FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973]

Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973]
enlarge	Director: Martin Scorsese Actors: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel Studio: Uca Category: DVD List Price: ~~£9.99~~ Buy New: £2.50 as of 22/11/2009 04:53 GMT details You Save: £7.49 (75%) New (20) Used (23) from £1.72 Seller: back_row_entertainment Rating: 15 reviews Sales Rank: 2910 Format: PAL, Special Edition Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 103 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5050582243437 ASIN: B0007N1B7Q Release Date: February 2, 2009 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review After Martin Scorsese went to Hollywood in 1972 to direct the low-budget Boxcar Bertha for B-movie mogul Roger Corman, the young director showed the film to maverick director John Cassavetes and got an instant earful of urgent advice. "It's crap," said Cassavetes in no uncertain terms, "now go out and make something that comes from your heart." Scorsese took the advice and focused his energy on iMean Streets/i, a riveting contemporary film about low-life gangsters in New York's Little Italy that critic Pauline Kael would later call "a true original, and a triumph of personal filmmaking." Starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in roles that announced their talent to the world, it set the stage for Scorsese's emergence as one of the greatest American filmmakers. Introducing themes and character types that Scorsese would return to in iTaxi Driver, GoodFellas, Casino,/i and other films, the loosely structured story is drawn directly from Scorsese's background in the Italian neighbourhoods of New York, and it seethes with the raw vitality of a filmmaker who has found his creative groove. As the irresponsible and reckless Johnny Boy, De Niro offers striking contrast to Keitel's Charlie, who struggles to reconcile gang life with Catholic guilt. More of an episodic portrait than a plot-driven crime story, iMean Streets/i remains one of Scorsese's most direct and fascinating films--a masterful calling card for a director whose greatness was clearly apparent from that point forward. --iJeff Shannon/i

