· Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · EAN: 0683904507389 · Format: Box set | Dubbed | Original recording remastered | Subtitled | NTSC · Label: Mill Creek · Manufacturer: Mill Creek · MPN: MV50738 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Mill Creek · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2009-10-13 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 840 · Studio: Mill Creek · UPC: 683904507389

· Actor: Dominic Purcell | Wentworth Miller | Amaury Nolasco | Wade Williams | Robert Knepper · Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · Director: Bobby Roth | Craig Ross Jr. | Greg Yaitanes | Karen Gaviola | Kevin Hooks · EAN: 0024543527275 · Format: AC-3 | Dolby | Subtitled | Widescreen | NTSC · Label: 20th Century Fox · Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox · MPN: 2252727 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: 20th Century Fox · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2008-08-12 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 568 · Studio: 20th Century Fox · UPC: 024543527275 Very average
2009-08-23
The writers struggled to create a realistic plot after the decision to continue beyond season 2. Unfortunately this is very obvious with a plot that stops and starts and generally is no where near as rich and clever as the first two serious.

For Prison Break Fans try it but try and not be disappointed. If you are unsure then I would not recommend you buy it

· Actor: Ana Martín | Saraí Meza | Angélica Rivera | Martha Julia | Ana Patricia Rojo · Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Cinematographer): Alejandro Frutos | (Role: Editor): Pablo Peralta | (Role: Editor): Susana Valencia · EAN: 0000799476222 · Format: Dolby | Full Screen | Subtitled | NTSC | Import · Label: Xenon · Manufacturer: Xenon · MPN: LGEDSP23913D · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Xenon · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2008-09-02 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 840 · Studio: Xenon · UPC: 000799476222 One of the best "Novelas" from Televisa
2008-12-10
I was so impressed with this "telenovela" that I bought the DVD set. However, it is not the complete version of the story but a summary of it. But you won't be disappointed since the main plot is there and the acting is so real and transparent the actors really did a good job. The hero "Rodrigo" not only is strong, handsome and passinate but it is fond and humane towards "Gaviota". They really did a wonderful job representing the traditions, history and ways of life of Jalisco and Mexico. The interviews at the end of this DVD set are also very rewarding to see since you can understand the real enthusiasm and behind the creation of this "telenovela".

· Actor: Antonio Gades | Cristina Hoyos | Laura del Sol | Juan Antonio Jiménez | Emma Penella · Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Writer): Alfredo Mañas | (Role: Writer): Antonio Artero | (Role: Writer): Federico García Lorca | (Role: Writer): Gregorio Martínez Sierra | (Role: Writer): Prosper Mérimée · Director: Carlos Saura · EAN: 0715515026024 · Format: Full Screen | Subtitled | Widescreen | NTSC · Label: Criterion · Manufacturer: Criterion · MPN: IMEDECL026D · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Criterion · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2007-10-09 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 275 · Studio: Criterion · Theatrical Release Date: 1986-12-23 · UPC: 715515026024

· Actor: Susana González | Fernando Colunga | Daniela Castro | Sebastián Rulli | Juan Ferrara · Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) · Binding: DVD · EAN: 0000799476826 · Format: AC-3 | Dolby | Full Screen | NTSC | Import · Label: Xenon · Manufacturer: Xenon · MPN: 24511 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Xenon · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2008-11-11 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 790 · Studio: Xenon · Theatrical Release Date: 2007 · UPC: 000799476826

· Actor: Eugen Hadamovsky | Adolf Heuser | Kurt Hinzmann | Joseph Hoppe | Fritz Janek · Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Producer): Bernd Jacobs | (Role: Producer): Elvira Lind | (Role: Producer): Mark Samels · Director: Lutz Hachmeister | Michael Kloft · EAN: 0720229913713 · Format: Subtitled | Widescreen | NTSC | Import · Label: First Run Features · Manufacturer: First Run Features · MPN: 913713 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: First Run Features · Release Date: 2009-04-21 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 360 · Studio: First Run Features · UPC: 720229913713

· Actor: Tatsuya Nakadai | Michiyo Aratama | Tamao Nakamura | Yûsuke Kawazu | Chishû Ryû · Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Cinematographer): Yoshio Miyajima | (Role: Producer): Shigeru Wakatsuki | (Role: Writer): Jumpei Gomikawa | (Role: Writer): Koichi Inagaki | (Role: Writer): Zenzo Matsuyama · Director: Masaki Kobayashi · EAN: 0715515046619 · Format: Black & White | Subtitled | NTSC | Import · Label: Criterion · Manufacturer: Criterion · MPN: 1819 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Criterion · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2009-09-08 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 574 · Studio: Criterion · Theatrical Release Date: 1961 · UPC: 715515046619

· Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Audience Rating: Unrated · Binding: DVD · EAN: 0012236232728 · Format: Dolby | Subtitled | NTSC | Import · Label: Lionsgate · Manufacturer: Lionsgate · MPN: 23272 · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Lionsgate · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2008-06-10 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 448 · Studio: Lionsgate · UPC: 012236232728

· Actor: Toshirô Mifune | Yôko Tsukasa | Takeshi Katô | Tatsuyoshi Ehara | Etsuko Ichihara · Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Writer): Akira Murao | (Role: Writer): Eizaburo Shiba · Director: Hideo Gosha | Kihachi Okamoto | Masahiro Shinoda | Masaki Kobayashi · EAN: 0037429210123 · Format: Box set | Black & White | Subtitled | Widescreen | NTSC · Label: Criterion · Manufacturer: Criterion · MPN: IMEDSW0050D · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Criterion · Region Code: 1 · Release Date: 2005-11-01 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 420 · Studio: Criterion · Theatrical Release Date: 1967-12 · UPC: 037429210123
» Surly scowls and flashing swords abound in Rebel Samurai - Sixties Swordplay Classics, a dazzling new box set from the Criterion Collection. The samurai genre is often compared with the Western, but three of these movies are closer to film noir; shot on a limited budget, they make up for limited production values with ingenious direction, punchy editing, and heated emotions. All four, however, are notable for their jaundiced view of the traditional samurai culture--the blind loyalty to their masters, holding honor above all, sacrificing self for the good of the clan.

