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A Christmas Story (Full Screen)
 
 
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A Christmas Story (Full Screen)

Starring: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon Director: Bob Clark MPAA Rating: PG
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (287 customer reviews)

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4 new from CDN$ 24.23 1 used from CDN$ 12.00

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A Christmas Story
74% buy
A Christmas Story 4.3 out of 5 stars (287)
CDN$ 18.99
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11% buy
A Christmas Story (Version française) 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
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Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.com

A Christmas Story is on its way to becoming an annual holiday classic, one to keep on the shelf with It's a Wonderful Life, the puppet-animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. It may have been directed by Bob Clark (responsible for the Porky's pictures), but it's based on the childhood memoirs of humorist Jean Shepherd (from his hilarious book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash). And it is Shepherd's wry, deadly accurate, and gently nostalgic comic sensibility that shines through in this kid's-eye view of an all-American Christmas in the 1940s. All little Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants under the tree on Christmas morning is a Daisy Brand Red-Ryder BB rifle. He not only wants it, he's consumed with an aching desire for it. Unfortunately, his mother (Melinda Dillon) repeatedly crushes his dreams with the familiar, harsh mantra: "You'll shoot your eye out!" Among the movie's highlights are a surrealistic visit with little brother Randy to a department store Santa, and the childlike mixture of delight, pride, and awe with which Ralphie's dad (Darren McGavin) takes possession of a spectacularly gaudy prize he's won in a radio contest. McGavin should have won an award for his splendid comic work as a middle-aged-kid-turned-patriarch who alternates between grown-up temper tantrums and unabashed juvenile joy. --Jim Emerson

Additional Features

The kids take center stage for this 20th Anniversary edition DVD. For the commentary track, Peter Billingsley and director Bob Clark chummily reminisce on the making of the film, which seems to have been as delightful as the film itself. Because it was such a small film, Clark relates how they were left alone to do whatever they wanted, as long as fuddy-duddy author Jean Shepherd wasn't on the set. The new documentary features Billingsley and the three other former child actors' recollections about the shoot. The kids even help out with two trivia tests, but why is there nary a peep about or from co-stars Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin? Two 30-minute radio segments of Shepherd's reading his original stories is a nice touch for this double DVD set, as is a featurette about the real Red Ryder guns. Best yet, the film has never looked better, finally available in widescreen (along with pan and scan). --Doug Thomas
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Customer Reviews

287 Reviews
5 star:
 (206)
4 star:
 (32)
3 star:
 (14)
2 star:
 (12)
1 star:
 (23)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (287 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Great movie, awful fake widescreen DVD., Oct 8 2003
By Quasimort "vintageanimation.com" (British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
Many fans of this movie expressed their concern when it was originally released on DVD as a 'pan-&-scan' only version. After a few years, and lots of complaints, WB finally gives us the widescreen version ...NOT!

This DVD actually contians the 'pan-&-scan' fullscreen version, and it includes a fake 'matted' widescreen version.

Matted-widescreen means they took a 'fullscreen' copy of the movie, and added black bars to the top & bottom of the picture to 'simulate' a widescreen version of the movie. As a result, not only are we missing the left & right side of the picture, now we are missing part of the top & bottom as well. What the hell is wrong with Warner Bros, MGM and Universal?!?

When movie buffs and DVD fans demand a 'widescreen' version of the movie, they are demanding the ORIGINAL WIDESCREEN VERSION of the movie, not some fake matted print that simply simulates the original aspect ratio. We want the entire picture, not a picture that has been SHAPED using black bars to fool the consumer into thinking this is the whole widescreen picture as it was originally shown in theaters.

Basicly, these companies are using a play on words, and instead of spending the time to restore the true 'widescreen' print, they are just slapping some black bars on the fullscreen print that was used to make the pan-&-scan version, so it has the same aspect ratio (shape) as what we asked for.

This is an ignorant business practice, and false advertising. Granted, some movies were released in theaters fullscreen, then matted in the theater to make it widescreen to fit on their screens, but this movie is not one of them. So the matting they did on it is unjustified. They are just lazy, cheap and greedy.

I am returning my copy and I will wait (likely forever) until these companies decide to give us what we actually ask for, not some crappy 'matted' version we have to settle for...

Dont belive me? Watch both version, see how much is missing from the top & bottom of the widescreen side compared to the fullscreen side.

Decision makers at WB should be taken out and shot. Why? Because they act like they rerelease movies such as this one to 'please the customers', but thats not it... its about getting your money, and spending as little effort and resources as possible in doing so.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll shoot your eye out!, Feb 22 2007
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
I was almost finished recording "A Christmas Story" on this Christmas morning. Fifteen minutes before it ended, my father walked in and said that we would get the special edition.

