Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3875 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-03-20
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
On the surface, David Cronenberg may seem an unlikely candidate to direct A History of Violence, but dig deeper and you'll see that he's the right man for the job. As an intellectual seeker of meaning and an avowed believer in Darwinian survival of the fittest, Cronenberg knows that the story of mild-mannered small-town diner proprietor Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is in fact a multilayered examination of inbred human behavior, beginning when Tom's skillful killing of two would-be robbers draws unwanted attention to his idyllic family life in rural Indiana. He's got a loving wife (Maria Bello) and young daughter (Heidi Hayes) who are about to learn things about Tom they hadn't suspected, and a teenage son (Ashton Holmes) who has inherited his father's most prominent survival trait, manifesting itself in ways he never expected. By the time Tom has come into contact with a scarred villain (Ed Harris) and connections that lead him to a half-crazy kingpin (William ! Hurt, in a spectacular cameo), Cronenberg has plumbed the dark depths of human nature so skillfully that A History of Violence stands well above the graphic novel that inspired it (indeed, Cronenberg was unaware of the source material behind Josh Olson's chilling adaptation). With hard-hitting violence that's as sudden as it is graphically authentic, this is A History of Violence that's worthy of serious study and widespread acclaim. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Canadian director David Cronenberg, whose impressive oeuvre includes such disparate works as THE DEAD ZONE, THE FLY, DEAD RINGERS, M. BUTTERFLY, and SPIDER, has made what might be the best film of his career with A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Loosely based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, the movie stars Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall, a quiet, easygoing family man who runs a diner in a small Indiana town. But when two dangerous criminals come into the restaurant prepared to wreak havoc, Stall turns hero and shoots them both. After Stall's story is blasted all over the media, Philly mobster Carl Fogaty (an excellent Ed Harris) shows up, claiming that Tom is actually former hit man Eddie Cusack and they've got some important business to finish. While Stall insists that Fogaty is mistaken, his family his wife, Edie (Maria Bello); teenage son, Jack (Ashton Holmes); and young daughter, Sarah (Heidi Hayes) get dragged into the danger that constantly threatens to explode. Cronenberg, whose films often deal with the fantastical, the futuristic, and the supernatural, has done a masterly job creating a wholly believable modern world where evil lurks just around the corner. Howard Shore's tense, moody music complements the outstanding acting in a violent, powerful film that is not to be missed.

Customer Reviews

MASTERPÝECE
This movie is a masterpiece.It is also one of the best sudies of man as the primitive self.

thoughtful and understated
I'm not a huge fan of Cronenberg and didnt enter into this film with particularly high expectations - maybe thats why I enjoyed this film as much as I did.

The story gripped me from the start and I found myself changing my mind throughout the film as to the motives of Mortensen and Harris. The acting is suberb - especially in the scenes between Mortensen and Harris, there is a real palpable sense of tension whenever they are on screen together.

I was gripped by the story and the script, It's not a film for everyone - I can see why some people may find it slow - but if you watch it, concentrate, get drawn into the story and are patient with it, it will reward you.

The style of the film is quite low key - which I think suits it - interspersed with some quite horrific and graphic violence.

Overall, in my opinion, my favourite Cronenberg.

A decent thriller
` A History of Violence' is about a family man named Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) who owns a diner in a small town in Indiana. Everything seems quiet and peaceful in his life until one day when two men come into his restaurant and threaten the staff and customers with a gun. Tom disarms the men and kills them both in defence, becoming a local hero in his town. Days later he is then approached by a man named Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) who begins to ask him questions about his past, a different life in Philadelphia and starts to harass him and his family.

I love some of David Cronenberg's earlier films such as The Fly, Scanners and The Dead Zone, and A History of Violence is a great addition to these classics. The story is fairly slow going and does have a lot of focus on the characters rather than just action, but this makes it all the more suspenseful as I felt like I was always wondering what was going to happen next and whether Fogarty had got the wrong man or not.

The acting from the whole cast is very believable and well performed, especially from Ed Harris who comes across as a genuinely scary and intimidating person indeed. Mortensen's character starts off quite sickly with his whole ideal father image, but once he kills the men in the diner, my opinion of his character changed completely, showing a really confused, shocked and scared individual.

The special effects are a good as you'd expect from a Cronenberg too with some really shocking and gruesome shots (even if they are only shown for a second).

Overall this wasn't as good as I'd hyped myself up for it to be but is still a brilliant thriller that kept me gripped to the story throughout the whole movie. Although it is fairly slow paced to begin with it does pick up at a rocketing speed right near the end to a point where there was only about 5 minutes left and I was wondering how the hell they were going to tie it all up in just a few minutes. If you enjoy thrillers I'd definitely give this a go.