Four Friends (1981)

Good movie

We saw this movie years ago and really liked it. The characters are very compelling. The story line never gets boring. It shows the four friends going through the decades and through the changes of our society. September 6, 2008

The very best bar fight scene you will ever see!

This is one of my favorite movies. The bar fight scene is the best and most honest you will ever see. December 21, 2007

A Complete Mystery

It's a complete mystery to me how and why this wonderful film was buried and never received the acclaim it deserved. I dicovered it in the Albertson's rental section in the early 90s. After watching it I couldn't understand how I had never even heard of it before. November 17, 2007

Finally released : GET IT NOW !

Four friends is the most beautiful, romantic, dramatic, American fresque I have ever watched. The actors are wonderful and true. The story is human and deep as a great novel can be. I have been waiting for a dvd editions for years, sending many e-mails and finally my dream came true. I have just watched it, and it doesn't get old. Thank you Mr Penn, thank you Craig Wasson, my dear Danilo, this film will remain in my heart for ever, just like the little flute medoly Danilo plays when he arrives in the USA from his Yougoslavian home. And a great thank you to the editors for finally releasing it, with a special gift to me : the french language subtitles ! :o)
... did I mention FOUR FRIENDS is my favourite movie ever (OK Orson, after Citizen Kane... ;o) ) ? October 13, 2005

AT LAST... a gift for MOST generations!!!

The best way to tell you how pleased I am that this is FINALLY being released on DVD is to post my comments over the years(...)

Will some company PLEASE make a DVD of this film!???
27 March 2005

Author: jim6263 from So.California, USA

Will some company PLEASE make a (good+) DVD of this film!??? Aside from being a wonderful film about relationships and friendships, "Four Friends" is the ONLY film I've ever seen -- And I have, literally, spent *years* of my life watching films! -- that captures the essence of the 60s experience (and I was there!): the idealism, the hope, the freedom, the confusion, the betrayals, and ultimately its upbeat but bittersweet denouement. And all of this is accomplished without being a story about any of the numerous upheavals of that era, although many are just touched upon... as part of the tapestry. But the story is primarily about the characters and their friendship over about 10~15 years... and that those survived and deepened, despite the tragedies of that turbulent decade. Absolutely a joy and must-see film... even if one's not an old hippie!!!


Re: the slew of new comments, 26 July 2001
Author: scrypter

I watched it again tonight (once or twice a year); and it got me curious re: what new comments were here, if any. I'm both pleased and surprised to see the relative glut of new reviews -- which do NOT add up to a 6.1 rating, btw!!! -- for this most excellent film. I guess it was released on video...FINALLY!!!?

In a comment dated 18 June 2001, Nozz wrote: Melville said that "Moby Dick" was only "a sketch of a sketch"... the book illuminated so many avenues that it never took time to explore. So too with "Four Friends." ... So it's a little unfair, but there's a sense of missed opportunity because everything in this movie is so good that it seems to deserve more attention.

I think that's part of the point/its poignancy and bittersweet sense of loss at the end, which is what makes it so evocative; as so is life -- small moments of apparently frivolous experience/choices/opportunities -- which will rarely, if ever, come again; and certainly not while we are the same. We always think of/were taught the 20/20 hindsight bit; but there's NO guarantee path "x" would have been more ideal/fruitfil/ better than path "y"! One can never KNOW w/o taking the path/making (whatever) choice -- Talking about good things here, not stupid things like OD'ing on some lame chemical or suicide! Can't speak for today's youths -- As it is indeed a far different, more cynical world!! -- but given the idealism, hope, and energy inherent in the 60s youth, who wanted to LIVE (after so much repression)...... and experience everything, a legacy of feeling loss was inevitable. There's just not enough time being young. I never grew tired of being young, as long as my body was! That's not to say many/most did not have many good times, even wonderful lives and families. But the ideals we hoped for the world certainly didn't materialize; and few realized it in their personal lives, I suspect, at least on the broad scale we hoped. And for that, we greive; for few have the choice. "Four Friends," as does few films, conveys that loss so splendidly and the rewards of the remaining, though not ideal, friendships -- whose importance in our lives is timeless. And yeah, it always elicits tears and longing for what could have been. Someday it will be recognized, I hope, for the great film it is!


Still a sleeper...... sorry to say!, 11 December 1999
Author: scrypter

Granted it's alleged that we romanticize the past and I've always loved films -- My video collection is 1,500 (all good+!) and I have an affinity for nostalgic films -- (I also love "Peggy Sure Got Married," to name but one) even though there's not much I liked (for real) in/about the 50s (exc. H.S.). But I'd go back to the 60s in a heartbeat (angst and all), even if I had to go back to who I was -- not a pleasant prospect -- although my preference would be to go knowing what I know/being who I am now. I'd therefore not miss such sublime opportunities as that which young Danilo Prozor was offered by Georgia. "Four Friends" is really the only film I've ever seen that sums up the personal essence of the 60s so well -- the uncertainty, hope, idealism, searching, (specific) emotional baggage, heartbreak of reality, love, and friendship. Certainly every generation shares versions of these feelings and loves films which elicit them!? However, "Four Friends" does all this by the use of carefully-chosen (I assume) metaphors and without -- perhaps because of not -- delving into all the socio-political turbulence/unrest. I saw "Four Friends" first run in a very sparsely populated theater. Can't really say why it bombed; I haven't a clue. But I loved it then, and still do; it's a profoundly rich story/film!!
July 13, 2005

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