Customer Reviews

On the Waterfront (Special Edition)

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Columbia continues its downward spiral where its classic DVD output is concerned. "On The Waterfront" is not only a great Academy Award winning film, it is an American icon. The plot is concerned with a union stooge, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who eventually realizes that the intimidation racket of his boss, Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) is an evil and destructive force in his community. Eva Marie Saint costars as Edie Doyle, the sister of a man who was thrown off of a rooftop on Friendly's orders. It is partially through her love and the stoic commitment of Father Barry (Carl Malden) that Terry reforms his ways. Rod Steiger is particularly effective as Charley Malloy, Terry's brother.

Quite simply: this transfer is a let down. Contrast levels are extremely low, fine details are lost in video noise reduction enhancement and digital grit, grain and noise are detected throughout. The gray scale is poorly balanced. Scratches, chips and distortions in the original camera negative stick out like a soar thumb. The audio is mono and undistinguished. It's not a bad mix, though there are moments where a slight background hiss crops up. No extras! Oh, come on Columbia. This is one of your BEST PICTURES and it gets this kind of treatment on DVD?!? It "could'a been a contenda'!"

It is unfortunate that it took Brando's death for me to realize the acting genuis he was. In this movie he brought forth such a vulnerability that you wanted to root for him. His acting is brilliant, I can understand why he won an Oscar for this performance. I now know what true acting genius is, it was Brando. Highly recommend this movie.

This is a movie about pidgins, both literally and figuratively. Local priest (Karl Malden) goes up against cabal.

This might be entertainment for some and was a type of movie art that came and passed. This presentation is a good variant of the genre. People that enjoy "Citizen Kane" will enjoy this film. The acting is touted as great, however everyone acted the same as it is a 1954 style; if it is so good out of its time and place there would be movies like this today. I suggest that a better variant is "Funeral in Berlin".

For people that look at other film dimensions the music is over the top heavy handed. The one plus is that the music (Leonard Bernstein) usually does not compete with the dialog. Unfortunately the one exception is the "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender." statement where all the violins break out next the rush of horns and whatnot.

I will not go into detail on the movie as there is just the chance you have only heard about this movie and haven't seen it yet, but be prepared for stool pigeons and dead pigeons.

After 50 plus years the film is sort of out of place. So to gain a good perspective on why it is so popular you will need to watch the commentaries and other DVD extras. Then re-watch the movie.

The Teahouse Of The August Moon (DVD) Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford

Absence of Malice ~ Paul Newman

This is by far the greatest performance ever recorded on film by an actor. Marlon Brando was an icon as an actor, he made many great films, but not as great as this one. From the opening scene to the very end, it is a great reward to see this movie. Don't hesitate,reward yourself and buy this movie, you will not be dissapointed, you will see what great acting is all about. The supporting roles are also flawless.

I love this film cause of it's message. It's sad that Marlon Brando went on to later play a character in a film that's message is the opposite of this one. I'm talking about "The Godfather." Wich is also in my opinion the most pointless and overrated film of our time. It's sad that "The Godfather" and Pizza serves as the two biggest examples of Italian culture in North America.

Anyway about the film. On The Waterfront is one of those films that has it's flaws but still comes off very strong. One of my main complaints about the film is the over use of Leonard Bernstein's music. It seems as if there was some sort of claus in Bernsteins contract forcing the director to fit in as much of his music as possible. There are a few scences in this film that could have really done without music. It seemed forced.

Another thing is the acting. Alot of the lines in this film sceem over acted. It's like an on screen battle of who could be the hammiest.

I recently re-watched Elia Kazan's ON THE WATERFRONT in honor of its late star, Marlon Brando. His performance as Terry Malloy is often considered one of his greatest (and he won an Oscar for it to back it up), and there is no doubt that this is a performance of spontaneity and great emotional realism that must have awed a generation of filmgoers who watched him. He truly brings his character---a former boxing champ tortured by pangs of conscience as well as disappointment---to authentic life in a way that is somewhat heightened yet always convincingly down-to-earth.

