Pretty good, but could benefit from a remake
Added 10/15/2009
Okay, I know all you purists will jump up and down when I say this movie could benefit from a remake, especially considering the ensemble cast of the original version. The movie shows one man's struggle against arbitrarily exercised power (Fonda standing up to the less-educated and self-absorbed commanding officer, played by Cagney), but some aspects of the movie, stemming no doubt from social conventions when it was made, just don't fly today. Antics of the crew during their overnight liberty ashore were portrayed as just good-natured fun that got a little out of hand - today, some of those antics would have easily resulted in felony prosecutions. Also, lots of niggling little details detract from the movie -- for example, in one scene, the ship is moving quickly through the water, but it's obvious there's no one on the brightly lit bridge (which would be lit with red-lensed lights to preserve night vision) in control of the ship's movements -- also, waves being thrown up alongside the boat are a) much too high for the sea state and size of the ship, and b) going BACKWARDS from the way they should be splashing - unless the ship was going at high speeds backwards. And Jack Lemmon's plan to put a high explosives "firecracker" under the CO's bunk - in addition to sounding too much like fragging during the VietNam conflict (junior soldiers throwing live hand grenades in the tents of sleeping officers they disliked), and is clearly disproportionate. Powell is great, as are Fonda, Cagney and Lemmon.
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Four 1/2 stars for a good film,just TWO stars for the print!
Added 8/13/2009
Based on the /46 novel and a /48 Broadway play of the same name,Mister Roberts came to the screen in July of/55.A good movie and a TV staple since the 60s(actually remade into a short lived TV series then),you would think Warner Brothers would have had the chutzpah to release it to DVD in a little better condition than they have here;but more on that later.
The movie stars James Cagney as Capt.Morton,Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts,Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver,William Powell as Doc and a wonderful cast of supporting players.
The story takes place in WW2 aboard a supply ship which plies the back waters of the Pacific.Mister Roberts desperately wants into the war having had it with being a bridesmaid but never a bride,so to speak.Every week he hands in a transfer request to the irrascable Capt.Morton and every week it's rejected.This goes on throughout the whole movie and at one point Roberts makes a bargain with the Captain to stop writing transfers so the crew would finally get their first shore leave in over a year.Pulver is a general no show around the ship,preferring to stick in his cabin and planning to do things he never carries out.By total accident he bumps into the Captain who doesn't even know he's been aboard the ship for 14 months!As the film winds along we see and easily sympathize with the crew and Roberts'frustration at the actions and taciturn nature and demeanour of the Captain.In the end Roberts finally gets a transfer off the ship,but suffers a cruel twist of fate.
The movie moves at a good clip generally and the personnels' various frustrations with their superiors and /or themselves builds nicely throughout.All the stars were in good form here with Lemmon getting a best supporting actor Oscar and it was unfortunately to be screen veteran William Powell's last role.
Now onto the worst part of this DVD release and that is the print itself.Generally speaking I would say most of the print is quite clear and the colours and contrast are in pretty good shape throughout.However Warners does need to go back to the original film elements,work on them and remaster this film;as it should have been done here.Two major spots are of concern to me:
There is a scene where Pulver accompanies Roberts over to the island the ship has been anchored in front of,at the beginning of the movie.In a shot of about 10-12 seconds in length,Pulver is seen in the middle of the shot with nurses flanking him on either side.The film goes quite out of focus for the entire length of the shot then goes back to normal afterwards.The focus seems to waver as if the film has been slightly warped in that particular spot.
There is another spot where Roberts and Doc are sitting in the cabin talking,not that far past the former scene,when the film quickly jumps,as a bad spot shoots by.Either dirt,blemish or film defect of some kind.
There are a few other spots where the focus goes only slightly in and out but Cinemascope is notorious for this kind of thing(especially at the extreme edges),so overall I found them to be of an acceptable level.Had the film consisted of just these kinds of things I would have given the film a complete passing grade.
