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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 2521
Released: October 17, 2000 |
| Our Price: $4.16 |
| Used Price: $0.98 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
An epic adventure of brotherhood and betrayal Legends Of The Fall" is a powerful story about a close-knit family which is forever changed when the youngest of three brothers brings home his dazzling bride-to-be inadvertently sparking passions and creating a rivalry.System Requirements:Starring: Anthony Hopkins Brad Pitt Aidan Quinn Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas. Directed By: Edward Zwick. Running Time: 134 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396787278
Description of Legends of the Fall (Special Edition):
A box-office hit when released in 1994, this sprawling, frequently overwrought familial melodrama may get sillier as its plot progresses, but it's the kind of lusty, character-based epic that Hollywood should attempt more often. It's also an unabashedly flattering star vehicle for Brad Pitt as Tristan--the rebellious middle son of a fiercely independent Montana rancher and military veteran (Anthony Hopkins)--who is routinely at odds with his more responsible older brother, Alfred (Aidan Quinn), and younger brother, Samuel (Henry Thomas). From the battlefields of World War I to his adventures as an oceangoing sailor, Tristan's life is full of personal torment, especially when he returns to Montana and finds himself competing with Alfred over Samuel's beautiful widow (Julia Ormond), whose passion for Tristan disrupts the already turbulent Ludlow clan. Under the wide-open canopy of Big Sky country, this operatic tale unfolds with all the bloodlust, tragedy, and scenery-chewing performances you'd expect to find in a hokey bestselling novel (in fact, it's based on the acclaimed novella by Jim Harrison), but it's a potent mix that's highly entertaining. Not surprisingly, John Toll won an Academy Award for his breathtaking outdoor cinematography. --Jeff Shannon
Legends of the Fall (Special Edition) Reviews:
A beautiful drama. 
2008-06-24 - I saw Legends in the theater back when it came out.
I loved the cinematography; it's gorgeous just to watch the scenery.
The script is well written and paced well.
The acting is superb which is to be expected considering the cast.
Hopkins is amazing as is Quinn and Pitt.
The movie has a lot of twists and turns which keep things interesting.
My only complaint is the lack of realism in certain places.
The part during the war when the brother is killed is a good example.
Sorry, but there is no way someone could get smacked by about fifty bullets by a machine gun and still be alive, even for a few moments.
That minor complaint aside, I loved the movie.
Its fun, beautiful, and a pleasure to watch.
Highly recommended.
Beautiful movie which echoes long literary tradition 
2008-06-16 - If you understand what this movie was intended to be and surrender yourself to that intent, you will have an immensely enjoyable and emotionally satisfying movie-watching experience, with some of the most breathtaking cinematography and scenery you will ever see, married to a beautiful musical score. I fall in love with this movie anew each time I watch it, as has everyone to whom I've introduced it.
The movie and the Harrison novella (which I highly recommend reading) draw upon a long tradition of Biblical, mythological, and literary models for character and plot. The personnae in LOTF are archetypes of characters from this tradition, and do not need subtlety of characterization, although each is a fully realized human being in the movie despite the minimalist dialogue.
LOTF echoes the stories of Cain and Abel (the Lord favoring the roaming shepherd over the settled farmer), Jacob and Essau, the Prodigal Son, the preference by Priam in the "Iliad" for his wild irresponsible son Paris over the responsible rule-abiding Hektor, the berserker warrior (Achilles) who lives beyond his society's norms, the medieval tradition of courtly unrequited love. Susannah is Cathy from "Wuthering Heights", pining after the brooding bipolar Heathcliffe rather than the nice English gentleman who loves her, or Scarlett pining for Ashley over Rhett. What other posters have criticized as melodrama or plot predictability is not a fault for this type of storytelling (and I disagree about the melodrama), but very much an essential aspect of it. The narration by One Stab and quotations from the letters capture very nicely the spare poetic prose of Harrison's novella.
There is a reason the movie is called "Legends" (myths) of the "Fall" (of humanity from a state of Edenic happiness and innocence).
This is a movie about the effects of mental illness and post traumatic stress disorder on family structure and personal happiness. (Unfortunately, the script did not make as clear as it should have the fact from the novella that Susannah suffered from manic-depression, which explains her paralysis and weepiness.) LOTF is also a story of how the seeds of fraternal jealousy, sorrow, self-indulgence and irresponsibility are carelessly sown by parental favoritism. It is a story of wanting to have what we think we love, instead of learning to love what we have.
Even without the literary echoes, LOTF tells a powerful story of family relationships in an emotionally true way. The acting is mostly very good. I would especially like to commend Aidan Quinn as the older, responsible, repressed brother Alfred, who represents encroaching civilization and governmental control. What Quinn did with Alfred's inarticulate, fumbling, utterly vulnerable declaration of love for Susannah made that scene one of the most poignant in the movie. Quinn can say more in a look than most actors can in several lines, and his portrayal of Alfred's stoic pain, goodness, and longing for family connection was so moving that his Alfred was able to be a memorable presence despite the flamboyant and charismatic Tristan of Brad Pitt. I am not a big Pitt fan, but I thought he did a particularly good job here and showed real emotional depth. Anthony Hopkins' commanding, domineering, libertarian Col. Ludlow was well done, although I wish he had played down the physical effects of the stroke in the second half. I liked very much how Julia Ormond portrayed Susannah - which was how the part was written! Gordon Tootoosis added gravitas.
If you are in the mood for a sad, sweeping, visually breathtaking (amazing scenery!), emotionally powerful movie, surrender yourself to this one, and you will not be disappointed.
Satisfied customer
2008-05-27 - Purchased "Legends of the Fall" and was very satisfied with the timely shipment, condition of the DVD, and ease of making a purchase via internet. I'm not computer savvy, but Amazon makes it easy for people like me to find and purchase a product.
Just What I wanted!
2008-05-21 - The DVD arrived in about 2 days, it was in great condition and I would definately buy here again.
Irritant Tragedy (spoilers) 
2008-04-25 - **Spoilers**
Ugh! Husband found this in the bargain bin at the supermarket and said,
"Oh! This is such a great movie!" He's pretty picky about movies, not
liking chick flicks and those of that ilk. So I thought, "Hey! Why not
watch it!" What tragedy. Some reviewers here complain that it's
unrealistic. No, it's realistic alright. The classic "Nice Guys Don't
Get Laid" by Marcus P. Meleton. The bad guy, the one who steals other
men's women, gets the slut who sleeps with every single brother, and
has the nerve to tell her future husband, "It was Samuel I loved."
Yeah, right.
And then, the prodigal son goes on to become a bootlegger, and I guess
most Brad Pitt fans and anti-establishment people are supposed to feel
sorry for him, because he put his wife and kids in jeopardy with his
illegal activities. This kind of selfishness happens in real life all
the time.
The oldest son, who truly cares about helping his community grow, and
who loves a woman so much, he's willing to take secondhand, nay
*third*hand goods, ends up marrying a woman who is such a weenie that
she'd kill herself for a man who doesn't even love her, in some kind of
pitiful Sylvia Plath-like angst.
Augh! All too realistic and demonstrative of the melodrama of people
with certain psychiatric disorders.
3 stars out of 5, rather than zero, because although it was irritating as
heck, it is a true tragedy that I see time and time again in real life.
