 | |
List Price: $9.95 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 7243
Released: September 12, 2000 |
| Our Price: $4.00 |
| Used Price: $2.23 |
|
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
WHEN FOUR TEENAGE OUTCASTS BECOME EXPERTS IN THE ANCIENT ARTS OF WITCHCRAFT, THEY SEEK REVENGE ON THOSE WHO SLIGHTED THEM IN THE PAST.
Description of The Craft (Special Edition):
If Buffy the Vampire Slayer represents the lighter side of high school as a macabre experience, here's a movie that asks the burning question, "What happens when angst-ridden teenagers develop supernatural powers?" More to the point, how do four outcast teenaged witches handle their ability to cast wicked spells on the taunting classmates who've nicknamed them "The Bitches of Eastwick"? The answer, of course, is "don't get mad, get even." That's about all there is to this terminally silly movie, which makes up for its ludicrous plot by letting its young female cast have a field day as they indulge their dark fantasies. Fairuza Balk is enjoyable as the most wicked of the witches, and is therefore the focus of the film's most dazzling special effects. But it's Neve Campbell from television's Party of Five who made this film a modest box-office hit, just before she became her generation's fright-movie favorite in Scream and its popular sequel. --Jeff Shannon
The Craft (Special Edition) Reviews:
Invoke the Team Spirit 
2009-10-30 - The New Girl has talent, and is coveted by three others,
who need a fourth to complete "the circle" which apparently
consists of four points, like a square.
A test: "It is better that you run yourself through upon this
knife, than enter the circle with fear...How do you respond?
Apparently, the correct answer is, "With perfect love and trust"
...A knife, a sharp point,...Do you abhor bloodshed? Do you
FEAR drinking blood?...It is BETTER to FEAR (without), than to
enter the circle WITH FEAR..."Don't worry, we won't hurt you...
Do you trust us?"...Who will break the Circle? Apparently, not
Nancy. For the second test involves a goblet of wine, mixed
with a drop of blood. Nancy, does not fear. There is no blood,
she tells herself, just wine, (the drop of blood is probably at the
bottom of the cup), and so she drinks, wine...Whereas the others
look "pained", fearful....The Communion Ritual...If you really
believed that that was His Holy Blood, you would be filled with
Holy Terror and not be able to touch that Cup...It is a test, you
see?...The rituals of the Roman Catholic Church are really just
theatre, meant to teach the illiterate, to help priests learn of
them who have knowledge, to keep them from the "posers",
"the wolves in sheep's clothing", and "the feeble-minded"...Every
now and then, I like to repeat the mantra, 'Divine Comedy'. I
find it helps to keep the anger in check. What good is a priest,
if he cannot keep a secret?...Well, if you wanted a thing to be
known, you would tell it to somebody who had great difficulty
keeping a secret.
They who have studied Khabalah (Khabalah may only be discovered
by them to whom it is given), know that the consonants of a word
are its flesh, and the vowels are its spirit. It is why you will not find
vowels written in a Torah, but they are added when the Torah is read.
It is written in the Book of Leviticus, 'The life of the flesh is in the blood'.
Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life, but there are some of you here that believe not...Jesus also said, All
things are possible with God...You must eat his flesh and drink his blood,
otherwise you have no life in you...Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word. See,
Matthew 4:4; John 6:35, KJV. To be saved, you must be found IN Christ.
And to be saved, means you have a HOPE of Salvation, and not a certainty
thereof. Grace comes through Faith, and with Grace comes a Hope of
Salvation. Keep the Faith, and grow in Love. MAY is an attitude, and not
just a name...See, 1 John 4:18, KJV.
I like the scene where they no longer have any need for
money, or servants, but are able to affect cosmetic changes
without the aid of beauty products...Also, the scene of the guy
carrying a serpent getting hit by the car, and their subsequent
indifference to his death, was interesting too...
See, 1 John 2:15-16, KJV...Who gives a serpent to a child?
The world is a He. Whereas, the Church is a She, the Bride of
Christ. His soul is male, whereas our souls are female. A
man's flesh is male, his spirit reflects his image (even
the clothes he wears), but his soul is female:
See, Psalm 34:2, KJV.
Nancy, speaks of a football field, and a war between good and
evil. But she does not speak of the teams on this field as
belonging to good, or to evil, only that there is a conflict
between good and evil. In other words, do you see two teams
on a football field, or individuals, some of whom believe that
they belong to a team. What is "manon" but "the world" and
a battle to save or destroy, the world? Players who say they
belong to a team, serve who? And players who do not see teams,
but imaginary concepts with real-world consequences, such as
spinal chord damage, serve who? But Nancy speaks of Manon as
being "everything", both good and bad.
ISRAEL is a person, and a people: The Holy Land is not called
Israel in the Bible (KJV). Do you not walk, or stand, upon land?
