FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Babel (2 Disc Collector's Edition) [DVD] [2006]

Babel (2 Disc Collector's Edition) [DVD] [2006]
enlarge	Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Actors: Koji Yakusho, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£22.99~~ Buy New: £2.19 as of 23/11/2009 05:37 GMT details You Save: £20.80 (90%) New (17) Used (10) from £2.19 Seller: media_moguls-uk Rating: 8 reviews Sales Rank: 13339 Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Collector's Edition, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 2 Running Time: 138 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5014437934031 ASIN: B000NTPCJ2 Theatrical Release Date: 2006 Release Date: May 21, 2007 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 8 1 2 Next » Genesis Chapter 11 April 18, 2007 Omnipotent (The Tangent Universe) 8 out of 8 found this review helpful 'Babel' is a film of overwhelming depth and power, a truly miraculous achievement. It takes three seemingly unrelated stories and weaves them together in such a masterful and compelling way, to where you find yourself deeply invested emotionally in these characters situations without actually realising when you began caring - it's done so seamlessly, it just creeps up on you, subtly and organically. br / br /The film is not just ambitious for the sake of being ambitious, either. There's a genuine depth here, real characters in all their humanity, and the ultimate achievement is indeed on the purest human level. There's an astounding amount of political subtext going on - some stated, some implied, some even more subtly inferred - but the film, in the end, is not about any of it. It's the human element that's at the core of this near-masterpiece - it's as humans, after all, that we are connected, regardless of our cultural, race, class and/or intellectual differences. 'Babel', like '21 Grams' before it, is a film that most assuredly knows where the heart is located. br / br /From what I hear, the second disc of this DVD is a feature length making-of video diary, can't wait to see it. Iñárritu tackles another amazing film June 28, 2007 Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful It is difficult to make one good film, but director Iñárritu manages to make three good short movies. I expected the stories to be connected in a strenuous manner. Instead, I was treated with an interesting and emotionally satisfying production that succeeds in making a point that the world is a very small place. Brad Pitt is barely recognizable with a beard and several wrinkles. But the imperfection of his features doesn't matter when compared with the realistic passion behind his performance as the husband to his wife, Cate Blanchett, that mistrusts him. When his wife suffers from a bullet wound, you forget all about his stardom and focus on his love. Blanchett has less of a role to play as the wounded wife, but she effortlessly conveys the layers of her relationship with her husband behind the pain and anguish of her suffering. br / br /The two Moroccan boys who shot her are part of a separate but interlocking story about a rural family in Morocco that just purchased its first rifle. When one of the boys shoots at the bus Blancett is on, it sets off a chain reaction that sends Morocco and America into political turmoil, not to mention their family. There are no-name actors here, and they are not particularly stunning, but their story is touching. Another storyline, possibly the least memorable of the four, involves the children of Pitt and Blanchett and their Mexican nanny who takes them across the border. Gael Garcia Bernal is terribly underused in this portion of the movie, but when he is on screen he steals the show.The best and the most disturbing storyline is that of Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), a deaf-mute Japanese girl suffering from unsatisfied sexuality. The lengths to which she goes to fulfill her desires are pitiful and moving, and her character is the most nuanced in the movie. br / br /This film does show a global class system where Americans are treated with more respect than those from third world countries. The goat-herders are brutalized by their own police, and the Mexicans are viewed with suspicion and contempt by the U.S. border patrol. The film wants us to sympathize with the underdogs. I've enjoyed most of Iñárritu previous work and this film isn't any different. The adaptation of each segment of this film has a respective regional style. The Moroccan track looks like an Arabic drama, the Mexican scenes have a flavor that is but too familiar to Iñárritu, while the Japanese story is told in a style and filmed in colors that remind the Japanese thrillers. Nice idea. The plots twist and curl around each other to form an amazing vine, a vine with an important message. br / Towering July 9, 2007 Ingenue (St. Elsewhere) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga (who have sadly had a falling-out) may be one of the most formidable creative teams in the industry. Without resorting to cheap sentiments or preaching, Iñárritu crafts a quietly compelling follow-up to "21 Grams," with an introspective look at the interlaced lives after a tragedy. br / br /Two boys in Morocco buy a rifle, and while testing it out, they strike a passing tourist bus. Unfortunately, the bullet strikes a vacationing American woman (Cate Blanchett), in the middle of a rural area with no real medical facilities. Unable to be transported, the woman and her husband (Brad Pitt) are dropped off in a rural village, to await help. br / br /Unknowingly, the boys have triggered off shattering events in other people's lives across the world -- a troubled, deaf Japanese girl (Rinko Kikuchi) causes a commotion, and the police find that this neglected, lonely teen is the daughter of the man who originally had the boys' rifle. And the American couple's nanny (Adriana Barraza) is delayed going to her son's wedding, and attempts to bring the children into Mexico with her -- with disastrous results. br / br /"Babel" is like a series of completely different photographs, but with the same person in the background. These haunting looks at how lives can be changed in an