That I didn't go postal at losing an hour and a half shows how much I love "A Christmas Story." This 1983 classic is not just a heartwarming little story about a loving (if bickery) family in the rather dour America of the late 1940s, but a hysterical comedy about what it's like to be a kid at Christmas.

Ralphie Parker's (Peter Billingsley) Christmas wishes are simple: a official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass and a "thing that tells time." But his mom says he'll shoot his eye out. So Ralphie begins a quiet crusade to get it as a present -- he writes an essay on it and even asks Santa, only to get the same terrible reply: "You'll shoot your eye out."

As the days tick down to Christmas -- with no sign of an air rifle -- Ralphie hits other obstacles when he clashes with bullies, says "the mother of all dirty words," and watches his parents battle it out over a tacky "major award" (leg lamp). But there are surprises in store for the Parker family on Christmas morning -- and some of them involve smelly bloodhounds.

Yes, the plot is pretty simple -- it's the delivery that makes it special. Narrated by an adult Ralphie who offers his slightly sardonic take on everything ("We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice"), it's completely tuned in to how kids think, and how a toy can seem like the most important thing in the world.

Fortunately the scriptwriters never condescend to the audience by adding some kind of syrupy message -- after all, real life doesn't work that way. Instead there are all sorts of classic moments -- the leg lamp, Chinese turkey, the terrifying visit to Santa ("HOOOO HOOOO HOOO!"), and Ralphie's fantasies of defending his family with "Ol' Blue."

But Jean Shepherd deserves especial credit for bringing this movie to life, with a constant snowstorm of one-liners and hilarious dialogue: "Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap." "He looks like a pink nightmare!" "Oh FUUUDDDDGGGE!" and others.

Billingsley is a little stiff as Ralphie, but gives the portrayal of this everykid his charming, slightly frenetic best. Melinda Dillon and Darin McGavin are the comic geniuses here, with their slightly kooky but loving parents (one of the highlights is Dillon's "show me how the piggies eat!" scene), and there's an array of very convincing bullies and classmates too.

"A Christmas Story" didn't get much notice when it came out in 1983. But now it's one of the quintessential holiday movies, and a must-see at Christmastime.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars We've Been HOODWINKED!!, Oct 17 2003
By Scott Jordahl (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
I already have the first DVD version of this movie. I got
the 2-disc special for the widescreen version. Turns out,
the widescreen version is actually a "Matted Widescreen".
What's a "Matted Widescreen", you ask? That's the full-screen
version with the tops and bottoms cut off. You now get even
LESS of the movie. This dog is going back!! Warner Brothers
did the same thing to the latest release of National Lampoon's
Christmas Vacation, so don't bother getting it either. Wish I

knew who to complain to over at WB!

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas Classic
This movie is a Christmas Classic! Very funny! Not Christmas until you see a Christmas Story!
Published 11 months ago by R. Funk

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have
I have grown quite cynical about DVD reissues - they just seem manipulative attempts to squeeze more money out of the consumer. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Sebastian T. Stoker

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!
Arrived in perfect condition and on time. Was a great Christmas present! Shopping on Amazon for gifts is a awesome and hassle free idea!
Published 12 months ago by Trudy T. Atherton

5.0 out of 5 stars That BB gun.....................,
The first time I watched this movie was at the age of ten and I love it ever since. Ralphie and his obsession with a Red Ryder BB gun is an annual classic. Read more
Published on Nov 8 2007 by Jenny J.J.I.

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll shoot your eye out
I was almost finished recording "A Christmas Story" on last Christmas morning. Fifteen minutes before it ended, my father walked in and said that we would get the special edition... Read more
Published on Oct 12 2007 by E. A Solinas

5.0 out of 5 stars An Acquired Taste
When I was a kid, they used to make us watch this movie at school every Christmas, and I HATED it! I used to dread the last day of school before Xmas break, when I'd have to hear... Read more
Published on Dec 15 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars "Oh, I hate the smell of tapioca."
Bob Clark's "A Christmas Story" is a cinematic slice of Americana. It chronicles an era long since gone when a BB gun was the dream present of every young child and... Read more
Published on July 4 2004 by Steven Y.

5.0 out of 5 stars SIMPLY THE BEST!!!!
This is the BEST holiday movie to date...
It has everything...laughs, drama, and it's heartwarming just the same...brings back alot of memories....LOVED IT!!
Published on Jun 30 2004 by Sandeeee

5.0 out of 5 stars A Christmas classic...
It was made only 20 years ago, but the Amazon review up top was right; A Christmas Story SHOULD be placed on the same shelf as It's A Wonderful Life. Read more
Published on Jun 23 2004 by Danny

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Classic that will never die
I love this Christmas movie its one of my favorites,this is such a great holiday movie for the film that will be watched decades and decades, this is a movie that will always be... Read more
Published on Jun 6 2004 by Chase

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