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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 5985
Released: July 17, 2001 |
| Our Price: $7.16 |
| Used Price: $6.47 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black (Brad Pitt), who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani).
Description of Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition):
Meet Joe Black seemed almost fated to fail when it was released in 1998, but this romantic fantasy--a remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday--deserves a chance at life after box-office death. Although many moviegoers were turned off by director Martin Brest's overindulgent three-hour running time, those who gear into its deliberate pace will find that Meet Joe Black offers ample reward for your attention.
Brad Pitt plays Death with a capital D, enjoying some time on Earth by inhabiting the body of a young man who'd been killed in a shockingly sudden pedestrian-auto impact. Before long, Death has ingratiated himself with a wealthy industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and pursues romance with the man's beautiful daughter (newcomer Claire Forlani), whom he'd briefly encountered while still an earthbound human. Under the assumed identity of "Joe Black," he samples all the pleasures that corporeal life has to offer--power, romance, sex, and such enticing pleasures as peanut butter by the spoonful.
But Death has a job to do, and Meet Joe Black addresses the heart-wrenching dilemma that arises when either father or daughter (the plot keeps us guessing) must confront his or her inevitable demise. The film takes its own sweet time to establish this emotional crisis and the love that binds Hopkins's semidysfunctional family so closely together. But if you've stuck with the story this far, you may find yourself surprisingly affected. And if Meet Joe Black has really won you over, you'll more than appreciate the care and affection that gives the film a depth and richness that so many critics chose to ignore. --Jeff Shannon
Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition) Reviews:
A Great Movie 
2008-07-30 - This is a film that is driven by dialogue and suspense. If you watch it you will be moved and fascinated by the idea of death. By the film's end there is without a doubt a connection between WIll Parrish that will leave the audience wanting Will to live. A truly sad and beautiful movie.
Destiny visits Mr. Parrish 
2008-05-18 - Meet Joe Black is an outstanding movie. At first it promises to be a spectral thriller, but quickly counters as a dramatic romance. It is a poignant look at what a life well lived is, and should remind us all to live with no regrets. Starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani, Meet Joe Black is a must see movie, even if you don't keep it in your DVD collection.
I do not have the life Bill (Anthony Hopkins) portrays. However, he lives Everyman's dream. We all want to be surrounded by those we love. We crave power. We desire fortune and comfort and struggle to attain it at every venture. Hopkins however gives a wisdom to the role of this dream. Bill is the benefactor we all need, the father most of us wish to be and the oracle for a life well lived. Bill is confronted by death.
Death is selfish, smooth, and at times very cruel. Heartless and cold, Death's one desire is to "live" like Hopkins' character does. Joe (Brad Pitt) is gallant, charming, and perfectly suited to the role. When we first meet him, Joe is an ordinary man with extraordinary dreams. He soon however becomes Death's puppet, and is inhabited by the entity of the dark spectre. As Death, he disrupts everything he can about the harmony surrounding Bill's life. He even steals Susan's heart. Bill cannot stand the thought of his daughter loving Death.
Susan (Claire Forlani) is beautiful, smart, and dreamy. She aspires to be her father's daughter and shuffles after his number one assistant in a loveless pursuit of marriage. Bill sees this and warns his daughter to settle for nothing less than "floating, dancing a dervish, swept away by desire and passion, with a little time to remember me." Soon after he render's this advice, lightening strikes and Susan meets Joe. Joe echoes Bill's words sending Susan into a dizzying head over heels infatuation with him, just before Death takes his body.
In the end, the three primaries create a paradoxical balance which leads to an inevitable ending, which can only be described as magical. Though I love Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt, I will always adore Claire Forlani's performance. She is at the center of impossible circumstances and inspires every girl to dream of that one love which surprises you. Hopkins completely compliments her as a devoted father. Just about any young handsome leading man could have played Brad Pitt's role, but it was done well enough by Pitt. All in all, this movie was remarkable.
One you will never forget
2008-05-06 - I don't know how to even put how much I loved this movie in words. Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins did an incredible, and I mean INCREDIBLE job. I never would have thought that a movie about death himself wanting to experience life could be this moving. This movie will make you laugh and bring you to tears. You have to watch this movie!
A Masterpiece !
2008-04-06 - I am a golfer. Not an avid golfer. I am an admitted rabid golfer. Please stay with me for a minute. How much sense does that make and what does it have to do with Meet Joe Black. Well,....as the Jamaican woman said in the hospital, life is about collecting pictures/memories. In the game of golf, one can feel virtually every emotion known to man from absolute disgust and self loathing to the most extreme joy and contentment. Golfers who truly understand will tell you that Golf is about experiencing and creating powerful memories. And,...you can do it all in just over 3 hours per round every time you play. In the 3+ hours that it took to watch this movie, I probably didn't experience every emotion, but the depth of emotion that I was taken to made up the difference. Everything about this movie was perfect. Only the best of true art is capable of such a journey. It was spiritual and at the same time it made me realize the incredible gift that the actors brought to the screen.
Yes, life is about collecting pictures and life is about building the type of life that Bill Parrish was portrayed to have built ("Daddy, everybody loves you"). I've learned much from this movie and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
The casting for this movie was utter perfection from the Jamaican lady to the mesmerizing performance of Claire Forlani. I didn't think a human being could express such innocence and beauty. Sir Anthony Hopkins is truly our greatest living acting talent (maybe living or gone). Brad Pitt was so good as an unknowing, inncocent yet omni-powerful death that it was scary. Drew, Quince and Allison all the way down to the butler were exquisitley cast and executed with utter perfction.
There were so many best parts to the movie, but none could be better than the part near the end when Susan (Claire Forlani) and death emberace as death tries to tell her who he really is. This comes after a dare from Bill Parrish (Sir Anthony Hopkins). It was a clinic in superb acting. Almost no words were spoken, but the point was made even more powerfully than if they were shouting at each other.
Lastly, everyone who took part in this movie was severely shafted, especially the director who happened to have created a masterpiece beyond comprehension. I say this becasue this movie got virtually no recognition and no praise. It surprisingly was not a blockbuster as it should have been. Maybe it was just intended for those of us who needed it. Oh well, it is now my favorite movie of all time, this from someone who loves science fiction and adventure. Ah romance.
Great movie after all these years
2008-04-02 - I can't add much more to what others have written since I agree with their comments. I would give the HD DVD video quality to be a 9/10 and the sound going through my multichannel 5.1 analog inputs sounds real good. I watched this movie years ago on tv, and just watched it again tonight although I had to watch it over two days since it was a three hour long movie.
It was a touching movie that kept your interest and made you feel for the characters. I normally don't watch too many dramas, but am happy this is added to my hd dvd collection. Although you'll probably have to get it online if you want it, since I recently went to Bestbuy and they pulled all there hd dvd's out to make room for Blurays. Circuit City will probably soon follow suit.