Masaki Kobayashi's Samurai Rebellion, starring Toshiro Mifune (Rashomon, Shogun), is the most traditional of the four: Visually elegant and austere, it meticulously traces how a forced marriage leads to a family's collapse in a bloodbath. Repressed emotions erupt in honor-shattering violence as a father and son turn against the lord of their clan in the name of love. In the other three, the moviemaking itself reflects the upset in values. Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast follows an aimless ronin (a masterless warrior) who, pursuing gold, finds a new meaning in life as he battles killers from his own clan. "To hell with name and pride!" he shrieks in the first five minutes of the movie, mere seconds after a sexual dalliance in the underbrush. The story roars along, the visual style loose and dynamic, the characters far more gritty and rough than the stiff-backed soldiers of Samurai Rebellion.

Masahiro Shinoda's Samurai Spy fairly explodes with spectacular action sequences and dynamic editing; the politics are almost impossible to follow, but the story rips along as a handsome spy navigates a treacherous war, musing about life and death when he's not engaged in acrobatic swordplay. The final film, Kihachi Okamoto's Kill!, is as outrageous as its title. From the opening scene of a starving ronin stumbling out of a howling dust storm, Kill! pushes the complexity of clan politics to absurd proportions and discards stylized duels in favor of realistically brutal and clumsy butchery, backed up with a startling surf guitar soundtrack. Black humor abounds as wildly eccentric characters--including Tatsuya Nakadai as a laconic, Robert-Mitchum-flavored ronin--scrabble for food, sex, and some shred of dignity in a ravaged landscape. All four films will be a revelation to anyone who thinks the samurai genre begins and ends with Kurosawa. Each is mesmerizing on its own; as a package, they're a potent education. Essential viewing. --Bret Fetzer

· Actor: Romy Schneider | Karlheinz Böhm | Magda Schneider | Uta Franz | Gustav Knuth · Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 · Binding: DVD · Creator (Role: Cinematographer): Bruno Mondi | (Role: Editor): Alfred Srp | (Role: Producer): Karl Ehrlich · Director: Ernst Marischka · EAN: 0741952313793 · Format: Dolby | Full Screen | Subtitled | NTSC | Import · Label: Koch Lorber Films · Manufacturer: Koch Lorber Films · MPN: KCHDKLF3137D · Package Quantity: 1 · Product Group: DVD · Product Type Name: ABIS_DVD · Publisher: Koch Lorber Films · Release Date: 2007-09-18 · Running Time (Units: minutes): 102 · Studio: Koch Lorber Films · UPC: 741952313793 Memorable
2009-12-02
I first saw this movie, in 3 parts, aired on Swiss television, while I was living in Leichtenstein 25 years ago. I have been waiting all this time to be able to see it again. I was overjoyed when I saw it available through !
Beautiful scenery! Based on a true story involving royalty.
I'm planning to have a few "movie nights" to share this movie with my friends.Classic and Comforting
2008-01-09
This trilogy has been a classic for decades in my family. The story is based (VERY loosely) on the life of Empress Elizabeth "Sissi" of Austria. We see her in adolescence, marriage, love, trials and tribulations at court, conflict with her mother-in-law, illness, health, as a mother, adoring wife, and as a key political figure alongside her emperor husband. There are Viennese waltzes, nights at the ballet, and tours of Europe. It's a visually beautiful film to watch and contains a lot of fun and laughter and happiness, but also some misery and hardship. Every film ends on a high note, however, and every drama is seen through and resolved in a very positive life-embracing way. So, these movies are uppers. They're long and detailed and charming, and very comforting on long wet afternoons, wrapped up in a blanket with a cup of cocoa.

The downside comes once you research the real Sissi's life history. She had a hard life, filled with tragedy after tragedy and personal unhappiness throughout, though she and her husband did love each other immensely and helped one another til death did them part. Also, Romy Schneider came to hate her role because the local public (she was Austrian) adored her portrayal of one of their fondest heads of state so much that they came to associate Romy with Sissi in real life. She was afraid of being type cast forever in romantic innocent roles and became frustrated, so she moved to France and began what has turned out to be a complex, wide-ranging, mature, and daring career. Still, she is enchanting and very convincing as Sissi (Romy had such talent, in all her roles!). If you see any of her later films, you will notice the sharp contrast.

As for availability, the trilogy is only available in Canada in French (dubbed) or in English (dubbed, though Steve--see review, below--says you can get them subtitled). The original German-language films are only available in Europe and are not formatted to play in North American DVD players (unless you have access to a region-free player). If you understand French, by all means go with that, since it's exquisite and the voices are lovely. The English dubbing is atrocious, in my opinion.