Customer Reviews

Rain Man (Special Edition)

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent movie to watch (funny, dramatic, romanctic)very entertaining. A must see movie for anyone who collect movies, this is a classic at its best.

First - Amazon ROCKS! Ordered and received within a couple of days! Although I've watched this movie before, I wanted it in my blu-ray library and had decided to only purchase movies I LOVED and would watch repeatedly. Rain Man is one of those movies! What starts out as a scam as the one brother learns he has a Savant brother in an institution that has been awarded all their dad's money from his will, ends up with love and compassion but with a long road in between. Such a touching, funny and educational movie...a must buy!

i first saw this movie in high school,and recall feeling indifferent
towards it.flash forward several years,and what a difference.this time
around,i really liked it.for one,i paid more attention to it.i also
liked it because Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of an autistic person was
bang on.the reason i say this is because i work with an autistic
individual.Hoffman must have done a lot of research for the role.either
that,or he's a complete and utter genius.Tom Cruise is also good as the
man who finds out he has an autistic brother.Cruise's character(Charlie
Babbit)goes from being an ego-centric materialistic and shallow human
being,to someone who actually has compassion and doesn't just think of
himself.Cruise makes the transformation very credible.i bought every
minute of it.the story is fairly original,as far as i know,even
today.there are also bits of lite humour sprinkled throughout,which
don't detract from the quality of the film at all.for me,rain man is a
4.5/5

I admit that while I wasn't wild about this film and didn't like the music at all, it had an excellent cast.

Tom Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, a rich daddy's boy whose nose is out of joint because he only inherited a weird-looking late 1940s Buick and a rosebush. The lion's share of Babbitt's father's estate was bequeathed to his brother, Raymond, whom Cruise nicknamed "Rain Man" as a young child. At the film's opening, Cruise has virtually no memory of his long-lost older brother.

After the will is read and the legal formalities are completed, Cruise drives the weird-looking car up to the residence where Rain Man,played by Dustin Hoffman has lived for many years. The brothers meet by chance when Rain Man comes out of the residence, sees the car and makes long, detailed comments about it. The brothers meet and Cruise and Rain Man, with the residence's hard-wrought blessing embark on a road trip. They converse, in a fashion.

Rain Man was an autistic savant. He picked up a box of toothpicks and was able to tell how many were in the box; he had a "feel" for numbers and proved to be an asset at the gaming tables in Las Vegas; he memorized the telephone book; he recited facts by rote; he was a slave to routine and had "melt downs" when he missed a favorite show or shopped in a store other than the K-Mart he had become familiar with.

I am sick and tired of stories like "Rain Man" that portray people with autism as autistic savants. That description and accompanying behaviors do not apply to the entire autistic population, but to a minority of people with autism. Get an umbrella to ward off the tired cliches about autism that come raining down from this movie. "Rain Man" has reinforced a stereotype of autism. The term "Rain Man" has become offensive to those with autism. Although this was not a terrible movie and was entertaining, I think it has done more harm than good in creating a better understanding of people who have autism and what it entails.

i don't know what happened in the 80's, but hollywood seemed to fall into a black hole, producing one bad film after another. rain man is one of the exceptions. it has a good story told w/o too much of the schmaltz hollywood usually likes to pile onto feel-good films. unlike many people, i wasn't entirely convinced by hoffman's character. to me, he just looked like he was acting. i wouldn't have given him the oscar for that performance. cruise, otoh, was very convincing, first as the hot-shot, emotionally-distant, embittered young man, then later as the younger brother with a heart. i was impressed by the transformation. the scenes at the end - the meeting with the doctors and the goodbye at the station - were especially touching. cruise really showed here that he could act. and i'm not a tom cruise fan. but i was genuinely impressed.

so, the film that started the stampede to films about emotionally disabled people still holds up well. highly recommended.

"Rain Man" reigned in the 1988 "Best Picture" Academy Award, and deservedly so. This film is everything a "Best Picture" Oscar winner should be, in my view. It has tenderness, romance, drama, compassion, likeable characters, and a biting humor as well. It's a "road" picture, while at the same time encompassing so many other things too.

Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman give highly-memorable and powerful performances in "Rain Man". Some of the moments in the movie that I find particularly memorable (and deserving of multiple replays whenever loading this up into the DVD Player) include these ............

> The first meeting between "Charlie" and "Raymond", when Charlie finds Ray behind the wheel of his rare 1948 automobile (excellent "first meeting" of these characters).

> The "shorts on the highway" scene.

> "Qantas never crashed".

> The Blackjack scene in Vegas.

> "I like having you for my big brother".

