Customer Reviews

Sunset Boulevard

5 star:		(126)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A classic. If you ever heard the line " I'm ready for my close up Mr. Deville" and wondered what it meant or where it came from. It's the famous line said in this movie.

Swanson deserved the Academy Award for this picture. The ending shot alone shows this.

A superb film all the way around except for the casting of Nancy Olson. Inexplicably, Olson won a supporting actress nomination from the academy that year, but I fail to see why. Her character gets on my nerves, especially making goo eyes at William Holden. But this is just a little quirk I have.

The film succeeds brilliantly mainly because of Swanson. It has an effecting score, great cinematography and great acting from the principle characters (Olson notwithstanding).

You will not be disappointed with this one!

While widescreen films date back as early as 1930 (The Bat Whispers), Sunset Boulvard is not a widescreen DVD because Sunset Boulevard is not a widescreen film.

This movie belongs to the legend from its release. Never before Wilder got down to the deepest regions of the soul, like in this one.
A voice in off (William Holden) will be as introductory device to involve us in this gripping story about the loneliness of an old fashioned actress who lives only in her lost picture images.
In this sense it's worthy to name the only five films which have had a succesful exit about this no mercy theme.
These are: Cries and whispers, The silence and Persona (Ingmar Bergman), The anxiety of Veronica Voss (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and American Beauty(from Sam Mendes).
The sense of loneliness grows progressively in this old lady, who decided to stop the physical time and create her own reality between the dark clouds of her ancient memories.
An eternal treasure of the american cinema and in my point of view the masterpiece of that film maker giant called Billy Wilder.

In response to the reviewer who is complaining that this movie is "...only a fullscreen version" I would challenge them to find anything pre 1954-55 that was actually filmed in widescreen. I am of the firm opinion that the ratio that this movie has been transferred in is indeed the one in which it was filmed. Maybe it is just that it is such a brilliant piece of film making that comes across so far ahead of it's time that leads anyone to expect a "widescreen" version.

I didn't notice when I bought Sunset Boulevard on dvd, but am sure other cinephiles would like to know that, this is a full screen version of the film. If you look in the specs it says format is B&W but does not list the aspect ratio of the dvd. This dvd version listed here is the only dvd release I know of for this film - why full screen! It just doesn't seem right. That's why I rated this 4/5. I almost feel like it deserves a 2 or 3 out of 5 just for the full screen scandal. People want this for their collection! Why did they make it full screen?! D'oh!

Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim are all stellar in their performances in Billy Wilder's superb microcosm of a decadent Hollywood, "Sunset Boulevard".

A svelte and handsome Holden playing young, financially strapped screenwriter Joe Gillis accidently stumbles onto the palatial estate of aging silent film siren Norma Desmond. The reclusive, suicidal and delusional Desmond played hauntingly by Gloria Swanson, has been out of pictures for twenty years. She has absurd desires to attempt a comeback using a script she has written as the vehicle.
Her fantasies are nurtured by her faithful and protective manservant Max played stoically by von Stroheim.

Swanson convinces Holden to work on refining her script and he ultimately becomes the kept man of the fading movie goddess. Eventually he tires of his ensnarement and secretly leaves the estate to co-write a script with young screenplay reader Nancy Olson. They fall in love but Holden is unable to leave the jealous Desmond resulting in his downfall.

What a treat it was to finally see this flick which embarrassingly has eluded me until now. It was a true cinema classic. Swanson was absolutely unforgetable.

It's always been fashionable to believe that the old Hollywood films were greatly superior to those of today. Unfortunately, when one takes an honest look at many of the so-called classics, the dating of the material tends to ruin the viewing experiece.

SUNSET BOULEVARD is a stunning exception. It holds up so well that it almost feels current. In fact, with today's entertainment fixation, I'm tempted to say that SB could be released in the present to the same acclaim it received back in the 50's. It was that ahead of its time.

Scores of films since then have tried to comment on Hollywood, but none of them have reached SUNSET BOULEVARD's watermark. SB manages to tie its criticism of the movie biz to several other themes while treating the audience to an engaging plot. You certainly can't say that about BURN, HOLLYWOOD BURN.

SUNSET BOULEVARD is almost good enough to convince the viewer that they don't make 'em like they used to...

I AM A HUGE FILM FANATIC AND IM VERY DISSAPOINTED IN WHAT IV SEEN FILM TURN INTO. WE GET THESE FILMS NOW DAYS THAT HAVE NO REAL STORY OR IMAGINATION LIKE "AMERICAN PIE" MY FAVORITE FILM USED TO BE THE GODFATHER UNTIL I SAW THIS ONE AND THIS BECAME MY TOP CHOICE OUT OF THEM ALL. IT'S CLASSIC CINEMA AND IT'S THE WAY "REAL" MOVIES SHOULD BE MADE. IT FALLS INTO THE CATIGORY OF GREAT FILMS LIKE THE APARTMENT AND SOME LIKE IT HOT. I WOULD RECCOMEND THIS FILM TO ANYONE WHO LOVES TRUE MOVIES AND WHAT THEY STAND FOR.

This motion picture is simply a 5 star film by any definition of cinema art... period. Hollywood criticizing itself in the post-war era is amazing enough, but with the perfectly cast players directed by Wilder, this film is sure fire on every note. Swanson in the role of her life, overacting JUST as a former silent film star would, Holden as the impatient and reluctant beau, Stroheim as the former director locked in eternal love, satisfied to simply be at the "greatest star's side"....... and so many other characters playing themselves in real locations make this film authentic and compelling from the opening credit.

This DVD release is NOT perfect.. alas, the transfer IS the best I have seen in any format, but in the garage scenes and a few other very dark scenes, there is a sort of fluctuation in the contrast which is distracting at times. I own a state of the art liquid crystal display, so for me it is visible... for most with CRT monitors, it may not be so easy to spot. The other downside is the dry and totally useless commentary by the author of Billy Wilder's book... which could have simply been left off the disc... the only reason to play it would be for someone who is visually impared, I would think....... don't watch it. These 2 points are definitely NOT enough to bring the 5 star rating down, nor do they take away from the beauty of the way this film has been brought to DVD with the stylish menus and extras.

The upside is that the sound, menus, and "making of" portions of the DVD are first rate. The menu is similar to a silent film and beauifully created. Totally consistant with the look and feel of the film.

ANY SERIOUS FILM BUFF, HISTORIAN, or STUDENT of film MUST see this film. A masterpiece MAY be too trite to describe this amazing work of cinematic art.

There are FEW roles for actors that are this unique and spectacular as Swanson's in this film ... I can think of F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, Peter Finch in Network, Bette Davis in All About Eve and Ben Kingsley in Gandhi among the few that are on this level. See it for this performance if nothing else.