Customer Reviews

All the President's Men (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've seen this movie a couple of times and really enjoyed it so when it came out in blue ray I jumped all over it. Was totally disappointed that the product had a sticker stuck on the back of sleeve making it look like it was produced in United States but it was actually made in Mexico and won,t play in my blue ray player. I bought this off amazon.ca about 6 months ago and actually did a blue ray software upgrade about 5 months ago but still the disk did not play.I should have returned this product right away.

This is an excellent movie for those who like to think. The story is spell-binding, the acting is admirable. And...no one can run like Robert Redford.

The mystery is a mystery no more. We now know "Deep Throat" is W. Mark Felt, who was deputy director of the FBI at the time. Some call him a hero, others a traitor. I think Felt had a lot of guts, and in the end he did the right thing and in so doing became one of the world's first whistleblowers. The fact that Hal Holbrook (who plays Deep Throat in the movie) bears an uncanny resemblance to Felt makes for even more incredulous viewing.

This movie, with an all star cast (including Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, F. Murray Abraham, Meredith Baxter, Polly Holliday, Stephen Collins, Ned Beatty, etc., and even the real Frank Wills, the Watergate security guard who first reported the break-in) is a must see film for any journalism student or anyone who is just fascinated by the biggest scandal of the 20th century. The jacket cover says it all: "Get the story -- and get it right."

Watch this movie, and you'll find out how Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein got the story, and how they refused to crack under incredible pressure to back off. We also learn among other things how they nearly blew it all when they got one part of the story right, but named the wrong source.

Today's crop of journalists don't hold a candle to Woodstein. After you see this movie, you'll know why -- and why we need guys and gals like them more than ever, especially in these troubled times.

"All the President's Men" remains one of my favorites. Not only was it produced so well, it's also a textbook for screenwriting.

Woodward and Bernstein's book of the same title was an account of their Watergate reporting. In it they very wisely referred to themselves as a unified, second-tier character in third-person, which allowed them to get out of the way of their own reporting.

William Goldman's screen adaptation was inspired and brilliant. The job of any screenwriter adapting a work is to realize the smaller, and separate, story within the original that will be the cinematic story. Although Richard Nixon was Woodward and Bernstein's main character, Goldman realized the cinematic story was about two young reporters unheard of outside the DC area, and that without guard Frank Wills discovering a piece of tape on a lock things most likely would have remained that way. The action, then, is in the newsroom, not the White House.

Any serious screenwriter hopeful should read the book, then take apart the film version to see how it's done.

_All the President's Men_ is the story of how two reporters, Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post, uncovered the Watergate Scandal. I was not alive during this time, so I did not witness anything that actually happened, but I certainly gained a better understanding of it from this movie. Hoffman and Redford are brilliant (not to mention dead sexy) as the two earnest, tenacious reporters. The supporting cast is wonderful, too. Some people have said there is little or no suspense in this movie, but I think they must be off their rockers. I was so tense watching this movie, wondering what would happen next, if their lead would pan out, or if they would have to start all over. There is a minimum of background music, which just adds to the over-all atmosphere. Maybe the movie isn't suspenseful in the same way as a normal mystery or thriller would be, but it's still intense, still nail-bitingly gripping. I think everyone should see this movie.

BLU-RAY review

Did the media change since "Watergate"?
This is what journalist Linda Ellerbee had to say:

"The media today, much of it, is heavily into self-censorship. They do not pursue stories that they do not believe will be popular with the readers or viewers, particular television. Television is about offending the fewest because it's about filling the seats. In television it's important to remember that the product is not the program. The product is the audience and the consumer is the advertiser."

quoted from: "Telling the Truth about Lies", (BD-bonus feature)

Film: 8/10
Picture quality: 7.5/10
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 (Orig.: 1.85:1)
Runtime (24fps): 2 18'21"
Audio: English
ST: English
Chpt.: 33
Extras: all in SD
- Audio commentary by Robert Redford
- "Telling the Truth about Lies"; 28'
- "Woodward and Bernstein - Lighting the Fire"; 18'
- "Out of the Shadows - The Man Who was Deep Throat"; 16'
- "Pressure on the Press"; 10'
- Talkshow "Dinah!" feat. Jason Robards, 1976; 7'10"
ASIN: B001SARO9Q
Studio: Warner

