Customer Reviews

NEW Shane (DVD)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

SHANE is a great film, but this DVD doesn't quite present it correctly. Paramount released SHANE in 1953. Its intended projection aspect ratio was 1.66:1 (coincidentally the European widescreen cinema aspect ratio; and, very close to our current video favorite, 16:9). Check out this article: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/evolution.htm
I haven't watched this DVD carefully enough (I don't enjoy the crop-job, and prefer my memory of seeing it in the theatre) to determine if it was panned/scanned or centered to eliminate edge material, but it definitely does not present the film in the aspect ratio intended for cinema projection in 1953.
This is a greater shame, because SHANE was at the vanguard pushing cinema screens to the wider ratios we enjoy today.

"Shane! You hit him with your gun! I hate you, Shane!"
--Brandon DeWilde as Joey Starrett to Alan Ladd in SHANE.

SHANE is a beautiful movie. The photography is beautiful. The music is beautiful. The stars--Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon DeWilde, and Jack Palance are terrific and the character actors--like Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan--later a star of tv's PETTICOAT JUNCTION--and Elisha Cook, Jr.--briefly much later in his life in THE NIGHT STALKER--are fantastic. The sets and the script make you feel like you're living in the Wild West of the 1800s.

But even though a lot of reviewers say SHANE is a battle between good and evil, it's just the opposite:Director George Stevens shows people in situations where you can't clearly define what's right or wrong:SHANE's villains were settlers, the good guys are settlers. Jean Arthur is a frontier woman happily married to Van Heflin as Joe Starrett, yet suddenly she falls in love with Shane. As the movie approaches its POINT OF NO RETURN, Shane ends a fistfight with Joe Starrett by hitting Starrett on the head with his gun--with Brandon DeWilde as Starret's son Joey watching--leading to the finale where Jack Palance as Jack Wilson is a gunfighter, and Shane is a gunfighter.

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL:THE ONLY ADULT WESTERN EVER MADE--SHANE!!!

Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING

Please regard this as a postscript to the many fine reviews of this mastepiece.

Alan Ladd was one of those great actors who might have been. Ladd's deadpan persona, which some have criticized as wooden, was the essential element in the suppressed emotion which would serve him so well in his greatest role, that of Shane.

In following Ladd's filmography, it's fascinating to see how the quality of his work is related to the complexity of the character he plays. The more complex, it seems, the better Ladd's performance. And of course, the enigma of Shane, the character's inherent complexity, lends itself perfectly to Ladd's talents.

Sue Carol, Alan Ladd's wife and agent, didn't care for directors, preferring the actor-as-producer rather than director. While this "business approach" contributed to great wealth and influence for the Ladd dynasty, it did not lend itself to the artistic achievements of which Ladd was capable. Whether this was of concern to Alan can only be conjectured.

However, one thing is certain, when Ladd was given a strong director, such as Raoul Walsh, Michael Curtiz, Edward Dmytryk or George Stevens for Shane, the results were dramatic. What may have been his finest performance was also his last, in Dmytryk's The Carpetbaqggers. As the enigmatic Nevada Smith, was Alan Ladd replaying Shane?

This is my favourite movie. The performance is simply magnificient and the scenery is breathtaking. However, the deeper levels transcenbds the genre and deals with conflict. Shane emptiness is juxstaposed with the fulness of the Starts. The moral and legal rights of individuals are Shapespearean in its application. Riker considers his right to open range is beinbg violated by the "sod busters", who in turn speaks of both legal rights and fairness to share the wealth of this vast frontier. The profound relationships between the main characters are ever current. The yearning of Shane and Marion for things that can never be is a statement although simple in its reality is a profound psychological study of man himself.
Wilson pretense of killing the southern farmer in self defense is a classic study of using the law to commit a morally indefensivable violation of human decency. George Stevens created a masterpiece here. Frame after frame confirms his genius of recording man's struggle fo a place in the sun. Robert Mittoo. Calgary.

shane(alan ladd), un aventurier solitaire et désabusé, se trouve à devoir protéger, une famille de fermiers(jean Arthur,van heflin,brandon de wilde) persécutée par un propriétaire fermier et son homme de main willson(jack palance).lors de son ultime combat, shane réalise que toute une époque est en train de disparaitre.mystérieux,original,troublant,ce film inoubliable est porté par un casting exceptionnel(alan ladd,jean arthur,van heflin,brandon wilde avec jack palance,ben johnson,edgar buchanan).RÉALISATEUR GEORGE STEVENS signe ici un western mystique, récompensé par 6 nominations aux oscars. shane l'homme des vallées perdues est des chefs-œuvre de l'histoire du cinéma américain et il est aussi considéré comme un des meilleurs westerns de tous les temps.année de sortie du film 1952.

Movie was as classic .I saw it years ago.Great story , a nice Christmas movie for the whole family.Highly recommend

SHANE is among the most renowned westerns in motion picture history, inspite of the miscasting of Alan Ladd in the title role. many other more accomplished actors come to mind of whom could have assumed the role, and many of these were offered the role. however it was Alan Ladd who was awarded the role.

Ladd was a formidable actor and delivered a fine performance inspite of the other more accomplished actors who may have given better performances.

regardless of Ladd in the role of SHANE, the movie was legendary and considered a true classic to this day. the other actors, which include: Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon De Wilde, Emile Meyer and Jack Palance all gave stellar performances. however it was George Stevens, a director whose name is synonymous with great filmmaking who was solely responsible for the renowned success of this truly legendary western classic. a true masterpiece.

Greatest western ever made..."Tombstone" second.

Opening scene of the Tetons (which are a backdrop for the entire movie), a quail call and the deer in the garden have a resounding peace about them. This movie has a personal touch that shows what a farmer might face in a West that was built around cattle.
Joey's run and cry of Shane come back still brings back memories of the first time I saw the movie and as a 5 year old stood in the theater and started crying Shane come back at the top of my lungs.
Jack Palance is the ultimate bad guy and Alan Ladd the handsome hero. A a true good vs evil flick.

After having only heard about this film, I bought this DVD and watched "Shane" for the first time recently. I have to say that this film deserves the reputation and all the positive reviews it has earned over the years; it is definitely a keeper that I will watch again and again over time. Ordinarily I haven't much cared for Paramount DVD's, as they are usually lacking commentary or other vital features, and their multidisk sets are typically ill-packaged, but I am very much satisfied with this release of "Shane."

First, to correct the reviewer who complained that this DVD is "pan-and-scan" and missing part of the picture, this issue may be misleading. "Shane" was actually filmed in the Standard 4:3 ratio, not wide-screen; so the version on this DVD *is* the original aspect ratio, and with this disk you will be getting the entire picture. Early on, the studio tried to appeal to the emerging wide-screen trend at the theaters by converting the original film to wide-screen by chopping off the tops and bottoms of the frame to make to fit that ratio; so, in effect, that was just as bad as pan-and-scan conversions going the other way. Second, this release also includes a fine commentary by the director's son (who worked on the film with his father) and the Associate Producer, who give valuable inside information about conscious decisions that were made to give the movie the look, sound, imagery, realism, and character developments that went in to make Shane the quintessential American classic that it is today.

I'm trying to catch up on good films from the past that I may have missed over the years. After hearing a local newspaper critic praise "The Searchers" recently, I went out and rented it and am glad I saw it, but I didn't think it was good enough for me to own and probably won't watch again. On the other hand, I heartily recommend "Shane," both the movie and the DVD package.