Video > DVD > Genres > Comedy > General

	buying more than one thing? add to bookbag(uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or intereact!

Brazil - Criterion Collection
Rated: R (Restricted)
Retail Price (not our price): $59.95
Release Date: 1999-07-13
Theatrical Release Date: 1985-12-18
Studio: Criterion
Run Time: 142 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Discs: 3


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential video
If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--this is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. However, Brazil was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam sure captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's The Trial (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek governmental clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. Not a software bug, a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous Metamorphosis insect) that gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly identifying an innocent citizen, one Mr. Buttle, as suspected terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). When Sam becomes enmeshed in unraveling this bureaucratic glitch, he himself winds up labeled as a miscreant. The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. This DVD version of Brazil is the special director's cut that first appeared in Criterion's comprehensive (and expensive) six-disc laser package in 1996. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) An acquired taste   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Brazil is definitely out there. The concept itself is very impressive and very well done. While the execution of the movie was flawless it still left me unsatisfied. I blame that just on my preferences and not on any slight on the film itself. Still it's worth noting that in my opinion Brazil isn't all that it was made out to be. I think my biggest gripe is that this is a social-political satire and that just isn't enough to entertain me. Though the different scenes all make sense, when you think about it when they come at you it sometimes feels like a mess. I am assuming that is part of the charm in Brazil. I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't bad. It just didn't make a strong impression on me. In spite of the shortcomings this is a very well done movie. The sci-fi style isn't quite cyberpunk. It seems more like "Golden Age of Wireless"-punk. I think director Terry Gilliam calls it Retro-futurism. Whatever it is, it's cool. Personal phones are mini-switchboards, computers have tiny screen with giant magnifying glasses and typewriter type keys, and God help you if you ever need to have your air conditioning checked. The characters are all quirky and cool at the same time, especially Harry Tuttle. There is a recurring dream that pops in now and then that looks beautiful. I think the dream sequences are the coolest parts of the movie. Brazil might be one of those acquired tastes movies. If you are really into dark comedies or stinging satire then this might be right up your alley. For the average viewer Brazil might be over the top or hard to follow. If you are interested in unique retro-future tech then it's worth a look. I won't say every sci-fi fan should watch Brazil, but it wouldn't hurt.

2) A Classic!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
If you are not a Tery Gilliam fan then you might not be able to appreciate this masterpiece. In the vein of 1984, the future is a world based on control and corruption, just Terry Gilliam style.

3) Beware, this is a "nerd" classic, not a cultural classic   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
I'm all for creative films, which I thought this was supposed to be. It isn't. It's such a simplistic and random retelling of "1984" it makes even videogames like Half Life 2 look sophisticated by comparison, and that's not saying much. I realize now when people call a film classic you have to ask if they mean a "nerd" classic like The Matrix, or Brazil, or something that's of genuine cultural value. This is definitely a nerd classic, and not the latter. Be warned, unless you have an uncommon love of mechanical things and little emotional resonance within you, this movie is just long, boring, and cheesy as hell.

4) Surreal Terry Gilliam   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
If you happen to like Terry Gilliam films and Monty Python you will really like this film. I purchased the special edition with lots of extra bits... I absolutely love anything weird and strange. The film is very disjointed but the cameo appearances of Robert Deniro and Katherine Helman are hilarious. It is odd from beginning to end.

5) Yay!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
I love the movie and the box didn't come all banged up (sometimes it does in the mail), however, part of the plastic where the hole is in the DVD was broken and I had difficulty getting it out of the case (which I am now no longer storing it in). It came quickly and I was pleased.