Within a brief period of time Woody made Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and Sleeper, establishing himself as the funniest actor-director in ages. Like Take the Money and Run, this parody is mostly a series of sketch pieces, strung together by an unlikely premise. Just as when I first saw it over 30 years ago, some of the bits don't work, but more do. I particularly liked Howard Cosell commenting on a political assasination, and Woody trying to seduce a beautiful young revolutionary.

By the time this film was released I was already a full fledged Woody fan, based on Bananas and Take the Money and Run. But unlike those two, this film wasn't a series of sketches. It was a coherent film with a concept (albeit a warped Woody concept) that works from beginning to end. Bits like Woody having sex with the orgasm machine, and Woody pretending to be a doctor who's going to clone the "Leader" from the remainder of his nose, are classic.

For all of his many skills, as director, actor and comedian, Woody Allen started as a writer, and it is as a film writer that he may ultimately best be remembered. Yes he's funny here, and the film is well directed, but its the writing that's the best. An exceptional script that goes back and forth in time to examine a relationship with the fictional Annie, made by a man co-staring with his ex-girlfriend. Perfect.

This film was originally another case of Welles making a good film and having it taken away by the studio, recut and made worse. Its amazing that it still had a good reputation, despite having a few scenes that made little sense and were laughable. The studio granted Welles a screening of the recut film. He immediately dictated a 50 page letter to the studio politely asking for changes (that they never made). The DVD has the original letter and reading it is remarkable. The man saw the final cut once and remembered the whole thing frame by frame, and articulately explained why it should be cut differently. Based on the detailed instructions, the film was recut and this DVD relects the results - a good film made great. One of the finest Noir films ever!

I hadn't seen this film in 20 years, but this version on DVD brings one of the greatest films of all time to my home theater. The film is visually magnificient: a big screen is almost essential, and if you have one, you will want a bigger one. Its not hard to understand why Peter O'Toole became an instand International star. Truly one of the most electric performances ever captured on film. Get bridge Over the River Kwai and have your own David Lean festival.

For years I have heard that Sergio Leone's original version of this film was great but was butchered in its US release. This DVD is Leone's version that thrilled the audience at Cannes. Its understandable why. At nearly 4 hours long, it was inevitable that the film would be cut by the distributor, but with a snack break or two, this DVD is a remarkable find.

DeNiro gives and exceptionally understated performance. He's a sociopath at times, and the film's hero at other times. he makes it work.

This is arguably James Woods' best performance. He loved the experience of working on the film and his passion for Leone is shown by his spirited participation on one of the DVD's extra features. Its one of the better "behind the Scenes" looks I have seen on any DVD.

The film is complex, jumping between 3 periods of time. Also, it is never absolutely clear whether you are seeing the real events or Deniro's opium-induced hallucination.

A must own DVD. You won't likely ever see this version in a theater.

Like most great Westerns the moral ambiguities of this tale make it worth telling. Is Clint the sociopath who's killed about everything that crawled on this earth, or the widowered haunted by the death of his beloeved wife, trying to do the best for his kids. Spectacular performances by all the major players, a wonderful script, perfectly paced direction, and Clint's willingness to look like he got the crap beat out of him (which he did)all combine to make this a memorable film.

This was an important movie to me as a teen. Its the classic Woody as nebbish who wins out in the end. Far more conventionally filmed than a Woody-directed film its nonetheless up their with his funniest - touching as well.

This film is memorable for a couple of extraordinary scenes as well as Welles working with his wife, Rita Hayworth. Did this guy have a fortunate young life or what!

It seems that every review of this film calls it "arguably the best film of all time." Get rid of the first word and you have it right. Ironically, for all the emphasis on Welles' cinematic breakthroughs here, Kane is Welles' most accessible film - it should have been a populist hit - but was suppressed by William Randolph Hearst. Welles and company are young and appear to be having lots of fun with this. The DVD has exceptional extras as befits a film of this caliber.