FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Brazil [1985] [DVD]

Brazil [1985] [DVD]
enlarge	Director: Terry Gilliam Actors: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £3.24 as of 22/11/2009 09:18 GMT details You Save: £12.75 (80%) New (22) Used (5) from £3.23 Seller: twentyfiveorless Rating: 44 reviews Sales Rank: 1373 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), Danish (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 137 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5039036011891 ASIN: B00008WQ62 Theatrical Release Date: December 18, 1985 Release Date: May 19, 2003 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--this is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. However, IBrazil/I was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam sure captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's IThe Trial/I (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek governmental clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. Not a software bug, a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous IMetamorphosis/I insect) that gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly identifying an innocent citizen, one Mr. Buttle, as suspected terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). When Sam becomes enmeshed in unravelling this bureaucratic glitch, he himself winds up labelled as a miscreant.p The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. I--Jim Emerson/I Amazon.co.uk Review If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--IBrazil/I is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. In fact it was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's IThe Trial/I (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek government clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. It's not a software bug but a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous IMetamorphosis/I insect) that gets squashed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly identifying an innocent citizen, one Mr Buttle, as suspected terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). When Sam becomes enmeshed in unravelling this bureaucratic tangle, he himself winds up labelled as a miscreant. The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. --IJim Emerson/I p BOn the DVD:/B IBrazil/I comes to DVD in a welcome anamorphic print of the full director's cut--here running some 136 minutes. Disappointingly the only extra feature is the 30-minute making-of documentary "What Is Brazil?", which consists of on-set and behind-the-scenes interviews. There's nothing about the film's controversial release history (covered so comprehensively on the North American Criterion Collection release), nor is Gilliam's illuminating, irreverent directorial commentary anywhere to be found. The only other extra here is the ubiquitous theatrical trailer. A welcome release of a real classic, then, but something of a missed opportunity. --IMark Walker/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...9 Next » dark fairytale November 12, 2003 the thief of brisco 20 out of 22 found this review helpful Where on earth do you start when you try describing Brazil? Terry Gilliam does a spectacular job portraying a dark fantasy world where society is taken over by a sinister bureaucracy which creates the nightmare scenario where individuals don't know who to trust or where to turn for help. What makes Brazil particularly uncomfortable and even prophetic, is that we can identify with the leading character (played by Johnathon Price) and his lonely plight into a dystopian hell. For anyone who has been enraged by being fobbed off by something like an electronic answering service in a bank, multiply Price's anguish by ten. He lives in an inhuman world which has nothing left other than red tape and faceless autocrats. Gilliam proves that you don't need any of the tactics employed by the horror genre to a create a terrifying and riveting scenario. 1984 meets Monty Python December 5, 2003 Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK) 29 out of 33 found this review helpful This film is bizarre, fantastic, flawed, and utterly delicious - all the ingredients you'd expect from the febrile imagination of Terry Gilliam. It's a cartoon come to life and gone wild; packed with the sort of detail and flights of fancy you could normally only expect to find in a novel. Watching it again after some years was a treat, partly to catch up with some of the delightful nuances Gilliam has hidden within his richly decorated but highly indigestible chocolate box world. This parallel universe in which society has been shaken into a nightmarish but strangely incompetent bureaucratic police state closely reminiscent of Orwell's 1984. How Orwell might have envisioned his alternative reality, had he been less po-faced and been in possession of a darkly chaotic sense of humour!pBeautifully judged performances abound: Jonathan Pryce's Sam Lowry (a cog in the wheel but dreams himself a winged hero) is exactly the right mix of naive everyman and common-sense superhero; Michael Palin's civilised torturer is joyful to watch; Bob Hoskins as the frustrated official heating engineer perfect, while Robert de Niro plays his rogue counterpart; and many more - a shame to pick out anyone. And Brazil? It's that infectiously catchy latin tune running through the film. pThis is far from perfect, but then removing the flaws would leave a bland and anodyne movie. Accept it, warts and all. In Gilliam's own cut, this is an experience not to be missed. Has to be seen! April 10, 2003 S S Kalwan (London, UK) 8 out of 9 found this review helpful I can't believe that it's taken them this long to release this classic. I saw this on TV years ago and wasn't expecting much, boy was I wrong. Even now, the story is original if surreal. The humour dark and the ending defininately not the fairy tale ending that you expect from the Hollywood machine. There are so many "moments" that you could single out as defining this film, but none that would fully encapsulate the breadth of it. Watch this if you want a change from the "usual" film. If you liked 12 Monkeys, you'll love this. Walter Mitty meets Monty Python in 1984 January 6, 2006 pointone (Bournemouth UK) 9 out of 11 found this review helpful Watching this film I gasped at the imagination of minds that work so differently from mine, starting with the title which apparently has no meaning.pThe action takes place in a 1984 type future complete with information factory. The main character is Sam Lowry (Pryce) who is a low level official and also appears to live a separate fantasy life surrounding the character of Jill Layton (Greist) although the exact dividing point between the actual (in the insane sense of this film) and the dream fantasy overlaps.pThe cast of supporting actors is astonishing, including Robert de Niro as a renegade heating engineer, and Palin, Broadbent, Holm, Hoskins, the list goes on and on.pThe direction is brilliant with never a wasted second, as the crazy Pythonesque comedy goes on and on. Probably a masterpiece of its type. All We Have Left Are Our Thoughts September 27, 2006 Vica (Cheltenham) 12 out of 15 found this review helpful Utterly cerebral, and the very definition of paradoxical, Brazil is in its most simplistic form, an art film. Yet there is nothing simple about this film. While on one level, highlighting how we dream to escape our everyday lives, it is also an attack on bureaucracy and conglomerate companies. It also proves to be a scathing assault on personal perception, and (whilst not being a sandal wearing liberal) the conformist attitude of us all "struggling" to achieve this manakin-esquire look, so that we all may drift seamlessly without disruption to the system. br / br /Tom Stoppard, the Czech born English writer, co-wrote the screenplay with Terry Gilliam, and the resultant is something quintessentially British. Our protagonist, Sam, played by Johnathon Pryce (the devious news baron from Tomorrow Never Dies) is typically British. He is the underdog, completely hapless with no knowledge of where he is heading as events unravel around him, yet he is a gentleman to the end, fighting for justice. Brazil, is very Monty Python-esquire, and carries their trademark dry-wit humour that made them so damned funny, and extremely popular. Although, Gilliam is indeed American, and the input of Robert De Niro, proves to be an inspired choice as a counterweight in parts. br / br /This is 1984 reworked. Directed by Terry Gilliam, the animator for the hilarious Monty Python, Brazil is surreal, yet hits very close to home, its poignancy should not be underestimated, even to this day. Brazil in essence sums up how we all would wish to live, free of state control, being allowed to become the individuals we'd wish to be, yet are confined and restricted from being. This is not necessarily Science Fiction, yet bares all the hallmarks and trademarks of such a genre. Nor is it strictly speaking a thriller, as it ambles along at a brisk stroll for most of the one hundred and fifty minutes, yet as we ourselves delve deeper into the psychological landscape, it begins to hurtle along. The story has it's tense, mysterious and macabre moments that seem to gel perfectly, while the dream sequences that Sam has were simply splendid and very hypnotic and the same goes for the haunting music score that spirals with emotion. br / br /Brazil is dark yet amusing, thought provoking and enjoyable. It is truly an exceptionally innovative and, I do not hesitate to use the word, brilliant. It will leave a lasting impression, in a world, where nothing is ever as it seems Showing reviews 1-5 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...9 Next »

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