Although the earth is feminine, you would not call her Mother,
would you? For you walk upon her. Words matter...Nancy says
that 'Manon' is everything, God, the devil, nature, good and evil,
she sees "One Love" rather than a need to FILTER, to "separate
the wheat from the chaff", to REFUSE THE EVIL, AND CHOOSE THE
GOOD: The comma speaks of a pause, whereas this word AND
speaks of "no hesitation", simultaneity, "zero time". In the language
of LOGIC, 'True and False' is 'False'. If you cannot filter, it is bad,
it is poison, and you ought to throw that book away. Some media
content cannot be assimilated by the weak, for the weak are unable
to filter...During WW1 and WW2, did soldiers go to fight for the Israel
OF God? No, they fought as if they were on teams, called 'nations',
and did not fight for the Israel of God. And so Christians and Jews
perished, at the hands of others, who also claimed to worship and
serve the God of Israel...But who truly knows Him, who worships and
serves Him: God is Love. He is a Jealous God, even a consuming
fire. A consuming fire, such as a forest fire, will turn wood into ash.
Wrath is an aspect of Love, as the girls soon learn, who threaten to
"break the circle". Jealousy is not to be confused with envy: Are you
jealous for somebody who gets a promotion and moves away, do you
miss her, or are you envious of her? See, Ro 10:19, KJV.
Words matter. Star Fish (the New Girl) casts a spell: You will not be
able to hurt others, or yourself...But she fails to say, Neither will
anybody else be able to hurt you...And so her rival ends up in
restraints. Star Fish, the one with potential, does not seem
very adept at casting spells, of love. For if she loved her, truly
cared for her, would she not have said rather: "Neither a victim,
nor a victimizer be"...?? They have POWER, but what of AUTHORITY,
that comes with wisdom, the ability to cast "spells" : Who is the
Wordsmith of the four, who is good with words, for words
matter...Who can say that which is right? Who can lead the others
out of darkness? They need a man, a "Peace Lock", whilst they
keep the keys. Warlocks keep the peace within, by making war
without, The Circle.
Star Fish has power, but is weak, apparently not good with words,
is unable to sermonize, which is why the others turn to her rival for
leadership (authority) instead...Also, because they fear the most
powerful...It is ironic, that the one who doubts is the strongest,
whereas the one with confidence, Nancy, though powerful, is yet
weak, unable to govern, effectively. Love and fear go together, for
you fear the one you love (afraid of disappointing), and you will
obey the one you fear. Do you love me? Do you trust me? If you
loved me, you would...To love somebody is to want that person to
be holy, even when she is not, when she is, weak.
A man will have authority (rule) over a woman if she chooses to
submit to (is willing to obey) him. And she will have power over a
man who desires her. It is like how a map (or compass) has authority
over a navigator, so long as she feels the map (or compass) is useful...
If a GPS Navigational system in your car told you to cross a
half-constructed bridge, would you?
A man feels a NEED for a woman, she is like water (or oxygen)
to him, whereas a woman MAY WANT a man, if he is useful,..he is like
wine to her, providing her with luxuries, whilst she provides him with
a "raison d'etre"...But an addiction can begin to feel like a need, make
her weak, servile. For do not drug dealers take advantage of drug
addicts? And who wants what he needs?
If you look upon Power and Authority as polarities, rather than
"apples versus oranges", then perhaps you might notice that individuals
are a combination of these two energies. Which energy dominates your
personality, determines whether you are masculine or feminine. The
sun is masculine, and the moon is feminine. The sun is the greater light,
however in appearance, the full moon is bigger while the sun, though
smaller in curvature and size, shines more intensely...A man might allow
a woman to have authority in a relationship, if he perceives her to be wiser
than him. Or is she is USURPING authority over him, taking advantage of
him, by virtue of the fact that she has power over a man who desires her?
Will she use that power to acquire authority as well? Can the wise always
be trusted? Is there really such a thing as an "evil scientist"? Erotica may
be thought of as "WANTING versus NEEDING", and so, gender equality may
be exactly what you do not want, if you desire "magic"...Is it wise to
entrust one individual in a relationship with BOTH power AND authority?
Consider the relationship between a tenant and a landlord...If one has the
power to evict, should not the other have the authority to set the rules?
What does it mean to be "voted out of office"?
The 97 dvd edition includes the phrase, "Welcome to the Witching Hour"
on the cover, which was removed for the Special Edition. I prefer the
original, because I like that phrase.
Mystick Realistick Teen Flick Fusion BD OK
2009-10-15 - After repeated viewings, Craft retains power and interest. Two DVDs and the BD; I should be bored; but it plays to stay. Medium power film has roots and style a'plenty with weird ways mixed with mundane. Great Playlist and a ride. BD has DTS power and great pic (soft by nature)
Blu-ray: Sony gives "The Craft" the DTS-HD MA treatment and if you enjoyed the film, you will dig the lossless soundtrack! 
2009-10-13 - In 1996, with a plethora of teen horror movies coming out to theaters, one supernatural film that stood out was "The Craft".
