Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Product Description
The effects of intolerance are considered in four historical periods, ancient Babylon, Judea at the time of Christ, sixteenth century Paris and modern America. DW Griffith s follow up to the epic Birth Of A Nation is rightfully considered another masterpiece.
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
48 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
D.W. Griffith's previous great 'Birth of a Nation' had aroused such controversy that he decided to fight back. Intolerance is a superb piece of filmmaking and one that I most strongly recommend to all true lovers of the cinema. The lesson is made in four stories: The first story is of how the Priest of Bel betrays Belshazzar in ancient Babylon, with the final conclusion being the savage destruction of the great city. The battle scenes more than rival those of Ben Hur, Alexander the Great or any other tale of heroism in old times. The second story is that of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and of those who allowed it to happen. This story is not explored upon much and is given less treatment than the other three, although its impact remains potent. The third story takes place in renaissance France, where the Catholics slaughter the Protestants. The massacre is more violent than one would expect from a film of 1916, and despite its rather crude delivery, it still manages to shock and appal. The final story is set in what was then the modern world. A group of women fighting for decency and a proper society reduce life to a boring and monotonous existence. A man is to be hanged for a murder committed by one of the women who does not confess and when she finally does, a gang of men rush to save the boy just in time. All these stories are linked by an image of Lillian Gish rocking a cradle, symbolic of the innocence she protects.
Intolerance is extremely meaningful and poignant with good performances and shocking moments throughout. Its breathtaking sets and scenes are enough to keep anyone entertained, and this film comes to a superb climax four times. However, it also has to set the scene for four different stories which makes the first forty minutes very dull, but stick with it as it improves.
Griffith could hardly hope to match the brilliance of The Birth of A Nation which was released a year before this, but this film alone is enough to make him worthy of remembrance.
Eureka Videos has done a superb job in restoring this great film. Of the three silent films I owned before this (Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera and Metropolis) all were badly in need of restoration, which reduced the viewing pleasure. The picture quality is very clean and adds to the experience. The film is also tinted for those of you who prefer a more colourful look, I however do not and always turn off the colour on my TV with tinted films, either have it in colour or in black and white is what I say.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Great, great film. Terrible, terrible DVD.
Substandard visuality... No restoration... Painful to watch even if you're not hi-definition blue-ray freak...
VHS with this level of quality would be unacceptable, not to speak of DVD.
Substandard visuality... No restoration... Painful to watch even if you're not hi-definition blue-ray freak...
VHS with this level of quality would be unacceptable, not to speak of DVD.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
good film, not one of the greats, but merely a history lesson. but avoid nevertheless. the quality is appalling, and it would seem no restoration has occured. scenes and characters are barely recognisable and the picture is grainy and just awful to endure. buy a better edition.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great film but DVD quality is appalling
Having seen this great film with live music during a Thames Silents festival, I was keen to obtain a copy of this film. Read more
Published 3 months ago by marcus0556
Highly Flawed DVD (Unrestored), But Great Film
This is one of the great films of history (and I can say that having seen it in film shown on screen by William K. Everson in New York in the 1960s). Read more
Published 9 months ago by H. C. Merritt
Wow! A classic in every defintion of the word
Well, let me first declare that this is a review of the Elstree Hill edition. As is so often the case with their products the prints are not of the first quality. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Bc V. Price
Splendid historical film but...
...sadly the transfer to DVD does not do it justice. With today's technology it could have been cleaned up considerably if not restored. Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. J. Stavsky
D.W.Griffith's Intolerance
The DVD cover says "Colossal Spectacle" and, if anything, it is an understatement. Films if this type simply aren't made any more at 2 and 3/4 hours it examines the deep subject of... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by Ms. Isobel M. Mackenzie
The Sun-Play of the Ages
For his follow-up to (and, some suggest, apology for) Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith was not content to merely make another epic but rolled four epics into one to create his... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Trevor Willsmer
D.W.Griffith And Intolerance In The 21st Century.
Imagine that Steven Spielberg was no longer directing movies and that WAR OF THE WORLDS would be the one film he is remembered for. Would that be a fair assessment of his career? Read more
Published on 13 April 2007 by Chip Kaufmann
More theory than quality
`Intolerance' is made up of four stories: 2 feature length (The Modern Tale and The Babylonian Tale) and 2 shorts (The Nazarene and French Tale). Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2006 by Phoust
Two excellent films from 1916 for the price of one
D W Griffith was provoked into creating Intolerance by the substantial numbers of vocal protesters against his incredibly successful 1915 film "Birth of a Nation". Read more
Published on 8 April 2006 by pointone
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