It looks to me like those in charge of this release at Warner's thought the two spots I brought up(and they just HAVE to know about them)was good enough,not worth the effort to fix and sent it out.Well this type of thinking and its' resultant product,if you know me from any of my reviews,is totally unacceptable.If you're going to release anything,release it in the best possible condition you can.Considering the price of this release,which is above average in cost,it is even more puzzling why they would allow this to pass.
Furthermore beware that this is a dreaded double-sided disc,so much more prone to scratching and scuffing.They apparently couldn't get all the extras on one side.Those extras include production notes,the trailer,commentary by Lemmon,a clip from "Toast of the Town" with some of the cast and a an excerpt from "Fonda on Fonda" where he discusses his role in the movie.
Oh yes,the only thing that WAS apparently remastered here was the sound,which was done so into Dolby 5.1.
In conclusion a good and quite enjoyable movie in most respects that all will enjoy but the DVD print used here is less than satisfactory.Although most of the print looks quite good there are trouble spots that in my oppinion go beyond the pale and are unacceptable for a release of this stature and cost to the consumer.It's caveat emptor time again folks! "Mister Roberts" deserves better than this Warner Brothers!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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I could watch this film again and again!
Added 7/22/2009
I recently watched this film again, my third or fourth viewing. It never fails to entertain. A great cast and a great story.
I don't buy a lot of movies because I rarely want to see them a second time, let alone a third. I think I will have to add Mister Roberts to my small "owned" DVD collection.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because WB did not even bother to put together a "making of" documentary. A few screens of hard to read words was all the backstory we got on the making of the film. They should be ashamed! Fonda, Cagney, Powell and Lemmon deserve better (not to mention Ford, LeRoy and Josh Logan). Still, the Tost of the Town clips are fun.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Delightful WWII Movie Behind the War Zone
Added 6/28/2009
I have seen this once or twice on television although I may have seen it originally at the local singleplex movie theater in Maplewood, New Jersey at some point in the early 1950's. This title was not available at Blockbuster and I am very glad the Amazon.com had it for sale.
I watched it on my new 55" Sony LED Television with my 12 year old grandson. I was very pleased to see bright and solid colors given the potential of old Technicolor film to degrade. My grandson and I LOVED the movie. For children and grandchildren who are interested in the history of past wars, this is a interesting human, vignette about the Captain and crew of a merchant marine cargo ship in the backwaters of the American military/naval push toward Japan.
Grandpa Terry
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great one
Added 4/18/2009
Henry Fonda was a great actor and should have received Acadamy Award for this performance.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Pretty good, but could benefit from a remake
Added 10/15/2009
Okay, I know all you purists will jump up and down when I say this movie could benefit from a remake, especially considering the ensemble cast of the original version. The movie shows one man's struggle against arbitrarily exercised power (Fonda standing up to the less-educated and self-absorbed commanding officer, played by Cagney), but some aspects of the movie, stemming no doubt from social conventions when it was made, just don't fly today. Antics of the crew during their overnight liberty ashore were portrayed as just good-natured fun that got a little out of hand - today, some of those antics would have easily resulted in felony prosecutions. Also, lots of niggling little details detract from the movie -- for example, in one scene, the ship is moving quickly through the water, but it's obvious there's no one on the brightly lit bridge (which would be lit with red-lensed lights to preserve night vision) in control of the ship's movements -- also, waves being thrown up alongside the boat are a) much too high for the sea state and size of the ship, and b) going BACKWARDS from the way they should be splashing - unless the ship was going at high speeds backwards. And Jack Lemmon's plan to put a high explosives "firecracker" under the CO's bunk - in addition to sounding too much like fragging during the VietNam conflict (junior soldiers throwing live hand grenades in the tents of sleeping officers they disliked), and is clearly disproportionate. Powell is great, as are Fonda, Cagney and Lemmon.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Four 1/2 stars for a good film,just TWO stars for the print!
Added 8/13/2009
Based on the /46 novel and a /48 Broadway play of the same name,Mister Roberts came to the screen in July of/55.A good movie and a TV staple since the 60s(actually remade into a short lived TV series then),you would think Warner Brothers would have had the chutzpah to release it to DVD in a little better condition than they have here;but more on that later.
