A Room with a View (1986)

a gem for Merchant Ivory fans

I give this 5 stars not just for being a masterpiece of a story but also as a wonderful trip to Florence (and the english countryside). Julian Sands and Helena Bonham Carter fans will also be pleased. October 28, 2008

HD-DVD

Anyone buying a DVD from this WEBSITE better make sure it does not say HD-DVD because this is actually only good on an HD-DVD player which is obsolete and was replaced with Blue Ray. These are not compatible therefore you cannot watch this movie. I luckily realized this before I opened it so I was able to return it. I am sure there are several people who will open these to try them out. Unfortunately once opened, they are not retunrable! October 24, 2008

A room with a wonderful review...

I have wanted for some time to write a movie review for Amazon. But every time I have looked at the listing for a film I have noticed immediately that many, sometime over a hundred, other people had already shared their views and insights. It is rather depressing to read all the Amazon reviews for a film or book. Evidently, many many people seem to think that no one has ever had a thought until they themselves had it, or that their comments and reactions are completely unique, and must be broadcast as soon as possible. As many people seem to watch films exclusively at home, and read nothing but their own email and text messages, this may amplify the impression to some viewers that the film has been made just for them, and that they are one of the few people who are qualified to comment on it.

I thought very hard about what I could say about this film that was not either repetitive, derivative or imbecilic. Sadly, after considering all my possible thoughts, I realized that I was neither original enough, special enough or smart enough to contribute anything new, or even just wittily or vindictively startling.

Nevertheless, I have at least cataloged and noted the various categories of all Amazon movie reviews, that are all depressingly similar in their trajectory and content. These are:

* I have loved this films for years and am relieved and orgasmicly happy to see it finally available, although the text used for the copyright notice was in an annoying font and the extras, including the history of film making as we know it, seem woefully inadequate.

OR

* I bought this movie thinking it would be about me, but it turned out to be about a lot of stuff the director self-importantly thinks worth making a movie about. And it needs a editor, it's way too long for me to focus on, with a lot of meandering thinking and reflection, none of which is about me, or is worth my time, which is very limited, as the director ought to know, and it's not even about stuff that I can talk to other people about -- it's too uncool to talk about positively, and who wants to make themselves look cool by saying how uncool something is, which is very unlikable.

OR

* The DVD of this film is awful. I bought it thinking it wold be a lovely gift my my chihuahua and when she tried to put it in her old VHS tape player it clogged the gears and cost be a big repair bill. I think Amazon should have warned me to not give gifts to dogs and that it wouldn't be compatible with JVC S-VHS tape decks. I AM RETURNING IT!

OR

* This director couldn't get a film released by The Shopping Channel, so I guess this lame movie studio decided to pick it up cheap, which shows because whatever is going on in the story is buried in boring long winded scenes and people talking about stuff I have no interest in. Just cut to the chase, give me the high points and the stuff I need to remember to talk about. Now that's good movie writing, if you can't say it in a few sentences and keep the action moving you just need to go back to school and learn more about film making.

OR

* The almost complete lack of violence makes the movie very dry and leaves me having no idea what the movie is about. And the characters don't seem to grow, or learn, and they are very unlikeable, the ending seems way to happy for what losers they are, and none of them resemble me or the people who like me. There are a lot of ugly moments and boring events, way too much sex, that I don't think most people need to see or think about.

OR

* Once I have invested in a movie then I am committed to watching it, even one as boring as this. If this director wants my business in the future he's going to have to listen to me and think about me a lot more, and, finally, write a movie that shows the director understands that my self esteem can not be wasted on boring, self-indulgent, undisciplined, pretentious projects like this one.

OR

* At long last (fill in thousand words on author's recap of the synopsis) this film is (fill in five-hundred words on author's most private thoughts) I couldn't believe how well (fill in two-hundred words on how incredible an actor or actress or scene was) and this is just a cannot miss must see for anyone who loves films! Hats ff to (fill in movie studio) for such a ripping good presentation of this magnificent work!

OR

* Don't be alarmed if you're watching this on your new 1080p 60" plasma set and the colors seem a little odd or the image is a little soft, it's just an old movie from before 1995 and they used to do weird things like that, using defects of the poor film and video systems they had back then to make things look artsy or interesting. Even though everyone knows that films should be in perfect color with everything razor sharp and filed with non-stop action, this film is OK in spite of having funny color and a lot of talking.

OR

* This is just a colorized version of the film, and doesn't even have the same actors as the description says. It seems much slower than the version I was made to watch in high school, and they have cut all the good parts out, put in new sex scenes, and the aspect ratio is all wrong. Aside from the fact that I was expecting a film set in San Francisco with lots of upbeat songs for the whole family, and got a film about Paraguayan peasant gangs violently fighting over Amway franchises in Pittsburgh, I LOVE THIS FILM.
October 15, 2008

VERY GOOD TRANSFER

THE BLU-RAY IS VERY VERY GOOD IN VIDEO ALSO CONSIDERING THE AGE OF THE MOVIE. THE ITALIAN EDITION ON DVD WAS UNWATCHABLE AND THAT'S THE REASON I BOUGHT THIS BLU-RAY. THE ONLY PROBLEM FOR ME IS THAT THERE IS NO ITALIAN LANGUAGE. THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION IS WRONG August 31, 2008

It does not work

DVD would not work in any of my players even the new ones. It came with a little note in it that tells you you need new software to get it to run in most DVD players. I am returning it. August 27, 2008

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