 "Milestone" | 2008-06-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2D8CESBZ3TN6Z |
| A favorite of mine. Viewed so much lost count and will again. Knew nothing of Amish until this and the whole thing works brilliantly. Set the standard for others to follow and does not date. Harrison Ford could not have been better. |
| |
| "Witness, happy to get the Special Collector's Edition" | 2008-06-17 |
| - Reviewed By therooksnook |
| My mother bought this movie around 1985 on VHS I think. I hadn't seen it at the theater so I was impressed when I saw it on TV the first time and sorry I had missed it on the big screen. Eventually she replaced her VHS with DVD and so I never bought a copy since I could borrow hers. I'm not waiting any longer to get my own copy with this edition at such an incredible price. Ford, Haas, McGillis, and the rest the cast are exceptional in this movie. The story, acting, sets, music and directing are above most movies and the majority of people will see that clearly. Imagine a young boy witnessing a murder of a police officer and then being pursued by unknown forces. A detective, played by Ford, assigned to his case finds they have opened a can of worms. There is a distinct smell of police corruption as they are pursued by other officers. The beautiful scenes like the barn raising in the Amish community are great with a real feel of their culture and life. Excellent quality DVD with tons of extras. Excellent replayability. I also recommend getting Amazon Prime if you buy much at Amazon since it will more than pay you back not only in shipping costs but delivery time too. If you enjoyed this catch "Narrow Margin", "The Client", "Witness Protection", and even "Eraser" for some Schwarzenegger style witness protection. |
| |
| "Witness to a Great Movie" | 2008-06-11 |
| - Reviewed By aislinge |
Witness is a phenominal movie. It is interesting, exciting, and portrays well, for the most part, life within the Amish community. They do a good job of interfacing the simpler lives of the Amish with the insanity that is modern life for most of us. Harrison Ford is always a pleasure to watch; Kelly McGillis is excellent. Lucas Haas in his premier role as the witness is amazing.
One of the most well-worth it scenes is the barn raising. Not only are the visuals excellent, but the music... the music is magical. You can't watch this and not be moved by the truly incredible music. |
| |
 "Witness (Special Collector's Edition)" | 2008-04-11 |
| - Reviewed By pritch111 |
| I love this movie. I love the characters, the storyline, the performances from Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis and Lucas Haas. The music by Maurice Jarre is really fine, and the photography is terrific. Just a great film from beginning to end. The extra bits on the Collector's Edition are frosting on the cake - fantastic!! |
| |
 "Blade Runner" | 2008-02-08 |
| - Reviewed By ronelstad |
As much as like Harrison Ford, this movie had me yawning. It was supose to be a futuristic time, but it was just an old dark rainy Japan setting with a few futuristic type vehicles sprinkled in.
It was a cat and mouse chase type movie where you practically know every move of the cat and mouse. Anyway, for me it was a disapointing yawner. |
| |
| "loved it" | 2007-10-27 |
| - Reviewed By desilured |
| witness very good i enjoyed it very much, i was hopeing that harrison would have married her..... |
| |
| "One of the best films of the 80's" | 2007-07-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A20Z1PKIH0PFUF |
A young Amish boy (Samuel Lapp played beautifully in his film debut by Lukas Haas) while traveling with his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis) witnesses a murder. The Philly detective assigned to the case is John Bock (Harrison Ford), a cynical, hardened, yet very ethical man who is married to his job. The murder turns out to be an inside job performed by Bock's associates on the police force. The three of them soon escape to the Amish community to avoid being the next victims and soon... well, that's what you need to find out when you watch this fine film.
This is an excellent film any way you slice it. Great acting, writing, directing, musical score, etc... It is my favorite film by director Peter Weir and in my opinion the best performance of Ford's career. It's a nice change of pace to see Ford actually come down to Earth and play a common man instead of the super-hero he so often portrays. He had quite an amazing run of very successful films in the 80's and 90's but it's very difficult at times to take him too seriously as a dramatic actor despite the money making machines a great many of his films turned out becoming. Yet he's fantastic as John Book! He is so much more accessible and unguarded, and it's beautiful to watch. The man truly can act! Anyway, it's a shame he hasn't played more parts like this one (see "The Mosquito Coast" and "Frantic" for two other excellent examples).
