List Price: $19.94 Our Price: $15.95YOU SAVE $3.99!
Buy it
DVD Silverado (2 Disc Superbit Gift Set)
Director Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill) clearly set out to make an old-fashioned Western, but he couldn't help bringing a hip, self-conscious attitude to the proceedings. Silverado thus finds its own funky tone--sometimes rousing, sometimes winking. Four cowpokes converge on a little Western burg called Silverado; they're played by Kevin Kline (a distinctly modern kind of Western hero), Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, and the rowdy young Kevin Costner. Kasdan peppers the somewhat generic action with smart dialogue and a parade of quirky supporting players, including John Cleese as a sheriff who seems to have stepped straight from a Monty Python sketch into an Old West saloon. Bruce Broughton supplies the music, a real throwback to the glory days of thundering Western themes. One thing's for sure: Silverado's a lot more fun than the later Kasdan-Costner Western, Wyatt Earp. --Robert Horton
Review(s): DVD Silverado (2 Disc Superbit Gift Set)
If only all movies were this good
The film starts with a outlaw (Scott Glenn) sleeping in a cramped cabin on route to meet his brother (a notably younger Kevin Costner) and later on their sister and family, before setting off to California. The first scene is a action filled scene, well shot, with guns blazing as 3 men shoot through the walls, roof and door to capture Scott Glenn. They imagine he's ambushed. Scott Glenn jumps up, gets his gun and shotgun, and shoots them dead, one of them collapsing through the roof. Scott Glenn opens the cabin door and emerges into the crisp sunlight, escaping the botched attempt to capture or kill him. This scene is shot differently than a lot of other movies, and is very uniquely done. It's a very impressive first scene, with a strong attention getting way about it with the suspense it creates.
Shortly after, Scott Glenn meets an unlikely ally in Kevin Kline, who is found on the desert parched, in his underware, having been robbed of his horse and clothes. Scott Glenn gives him some water, and they befriend each other, sharing similar sensibilities and going the same way. In Silverado, Kevin Kline finds the person who robbed him. He sees his hat and horse. He shoots the man cold dead in the street, and retrieves his horse, proving to the towns people it's his horse after Brian Dennehy (The towns sheriff and saloon owner) confirms his identity and the name on the saddle. Brian Dennehy and Kevin Kline have a checkered past, rode together as outlaws.
Their past is never explored in the film, but it carries a huge undertone. The rest of the film enters Danny Glover as the sharp shooting guardian angel who helps the 3 others (Costner, Glenn, Kline) get on their way. The plot develops into a showdown with the town sheriff and all that he represents with his cronies, and the revenge Danny Glover seeks for the burned out homestead of his family, the murder of his parents, and the whores life his sister leads. For a while, Kevin Klines character is tempted to be a manager of a saloon, by Brian Dennehy, but turns it down after Brian Dennehy shows the ruthlessness of his character and disloyalty to his best friends.
Rosanna Arquette plays the recently relocated woman who has lifelong plans to build a ranch that outlives her fading beauty; John Cleese plays the self satisfied sheriff to a neighboring town to Silverado who is smug and tries to hang Kevin Costner. Linda Hunt plays the saloon manager in Silverado and bartender, who is the conscience of the film from when she enters, and casts a large sense of justice and righteousness that pivots to motivate Kevin Klines revenge on Brian Dennehy, ultimately freeing him to pursue his future.
Please note: The version I watched was the single DVD disc (Collectors Edition).
This is a good film, very entertaining to watch.
The film is non stop action from the very beginning to the end. There's no boring or stale scenes. The action in this film can take the form of a well placed silence or a sharp look from someone across the table, that's well acted.
I'm reluctant to call this a "family movie", because the violence is strong, there are dark undertones, and a lot of the depth in the film would probably be lost on a younger audience. There are no sex scenes.
Some of the reviews for this film have missed the mark, most notably where the violence is concerned. The scenes with violence can be vicious and adult themed (like when Danny Glover's sister stabs a man in his back or when Kevin Kline shoots a man in his head to retrieve his stolen hat)
Linda Hunt was a pleasure to watch, and she always has a larger presence than others in film.
Danny Glover's signature line from the movie, "That ain't right", reverberates throughout the film with a sense of justice.
Kevin Kline has a role of considerable depth, as a man reforming his ways, compared to other roles of clowning means or shallow types. Scott Glenn learned to ride a horse making this film, and the Director's two sons each had small cameo roles.
This is a mature western, in the sense that it departs from standards set by "Young Guns" or films that are less serious. This film could enjoy the company of a film like "Unforgiven" and "Once Upon a Time in the West". It is miles apart from films like "A Fistful of Dynamite".
A uniquely effective film, the film was always going some where and never forgot to take you for the ride.