BD has wrong aspect ratio: !.78:1 instead of original 1.85:1.
Contrast is a bit weak, rather dark on some shots. Although this might have been intentional, (DP: Gordon Willis, aka 'Prince of Darkness' (P. Biskind) "The Godfather", "Klute") to accentuate contrast between political DC ("dark") and neon-lit Washington Post office rooms ("enlightenment"??)
Sharpness varies from satisfactory (e.g. TC 00:13:52, 00:30:52, 01:12:53 (close ups) and 01:37:19-33 (long shots) to more DVD-like levels (e.g. TC 00:08:42, 00:12:22, 00:23:26, 00:41:40, 01:12:19 (medium long shot).
Probably picture was zoomed in to fit 16:9 full-screen?

A fascinating insight into the whole Watergate scandal, it is sometimes not the most gripping cinema, but well acted and well researched. Hoffman and Redford work well off each other as two opposites brought together by a common determination to find the truth. Later movies such as the Insider perhaps do a better job of the more emotive aspects of journalists fighting to tell the truth but this is still a benchmark film. The extras are not as interesting as they could be, and you could take them or leave them. The movie itself can be a bit dry at times and the supporting material also tends to reflect that same feeling. However an important addition to any collection, and apart from Papillon, probably one of the best things Hoffman ever did.

"All the President's Men" is the well-made movie about the political fiasco known as "Watergate". Watergate remains the biggest political mess in American history and it led to the resignation of president Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon.

The movie has big stars, including Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as the two Washington Post reporters who begin to unearth the story about the break-in at the Watergate hotel and subsequently piece together the details that implicate a long list of top politicians.

The intriguing story is helped by supporting actors Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, and Hal Holbrook who plays "Deep Throat", the still-unidentified informant who guided Woodward and Bernstein along the trail of information.

The DVD includes text-based cast/crew info, casting notes, location info, a bit about "Deep Thoat", a chronology of the Watergate activity, and a list of awards which include 4 oscars.

If you don't know much about the circumstances surrounding Watergate, this is a good place to start.

Nixon resigned on my older sister's 4th birthday. The actual Watergate incident took place exactly one day shy of two monthes before I was born. For my parents its something they lived through. For me, it's American History. This movie is quintessential 70's. Redford, Hackman and tricky dick. Every 70's time capsule should have a copy of this movie tucked inside a folded brown dinner jacket. Even if you don't believe a word of it, you have to admit ATPM is tremendously well made and entertaining. All the cloak and dagger sneaking around, the high-pressure newsroom meetings, the breathless interviews and the clandestine deep throat meetings are perfect Cold War/X-Files/Michael Moore conspiracy theory what-iffing. The truth is out there: Nixon not only knew, he authorized the Watergate break-in it, Reagan knew about and authorized the Iran-Contra arms sales arangement, Clinton lied and he meant to lie, aliens are alive and well among us, and George W. Bush and Co. used 9-11 as an excuse for the hostile and unwarranted takeover of a sovereign nation for it's oil. And so on. Great stuff.

I saw this movie again recently for the first time since its release in 1976. It should be required viewing for politicians who are now residing in Washington as well as reporters for big-city newspapers if you believe that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it. As everyone knows unless he or she is from Mars, this movie is about the great book ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, two young Washington Post reporters. Theses fiesty, courageous men through their hammering away at the Watergate scandal with their relentless stories played a major role in the fall of one Richard Nixon.

Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Berstein are superb with Hoffman only occasionally playing himself. Jason Robards makes an excellent Ben Bradlee, editor of the Washington Post. The movie looks and feels like a documentary. There are great shots of Washington. Actual footage from current political events are juxtaposed with other scenes from the film. The movie ends with a closeup of a TV screen with Nixon's being sworn in to a second term. You see Berstein and Woodward in the background furiously typing away. Then there are closeups of headlines being typed on electric typewriters of all the president's men and what happened to them. Then we see the finale: that Richard Nixon resigns as president. A great ending.

As I watched this movie, it occurred to me that Nixon might not have been brought down were it not for the courage of a few good people, including "Deep Throat." We can only hope that there are still honest people in both government and the media who believe that it is important to tell the truth regardless of the consequences.