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Doctor Zhivago (Two-Disc Special Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 24 September, 2002 Retail Price: $26.98 OUR Price: $19.71 You SAVE: $7.27! Cast: Complete Cast (14 total) |
Doctor Zhivago (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews
One of Hollywood's Great Epic Films
DR. ZHIVAGO was one of the last great epic films produced by Hollywood. In the 1950's and 60's, a string of films were produced that resembled closely resembled grand opera without music: the casts were large, the stories intricate, and the settings spectacular. Some were great successes such as BEN HUR. Others are notable disasters, with CLEOPATRA perhaps being the best known example. DR. ZHIVAGO may be the most enduring of these epic films. It's based on a novel by Boris Pasternak that was banned in the USSR which only added to the fascination of audiences in the United States. The film boasts of an all star cast. It has one of the most beloved musical scores. It seems that no expense was spared in the filming. It was also a bit shocking for some American audiences in terms of material. Few American films in the early 1960's dealt with a man who loved two women with love scenes to boot! Of course it would be tame and perhaps too simplistic fare for an audience of today, but it was daring at the time.
The film tells the story of Yuri Zhivago (played by Omar Sharif). We learn his story form his half brother, Yevgraf Zhivago (Alec Guinness), a general and official in the USSR He's questioning a young woman (Rita Tushingham) about her origins, believing that the young woman is his niece. As the general speaks with the young woman, we learn that the young Yuri Zhivago is orphaned as a boy and taken in by his mother's friends. He follows in the footsteps of the man who raised him and becomes a doctor, but at heart he's a poet and writes beautiful verse. He marries Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), the daughter of the people who raised him and has a daughter and a charmed life. He also becomes smitten with a woman named Lara (Julie Christie), a young woman who is the wife of Pasha (Tom Courtney), a man who later becomes a revolutionary and the unwilling lover of Victor Komarovsky (Rod Steiger), a lawyer and expert at survival. Yuri and Lara become lovers and he ends up writing beautiful verse about her. The film is more than just a story of a love triangle. It's set in the World War I and early Bolshevik era and throughout the film we see people make difficult choices just to survive. The fact that Yuri is both a doctor who cares for the sick and a poet who cares for the heart is meant to show the triumph of the human spirit in the midst of tragedy. Perhaps this is why the story still has power today.
This two disc version has the film on one two sided DVD and a second DVD that includes the making of the film, interviews with the actors, and the tidbits that film buffs love. It's a great addition to any film collection, especially since this is a film that can be seen more than once and always be appreciated.
Amazing DVD for an Amazing movie
It was more than 16 years since I watched Dr. Zhivago on a Betamax.
I want to focus my review on how the quality and features of this double DVD Special Edition have somehow increased the joy of watching this classic.
Dr. Zhivago itself is a great story, with great actors, and that hasn't changed since it was first released in 1965. It is still the same melancholic, romantic movie that should make you share at least one tear in the end.
Now, besides the plot and actors, I consider Doctor Zhivago has 2 main important elements: music and photography.
Musis for my was very important, and this double disc edition really has a great job in sound quality improvements. If you loved it before, you will have enhanced music, much better and clear sound effects.
Picture also has been improved considerably, not only because of the format used on DVD's but also because of a great work done with picture enhancement.
Finally, the DVD comes with many extras, so even though I have seen this film many times, I always ended a bit sad in the end. But then watching Omar Sharif and other actors talking about the film, really made it for me. I think the extras are really valuable content, if you loved this movie, you would like to know a little bit mor about it, so here you have it.
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I only review items I own.
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