Gone with the Wind [DVD]

Let's start with the 8 original limited edition lobby card prints. They're obviously colorized, and hideously so. Mammy in a neon pink headdress? The same neon pink as the stripes on the soldier's pants at the charity bazaar? I don't think so. And excuse me, the dress Scarlett wore when she fled from Atlanta and for some time after that was lavendar, not French's mustard yellow. Nor is anyone's skin that "flesh" color, ever.

Moving on to the 6 original black and white photograph cards (and why would you print black and white photos of a beautiful color movie like this, anyway?)...I could have done a better job on my home computer, with screen captures. The pictures, which include Rhett at the bottom of the stairs seeing Scarlett for the first time, are very blurry. Even the close up of Rhett and Scarlett about to kiss (after Frank Kennedy's funeral) isn't clear.

The 35 mm film frame I received was of Rhett bidding Scarlett farewell on the road to Tara; the accompanying art graphic is very dark and muddy. I have to hold the film cell up to bright light to even see it, so forget about framing it.

The 27x40 movie poster was very nice, and I'll end up getting a frame to display it.

The DVD lists its "special features" as interactive menus and scene access; isn't that pretty much standard by now? The extras consist of a trivia game (you don't guess the answers, they'll give them to you on the next screen) and the movie trailer. That's it. One of the greatest films of all time, and that's the best you can do? What about the excellent documentary "The Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind"? I have that on VHS and it's wonderful. That could have been added to make a two disc set.

I'd wanted "GWTW" on DVD for a long time, and instead of buying the much less expensive DVD (where I could have had a choice of standard or widescreen versions), I had to hold out for the big box set. I wonder now why I bothered.

The acting is BRILLIANT from absolutely everyone.That's right, not a single performance is anything less than awe-inspiring.From Vivian Leigh as fearless and strong-willed Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, to Clark Gable(WHY DIDN'T HE WIN THE OSCAR???????!!!?????) as the ultimate "non-gentleman" Rhett Butler, to Leslie Howard as the gentle,but slightly weak-minded Ashley Wilkes, to Olivia De Havilland as the deeply humane, and physically weak Melanie Hamilton.And, who could forget Hattie McDaniel as the feisty Mammie?THIS IS SIMPLY ONE OF THE BEST CASTS OF ALL TIME, OR DAY I SAY THE BEST????Every performance, is, I repeat, a testament to the power of acting.

The dialogue is so damn good every time-and every scene stands out in my mind as a piece of cinematic history.And to those idiots who think that Scarlett O'Hara was a "bad,selfish" person, I could just spit on you.Here is a woman who had enough spirit and bravery to go against a society of pampered Southerners, a woman who fought with her sweat and blood to keep her family's plantation, a woman who rose after every war, ever obstacle, a woman who waded through burning cannons with a pregnant woman and a baby on her own-and you call her a bad person? Maybe she was selfish, but perhaps it was this selfishness that let her see that the important things in life weren't a good repuatation, or nice hands, but honor, and family, and the well-being of loved ones. She might have acted like a spoiled brat, but her fearless actions contradicted whatever egotism she may've shown through her words.

I don't care who you are, where you're from, if your favorite movie is the matrix, I DONT CARE, this is a film that, if there ever was one, can be loved by ever single living and breathing soul.In this three hours lies a treat drenched in truth about the (corny as this may sound, its true!) endurance of the human spirit, the ties which bind human beings,and simply life-what it can bring, what it can take away, and what it can retain.Watch this absolutely timeless masterwork and relish in the power of the incredible acting, the brilliance of the dialogue,each and every scene which results in a film which is by turns witty, smart,weary, romantic, tragic,epic-ally moving and spine chilling.Brilliant beyond all words-and an asbolute masterwork which has already gone down, and will continue being known as one of the cinema's greatest pieces of art.