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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 2591
Released: March 9, 2004 |
| Our Price: $10.00 |
| Used Price: $6.59 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Schindler's List, a Steven Spielberg film, is a cinematic masterpiece that has become one of the most honored films of all time. Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, it also won every major Best Picture award and an exceptional number of additional honors. Among them were seven British Academy Awards; the Best Picture Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Producers Guild, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Chicago, Boston and Dallas Film Critics; a Christopher Award; and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Golden Globe Awards. Steven Spielberg was further honored with the Directors Guild of America Award. The film presents the indelible true story of the enigmatic Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, womanizer, and war profiteer who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust. It is the triumph of one man who made a difference, and the drama of those who survived one of the darkest chapters in human history because of what he did. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film, which also won Academy Awards for Screenplay, Cinematography, Music, Editing and Art Direction, stars an acclaimed cast headed by Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle and Embeth Davidtz.
Description of Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition):
Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit Jurassic Park, but it was the artistic and critical triumph of Schindler's List that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.
By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.
As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon
Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
Schindler's List 
2009-11-02 - Schindler's List effectively captures on film, the depiction of one of the most horrific and unconscionable events of all time - the Holocaust. Even through one of the darkest eras in human history, there are those who lifted their hands in quiet, skillful defiance and offered a glimmer of hope and pockets of goodness that continue to reverberate from generation to generation. Oskar Schindler was one of those people.
Based on a true story and shot entirely in black and white, Stephen Spielberg shows his brilliance in directing this dark and moving classic starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, and Caroline Goodall.
The story begins with Oskar Schindler, a penniless Nazi, and his dream of making a fortune from cheap labor found in the Ghetto - a place where Polish Jews were exiled by Nazi Germany. There they were placed into poverty after being ripped from their homes and stripped of their possessions.
As time goes by, Oskar Schindler begins to see a different side of things and finds himself deeply affected by the unjust torment and murderous acts carried out against these innocent people. Incrementally and progressively, he steps out onto a path to save as many people as he can, but must find a way to avoid the cruel and unforgiving transgressions of the German army, else death will come to him as well.
Judaism is the central religion of the Jewish people. It is derived from Hebrew beliefs and practices set forth in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), also known to many Christians as the Old Testament. Their ancestry stems from the tribes of the Children of Israel. Being one of the oldest surviving monotheistic (one God) religions, Judaism considers divine covenants as their foundation. With a covenant being a contract between the Jewish people and God, many felt betrayed and abandoned during the Holocaust.
This film is equally inspiring and disturbing. Spielberg has accomplished another masterpiece and forever etched the tragic images into our minds, lest we shall never forget, and nor should we. This movie is highly recommended and should be viewed by all mature audiences everywhere. With great confidence, I can easily say Schindler's List is the best movie I hope to never see again.
A must see. Fabulous Movie
2009-10-30 - This is a film that will move you. It draws you in to the action on the screen so that you feel the emotions and the terror of the events unfolding before you. The opening music is hauntinglty beautiful. The story is heartbreaking and joyful. It shows you that one person can make a difference. And shows you the monstrosity of one man (Hitler) as well. The Voices From the List on the collector's edition is worth the cost of the DVD. These are survivors who worked in Schindler's factory. A first person account of what they witnessed.
A heartwrenching tale
2009-10-27 - SPOILER ALERT - Don't read this if you don't want any spoilers!
This movie starts with a member of the SS party named Oskar Shindler. He has one purpose in life and that is to live richly. He takes advantage of the Jews lot in life under German rule to open a manufacturing facility.
This movie leaves nothing to the imagination and I suspect that is the way director Steven Spielberg wanted it. You see the coldness of it all. A man, and worker for Shindler, is shot in the head for having one arm. Shindler thinks of this more as a business man one worker lost and therefore one more to hire and train. It isn't until his workers are all driven to concentration camps that the reality of what is happening to the Jews really strikes Oskar.
The SS in this movie appear to have no heart. They don't view Jews as humans but rather as rodents. They think nothing of killing them, even the children. In the camps the Jews are humiliated by beatings and forced public nudity. They are shot "arbitrarily" as Oskar puts it. Such awful scenes led "some Jews to complain to God in anguish" (Fisher 275). Many Jews continued to hope for better times just as occured for the biblical Job. God allowed Satan to take everything from him, but he was rewarded for his suffering when God replaced everything. Their enduring hope was shown in the Jewish prayer recited in the beginning and end of the movie.
Throughout the movie Shindler moves to protect "his" Jews by listing them as "necessary workers". He tries through reasoning and cunning to save as many lives as possible even putting himself in harms way to do so. In the end Shindler saves 1000 Jews by enlisting them as workers. He allows and encourages them to engage in thier religious celebrations including allowing them to leave their jobs early on Friday to prepare for Passover. Passover is the Jewish Sabbath taking place "from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night, because the Jewish "day" begins with nightfall" (Fisher 277). Oskar's actions toward the end of this film show that some SS members did have a heart and that not all hopeful Jews would be let down.
Works Cited:
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions (7th Edition). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall, 2007.
Schindler's List
2009-08-04 - This is a true story about George Schindler who is a German, that saved a lot of Jews in the Holocaust period. I didn't know who George Schindler was till I saw this movie. I highly recommend to people to watch this movie.
Excellent Movie! Great DVD! One of the Best Ever Films!
2009-07-28 - It's amazing a film on this subject of the brutality of the Nazi regime took this long to be showcased as an epic Hollywood movie. Thankfully though it has been made before the last surviving victims/witnesses have gone on to the after life. Just think how much more disturbingly graphic this film would be if it wasn't shot in black and white! Irrespective of just how "accurate" the depiction of the true nature of Oskar Schindler is this historical film gives us an insight into just how evil racism is and how incredibly barbaric "people" can be to their fellow humans. There are so many great and memorable scenes that I don't know where to start although the scene with the girl in red and the subsequent scene with her on the cart was extremely touching indeed.
This is by far Spielberg's masterpiece and is certainly one of the best ever films. This dvd version is also very well put together in a slim digipak with interviews and a documentary on the b-side in addition to the continuation of the main course from side a. The picture quality is very, very good and so is the sound quality which I watched using the DTS channel.
Highly recommended for fans of great historical epics and essential for any film buff's dvd library.