instant -- and the effects of violence, whether malicious or careless -- makes up the last volume of Iñárritu and Arriaga's "Death Trilogy." It illustrates death with the fragility of life. br / br /But it's also about the difficulty of communicating in the modern world. You can talk to someone across the world, but sometimes never communicate -- cultures, languages, race, and disabilities can divide people, such as when the border police rush to rescue the American kids, but are callous to the kindly nanny merely because she is not a citizen. br / br /And Iñárritu knows how to capture the right feel for the movie, even to giving it shaky, rough cinematography. There's a feeling of powerful emotion even in small scenes, such as Pitt starting to crumble as he makes a phone call. And the movie moves seamlessly from the rocky, dusty Morocco to the flashy, frenetic Tokyo to the relaxed San Diego. br / br /Blanchett and Pitt are at the center of the movie (in that order), and both are excellent. Blanchett gives a stunning performance as the critically wounded wife, and Pitt acquits himself well as her anguished husband, as they rediscover their love under duress. Blanchett's performance should definitely garner her an Oscar next year -- and heads should roll if she isn't even nominated! br / br /But the supporting cast is also excellent, particularly Kikuchi as the rebellious teenager, who feels isolated from the world around her, and is still grieving from her mother's tragic death. So she acts out sexually. And Barraza gives a solid performance as the nanny, in a nightmarish situation that is particularly haunting because it really happens. br / br /Admittedly, a good movie deserves a pretty good special edition, but this two-disc version really doesn't differ that much from the original theatrical release. The primary extra on this is a long "making of" featurette. It's nice, but a bit more would have been expected. br / br /It may comment on the lack of communication between cultures and people, but "Babel" is so compelling in its acting and visuals that it could easily have been a silent film. A brilliant, thought-provoking movie, and one that deserves to be seen. Babel (2 Disc Collectors Edition) January 6, 2008 Spider Monkey (UK) 7 out of 7 found this review helpful 'Babel' is a slow paced, slightly melancholy film that follows four different stories and the links between them. It is a lot more coherent to watch than '21 Grams' which was made by the same director and makes this more enjoyable as a result. The stories are a touch aimless at times and the endings, whilst linking up well, aren't very powerful. But I guess life is like that, you have events that have a major impact and then you keep on going, plus we are a lot more connected than we first realise. I guess that is what this film is trying to put across. The performances were excellent, especially Chieko, the japanese deaf-mute girl, where you really feel her frustrations and vulnerability and Brad Pitt who is better than I thought he'd be. The soundtrack, which is quite sparse, allowing the atmosphere of the film to permeate through, was moving when it had to be and was far enough in the background when most appropriate. The ending piece of music was especially moving and added perfectly to the final scene. This is a good film and worth a watch, it has no definite beginning, middle and end, but that in no way detracts from the various stories and their impact, although I feel that may have disappointed other reviewers here. Give it a view and decided for yourself, especially if you like the feel of '21 Grams' but not the convoluted or confusing storyline. Worth watching but consider carefully before buying May 22, 2007 Mr. James D. G. Miles (Cambridge, United Kingdom) 2 out of 7 found this review helpful Babel tracks stories in Japan, Mexico, Morocco and the US, concerning individuals' lives from American tourist Richard Jones (Brad Pitt), whose wife (Cate Blanchett) is injured by a bullet wound early in the film, to Chieko, a deaf, stubborn Japanese teenager who won't speak, emotionally shaken by her mother's recent suicide. To describe any more of the characters or events would detract from the primary intention of the film - to bombard the viewer with moral questions and controversial, fascinating situations which shock and take a brave stab at portraying a range of human life before neatly tying the strands together. br / br /Overall, I just about enjoyed Babel at the cinema, but not without severe reservations. I found it tried too hard to incite emotions and, like 21 Grams before it, the film definitely does show rather than tell, but that showing feels less like a subtle point to be absorbed and more like an "issues"-loaded mess being shoved in your face, begging for attention and recognition of how sophisticated it is. After seeing how the film split my friends (generally the more film-literate found it heavy handed and lazy, the less film-sensitive being awed by it's "beauty") I felt I had to rewatch, this time with the help of DVD extras and get off the fence on this matter. br / br /Unfortunately, watching the film again and the DVD extras hasn't helped me make up my mind. There was nothing I took the second time that I didn't pick up in the cinema and my sour overall opinion of the film, as a Magnolia-lite that tried to be too political, wasn't altered. The bonus extras you get with this 2 disc edition are largely worthless, the only one of note being the 90 minute video diary which offers little insightful comment into the film itself and feels - as is common for video diaries - quite indulgent. As a vague look into the film making environment it's passable. br / br /I feel Iñárritu's best work is still Amores Perros, a film that created discomfort in just how much freedom I was given to sympathise with immoral characters, a much more powerfully delivered punch to one's system than Iñárritu's recent films such as Babel, which feels like it has had the edges well and truly smoothed by comparison. br / br /Watch it, sure, but unless you really do love this film, don't bother with the 2 disc special. Showing reviews 1-5 of 8 1 2 Next »

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