The film was directed by Andrew Fleming ("Grosse Pointe", "Paranormal Girl", "Dick") and featured a story written by Peter Filardi ("Flatliners", "Salem's Lot"). Joining the two are composer Grame Revell ("Pineapple Express", "The Ruins", "The Condemned", "Eleventh Hour") and cinematographer Alexander Gruszynski ("The In-Laws", "Nancy Drew" and "Madea Goes to Jail").
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"The Craft" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1). For a film that was released in 1996, "The Craft" actually looks good for being nearly 13-years-old. The film is not exactly vibrant nor do you see tons of detail but the film does manage to retain the film's grain and blacks are nice and deep. If anything, outdoor scenes manages to look nice, colorful and bright but for the most part, it's a good transfer but nothing that would be scene as reference or spectacular.
As for audio, this is where things get interesting. "The Craft" is one of the few Blu-ray releases in 2009 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to utilize an a 5.1 DTS-HD MA lossless track instead of DolbyTrue HD. The film gives a choice of English, French and Portuguese lossless tracks but what I was truly impressed by is how immersive the soundtrack for this film was.
So far, Sony has done a good job of bringing out the audio track for 90's films this year such as "Air Force One" and now, the same can be said with "The Craft". From lighting, to rain, ambient noises, conversations in the background and crickets, you hear it utilized quite nicely through the surround channels.
The sound effects really are utilized through the surround channels. So, the film goes beyond the front and center channel speakers for dialogue and music. Also, you'll notice some scenes utilizing LFE quite a bit, so overall, fans of the film will truly enjoy the lossless soundtrack of "The Craft".
Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Koeran and Thai.
SPECIAL FEATURES
"The Craft" comes with the following special features (all presented in standard definition and in English stereo/English Mono with English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and Thai subtitles):
*
* Director's Commentary - Director Andrew Fleming's audio commentary about "The Craft". Fleming is good at discussing certain parts of the film and how they had a technical adviser who runs a large covenant of witches, thus lending accuracy to the film.
* Conjuring the Craft - (24:33) A featurette featuring the screenwriter, director and producer along with the talent talking about the film and their experiences on working about the film. Also, how the crew hired an actual witch to help in the consulting of the film.
* The Original "Behind the Scenes of The Craft" - (6:00) Featuring the cast and director talking about the film and their characters. Plus clips from the film.
* Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary - Deleted scenes which include: Healing Bonnie, Confrontation and Nancy performs magic. Optional commentary of why the scenes were cut by Director Andrew Fleming.
JUDGMENT CALL:
"The Craft" was a pretty solid supernatural thriller back in 1996 and even over a decade later, the film continues to be entertaining and fun. Nor does it try to approach the supernatural or witchcraft storyline in a lame manner.
For the most part, very solid performances by Fairuza Balk, Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell and Rachel True. The film was before Neve Campbell became well-known for "Party of Five" and Fairuza Balk before "The Waterboy" but the crew did a good job in selecting Fairuza Balk (who is familiar with wicka) as the main antagonist of the film. Balk somehow has this dark look to her in the film but for the most part, she did a fantastic job portraying Nancy Downs. It was interesting to find out through the special features that Balk was familiar with witchcraft and that the director and producers felt that she embodied the role of Nancy. And of course, for the role of our main protagonist, Robin Tunney did a fantastic job playing the role of the protagonist Sarah Bailey.
"The Craft" definitely receives a solid picture and audio transfer. But as mentioned in the video & audio portion, the fact that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is testing out the DTS-HD Master Audio codec with this release is quite interesting. I am starting to prefer the DTS-HD Master Audio for lossless audio and for this film, it definitely made the film much more enjoyable as the sound effects really utilize the surround channels. In fact, one time I thought there was a cricket in my house but it was actually from the film.
Overall, "The Craft" was an enjoyable film featuring a solid screenplay, good choice of casting and for the most part, giving an edge to this dark teenage film. Although the film is Rated-R, the film is by no means is "The Craft" a slasher film nor is their nudity. But for fans who truly enjoyed this film, "The Craft" definitely gets a solid HD release on Blu-ray. Definitely worth checking out!
excellent
2009-09-26 - When the Craft originally came out, I didn't think it was a good movie because the storyline seemed, well, just plain SILLY! But watching it again last night, many years later, I've changed my mind.
It's about four women with special powers that go through their own conflicts and situations amongst themselves.
I'm not sure what category a film like this would be classified under- it's not quite appropriate enough for kids, but not something most adults would find interest in. Probably a teenage movie.
I guess it's either a mystery or drama, but not really horror or suspense (just not scary enough).
The movie succeeds by keeping my interest, and having a storyline that's not predictable (most of the time).
Things get too silly near the end though with the abundance of scenes involving a series of special powers constantly appearing on screen, almost reminding me of a cartoon.
I guess the 5 stars I'm giving the Craft is mainly do to the fact that a storyline like this probably wouldn't work as well today compared to when the movie was first released. I recommend it.
GOOD MOVIE
2009-09-12 - THIS MOVIE CREEPED ME OUT WITH THE SNAKES, BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS A GOOD TEEN MOVIE.
