Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing!, May 4 2009
A powerful performance by Robin Williams who I think is one of the most diverse actors of our time. It's an amazing story of a brilliant teacher who touches and changes the lives of his students lives by encouraging them to live life to its fullest.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
a review of this particular version is needed, Sep 27 2008
This is one thing I don't understand about amazon. All 262 reviews of this film to date here pre-date this dvd version, including the product reviews provided by amazon. They are about the 2003 disc or even the vhs version. How is this "special edition" version different from the previously available disc(s)? I thought I might get some guidance as to why paying $20 for this new version is more worthwhile than buying a previous version now available for as little as $8.
I was perhaps spoiled by the reviews of Who Framed Roger Rabbit where there is a highly informative discussion of scenes that have been deleted and altered in various incarnations from vhs to a couple of different dvd versions. From reading those reviews I know I want to hold out for a dvd version to finally become available that is an unabridged/unsanitized version of that original.
If you read through the lowest star ratings for the Indiana Jones films, you will see what I mean too. The dvd quality of those discs was poor. A "new edition" which I purchased this year (2008) has all the same poor transfer quality issues mentioned, despite it supposedly being a "new edition." Sound quality there is especially uneven and poorly done. In the third installment of that series, e.g., when Sean Connery and Harrison Ford go into the fireplace (where there is no fire) to escape from the fire in the room, the sound of the fire actually gets so loud you can hardly hear the dialogue, where in real life the sheltering effect of the stone fireplace would actually muffle the fire sound somewhat, and at least you would think that they would want to keep the dialogue intelligible. Throughout those discs in many scenes, it is not because of poor sound balances. These dvds too are ones to avoid until finally the flaws are cleaned up.
Here, with The Dead Poets Society discs (a very fine film which I remember from its theatre release, hence the four stars when it perhaps rates story: 5; disc transcription: 1), no such information to make an intelligent decision, so I guess I buy the less expensive version and this possible studio scam to simply attempt to wring higher profits out of an older product can languish in the dust heap where possibly it belongs for now with the Roger Rabbit disc(s) and the Indiana Jones discs, but who knows? If someone (or amazon or the studio) does know the differences, please provide a review of them for us all.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
"And what will your verse in the poem of life be?", Sep 7 2006
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." (Henry David Thoreau, "Walden.")
Hands up folks, how many of us discovered Thoreau after having watched this movie? *Really* discovered I mean, regardless whether you had known he'd existed before. How many believe they know what Thoreau was talking about in that passage about "sucking the marrow out of life" cited in the movie, even if you didn't spend the next 2+ years of your life living in a self-constructed cabin on a pond in the woods? How many bought a copy of Whitman's poems ... whatever collection? (And maybe even read more than "Oh Captain! My Captain!"?) How many went on to read Emerson? Frost? Or John Keats, on whose personality Robin Williams's John Keating is probably losely based? Judging by the vast majority of the reviews on this site alone, you just can't fail to notice that this movie has a powerful appeal like few others; "inspirational" is probably the most frequently used word in the opinions represented here. And justifiedly so, despite the fact that charismatic Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), one of the movie's main characters, tragically falters in the pursuit of his dreams, in the wake of apparent triumph. Because although Neil's story is one of failure, ultimately this movie is a celebration of the triumph of free will, independent thinking and the growth of personality; embodied in its closing scene.
Of course, lofty goals such as these are not easily achieved. Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) in particular, the last scene's triumphant hero, is literally pushed to the edge of reason before he learns to overcome his inhibitions. And Thoreau said in "Walden:" "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; That is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." Anyone who takes this movie's message to heart (and Thoreau's, and Whitman's, and Emerson's, Frost's and Keats's) knows that success too easily won is often no success at all, and most of our truly important accomplishments are based on focus, tenacity and hard work as much as on anything else. And prudence, too ... dashing Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen) pays a high price for his spur-of-the-moment challenges of authority; although of course you just gotta love him for refusing to sign Keating's indictment. "Carpe diem" -- live life to its fullest, but always know what you are doing, too.
You won't enjoy this movie if you are afraid of letting your mind and your feelings run free. Shot on the magnificent location of Delaware's St. Andrews Academy, "Dead Poets' Society" is visually stunning, particularly in its depiction of the amazingly beautiful scenery (where the progression of the seasons mirrors the progression of the movie's story line), and it is as emotionally engaging as it invites you to mentally reexamine your position in life. Robin Williams delivers another Academy Award-worthy performance (he was nominated but unfortunately didn't win). Of course, Robin Williams will to a certain extent always be Robin Williams ... "Aladdin's" Genie, "Good Morning Vietnam's" Adrian Cronauer and "Good Will Hunting's" Professor McGuire (the 1997 role which would finally earn him his long overdue Oscar) all shimmer through in his portrayal of John Keating; and if you've ever seen him give an interview you know that the man can go from hilarious and irreverent to deeply reflective in a split second even when it's not a movie camera that's rolling. Yet, the black sheep among Welton Academy's teachers assumes as distinct and memorable a personality as any other one of Williams's film characters.
Of its many Academy Award nominations (in addition to Robin Williams's nomination for best leading actor, the movie was also nominated in the best picture, best director [Peter Weir] and best original screenplay categories), "Dead Poets' Society" ultimately only won the Oscar for Tom Schulman's script. But more importantly, it has long since won it's viewers' lasting appreciation, and for a reason. -- As the Poet said: "Camerado! This is no book; Who touches this, touches a man" (Walt Whitman, "So Long!"), this is no movie; who watches this, watches himself!
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