William Hurt Movie:

Editorial Review:
Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles's The Return of the Seacaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals--who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism--reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion. --Tom Keogh

The Big Chill [Region 2] Reviews:
phoenix7751
2008-10-13 - Brought back a rush memories! I enjoyed watching it again after so many years, but the music is what was most nostalgic. Glad to make it part of my personal library.

excellent movie
2008-09-18 - excellent movie. was great when it was new and still is. i watch it over and over.

Generation of Swine
2008-06-05 - This well acted film is a great portrait of sterotypical 60s generation sell-outs who in their youth were a little bit concerned about things besides themselves. But the times, they-are-a-changin'. They "grew-up" and ended up caring only about themsleves and material gain(of coarse) which is what adulthood means to most Americans. They lived through the 60s, their youthful idealism and naivete, on into the 1980s to become yuppies and narcissists. The only truly decent character is already dead at the beginning of the film and his funeral is what brings these old friends together while at the same time being an obvious symbol that, in a way, what was best about them is now dead. This film stands along with a handful of other films as a particularly instructive document of the so-called baby boomer generation and American culture at the late end of the 20th century.

Essential Viewing
2008-06-01 - When I first saw Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill I was a seventeen year old high school senior and I'll admit the story did not do a lot for me. Now, some twent-five years later after the idealism of youth fades into a daily grind the movie has much more meaning.

A group of seven friends plus the current girlfriend of the deceased gathers together on the weekend of the funeral of a friend who committed suicide. The friends feel that he had no real reason for what he did and are left searching for answers. In the three days that follow they must reexamine who they are and the choices that led them to this point in their lives.

The film features an incredible script written by Kasdan and Barbara Benedek and fine performances from its ensemble cast. The disc also includes a where are they now featurette and some deleted scenes. The film quality is good for a twenty five year old film even though the picture is a little soft. The sound has been remastered into Dolby 5.1 and comes across as crisp and clean.

This is a film for a more mature audience who understands the twists and turns of fate and of friendship. It is absolutely essential viewing.

The Big Chill DVD
2008-04-08 - I have been trying to find the DVD locally for some time. I was delighted with my purchase and it arrived in record time.