I saw some of the best action scenes in a Western in this film.
The documentary (32 minutes) about the films making was a real pleasure to watch as well, with actor interviews and the Kasdan brothers, and shots of the making of the New Mexico city set (Took 3 months to build from scratch).
It's very difficult to make a film 2 hours long and to keep the audiences interest, but this one pulled it off and did it well. It's harder to do it with little to no comedy, and with serious subject matter, but this film proved it's possible.
The only shortcoming in the film was the undeveloped story of Rosanna Arquette's character, but it doesn't leave a hole in the experience of the film.
Other than that, there is little to nothing to improve in this film - and that is considerably rare.
Silverado DVD
One of the all time great movies! We were happy with the quality of the DVD and the supplementary info on the making of the movie. Definitely recommended!
Bad DVD version of a wonderful film...
They tried, honestly tried to give this film the release it deserves. The problem is they managed to mess up the aspect ratio on the initial release. That's probably why this edition of the DVD has since been discontinued in favor of the extra special 2-disc edition. Amazon # B0007MAO0M
On a normal television the image appears squashed. On a widescreen TV it appears in 4:3 mode and still appears squashed. You have to manually expand it with the aspect setting on either your TV or DVD player. Either way it's unwatchable. Get the 2 disc version instead.
Related DVD's Silverado (2 Disc Superbit Gift Set)
This Western has become a modest cult favorite since its release in 1993, when the film was met with mixed reviews but the performances of Kurt Russell (as Wyatt Earp) and especially Val Kilmer, for his memorably eccentric performance as the dying gunslinger Doc Holliday, garnered high praise. The movie opens with Wyatt Earp trying to put his violent past behind him, living happily in Tombstone with his brothers and the woman (Dana Delany) who puts his soul at ease. But a murderous gang called the Cowboys has burst on the scene, and Earp can't keep his gun belt off any longer. The plot sounds routine, and in many ways it is, but Western buffs won't mind a bit thanks to a fine cast and some well-handled action on the part of Rambo director George P. Cosmatos, who has yet to make a... More Info about this DVD Director(s): George P. Cosmatos DVD Release Date: Released the 02 December 1997 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $14.99YOU SAVE $5!
Buy it
Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christopher Nolan DVD Release Date: Released the 18 October 2005 This item is currently not available.
List Price: $30.98 Your Price: YOU SAVE $30.98!
Buy it
NASA's worst nightmare turned into one of the space agency's most heroic moments in 1970, when the Apollo 13 crew was forced to hobble home in a disabled capsule after an explosion seriously damaged the moon-bound spacecraft. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton play (respectively) astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise in director Ron Howard's intense, painstakingly authentic docudrama. The Apollo 13 crew and Houston-based mission controllers race against time and heavy odds to return the damaged spacecraft safely to Earth from a distance of 205,500 miles. Using state-of-the-art special effects and ingenious filmmaking techniques, Howard and his stellar cast and crew build nail-biting tension while maintaining close fidelity to the facts. The result is a... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ron Howard DVD Release Date: Released the 29 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $12.98 Your Price: $9.89YOU SAVE $3.09!
Buy it
From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Leonardo DiCaprio - Cate Blanchett - Kate Beckinsale Director(s): Martin Scorsese DVD Release Date: Released the 24 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.96 Your Price: $14.97YOU SAVE $4.99!
Buy it
Before The Wild Bunch, there was The Professionals, Richard Brooks's marvelous ode to friendship, loyalty, and disillusionment. It may not have the stylistic bravado or fatalistic doom of the legendary Sam Peckinpah film, but Brooks's storytelling is simple and steady and just as insightful. The difference is Brooks is a lot more optimistic. Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster are buddies who have drifted into oblivion after fighting together in the Mexican Revolution. Marvin, the principled loyalist and munitions expert, lost his wife and his heart. Lancaster, the dynamite expert and unprincipled adventurer, keeps losing his pants. They team up with wrangler Robert Ryan and archer Woody Strode to rescue the beguiling Claudia Cardinale, who has been kidnapped by their old... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Burt Lancaster - Lee Marvin - Robert Ryan Director(s): Richard Brooks DVD Release Date: Released the 05 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.94 Your Price: $13.45YOU SAVE $1.49!
Buy it
From Hollywood's legendary Cocoanut Grove to the pioneering conquest of the wild blue yonder, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator celebrates old-school filmmaking at its finest. We say "old school" only because Scorsese's love of golden-age Hollywood is evident in his approach to his subject--Howard Hughes in his prime (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in his)--and especially in his technical mastery of the medium reflecting his love for classical filmmaking of the studio era. Even when he's using state-of-the-art digital trickery for the film's exciting flight scenes (including one of the most spectacular crashes ever filmed), Scorsese's meticulous attention to art direction...