FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Midnight Cowboy [DVD] [1969]

Midnight Cowboy [DVD] [1969]
enlarge	Director: John Schlesinger Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro Studio: MGM Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£12.99~~ Buy New: £2.43 as of 25/11/2009 23:46 GMT details You Save: £10.56 (81%) New (34) Used (15) from £1.99 Seller: fastdvd2006 Rating: 16 reviews Sales Rank: 3730 Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed) Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 108 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 7321900560382 ASIN: B00004CXAG Theatrical Release Date: October 15, 1969 Release Date: February 1, 2000 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review The first, and only, X-rated film to win a best picture Academy Award, John Schlesinger's iMidnight Cowboy/i seems a lot less daring today (and has been reclassified as an R), but remains a fascinating time capsule of late-1960s sexual decadence in mainstream American cinema. In a career-making performance, Jon Voight plays Joe Buck, a naive Texas dishwasher who goes to the big city (New York) to make his fortune as a sexual hustler. Although enthusiastic about selling himself to rich ladies for stud services, he quickly finds it hard to make a living and eventually crashes in a seedy dump with a crippled petty thief named Ratzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman, doing one of his more effective "stupid acting tricks," with a limp and a high-pitch rasp of a voice). Schlesinger's quick-cut, semi-psychedelic style has dated severely, as has his ruthlessly cynical approach to almost everybody but the lead characters. But at its heart the movie is a sad tale of friendship between a couple of losers lost in the big city, and with an ending no studio would approve today. It's a bit like an urban iOf Mice and Men/i, but where both guys are Lenny. i--Jim Emerson/i

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 1 2 3 4 Next » A fusion of great directing and acting November 19, 2002 14 out of 14 found this review helpful This film is proof of what a great cast and director can do when inspired by a great script. Jon Voight (in his first major feature) is superb as Joe Buck, the naive twentysomething who comes to New York to seek his fortune by becoming a gigolo to the wealthy women of NYC. Invariably the dream goes sour, especially after he is ripped off by con man Ratso Rizzo (Hoffman) who eventually see's Joe as a lost soul just like him and a friendship forms. Voight is terrific and it is a shame that he now plays a Hollywood 'Rent a Villain' when he is capable of a performance like this. Hoffman too is fantastic and brilliantly grubby as the underclass who is suffering from TB. As a snapshot of the 60s Scheslinger portrays a New York that is both wealthy yet contains abject poverty. His location shooting of the city is atmospheric in a way that only Scorsese has since been able to capture (in Taxi Driver). Overall a film that is both poignant, political (remember the civil unrest in the country at the time) and a study of humanity in the face of abject misery and suffering. A classic film that uses its musical soundtrack brilliantly to get just the right feel to each scene. Incidentally, considering that the two stars and the director are still alive (as is Brenda Vaccaro in a small but important role as one of Joe's 'clients'), why don't MGM go to town and put together a definitive version of this DVD with commetaries etc? It would be well worth it! Overlooked masterpiece. April 7, 2002 7 out of 7 found this review helpful Jon Voight stars as the likeable but not-too-bright Joe Buck, a dishwasher from Texas who decides to move to New York and work as a hustler.brThe film is a very cheery affair to start with and an absolute joy to watch due to Voights fantastic performance and the characters endless enthuiasm. As Joe Buck starts to realise that his dream job isn't all it's cracked up to be and the money runs out he bumps into "Ratso" Rizzo, a small time conman. Over time they develop a strong friendship and are one of the best on screen partnerships since Butch and Sundance. Dustin Hoffman's performance is deeply moving and he's very funny when he has to be. Ratso is one of his career best performances along with those in Rain Man and The Graduate. Overall this is a beautiful peice of film making and a touching story. Highly recommended for anyone who loves movies. SIMPLY AMAZING... GIVE IT RESPECT!! April 25, 2005 12 out of 13 found this review helpful Absolute class. From the crisp acting to the passionate directing John Schlesinger's moving adaptation of James Herlihy's bestseller is a movie that stuns and amuses to great extent. Dustin Hoffman is brilliant as a small time con man with big dreams of the Florida high life, and Jon Voight proves his acting talent as a Texan with dreams of his own, and as they wind their friendship through 'get rich quick' schemes and the sleazy side of the big apple, this film has emerged as a cult classic, with a top notch soundtrack, an unforgettable ending. And the all round pure heart that should be embodied into every film. It is an overlooked masterpiece and one of the best productions of all time. a real masterpiece August 2, 2006 sean paul mccann (ireland) 4 out of 4 found this review helpful Midnight cowboy is a film that runs through a good range of emotions,its a film that is ultimately tragic,a film with good laughs,poignant,reflective,thrilling and is a coming of age drama as well.Its a film that was released in 1969,won an oscar and both dustin hoffman and jon voight were nominated for best oscar awards. br /Jon Voight plays joe buck who has dreams of moving to new york and makinghis fortune but he is a naive country fellow,and he meets hoffman who plays ricco who represents the slime of society that lie in the underbelly of new york. br /Eventually through a series of events these two become friends and undertake a series of plots to make themselves money but find out that nothing is easy regardless of whether you have nothing to lose. br /The film is iconic and has a good soundtrack and this film is both spoofed and tributed in film in the years that followed.Its a film that gets better with repeated watches so if you want a film that stirs the emotions then this is one of the all time greats. bleak but compelling ; full of atmosphere December 20, 2006 Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane (Fife, Scotland) 5 out of 6 found this review helpful This was one of the great mood pictures of the 1960s, sombre, in places squalid, but very human, evocative and involving. Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffmann give absolutely wonderful, totally mesmeric performances as two vulnerable characters, very different in many ways, who are thrown together in the unfeeling chaos of the city and struggle, in the end unsuccessfully, to cope. The haunting music, the use of flashbacks, the tacky, unfeeling cityscape, the procession of weird and inadequate characters whose paths cross those of the protagonists, combine to unsettling effect. Not a fun film, but unquestionably a great one. Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 1 2 3 4 Next »

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