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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 8559
Released: July 18, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.38 |
| Used Price: $2.82 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Four different characters forge a friendship in the turmoil of the American Civil War.
Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 08/22/06
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
Description of Ride with the Devil:
Great period pictures make you feel as if you've stepped into another era, heard its language, breathed its spirit, and come away with a fresh perspective on that time as well as your own. Ride with the Devil is one of those special films--why wasn't it more widely embraced by reviewers and filmgoers? Did it rely too much on our patience for slow accumulation of unforced rhythms and meanings (as opposed to The Patriot, which "moved" audiences with cattle-prod simplicity and manipulation)? Ride with the Devil--smart, handsome, tenderly awed by how individual lives get ambushed by history--is ripe for rediscovery.
The Civil War of battlefields and plantation houses is nowhere to be seen here. Instead we see the war as an improvised and largely blundering but very bloody feud among neighbors in the border state of Missouri. In this bucolic war zone--more than a little reminiscent of the Balkans in the late 1990s--the Taiwanese-born director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility) traces the destinies of several young Southern bushwhackers (guerrilla fighters) as they experience violence, the seasons, and different kinds of love. Skeet Ulrich draws the aristocratic glamour role (and top billing), but he's overshadowed by Tobey Maguire as a first-generation American, the magnificent Jeffrey Wright (a shameful oversight at Oscar time) as a freed slave fighting beside his former master, and singer Jewel in a very natural acting debut as the young widow who graces all their lives. The title The Birth of a Nation was already taken, but by the end of this movie you feel it would have applied here. -- Richard T. Jameson
Ride with the Devil Reviews:
Ride With The Devil 
2009-09-11 - In my opinion, this is an excellent movie. I'm an amateur history buff and, from what I have read about the pre-civil war era in Missouri and Kansas, this movie is as close to the way it probably was as I can imagine.
Entertaining 
2009-09-11 - I stopped watching TV and films years ago because with only rare exceptions both media are simply anti-western, anti-white male, pro-socialist propaganda. I bought this one on the recommendation of a military historian who swore this movie would not lend itself to such criticism. He was correct.
The film's strong suit is not the plot or the quality of the acting (not that either were particularly bad). I enjoyed it because of the effort that was put into creating authenticity. The costumes, settings, and battle scenes are all crafted to look real. The characters are alternately bloody and dirty. Their boots are muddy. Their hair is unkempt. Their weapons are period. The cavalry charge is probably the best one ever filmed.
Those who appreciate realism will enjoy it.
ride with the devil 
2009-08-20 - After viewing the movie I must say this it is probably one of the worst movies i ever saw! The movie was long, disjointed, boring, slow, hard to follow, and the acting was horrible. The movie didn't really have a plot either - it takes place during the civil war, is all I can tell you. Move over "Plan Nine From Outer Space" - this movie was worse.
Either way you ride with the Devil.
2009-07-16 - The direction, cinematography, casting and performances **top notch**. Ang Lee is one the finest drama film directors working today. His credits include "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brokeback Mountain", which are both amazing films if you've not seen them. I gather from folks "Ride with Devil" managed to be a pretty accurate depiction of the reality of the Civil War in Missouri. Hollywood has a long, LONG list of movies that are absurdly inaccurate in their portrayal of the Civil War. Of course Hollywood usually carelessly gets historic events it depicts wrong. But not here. War is hell. War is war and it's horrible. But it might be true that civil war is the most devastating in that families and neighbors are often ripped apart and pitted against one another in what amounts to a blood feud. This is what happened throughout the country, especially boarder states and Missouri was one of the worst. What makes the film work so well is that it is a personal depiction of the day to day realities of the war mainly through Tobey Maguire's character (Jake Roedel). He fights with the bushwhackers against the Unionists. I found somewhat touching the interesting position of a former slave named Holt played by the incredible Jeffrey Wright (one of my favorite actors. He's good.) Holt and Jake become friends and Holt fights right along with the anti-Unionists. Things really did get complicated. Well I'll by pass detailing the whole plot, but it is straightforward enough. Just check it out. Good movie. Thumbs-UP!
Ride with te Devil 
2009-02-11 - If you are looking for an every day representation of life during the Civil War, this may be the flick for you. The characters are understated, yet not static. The story is believeable yet the ending is a surprise. This is a "slice of life" film. I might use it in a US History classroom to show the effect of the war on average people. Not an earthshaker but worth seeing for history buffs or those interested in average people.