I have to be quite honest and finally get this off of my chest - I have never thought Kelly McGillis could act! This is her best performance, and yet, I don't think she is all that convincing as an Amish woman. Her performance, for me, is the only real flaw in this film (not enough to dock a star though!) She is so stiff and unimpassioned, and I'm not sure if she was trying to speak with an Amish accent or not, but if she was, heaven help her. The three or four other films I have seen her in, before she descended into being a B-movie star or Lifetime Television regular, she pretty much played the same wooden, passionless character. Somebody tell me I am wrong or being too harsh. I apologize to all of you Kelly McG fans out there!
The film also had some very fine performances in supporting roles. Lukas Haas as the young Amish boy is excellent and very believable. You kind of knew that the kid would go on to bigger and better things if he stayed clean. Danny Glover is solid as always as one of the rogue cops out to get Book and the boy. Viggo Mortensen also gets his career up and running with his role as Moses, an Amish man who has the hots for Rachel (of course, no Amish person would refer to it quite as crudely and inelegantly as that) and does an excellent job. As do Patti Lupone, Josef Summer, Brent Jennings, and Jan Rubes. Rubes in particular is amazing as Eli Lapp, (Samuel's grandfather and Rachel's father-in-law). I think this man deserved a best-supporting nod, he was that great.
Finally, the story itself is truly terrific. It's a film that both men and women of any age will enjoy. It's part love story, part crime drama, part character study, and also part cultural study as well. Yes, I know, I know, the Amish were pissed off about how they were portrayed in this film. Yet, I can't figure out why. To me, they were portrayed to be much more benevolent, kind-hearted, level-headed, and practical than we 'English'. There were several buddies of mine that wanted to become Amish after seeing this film. However, me thinks these converts-to-be were enticed more by the beauty of McGillis (especially one scene in particular) than they were by the hard-working, extremely moral, plain folk. Go figure.
In a relatively weak decade when it came to classic films, I would without a doubt put this one on my top-ten best film list for the 1980's. You can't go wrong with this one folks! |
| |
| ""YOU NEVER HAD YOUR HANDS ON A TEET BEFORE"...."NOT ONE THIS BIG!" GREAT EDITION!" | 2007-07-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ER6IYOMM8VCT |
| Ford,McGillis,Haas and the entire cast shine in this classic romantic/thriller/fish out of water film! Now, we have a DVD treatment worthy of the movie. Interesting extras and a great transfer make this a must have in your collection. |
| |
| "where he belongs" | 2007-05-27 |
| - Reviewed By davidabaer |
Harrison Ford shines in this lingering over the close-quarter differences between Pennsylvania's Amish people and the 'English' life that by contrast seems so rude in this 1985 screen gem. Yet twenty-two years later, it is the young Kelly McGillis who nearly melts the screen with this early performance as Rachel, the Amish widow who takes in Harrison's 'John Book' and grows into love with a fugitive from 'the city' whose heart grows entwined with the Amish way.
Although the Amish did not like this film (it *is* a film), it remains as a deeply moving tribute to their chosen, peaceful way. Perhaps it is the finest thing we 'English'--this reviewer grew up in Pennsylvania with the Amish as his neighbors--can offer them.
Not that they were asking for recognition.
Director Peter Weir caught them doing what they do best, going about the business of keeping peace and making the earth grow its deepest green things. The occasional caricature that creeps in clumsily elevates the men and women it seeks to honor rather than reducing them to its dimensional poverty.
The Amish are not heroes and do not play that role particularly well on the wide screen (the actors of are course not Amish men and women). They are rather people who have in community made a stark choice and chosen to celebrate both its limitations and the world it opens up to them.
Weir, Ford, McGinnis et al. did well to freeze-frame that choice as one that saved the life of a self-sufficient Baltimore policemen who stumbled upon corruption that made him a marked man in the city. It is a most moving still.
The film was uncanny in its capacity, in the end, to mark the Amish off in the mot authentic way: not by sneering at their simplicity of style and rejection of 'fashion'. Rather, as recent history has provided grim occasion for us to observe, the Amish are distinguished by the grace that they do not kill. And, when bloodied, they say the damndest thing: 'We forgive'.
Witness indeed. And a superb movie. |
| |
| "Timeless" | 2007-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By eorton2 |
| Witness is both a detective thriller, a love story, and a timeless view of our society. The acting is impeccable, the story both gripping and a deeply insightful take on our society. Set among the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennslvania we see the truly startling contrast between 21st Century America and the Eighteenth Century society preserved there. Detective John Book discovers corruption in the police department for which he works in Philadelphia and becomes a hunted man. He flees and is hidden by the Amish. The action and the human relationships that follow are completely absorbing. |
| |
Expedited Available
