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Amazon.co.uk Review
Asian American director Ang Lee sums up America in the early 1970s by focusing on the arrival of the sexual revolution in the 'burbs. Isolationism within a family, consumerism, and selfishness are personified by a cast that captures the self-obsession within two New England families. As the children struggle awkwardly with adolescence, their parents stumble through sexual experimentation. In the days of Watergate and Vietnam, society is breaking boundaries and ignoring convention. Following suit, these families are eschewing polite barriers and social taboos, with disastrous results. The Ice Storm of the title refers not only to a natural phenomenon but is a (rather heavy-handed) metaphor for a pervasive emotional temperament. The entire cast delivers textured, finely nuanced performances. This movie lingers in the psyche not only for the scope of the tragedy at its conclusion, but for Lee's often humorous and stingingly accurate assessment of pop culture. Based on Rick Moody's novel, this won the best-screenplay award at Cannes in 1997. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
English
Region 2
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
English
Region 2
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
I watched The Ice Storm after watching American Beauty since it was recommended to me as a similar film. And it is - in a sense - since it's about family relationships. But it's even better than American Beauty. This movie is simply wonderful from start to finish. The plot is serious but interesting and the acting and music are... well... fantastic. It's one of the best films ever made. I've seen it a dozen times (DVD version) and it's still wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
This is one of the few films that not only successfully translates from a novel but, in my opinion, far outstrips the book. Where Rick Moody's original text relies too heavily on references to the 70's and the social peculiarities of the time, Ang Lee simply uses the era as a backdrop for what is essentially a story about the way we ignore our families and the pain this causes them. In what is a very strong ensemble piece, it is the female characters that stand out, with Joan Allen in particular giving an incredibly moving portrait of the cuckolded wife who has been turning a blind eye to her husband's affairs. The greatest achievement of the film is demonstrating the effect of parents bad choices on their developing children without any of the usual cliched teenage rebellion scenes that hollywood produces. This film doesn't have a happy ending but provides a reassuringly accurate portrayal of the family for anyone who didn't have the perfect childhood.
23 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a detailed trip through middle-class confusion in 1970s Connecticut, beautifully adapted from Rick Moody's highly-regarded novel.
Kevin Kline is Ben Hood, the father who is trying but doesn't have a clue, like all around him in an America that has broken morally and spiritually adrift. His carefully coiffed wife Elena (Allen) looks like a Stepford robot but is getting itchy for some liberated self-realisation. His neighbour Janey (Weaver) is the swinger next door who makes her waterbed freely available to him while denying him any warmth that may lurk beneath her cold, brittle indifference.
Kevin Kline is Ben Hood, the father who is trying but doesn't have a clue, like all around him in an America that has broken morally and spiritually adrift. His carefully coiffed wife Elena (Allen) looks like a Stepford robot but is getting itchy for some liberated self-realisation. His neighbour Janey (Weaver) is the swinger next door who makes her waterbed freely available to him while denying him any warmth that may lurk beneath her cold, brittle indifference.
Simultaneously, Ben and Elena's teenaged son (Tobey Maguire), en route from prep school for the Thanksgiving holiday, is having a Holden Caulfield weekend and pubescent daughter (Ricci) is playing "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" with the anxious, oddball boys next door (Elijah Wood and Adam Hann-Byrd).
Lee's vision of an emotionally drained suburban America hopelessly mired in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal and ineffectually coping with wife-swapping and barbiturates, confirms the 70s as the most excruciating style decade of the century, the totally tragic duds emblematic of the mass inability to get a grip.
The film scores insights both in sharply observed social satire and poignantly universal details of sexual longing in the interwoven tales of parental mid-life crises and teen angst. But Lee's most impressive achievement is his almost imperceptible shift from sex farce to achingly funny youth drama to profound tragedy and despair as the approaching winter freeze of the title mirrors the family's emotional chill and the devastation it brings. The dazzling ensemble perfectly captures every nuance in one of the finest acting showcases you could hope for. Well worth seeing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A surpisingly good film with lots of twists
This 1998 film caught me by surprise. We watched it because it was on and channel-hopping, there it was. It looked innocent enough, innocuous and fun. Read more
Published 6 months ago by RR Waller
Whips of ice
This exquisite, bleakly raw, terribly sad film was directed in 1997 by the great Ang Lee, after Sense And Sensibility, and just before the brilliant Ride With The Devil. Read more
Published 6 months ago by GlynLuke
perfect film. needs a blu ray release.
top 50 films of all times material. period drama perfectly filmed and acted. DVD transfer is rubbish though and this needs a decent blu-ray release. Read more
Published 7 months ago by JrF
I Love Sigourney Weaver!
Sigourney Weaver is great in this great movie. Although the end is quite sad and surprising...and odd, I still like it. There's touching moments as well as sensual moments. Read more
Published on 18 April 2010 by Reijo Piippula
DECEPTIVE KALEIDOSCOPIC VIEWS & SHARP MORALITY SHARDS
The ICE STORM is one of the best films ever released. Ang Lee proved to be one of our great contemporary film directors and he sure did justice to Rick Moody's book. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2008 by NeuroSplicer
Behind closed doors
Two neighboring families experience a long and ultimately life-changing Thanksgiving weekend. The story moves from one house to the other where the adults are all bored with their... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2008 by Kona
Chilling and realistic drama with great performances
Ben (Kline) is having an affair with Janey (Sigourney Weaver) unknown to his wife Elena (Allen) and daughter Wendy (Ricci) who is also fooling around with the local teens... Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2008 by Stampy
A moving and fantastic film
This film is a must have for anyones collection. Wonderfully directed by Ang Lee this film depicts America in the 1970's and its sexual liberation. Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2007 by Tangerine
Hidden gem
Brilliant! Is 'The Ice Storm' one of recent cinema's best kept secrets? Hardly anyone I know has seen this film - and yet I find it hard to think of a more beautiful and moving... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2007 by rubsley
Good 70's soundscape
Apart from the first two tracks which are Mychael Danna's score, the rest of the soundtrack is what you'd exepct; the songs played as source music in the film. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2007 by oliraceking
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