explore and his satire's dead on. The ending is perfect; you'll rarely see a bleaker use of misdirection.

11 people found this helpful

Alain Carmichael

BRAZIL, a hovering masterpiece!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2018

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I will not say more about this film that so many people have spoken with enthusiasm.
I bought this edition only for the attractive design of the steelbook. I guess there will be other concepts in the future for this ageless film.
But I really like the limited one offered on amazon.uk! :-)

One person found this helpful

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Genre	Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy, Art House & International
Format	Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Contributor	Tom Stoppard, Terry Gilliam, Robert De Niro, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Jonathan Pryce, Arnon Milchan, Charles McKeown, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm See more
Language	English
Runtime	2 hours and 23 minutes