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All the President's MenRating:
Release Date: 28 October, 1997 Retail Price: $19.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (14 total) |
All the President's Men Reviews
Unimpeachably one of the finest political thrillers
A great political thriller, "All the President's Men" based on the book by Woodward and Bernstein chronicles the two reporters attempts to uncover why burglars broke into the Democratic National Headquarters and who was behind it. Watergate is so entrenched in history now it's easy to forget what a fascinating story it was when it broke in the newspapers during 1973 and 1974. With the identity of Deep Throat recently revealed the film seems timely again (and that's why it received this special deluxe treatment and re-release). Featuring a number of terrific performances, "All the President's Men" is riveting even knowing the outcome of the two journalists investigation. Director Alan J. Pakula ("Klute", "Comes a Horseman", "The Parallax View" and producer of "To Kill a Mockingbird")directs a taunt thriller with two terrific performances by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. The big question is this--is it worth buying or just renting? For folks casually interested in the subject a rental will probably do but for fans of Pakula, Redford or Hoffman you'll want to purchase the DVD as you'll probably want to watch it again and again.
If you're a big DVD fan you'll savor the way this film is presented even if all the extra features aren't quite as perfect as one would want. A wonderful looking transfer from Warner, "All the President's Men" probably hasn't looked this good since its theatrical premiere in 1976. Colors are robust and lively with terrific clarity in the image. The film looks just about perfect in this presentation. The audio presentation is equally impressive with terrific clarity evident in the minimalist music score by David Shire and dialogue.
A number of very good documentaries and featurettes dominate the second disc. We get the original vintage featurette that played on TV to promote the movie. We also get an excerpt from actress Dinah Shore's TV show "Dinah!" featuring the marvelous actor Jason Robards discussing the film and its political ramifications. "Telling the Truth About Lies" runs just under 30 minutes and provides fascinating interviews with the people that actors play in the film including reporters Woodward, Bernstein and former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. "Lighting the Fire" looks at how the two journalist revealed the cover up but more importantly the two discuss the way that journalists are manipulated by media savvy politicians in our day and age. "Out of the Shadows: The Man Who was Deep Throat" gives us background on the career of FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt who provided Woodward and Bernstein with crucial information about the Watergate break-in exhorting them to "follow the money". While Felt may not have acted completely altruistically (he had his own axe to grind when he passed over for promotion at the FBI) he had the nation's best interest at heart ultimately and did the right thing when he easily could have used his information to continue his career. Interviews with prominent TV journalists from the time including Linda Ellerbe and Walter Cronkite are a highlight of this featurette. Unfortunately Felt who is ill wasn't interviewed for the featurette.
Robert Redford's commentary track sounds a bit odd as if he was being prompted by an interviewer or questions and they were cut out. If this is the case it might explain the fact that the commentary track doesn't flow like most although Redford provides lots of detailed background about the making of the movie. Alan J. Pakula a marvelous producer ("To Kill a Mockingbird") and director ("Klute", "The Parallax View") died a number of years back in a traffic accident a number of years back and his insights are sorely missed. Screenwriter William Goldman would also have provided a fascinating commentary track particularly since he had to adapt a non-fiction book that was unwieldy and had far too many participants to adequately give the story its due in a two hour movie. Yet Goldman expertly weaves the various aspects of the story into the fabric of this film.
A terrific political thriller informed by events that really happened, "All the President's Men" continues to be timely in our media manipulated world. While politicians have done a terrific job of molding the news to fit their needs it seems that journalists have become obsessed with the latest scandal vs. actually digging in and uncovering newsworthy events.
The Impeached President's Men
Winning a much deserved Oscar, the 1976 film All the President's Men is not only an accurate portrayal of the Watergate scandal but also keeps its viewers intrigued and entertained. Then breakout stars, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, play the Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The two work diligently to break the story and eventually gather enough evidence to bring down President Nixon.
Bernstein's disheveled and quirky character serves as a perfect catalyst to Woodward's straight-laced reporter. Just beginning, Woodward is trying to make a name for him while Bernstein on the other hand knows all the loop holes and takes every short cut. Hoffman and Redford were brilliantly cast to play the roles, accurately depicting the two men because of their interesting chemistry.
After learning the detail behind the actual scandal it is easy to see the time put into researching Watergate to so perfectly illustrate the reality. Because "deep throat" just recently came out to the public it was interesting to see how the mystery is kept anonymous throughout the film. If "deep throat's" discovery has sparked interest in the film, you are in for an interesting history lesson and intriguing entertainment
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