The movie stars James Cagney as Capt.Morton,Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts,Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver,William Powell as Doc and a wonderful cast of supporting players.
The story takes place in WW2 aboard a supply ship which plies the back waters of the Pacific.Mister Roberts desperately wants into the war having had it with being a bridesmaid but never a bride,so to speak.Every week he hands in a transfer request to the irrascable Capt.Morton and every week it's rejected.This goes on throughout the whole movie and at one point Roberts makes a bargain with the Captain to stop writing transfers so the crew would finally get their first shore leave in over a year.Pulver is a general no show around the ship,preferring to stick in his cabin and planning to do things he never carries out.By total accident he bumps into the Captain who doesn't even know he's been aboard the ship for 14 months!As the film winds along we see and easily sympathize with the crew and Roberts'frustration at the actions and taciturn nature and demeanour of the Captain.In the end Roberts finally gets a transfer off the ship,but suffers a cruel twist of fate.
The movie moves at a good clip generally and the personnels' various frustrations with their superiors and /or themselves builds nicely throughout.All the stars were in good form here with Lemmon getting a best supporting actor Oscar and it was unfortunately to be screen veteran William Powell's last role.
Now onto the worst part of this DVD release and that is the print itself.Generally speaking I would say most of the print is quite clear and the colours and contrast are in pretty good shape throughout.However Warners does need to go back to the original film elements,work on them and remaster this film;as it should have been done here.Two major spots are of concern to me:
There is a scene where Pulver accompanies Roberts over to the island the ship has been anchored in front of,at the beginning of the movie.In a shot of about 10-12 seconds in length,Pulver is seen in the middle of the shot with nurses flanking him on either side.The film goes quite out of focus for the entire length of the shot then goes back to normal afterwards.The focus seems to waver as if the film has been slightly warped in that particular spot.
There is another spot where Roberts and Doc are sitting in the cabin talking,not that far past the former scene,when the film quickly jumps,as a bad spot shoots by.Either dirt,blemish or film defect of some kind.
There are a few other spots where the focus goes only slightly in and out but Cinemascope is notorious for this kind of thing(especially at the extreme edges),so overall I found them to be of an acceptable level.Had the film consisted of just these kinds of things I would have given the film a complete passing grade.
It looks to me like those in charge of this release at Warner's thought the two spots I brought up(and they just HAVE to know about them)was good enough,not worth the effort to fix and sent it out.Well this type of thinking and its' resultant product,if you know me from any of my reviews,is totally unacceptable.If you're going to release anything,release it in the best possible condition you can.Considering the price of this release,which is above average in cost,it is even more puzzling why they would allow this to pass.
Furthermore beware that this is a dreaded double-sided disc,so much more prone to scratching and scuffing.They apparently couldn't get all the extras on one side.Those extras include production notes,the trailer,commentary by Lemmon,a clip from "Toast of the Town" with some of the cast and a an excerpt from "Fonda on Fonda" where he discusses his role in the movie.
Oh yes,the only thing that WAS apparently remastered here was the sound,which was done so into Dolby 5.1.
In conclusion a good and quite enjoyable movie in most respects that all will enjoy but the DVD print used here is less than satisfactory.Although most of the print looks quite good there are trouble spots that in my oppinion go beyond the pale and are unacceptable for a release of this stature and cost to the consumer.It's caveat emptor time again folks! "Mister Roberts" deserves better than this Warner Brothers!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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I could watch this film again and again!
Added 7/22/2009
I recently watched this film again, my third or fourth viewing. It never fails to entertain. A great cast and a great story.
I don't buy a lot of movies because I rarely want to see them a second time, let alone a third. I think I will have to add Mister Roberts to my small "owned" DVD collection.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because WB did not even bother to put together a "making of" documentary. A few screens of hard to read words was all the backstory we got on the making of the film. They should be ashamed! Fonda, Cagney, Powell and Lemmon deserve better (not to mention Ford, LeRoy and Josh Logan). Still, the Tost of the Town clips are fun.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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