- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: U
- Studio: Fox
- DVD Release Date: 30 Jun 2003
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0000A5BS2
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 83,424 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Anatole Litvak's 1956 Anastasia was Ingrid Bergman's big comeback vehicle after being cast into the moral void for running off with Roberto Rossellini, but it's Helen Hayes' performance that really gives the film its heart and its best scenes. Now that the story of Anna Anderson's claim to the title and inheritance of Tsar Nicholas' daughter has been completely debunked by DNA tests it's more a bit of wish-fulfilment than a compelling mystery, and one that doesn't go out of its way to disguise its theatrical origins - despite the lavish CinemaScope lensing, it rarely strays outdoors unless it's absolutely necessary for a brief establishing shot. Yul Brynner and Akim Tamiroff do their party pieces (stern precision and comically nervous dishonesty) and Bergman fares much better doing imperious than impoverished in a classy production that goes down smoothly but doesn't linger long in the memory.
Fox's DVD suffers from an atrocious remix in the opening reel where the music and effects track are amplified while the dialog is reduced to a barely audible whisper even at full volume, a problem that doesn't affect the rest of the film but is irritating as hell while it lasts. As usual with Fox's classics titles, aside from the trailer all the extras from the US release (documentary, audio commentary, newsreels) have been dropped.
Fox's DVD suffers from an atrocious remix in the opening reel where the music and effects track are amplified while the dialog is reduced to a barely audible whisper even at full volume, a problem that doesn't affect the rest of the film but is irritating as hell while it lasts. As usual with Fox's classics titles, aside from the trailer all the extras from the US release (documentary, audio commentary, newsreels) have been dropped.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Didn't DNA testing rob us of so much mystery and romance? A brilliant Hollywood romance - extremely well done
2 April 2011
Format:DVD
The story of the Grandduchess Anastasia was a great mystery and has facinated many - the girl surviving the murder of the last Imperial Family and suddenly showing up in Berlin. Many books have been written about, witnesses confirming or denying her identity as a Grandduchess.The longest running legal battle in Germany was about her. And than...suddenly the long lost bones of the Imperila family were found and a few DNA test confirmed that Anna Anderson - as she was thean known - was not at all an Imperial Highness but a Polish factory worker turned into Anna Anderson. It is still a great story isn't it.
Well, watching this movie know is of course less appealing than at the time the movie was released. Then the mystery was still not solved. However, star-studded as this movie is it was never but mere fiction. The whole story is more Hollywood glamour. It has nothing to do with reality. But as fiction it is wonderful. I enjoyed it. Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brunner - great actors and a very handsome couple.
If you want to see a movie about the life story of Anna Anderson watch the movie "Anastasia, die letzte Zarentochter" (Anastasia, the last daughter of the Czar" staring Lili Palmer and turned as well in 1956. Of coruse, the great romance is missing here, but it is pretty close to reality.
Well, watching this movie know is of course less appealing than at the time the movie was released. Then the mystery was still not solved. However, star-studded as this movie is it was never but mere fiction. The whole story is more Hollywood glamour. It has nothing to do with reality. But as fiction it is wonderful. I enjoyed it. Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brunner - great actors and a very handsome couple.
If you want to see a movie about the life story of Anna Anderson watch the movie "Anastasia, die letzte Zarentochter" (Anastasia, the last daughter of the Czar" staring Lili Palmer and turned as well in 1956. Of coruse, the great romance is missing here, but it is pretty close to reality.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Before I go any further, pay no heed to the synopsis given for this film. There are no curses by mad monks or banging of heads anywhere in this film!
A dashing Yul Brynner plays General Bounine who is running a scam based on rumours that one of the Romanov princesses did not die with the rest of her family during the Russian revolution. He finds girls who more or less fits the Duchess Anastasia's description and tries to pass her off as the real thing in order to gain a £10m inheritance.
Bounine believes he has struck gold when he comes across Anna (Ingrid Bergman), an amnesiac vagrant who he believes will seal the deal. However, as the days pass, Anna displays traits and knowledge only Anastasia can know which raises the question - is she the really the missing princess?
The mystery of the missing Romanov body of Anastasia has always fascinated me which is why I watched this film. Both Brynner and Bergman give winning performances in what is both a love story and a mystery. Of course, the film offers no real answers to the Romanov mystery but this passes a Sunday afternoon nicely, dozing on the sofa after a Sunday roast.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Classic Moment in History
Ingrid Bergmans return to Hollywood. She won the academy award for her portrayal of a "Suspect" Anastasia.
Based on the French play, but adapted for the film. Read more
Based on the French play, but adapted for the film. Read more
Published 5 months ago by John A. Hunter
Fantasy flight.
The plot of this film is too well known and documented to need repeating; that Anna Anderson has been proven an impostor and that the remains of the Princess Anastasia have been... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Z. Herbert
My Fair Duchess
The legend of Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia who managed to escape whilst her family were shot and killed by revolutionaries, has now been definitively... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Miss Scarlett
Romantic Nonsense
Interesting to watch Brynner & Bergman in this film, but there is very little fact and it is more a romantic fantasy then anything else. Entertaining to a point. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Ms. S. Samad
Solid film making but central premise now outdated
As Trevor says, the raison d'etre of this film's plot, the enigma of Anastasia's identity, has been nullified by the progress of DNA science. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2009 by Humpty Dumpty
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