As for the film surrounding this great performance, it has inevitably lost some of its power since it made a splash in the '50s (during the height of McCarthyism, and during which Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee and named names), but it still offers an emotionally compelling experience overall. If sometimes Budd Schulberg's screenplay seems a tad too overwrought (particularly in the final scene, too overtly symbolic), Kazan and his cast never allow it disintegrate into tiresome preachiness. If Brando's performance can be said to be "extraordinary" (and it is certainly something to watch), the other actors are hardly upstaged. I don't know if Eva Marie Saint really deserved an Oscar for her performance here, but perhaps that has more to do with her more conventional character than with her performance, which is good enough. Karl Malden, as the activist Father Barry, fares better: he is convincingly noble and impassioned in his role as, arguably, Malloy's conscience. And Lee J. Cobb is also good as the corrupt Johnny Friendly: while the script does not necessarily develop human sides to the character, Cobb admirably makes him convincing nevertheless rather than merely a one-note snarling villain.

Despite its topical origins---this film is often seen as Kazan's justification for testifying at the HUAC---the plot still resonates pretty strongly today. I mean, who wouldn't feel the same internal dilemma in the same kind of situations that Malloy gets into in this film? Feeling like you should do your duty as a citizen in the face of great corruption, and yet afraid of what might happen to you if you do? I think everyone can at least understand Malloy's tortured conscience in this movie---maybe, other than Kazan himself, Marlon Brando understood it most of all---and perhaps that is why, despite some of its more dated elements, this film continues to endure. Notwithstanding its political background, ON THE WATERFRONT remains a gripping drama to this day.

When director Elia Kazan unveiled ON THE WATERFRONT in 1954, both critics and the public agreed that this was a special film. This is a rare enough phenomenom and repeated viewings over the decades indicate that this film truly deserves to be labeled with that often overused 'great' tagline. Part of the reason why the audiences of the 50s loved OTW was not just the superlative acting of Marlon Brando as Terry Molloy, Eva Marie Saint as Edie or Rod Steiger as Terry's conflicted brother Charley, but rather the very feel and sound of the Hoboken waterfront were faifthfully recreated to the extent that they formed a tonal subtext. Have you noticed that OTW is not a quiet movie? In nearly every scene, one can hear the raucus shriek of railroad cars and ship clanghorns dolefully reminding us that sound can be used to place the actors both spatially and aurally. Remember the scene when Terry tries to explain to Edie his own role in the murder of her brother? As soon as he opens his mouth, a ship's whistle begins to shriek so his words are drowned out. We may not be able to hear, but the look of Edie's face tells us that she heard.

It is too easy to toss around memorable quotes of which OTW abounds: the "I coulda been a contenda" speech, for example. But this film is not great because of them. Rather, OTW is great because it does what all great movies manage to do: to engage us in the fate of its stars. When Brando is beaten to a pulp by Johnny Friendly's (Lee J. Cobb) thugs and has to stagger to reach the warf to report to work and thus break the stranglehold of the crooked union boss on the workers, we can feel each agonized step that Brando takes. It is only the great movies that allow us to feel pain like that.

PLEASE! Try to understand, post-Gen X-ers: widescreen was NOT the norm in 1954. To pontificate about seeing "less than half" of OtW's image is a laughable betrayal of ignorance. THE CORRECT ASPECT RATIO OF THIS FILM IS 1.33:1! And isn't correct ratio aspect what we all want to see, full-screen OR widescreen (preferably anamorphic)?
That stated, this is an unbelievably powerful film; for my money, the only imperfection is Leonard Bernstein's not-surprisingly overwrought score. The rest is perfection--I'm always enthralled, no matter how many times I see it. 'Nuff said--accept Kazan's offering and see for yourself.

Elia Kazan was one of the challenging directors in his time. This film meant a true landmark in the category of movies which showed with merciless the underworld linked with the sindicates. Marlon Brando (30) won the Academy Award in 1954 with this incredible performance. With this one Brando added another aditional achievement to his kinetic career . Very few actors in the world are capable to compare with this outstanding actor.
Eva Marie Saint made a worthy acting. Rod Steiger , Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden also were extraordinary . The script was simply marvelous, direct and without any hole and with splendid art direction.
One of the top movies in the american cinema.

"On the Waterfront" is a truly remarkable film . The cast is excellent and the acting could not have been more stellar, but it is the performance of Marlon Brando as Terry Mallory that not only makes for an outstanding performace, but that Marlon Brando proves that he is a true contender .