This "SE" release of "Rain Man" includes an enhanced (anamorphic) 1.85:1 Widescreen version of the movie -- and it gets an A+ on my "PQ Report Card". The digital video is beautiful throughout, with radiant colors.

The audio comes through loud and clear via the disc's bold English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track. Two foreign-language DD tracks are also part of this DVD -- a 2.0 Surround in French, and a Spanish 2.0 Mono track.

The DVD Special Features are a wee bit on the light side for a so-called "Special Edition". Although, if you like Audio Commentaries, you've come to the right place with this "Rain Man" DVD. Three separate filmmaker Commentary Tracks are featured on this one-disc "SE", including one by Director Barry Levinson.

Other bonus material includes ..........

>> Original Featurette. -- This short bonus is fairly thin on content, but does provide a few comments from stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise (circa 1988). Not much to sink your "Making Of" teeth into here though. The video for this featurette is Full Frame (1.33:1). Length = 6:55. .... It would have been nice to have had a feature-length "Making-Of" documentary included on this "SE" DVD. But, maybe next time.

>> One Deleted Scene. -- I kind of liked this. This excised scene shows Raymond entering a convenience store, where he begins helping himself to the store's stock of food and beverages (to the dismay of the shop's proprietor). Charlie enters at the end of this short scene to "rescue" Raymond. It's a pretty good scene, but certainly not essential to the storyline; and I can see why it was cut. Especially considering the film's already-lengthy 134-minute final running time. This deleted clip lasts 2:01, and is presented in 1.33:1 Full-Frame ratio.

>> Original Theatrical Trailer. -- A fun and funny trailer. Shown in 1.33:1. Run time -- 2:14.

>> Photo Gallery. -- This Gallery (which *is* anamorphic) is broken up into five different segments.

>> Bonus DVD Trailers.

No "Chapter List" paper insert is included with this DVD. The case looks kind of bare without any insert, I must admit. But, starting in late 2003 (approx.), many studios began to go the "el-cheapo" route on us, and no longer provide physical paper enclosures inside the DVD cases anymore. Gee, you'd think a "Special Edition" release would at least warrant a slim, one-page insert. Oh, well...what are ya gonna do? No biggie really. But I'd still prefer to have an insert for all DVD releases (even if it's only an ad for other DVD products).

Even with the rather skimpy selection of supplements here, this DVD still comes highly recommended by this "Rain Man" fan. The picture and sound quality are dazzling; and the film itself is ... well ... I'm sure you know ..... Oscar worthy! Get this today!

This movie was very insightful into the life of a greedy yet lovable brother and a mental patient at the physc ward with an IQ of 176. The movie mainly focuses on the relationship between Hoffman and Cruise, who make a strong bond after Cruise heard of his father's death and wasn't left a penny, instead leaving over $3 million with Hoffman. The story takes place in various places of the West Coast, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The story is very unique, great that made this movie win an oscar, but the main thing is the acting Hoffman produces which is so real, so touching, that it made this movie so believeable, not just a shelf throw back. 10/10.

Best movie portrayal of autism yet. I hope there are more movies like this!!

Tom Cruise's best ever performance. Dustin Hoffman's best ever performance.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

This is one of the best dramas of all time. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman act out the performances of their careers. Everything about the movie is funny, dramatic, and heartwarming. Dustin Hoffman is definately an awesome actor. He brings the authenticity of the disorder. Tom Cruise is the perfect person to play the annoyed brother because he can make the biggest jerk sympathetic. All in all this movie is great. I highly reccomend it.

"Rain Man" is one of those rare films that is equally touching and moving as it is humorous. A true labor of love for those involved, particularly its producers, director Barry Levinson, and star Dustin Hoffman, it remains an undated and compelling work, since its release sixteen years ago. By now most know that Hoffman was heavily praised for his dead-on portrayal of an autistic savant, winning an Oscar in the process. However, it is really Tom Cruise who is the heart and soul of the movie, portraying its true protagonist. His is a very underrated performance, one that reminds how accomplished an actor he can be when given the right dramatic role. Equally good is Levinson's direction, smartly exposing the humor on what could normally be viewed as overly sentimental material. Included is one brief and all to basic featurette with cast and crew interviews of the time. The one deleted scene featured is redundant of what's already in the movie. The DVD makes up for all of this however with the inclusion of three audio commentaries to choose from. In the end, the greatest strength of this package is the movie itself. Whether it was indeed the best film of 1988 is a point of debate. Nonetheless, it is likely to satisfy most viewers because its themes of greed, discovery and compassion are not only universal, but in this case, intelligently presented.