Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)

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hearthesilence
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Gone With The Wind

#1 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Dec 02, 2005 7:00 pm

There's another GWTW thread in old films, but that discusses the film itself, this is for the DVD.

A two-disc "Special Edition" DVD is being issued in January 2006, which I PRESUME is the new, ultra-resolution transfer but without (most of) the extras found on the 4-disc Collector's Edition set from November 2004.

I'm not a die hard fan, but the four-disc set is on sale for a decent price at some retailers this week.

My question is: are the extras any good? If so, should I spring for them, or should I wait for the two-disc "Special Edition"?

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Gigi M.
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#2 Post by Gigi M. » Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:18 pm

hearthesilence go for it. It's one of the most awesome dvds ever produced in terms of quality and xtras. The film speaks for it self. You can buy it at Amazon or DVD Empire for less than $20.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

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hearthesilence
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#3 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:32 pm

This week, Best Buy is actually selling this for $16.99. Supposedly retailers lost a lot of business from the snow storms last week (when Best Buy had the same set for $20), so a lot of prices were lowered this week to draw more customers.

BTW, the retail value is $40 and Best Buy's 'normal' price seems to be $29.99.

It wasn't heavily advertised, but when I got there today, there was only one copy left, but I know Circuit City does price matches. This isn't one of my favorite movies, but I've got family members who are crazy about it yet don't own it, so this will be a nice gift.

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exte
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#4 Post by exte » Wed Dec 14, 2005 12:45 am

That's a steal at that price. I know amazon had it for twenty, and it was a pretty big deal over at dvdtalk...

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Lino
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#5 Post by Lino » Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:26 pm

The 4xDVD set put out by Warner has got to be one of the most comprehensive packages ever produced for a single film (not counting the recent Wizard of Oz). I recently went through the whole of this mammoth set and this being a formal personal favorite of mine (it was my favorite film of all time when I was just a kid until youth and Blue Velvet took me by storm) I was more than happy to know all that went behind the difficult and grueling production of this epic.

Needless to say, Warner is currently my favorite studio putting out DVDs at the moment and luckily they show no sign of slowing down - much on the contrary!

BTW, I still haven't listened to the audio commentary on GWTW. Is it worth enduring the 4 hours listening to Rudy Behlman?

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Gigi M.
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Gone With The Wind

#6 Post by Gigi M. » Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:52 pm

Annie Mall wrote:The 4xDVD set put out by Warner has got to be one of the most comprehensive packages ever produced for a single film (not counting the recent Wizard of Oz). I recently went through the whole of this mammoth set and this being a formal personal favorite of mine (it was my favorite film of all time when I was just a kid until youth and Blue Velvet took me by storm) I was more than happy to know all that went behind the difficult and grueling production of this epic.

Needless to say, Warner is currently my favorite studio putting out DVDs at the moment and luckily they show no sign of slowing down - much on the contrary!

BTW, I still haven't listened to the audio commentary on GWTW. Is it worth enduring the 4 hours listening to Rudy Behlman?
Most definitely Annie. I though it was a good a commentary, kept me entertain most of the time. However, if you already went through the hole package, I don't think worth it.

I have a question for you. Since you live in Portugal, where do you buy region 1 dvds, and much extra do you paid for them?

I ask this, since I live in the Dominican Republic and you can't buy region 1 dvds here. I buy them at amazom, dvdplanet, ddd, etc and have them ship here for an extra $3 a piece.

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Lino
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#7 Post by Lino » Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:58 pm

gigimonagas wrote:I have a question for you. Since you live in Portugal, where do you buy region 1 dvds, and much extra do you paid for them?
My copy of GWTW was bought right here in good old Portugal and it is a portuguese edition (with ALL the extras subtitled in portuguese - bravo Warner!).

However, I mostly use www.loaded247.com (no shipping charges to Europe), www.cdwow.com (no charges anywhere in the world) and I also buy a lot of stuff off from the Amazon.uk marketplace (they stock R1 DVDs and charge you less than if I was to buy them from the Amazon.com marketplace).

Lots of people in Europe also use DVDPacific (though I have yet to order anything from them). BTW, stay away from DVDImport from Canada (they are not reliable at all altough their prices are very tempting).

Hope this was of some help.

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Gigi M.
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#8 Post by Gigi M. » Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:01 pm

Thanks Annie. I don't have a problem buying from neither Amazon of Dvdplanet. A criterion usully comes to 29 or 22 depending on the price.

Thanks anyway.

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Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)

#9 Post by Barmy » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:33 pm

I saw it last night for the first time, in a theater. There was a lot more comedy (intentional or otherwise) than I expected.

My favorite part:

Image

BWilson
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#10 Post by BWilson » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:25 pm

Is that Colonel Angus?

