Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Region 2 German import, plays in English without subtitles. Spectacular action-comedy story of the first New York to Paris car race in 1908. Also stars Natalie Wood.
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
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Watching this was a pure nostalgia trip for me as I can only remember watching it on tv when I was about 6 years old one Christmas time. I could only vaguely recollect one or two scenes of the film but it is a joy to own on dvd some 30 odd years later. Jack Lemmon, physically unrecognisable in this film because of the great job done by the make-up dept, plays the Dick Dastardly role with Peter Falk his sidekick, played in the cartoon series by a dog called Mutley!. Natalie Wood is gorgeous in the film which probably inspired the cartoon Penelope Pitstop. Tony Curtis plays his part of Lemmon's nemesis very well but for me Lemmon, as he often has done in his career, steals the show with brilliant over-the-top humour.
It has great picture and sound quality, so if you want a film that is Silly with a capital "S", a great cast of acting, a real polar bear and fun all the way from start to finish, this could be for you. Play it at Christmas time; the kids and the kid in you will love it.
It has great picture and sound quality, so if you want a film that is Silly with a capital "S", a great cast of acting, a real polar bear and fun all the way from start to finish, this could be for you. Play it at Christmas time; the kids and the kid in you will love it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Dedicated to Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy though actually closer in tone to silent Keystone comedies, Blake Edwards' epic comedy often mistakes expense for wit and is surprisingly short on real laughs but still manages to throw in enough entertainment value in its rather padded out running time to make an acceptable Sunday afternoon matinee. Unfortunately it's rather overplayed by a cast who should know better: no surprise that Tony Curtis sends up his old matinee idol with reckless abandon as the Great Leslie, but it's disappointing to see Jack Lemmon go quite so over the top to quite so little effect as the dastardly villain of the piece Professor Fate. As the names show, subtlety isn't on the menu - but then when the film boasts the world's largest custard pie fight, that's not exactly surprising. Yet for all the money thrown at the screen there's still the feeling that played a little bit straighter and with perhaps a little less money and a bit more thought, this could have been the much funnier film it wants to be.
Avoid the German release, however, which has no extras and cuts out the intermission: the US NTSC release is uncut and also includes a trailer and a 15-minute vintage making of featurette.
Avoid the German release, however, which has no extras and cuts out the intermission: the US NTSC release is uncut and also includes a trailer and a 15-minute vintage making of featurette.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Another film I've been waiting for on a Reg. 2 compat. format. I first saw this about 1966, in London (!), and last about 1968, back home in Glasgow and nothing since - and I've never forgotten it. I had the "release" book about it but lost it in a flitting.
Jack Lemmon as "The Villain" and Tony Curtis as "The Hero" are ideally cast as the main protagonists - with Natalie Wood as "The Heroine" (sic!) and everything else - and courageous given what happens to her later in the film - and she did it ! (She also learned to drive a "Stanley Steam Car" for the start of the Race.) Abetted by Peter Falk and Keenan Wynn, with Arthur O'Connell and Vivian Vance.
The film is based - very loosely - on the great international motor-car races of the early years - and goes down-hill rapidly from there! The climax is incredible and perfect. If you like daft, zany, crazy (and any similar adjective) films - get this - you won't be disappointed. There is also a short documentary on the making.
Jack Lemmon as "The Villain" and Tony Curtis as "The Hero" are ideally cast as the main protagonists - with Natalie Wood as "The Heroine" (sic!) and everything else - and courageous given what happens to her later in the film - and she did it ! (She also learned to drive a "Stanley Steam Car" for the start of the Race.) Abetted by Peter Falk and Keenan Wynn, with Arthur O'Connell and Vivian Vance.
The film is based - very loosely - on the great international motor-car races of the early years - and goes down-hill rapidly from there! The climax is incredible and perfect. If you like daft, zany, crazy (and any similar adjective) films - get this - you won't be disappointed. There is also a short documentary on the making.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
the great race
When I bought this german DVD I was assured there was an italian version. This was not true. So I am relying now on my much older videocassette that had only the Italian... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Vittorio De Alfaro
The Great Race
good to watch again easy to change the dialouge back , Nice to see terry-thomas on form. well worth the money. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. M. Bennett
Disappointed
I was quite disappointed with this purchase for a couple of reasons. First, unless you zoom in on the picture thumbnail, there is nothing to actually indicate that the dvd is in... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kel
MaaAAAAAAXXXimum enjoyment
I recently re-watched 'Those magnificant men in their flying machines' and there really is no comparison between the two films in terms of ingenuity, enjoyment and classic,... Read more
Published 18 months ago by A. J. Sturgess
A Lifetime's Entertainment
The Great Race (Das Grosse Rennen) - I first saw it in 1968 and I have seen it countless times since and have never got tired of it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by John Parsons
Good film; bad version
I agree with the other reviews that this is an amusing film, if a little of it's time. However this version (the German import) cuts 1 minute 45 seconds from the Interval part of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Key
The biggest custard pie fight ever
Best seen in the cinema. You need audience reaction and it's hard to laugh on your own. Enjoyably childish and rather like Those magnificent men. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Chris
the great race
delivered very quickly and in a very good condition
i would recommend the company to anyone
i would recommend the company to anyone
Published on 9 Nov 2009 by Mrs. Jessie Campbell
Simon's Great race Review
This is very much a film of its time, slapstick, silly and throughly good fun; i prefer its sister film "Monte Carlo or Bust" that doesn't seem available in Region 2 DVD format,... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2009 by S. Mortimer
Great Movie
Another classic that Warner never bothered to release in the UK. This German DVD has none of the extras that's on the R1 (no short doc). But the film's the thing. Read more
Published on 1 May 2009 by Alan Tully
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
