Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Arguably the greatest of American films, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece, made when he was only 26, still unfurls like a dream and carries the viewer along the mysterious currents of time and memory to reach a mature (if ambiguous) conclusion: people are the sum of their contradictions and can't be known easily. Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. The result is that every well-meaning or tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and photographed by Gregg Toland, the film is the sum of Welles's awesome ambitions as an artist in Hollywood. He pushes the limits of then-available technology to create a true magic show, a visual and aural feast that almost seems to be rising up from a viewer's subconscious. As Kane, Welles even ushers in the influence of Bertolt Brechton film acting. This is truly a one-of-a-kind work, and in many ways is still the most modern of modern films this century. --Tom Keogh
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A couple of the negative reviews on this page are actually referring to a very poor earlier DVD; yet Amazon (in their wisdom) have posted them on this page! Finding the best DVD (or the best copy for the money) is tricky enough without mixing the reviews up. It looks like they've posted the wrong product details as well. For the record, I'm talking about the NTSC R1 two-disc with a gold band at the top. The picture is a great improvement on earlier editions (at least one of which had sync problems, too). There's a lot more detail visible and with a film shot in gorgeous, deep-focus B&W that makes a big difference!
101 of 113 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
It goes without saying that this movie is a 20th century masterpiece from a cinematic and dramatic genius. Being a film that undoubtedly gains through repeated viewing it would seem a natural for the new digital medium. However this DVD release is marred by the quality of the print which looks like it could do with some serious restoration but more importantly by the abysmal quality of the DVD digitisation. It appears suspiciously as though this disc was produced from a 30 fps NTSC video master and standards converted to 25 fps PAL frame rates, badly. Consequently the viewer is almost constantly aware throughout the movie of the 'jaggies' caused by the TV interlace which is very prominent on edges, excessively so during movement. Frankly this not good enough for a 35mm movie of this importance and particularly so on a high priced DVD. It's release in this condition would seem at best cynical and at worst insulting to both the audience and the work of a great filmic artist. As if to underline the cheapskate nature of this release the disc lacks any additional supporting material in the form of interviews and documentary footage. This is all the more bizarre given this was such a controversial movie and one which led to the dramatic and untimely end of the directors Hollywood career. If you're a fan or even an ordinary movie goer and think you're going to enjoy the benefits of digital quality with this magnificent film you'll probably be disappointed. If it wasn't for the power of the movie story telling this disc would be practically unwatchable. Looks like the money grubbing bean counters have won out once again. Disgraceful.
72 of 83 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The R2 version of Citizen Kane - the one with the yellow cover - has to be one of the worst DVDs ever. There's no extras, aside from the (rather good) trailer, and the picture and sound quality is truly awful.
For example, there's a scene near the end, where Kane as an old man is walking down a long flight of stairs. I swear, he appears to jump a dozen stairs in one go. That's how bad the picture quality has been mangled.
If you've got a multi-region player, go for the R1 Special Edition instead. Picture and sound have been massively cleaned up (Kane now walks down ALL of those stairs!), plus there's some cracking extras too.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wow! What a Film!
Quite simply Orson Welle's 'Citizen Kane' is one of the best films I have seen. It is engaging, interesting and engrossing from start to finish. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Andrew Whitby
Greatest Ever
Lets get down to facts. This is THE greatest film ever made. Yes it really is that good! This has it all a fantastic script, Orson Wells superb direction and a wonderful story. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Barclays
Who wants to be a millionaire.
Young lad.
Happy times with sleigh in the snow.
Parents get rich.
Pack lad off.
Has noble ideas.
Does what he wants.
Collects loads of stuff. Read more
Happy times with sleigh in the snow.
Parents get rich.
Pack lad off.
Has noble ideas.
Does what he wants.
Collects loads of stuff. Read more
Published 6 months ago by M. bayley
It's OK... I get it, and remain disappointed
I've heard that this was the greatest movie of all time. So many people say it now like it is fact (as another reviewer of this product had pointed out). Read more
Published 6 months ago by MetropolitanJ
Rosebud is the sled.
A great way to watch the Citizen Kane of film. :)
Seriously though this is one of those DVDs you should have in your library. If you don't then shame on you!
Seriously though this is one of those DVDs you should have in your library. If you don't then shame on you!
Published 7 months ago by Sam
Period piece, but still absolutely first rate
Though I had not seen this in decades, I wanted to get it so that I could watch it with my kids. For the most part, if they can sit through them, they jokingly tolerate my efforts... Read more
Published 9 months ago by rob crawford
Cheap but high quality
A very very good price for this film. I personally haven't had any problems with my copy so if you're thinking about buying Citizen Kane, do so now whilst the price is cheap.
Published 13 months ago by philwint
I obviously don't get it...
I got told to watch it for my University Course, but I couldn't concentrate because it was sooo not gripping. Maybe it's for educated older people lol
Published 16 months ago by Michael Hudson
Citizen Kane (DVD)
I purchased this DVD as a gift. Great price/great movie...Amazon again offer the best movies at amazing prices!
Published 19 months ago by Jeremy Goddard
THE BEST VERSION ON DVD!!!
I'm reviewing the special edition dvd set for Citizen Kane because the reveiws that are already on here are compleatly wrong. Read more
Published 20 months ago by The Glove
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