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domino harvey
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#11 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:45 am

Given that Gone With the Wind is so much a part of the collective cultural consciousness, it's strange to actually sit down and watch the film. All the famous shots and lines are already ingrained before the picture even begins. As I've gradually worked my way through canonical films which had thus far escaped me, I've experienced this sensation time and again, and it's to the film's credit that it survives its reputation. I'm not sure what I expected a four hour, South-lamenting, Civil War movie to be like, but it was certainly a good deal darker than I expected in tone. Though not the masterpiece it's still sold as, I do agree with the Admin, the film's certainly as endlessly entertaining as it is endless! And ultimately, it's always nice to be able to finally put a film with the film history.

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Belmondo
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#12 Post by Belmondo » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:19 am

No film is beyond criticism, but, GWTW comes closest in displaying the studio system at the height of its power and putting everything that could possibly be put up there on the screen for contemporary audiences to enjoy and appreciate.
The novel is also beyond criticism in that many highbrow book collectors do not reguard it as "literature" even as they buy highly sought after first editions of the book which are now hugely expensive.
The novel had an author, the movie did not have an auteur, and frankly my dear, who gives a damn. Movies have always been a collaborative venture and this one may have involved control freaks, micro-management, and lord knows what else, but, it still succeeds in a way that demonstrates all the good things about classic Hollywood and now lets us engage in valuable discussions about:

a) the film itself and all that went into it
b) the studio system with all its strengths and flaws
c) the difference between "classic", "epic", and the ultimate standing of GWTW as new generations challenge that "test of time" argument.
d) race relations, the ante-bellum South and the Civil War
e) the extent to which this is American in a way that can only be American

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colinr0380
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#13 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:33 am

davidhare wrote:It was fascinating reading posts from four years ago!

I still think it's a bunch of pants. And if it has some sort of collective unconcsious thang throbbing away somewhere that's strictly Stateside. I have NEVER owned it to this day.

Which is not to say there aren't one or two interesting Fleming movies. He simply couldnt handle David O. Virtually nobody could. Even after Michael Powell, in the superb Vol 1 of his Auto talks with great insight about the way Hitchcock and one or two others manipulated Selznick (essentially as an egomaniacal idiot) into basically not fucking up their films, Powell himself comes totally undone with the - basically atrocious - Gone to Earth.

The problems with GWTW are the same as Selnick's Personality - obsessive compulsive doisorder, control freakery and - natch - Borderline Personality Disorder. It's an American icon.
I wonder what Martha, dvddane (aka Henrik) et al are doing now?

I agree on Gone With The Wind - it is a bunch of astonishing in scale set pieces strung together around one of the most irritatingly self-centred leading ladies (Scarlett) on screen and one of the most soppiest, doe-eyed, limp couples in cinema history (the Wilkes). I wouldn't really want to get to know people who considered Rhett Butler, Scarlett O'Hara or Ashley Wilkes for role models!

It feels like a soap opera before we had the term just with delusions of grandeur that they are "saying something" about the South and the Civil War, in the same way that Titanic probably wanted to feel like it was "saying something" about class and clashing cultures but obviously had much more interest in the manufactured love story and the spectacle (a process that reduces the truly interesting aspects of the historical events to background and quick, easy to grasp stereotyped characters in the rush to get back to the long and drawn out scenes of Scarlett and Rhett or Jack and Rose smooching).

It doesn't mean it is not an enjoyable wallow but little more than that. Though I do find it strange that Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar when any glimmer of thought about her role giving a positive portrayal of black people is almost completely obliterated by Butterfly McQueen's slappable Prissy.

I much prefer Duel In The Sun for over the top, borderline insane, melodrama! The best Jennifer Jones film. :wink:

(Though I do remember being in tears as a kid when she plunged out of the Great Glass Elevator in The Towering Inferno!)

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colinr0380
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#14 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:02 pm

It really is - I don't remember lobbying my parents for it but it was the first film I was allowed to stay up (very late given the length of the film) to watch! I don't think my dad realised how traumatising that film would be! (Ironically he works as a fire alarm engineer, so perhaps he had a professional interest in seeing the film!) Traumatising in a good way though!

Even though it could be considered a dead end scene (literally!) I always find the couple early on finding themselves trapped by the fire in an ever smaller space, putting a brave face on their situation until they are overwhelmed quite moving, sad and memorable, perhaps because their deaths go completely unnoticed by everyone else.

Jones's exit was one of those "not her...anybody but her...drop the kid but not her!" moments, combined with the manner of her exit and the character being the nicest in the whole film gave me a very early lesson that being good doesn't necessarily mean you are immune from arbitrary bad luck! It was also a good, if heartbreaking, idea to juxtapose McQueen and Newman's victory over the fire with Astaire's loss, not diminishing the loss by focusing totally on the victorious ending - something other disaster movies could learn from!

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Lino
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#15 Post by Lino » Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:03 pm

Expect a December date for the Ultimate Collector's Edition of Gone With The Wind on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Check out the early artwork over at Amazon.