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 15 1 2 3 Next » Simply Brilliant! March 8, 2005 S. Notarangelo (Bedford, England) 50 out of 54 found this review helpful 'Mean Streets' is, in my opinion, one of Martin Scorsese's best, if not THE best, film he has made. It's the film that established him as a unique film director, and it's an absolute must-buy!pScorsese's 'Mean Streets' was released in between the two Godfather epics in 1973, and although it shared with the Godfather a passion for Italian-American gangsters, 'Mean Streets' went a completely different way and focused on the everyday lives of gangsters when they mess about, get drunk, shoot some pool, etc. Harvey Keitel plays Charlie, a man who has dreams of moving up in the world; his uncle, a big player in the New York underworld, has plans for Charlie, but Charlie is prevented from rising due to his friendship with Johnny Boy, a 'bum' who gets Charlie into a lot of trouble. When Johnny Boy continues to avoid paying a large loan back to Charlie's friend Michael, things take a dramatic turn for the worse...pEverything about this movie is brilliant. The acting, especially Keitel and Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy, is amazing; it's unbelievable to think that the following year De Niro would win an Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone, a character that is miles apart from the unstable Johnny Boy - his performance clearly shows what a talent De Niro is. Critics have argued that the plot is too weak and thin, yet I believe it's exactly the opposite: the film is rich in detail (a Scorsese trademark), and the movie addresses Charlie's Catholic guilt - he wants to move up in the underworld, but he fears he will be punished in hell if he does not look after the crazy Johnny Boy. Charlie is torn between the Church, Johnny Boy, and his uncle - you can see why 'Mean Streets' is anything BUT thin!pBut the main attraction of the film is Scorsese's direction. You can see how 'Goodfellas', 'Pulp Fiction', 'The Sopranos', etc. came about thanks to 'Mean Streets' - it looks gritty, the fight scenes are chaotic, and very rude language dominates the film. And despite its low budget, Scorsese makes the film look very realistic, along with his trademark rock 'n' roll soundtrack scoring the movie. pThe film is like a fast rollercoaster; the camera never stops moving, and it's never boring. I would recommend 'Mean Streets' to every Scorsese and gangster fan as well as most film buffs, because not only is it a fantastic movie, but it's one of the most influential movies in American cinema, and I urge you to buy it! NOW!! A top film September 6, 2006 S J Buck (Kent, UK) 17 out of 18 found this review helpful This is one of the most important movies of the 70's, released after The Godfather, and whilst probably not as good a film, I think it has been far more influential on other filmmakers - Tarantino for one. This is Scorcese's first masterpiece and rewards repeated viewings. The film is loosely based on Scorcese's own upbringing in little Italy. br / br /The cast are perfection. Harvey Keital and Robert DeNiro spark brilliantly off each other, helped by a fabulous script and I believe some improvisation as well. Noteably the scene in the back of the bar "you mean last Tuesday". The dialogue in this film is marvellous and occasionally it is intentionally funny as well. br / br /Prior to this film Scorcese had made some interesting films but none of them had his stamp on them. Mean Streets comes straight in out of nowhere as a fully fledged masterpiece: br /The use of music when Johnny enters the bar; Its done in slow motion to the Stones Jumpin' Jack Flash. br /The use of colour. br /The drunk scene, not very long, but perhaps the best ever done. The camera (some sort of steadycam) faces Harvey Keital and we are staggering around with him, until eventually he falls over and passes out on the floor - the camera goes with him. br /The wonderful fight sequence in the pool room over being called a "Mook"; when nobody knows what a Mook is... br / br /Look out for Scorcese in an uncredited cameo role as Jimmy Shorts, and also for David Carradine as a drunk. br / br /This is essential for any movie collection. br / br / Captivating, realistic, engrossing, brilliant all-round. January 8, 2007 Bones (High Wycombe, UK.) 6 out of 7 found this review helpful A superb film. Harvey Keitel and Robert De Nero turn in stunning performances, in fact the whole cast shines, especially Teresa, the girl Charlie (Keitel) shouldn't be dating as her epiplespy is frowned upon. As usual with De Nero, certain scenes just explode, and the intensity is literally fightening, for example the scene where he (Johnny Boy) erupts with rage at Charlie (or rather, himself, due to his own predicament at being unable to meet owed payments). The charm of the film is the way Keitel is torn between his mob lifestyle and a sense of ethics. The musical score is incredibly effective; as pointed out by another reviewer the drunk-in-bar scene is brilliant, and the music just highlights the rather eerie and dark feel of the whole scene. To think I snapped up this film for about £5 off Amazon; I guess some things in life are fantastic value for money after all! Awesome. RAW MOVIE January 7, 2007 G-MAN 1 out of 2 found this review helpful Mean streets br /........This movie has everything from the streets...great characters,location,language, the works. Its a pure realistic gangster movie set in a small hood. br / br /Made superbly, before scorcese films had a bigger budget etc-which is a great thing as this movie captures it so differently(even though his other movies are slick and great),reson being- its so real looking-it is real,but the characters such as'johnny boy'! I think we 60% have a mate like that in our lives,at least i have do. br / br /De niro plays this character 'johnny boy'superbly.......a hood whos half crazy...in debt to other made guys/or small time gangsters, pushing his luck all the way to the end, you can understand why 'charlie' keitels character' feels he must help him out all the time and protect him....hes making up for his sins... like he sais 'you make up for your sins in the streets' sure does.... br / br /I love the scene when 'johnny boy' is behind the bar going crazy, on the roof popping off a gun and dancing to that tune 'mickeys monkey'-classic. Charlie on the other hand is also brilliant,always looking sharp trying to keep everybody happy, hes a lost guy ,but keeps everybody happy cause its good for him and his boss. br / br /Any way all the cast are excellent ,i could go on for pages about the great scenes in this movie,its one of my top ten-highly recomended movie. Fascinatingly hatching December 14, 2008 Jacques COULARDEAU (OLLIERGUES France) 1 out of 3 found this review helpful A film that is very problematic. It is not that old but the action is set in quite an older period, yet Robert de Niro looks like a young actor just out of drama school trying to imitate his mentor Robert de Niro himself, an older version of himself in a way. The film has little depth actually. We all know you must not play with the law of the street that the bad boys of the underworld are imposing onto those who are dumb enough not to be blind and what's more who want to have their share of the cake they have not contributed to kneading, baking and glazing. The real point is that a few thousand dollars become a monumental debt when the borrower becomes dumb enough to pretend in the lender's face and in front of quite a few witnesses he will never pay back because the lender is a dumb idiot. The end is signed in that declaration. Death. And death again and again on two innocent acolytes. The film has essentially one interest: the young de Niro and how he is already building his artistic texture, a texture he will never lose nor change. I guess good whisky gets better by aging, provided of course it ages in the proper vessel, vat or barrel. br / br /Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines br / Showing reviews 1-5 of 15 1 2 3 Next »

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