Bonnie and Clyde (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]
Bonnie and Clyde (Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/25/2008 Run time: 111 minutes Rating: ROne of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, “it’s the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance.” The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde’s brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck’s frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. –Jeff Shannon
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Models gone wild
For the first half of this film, it’s just pretty to look at. Dunaway and Beatty are just too pretty for words even if the acting is questionable. I was amazed to find out that Estelle Parson won an Oscar for her portrayal of Blanche (the only member to live to a ripe old age.) Parson just runs around screaming–annoyingly so. Still the film manages to entertains and in the end that’s all that counts.
3 Stars A Great Movie…But….
As a movie alone it’s great.Plenty of action. But if your looking for true facts about Bonnie & Clyde, go buy a biography dvd. I read a book that was written by Buck Barrow’s wife Blanche - called “My Life With Bonnie & Clyde” [ an excellent read ], and in it she says that the movie is anything but the true story of Bonnie & Clyde…and it is so vey inaccurate historically. As for an example, the scene where B & C capture Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and humiliate him…Blanche says that never happened. In fact, the only time Hamer ever saw B & C was when he and 5 other law men killed them in Louisiana. But, I guess thats Hollywood for ya. Always stretching the truth to the max.
4 Stars ”We Rob Banks!”
This is one of those movies that I always wish i had never seen , Solely because I envy those seeing it for the first time . In the mid 6o,s this wonderfully crafted piece blasted on to our cinema screens , blowing away all prior images of the gangster genre (For a little while at least , We still go back to Caggers ,Bogie and Eddie G , for our infusions of escapist gangsterism ) This film has a little of everything in its portrayal of irresponsible ineptitude during a period where the public were led to believe in the faultless guile and practise of these supposed matinee idols . The movie constantly reminds us of our fallabilities and we end up loving the cast for them . the early opportunities to see the futures of the fabulous ”Two Genes” , Hackman and Wilder reveal the talent spotters skills in promoting these to to the A list as the 60.s drew to a close . for many , me included Warren Beatty was never better , how many of us then adolescent were comforted by the fallabilities portrayed here along with his glamourous aspirations which thank god few followed to its extreme one has to believe !! Faye Dunaway , well this was her zenith to on reflection and how these two slipped thru the academy,s lists remains to me a puzzle yet to be completed . This collectors piece has everything the enthusiast could hope for in a collectors edition , fabulous . if I am forced to criticise , the actual packaging is not up to region 1 standard . After all US packagiung gives so much more added value that British releases normally this package could have been designed with a clipped budget perhaps ?? get this into your shopping basket now !!
5 Stars “Reach for the sky!” sweet-talkin’ Clyde would holler…
“Bonnie and Clyde” is the correct answer to the trivia question: “What movie did CBS-TV air opposite the Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match?” (King won, BTW.) “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde” was also a 1967 Top 40 pop hit for Little Georgie Fame (on EPIC records and 8-track tapes!).
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow lived fast and died young and violently. Their final moments are the stuff of legend, and for anyone doubting the “hail of lead” scenario, I can only say that a LONG time ago, I saw the actual car that Parker was in essence executed in while Barrow caught a few dozen bullets as he stood nearby. You would not believe the number of holes that machine sustained!
This is one bloody darn picture, and not just at the end. For example, the fate of one Barrow gang member (Clyde’s older brother Buck) shouldn’t happen to a dog, as the saying goes. Every principal cast member gives here a stand-out performance. The story of a free-wheeling bank robber couple is fast-moving and at times positively gruesome. While director Arthur Penn does allow the blood to flow freely, he also chooses to gloss over the issue of Clyde’s sexuality. A minor point.
Also from director Arthur Penn:
THE LEFT HANDED GUN (1958) is another take on the Billy the Kid story. With Paul Newman as William Bonney. Adapted from the Gore Vidal play.
THE CHASE (1966) is a prison break story set in a small Southern town. Stars Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford.
THE MISSOURI BREAKS (1976) is a fine western featuring Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando and Randy Quaid.
Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.
(8.1) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - Warren Beatty/Faye Dunaway/Michael J. Pollard/Gene Hackman/Estelle Parsons/Denver Pyle/Dub Taylor/Evans Evans/Gene Wilder
4 Stars 3 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
Bonnie and Clyde was a cultural touchstone, but that does not make it a classic; while it is by no means a poor movie, it has a tendency to meander and does not resonate now the way it did in the 1960s.
Filed under: Blue Ray Movie Reviews