Harrison Ford Movie:

The Conversation Reviews:
One of the better DVDs in my little collection
2009-11-14 - More than any other DVD that I've rented or owned, I had the highest expectations for this, and I wasn't disappointed. Few other motion pictures deserve a good DVD edition as much as Francis Ford Coppola's introspective masterwork, a extraordinarily nuanced and deeply involved study of alienation, privacy and guilt. Coppola's flawless, unhurried direction and Gene Hackman's entirely credible performance - as a surveillance expert whose interest in an assignment involves him personally - drive this moody, suspenseful and deeply personal story. For me, this movie is a benchmark by which all other serious crime dramas and filmic character studies are measured.

The feature's audiovisual quality is quite fine. Transferred from a slightly gritty print (probably the best available), its color is much richer than that of the VHS edition. Every frame of this film's composition is imbued with urgent meaning, and this detail is emphasized by the restored 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Because it needs to be carefully heard as much as seen, a first-rate soundtrack is far more essential for this movie than most others. Exceptionally remastered, the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is lucid and features a carefully balanced mix - not a single noise or line of dialogue strays from sonic equilibrium. While the French dubbed track is ably voiced, it's hardly mixed with such care.

Large and yellow, the English subtitles can't be missed. The transcription of this text is entirely adequate.

Big, colorful thumbnail film stills highlight the scene selection menu. One of my few gripes with Paramount discs is that the chapters are too long and few between, and therefore difficult to navigate. Even though "The Conversation" is broken into only twelve chapters, I can't complain; the film consists mostly of long sequences and really should be linearly viewed, anyway.

Yet again, I was ready to sit through another boring featurette shot eight or nine years ago - one of ten thousand glossy productions that might teach me a few things about the film via interviews with crew members and maybe, if I was lucky, Gene Hackman. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find that "Close-Up on the Conversation" is an American Zoetrope promotional short that was shot on location in late 1972 between and during takes, and features brief interviews with a mannerly Hackman and the insightful, bearlike and necessarily LOUD Coppola. It's a great little documentary that places the audience in the midst of the film's shooting, granting a pleasantly intimate - albeit brief - perspective of the production.

Although I can imagine being intrigued by it if I'd seen it prior in a theater in '74, the theatrical trailer has quite a few flaws common to those of the period: it's poorly edited, the expository narrative is all too literal and too much is revealed. It's a charming little bit of promotional kitsch for those who have seen the movie, but the uninitiated would do better to view the movie first.

Coppola's commentary track makes for entertaining (if not wholly absorbing) listening. His insights concerning his screenplay are unsurprising and fairly mundane, but the stories he has to tell regarding the movie's production are invariably interesting. Perhaps because he has relatively little to say about this favorite of his own works, much of the track consists of information about his private life and career that often hasn't much to do with the film. For me, this was only mildly engaging; the degree of a viewer's interest in Coppola will probably determine whether or not they enjoy it.
As yet more evidence that film editors produce superior commentary tracks to those of cinematographers on the rare occasions when they do so, Walter Murch's commentary draws on his prodigious memory to provide the viewer with a wealth of technical information and a keen perspective on how it relates to the film's story, all accessible in layman's terms. Murch's most interesting revelations involve three scenes that were cut and reworked quite differently than how they were originally written and shot, all of which were granted a greater profundity and impact as a result. I was also amazed to learn that this - among the most intricately and intuitively edited mainstream movies I know of - was Murch's first assignment on a feature film! This commentary is sparse almost to the point of being periodic - at times, Murch has nothing to say for as long as four of five minutes, but I'd rather this than a lot of insubstantial babble. He does reveal the film's penultimate plot twist fairly early in the movie, so those who haven't seen the movie should beware of this spoiler.

Scored by David Shire's memorable theme, the main menu's selections are brightly visible against a film still of Harry Caul's work studio, the tape recorder of which features animated reels. The special features menu is also animated by a closer shot of that recorder, playing the conversation itself, rewinding, playing again with improved fidelity, forwarding, playing with ever-improved clarity...but never revealing the first of this great movie's many secrets...!

The Conversation - 1974 Movie Worth Watching
2009-10-28 - Another great movie written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, A suspenseful movie from 1974 which had some great actors/actresses; Gene Hackman, Cindy Williams, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr to name a few.

Prequel to Enemy of the State
2009-09-07 - Francis Ford Coppola made The Conversation between The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. This is a different kind of film: a character study that explores the morality of privacy, and for that reason it is as relevant today as when it came out just after Watergate.

A great performance by Gene Hackman, presaging his character (at least the spirit of his character) in 1998's Enemy of the State. There's also an interesting early role for Harrison Ford. On the other hand, I didn't much like Cindy Williams or Frederic Forrest in it, but I suppose their characters are unlikable. Plus, what you hear them saying is the real focus anyway.

Young or at least immature viewers probably won't enjoy this movie but that doesn't mean it's not still an undiscovered gem. Two commentaries, including one from Coppola, make this seven dollar DVD an easy purchase.

Compared with "Enemy of the State" "The Conversation" Sucks!
2009-08-22 - I saw this movie after seeing "Enemy of The State" (1998). I could see that flick several more times, but could hardly finish seeing "The Conversation" (1974) once.

When I first heard of "The Conversation," I thought, 'How do you make a movie with such a boring title?' I was kind of intrigued by that. It doesn't exactly have the punch of "Enemy of the State," does it?

I also saw the rating by TCM was four stars. I wondered, 'If it's so good, how come I've never heard of it before?' I saw the high rating here on Amazon.com, too, so I decided to give it a look. The professional and amateur critics both can't be wrong, can they?

The beginning I liked. It is set up well, and you see flashes of brilliance by Francis Ford Coppola. There's crisp dialogue, artsy cinematography, and a simple, strong idea. A surveillance expert picks up on his listening device the plot for a murder. He even gets the date and place.

It goes downhill after that, unfortunately. The middle slows down to a snail's pace starting after everybody returns from the snooping technology show. And the end is a disaster.

A comparison between "The Conversation" and "Enemy of The State" exposes the failure of this highly overrated seventies crime flick and will help those who saw Gene Hackman's nineties movie figure out if they want to see his earlier work.

"Enemy of the State" (EOTS) was a big-budget film. "The Conversation" (TC) is such a low-budget movie.

EOTS has a lot of dialogue. TC has very little dialogue.

EOTS is packed with action. TC has very little action.

EOTS moves very quickly. TC moves ridiculously slowly.

EOTS strongly develops characters. TC doesn't. Even the main character in TC isn't developed!

EOTS has an antagonistic working relationship between two main characters--Gene Hackman and Will Smith--like many modern movies. TC has no such thing.

EOTS has cool spy tech. TC doesn't.

EOTS never lets you get bored. TC does--often.

EOTS has an exciting finish that is satisfying. TC doesn't.

What a waste of money!!!!
2009-08-14 - Man I thought this would be an interesting movie because of Francis Ford Coppola, was I wrong. This was so boring, there was absolutely nothing interesting in this movie what so ever. If you want to see Gene Hackman doing some surveillance work just buy ENEMY OF THE STATE if you haven't already. What a dissappointment.