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domino harvey
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ClassicFlix sez

#16 Post by domino harvey » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:43 pm

Known about for some time, Warner has officially announced a November 17th release date for three different releases of Gone With the Wind - 70th Anniversary Edition. Prices are above with all the bonus features and premiums below.

Both the SD and BD Ultimate Collector's Editions will be available for rent and purchase, while the 2-disc SD Special Edition, which has the same content as discs 1 and 2 in the U.C.E., will only be available to buy.

CONTENTS:

Gone With the Wind (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Special Edition)

Contains the movie over 2 discs with commentary by historian Rudy Behlmer

Gone With the Wind (5-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition) & Gone With the Wind (Blu-Ray) 2-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition

Includes the first two discs in the 2-disc S.E. as well as the following:

DISC 3 (About the Movie):

* "The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind" the 1989 documentary made by Selznick's sons.
* "Restoring a Legend" - An in-depth look at the restoration.
* Dixie Hails "Gone with the Wind". Footage from 1939 Atlanta and 1961 Civil War Centennial Atlanta premieres.
* Historical theatrical short "The Old South" (1940) directed by Fred Zinnerman.
* Atlanta Civil War Centennial 1961 premiere newsreel
* International prologue
* Foreign language version sample scenes
* Theatrical Trailers

DISC 4 (About the Cast):

* Three Documentaries:
o "Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone With The Wind"
o "Clark Gable: A King Remembered"
o "Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond"
* The Supporting Players - Cameo portraits of an unforgettable ensemble
o At Tara
+ The O’Hara Plantation in Georgia
+ Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O’Hara
+ Barbara O’Neill as Ellen, his wife
o Their Daughters
+ Evelyn Keyes as Suellen
+ Ann Rutherford as Carreen
o The House Servants
+ Hattie McDaniel as Mammy
+ Oscar Polk as Pork
+ Butterfly McQueen as Prissy
o At Twelve Oaks
+ Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
+ Rand Brooks as Charles Hamilton, her brother
+ Carroll Nye as Frank Kennedy, a guest
o In Atlanta
+ Laura Hope Crews as Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
+ Eddie Anderson as Uncle Peter, her coachman
+ Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade
+ Jane Darwell as Mrs. Merriwether
+ Ona Munson as Belle Watling
+ Cammie King as Bonnie Blue Butler

DISC 5:

* Warner Bros. Home Entertainment presents 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year – New documentary about Hollywood’s watershed year narrated by Kenneth Branagh
* Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On -- Exploring the legacy of the most beloved film through illuminating interviews, footage and visits to historical sites, events and museums
* Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara Wars 1980 WBTV Special never before on home video
* Trailers

Plus these Premiums

* 20-page reproduction of the original and complete 1939 Souvenir Program
* 40-page Production History Book with photos and production notes
* Eight Frameable 5x7 Art Prints
* CD soundtrack sampler featuring eight tracks
o Main Title
o Tara
o The Barbecue
o Escape From Atlanta
o I'll Never Be Hungry Again!
o Paddock Scene 5:27
o Scarlett In The Mist/Rhett Leaves
o Flashback/Finale

NOTE:

* The 2-disc Blu-Ray release will have all the content above on 2 discs
* Exclusive to the Blu-Ray Ultimate Collector’s Edtion: MGM: When The Lion Roars Documentary

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Matt
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#17 Post by Matt » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:26 pm

Just so we're clear, there is only one Blu-ray release and it's the big, expensive orgy of featurettes, right?

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swo17
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#18 Post by swo17 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:32 pm

That's how I read it. Amazon lists an MSRP of $85. There's just no middle ground with Warner, is there?

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Napier
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#19 Post by Napier » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:12 pm

I'll give em' no more than $59.95, that's fair. Do they want to haggle?

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domino harvey
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#20 Post by domino harvey » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:15 pm

What the hell, when the Godfather remasters were announced, everyone was falling over each other to sell their sets. But no one is selling their old set for cheap yet-- in fact, it's going for above MSRP because it's OOP. Doh, I don't love the film but I'd pick up the old four discer for fifteen bucks

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Matt
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#21 Post by Matt » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:48 pm

There's nothing particularly wrong with the 2004 remaster. I'm not selling mine until I can get a Blu-ray for a decent price.

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perkizitore
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#22 Post by perkizitore » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:53 am

Seconded.
Last edited by perkizitore on Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

HarryLong
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#23 Post by HarryLong » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:51 am

I don't love the film but I'd pick up the old four discer for fifteen bucks
I'm perfectly happy with my TCM DVDR, should I ever need it for reference.
Hell knows I wouldn't watch it for pleasure.

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knives
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#24 Post by knives » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:01 pm

david hare wrote:Thank god I dont even like the movie!

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Antoine Doinel
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Re: Gone With The Wind

#25 Post by Antoine Doinel » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:11 pm

At least they kept the luggage tags out of this set.

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