Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-05-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Icelandic, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Danish, English, Swedish, Arabic
• Dubbed in: Hungarian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 118 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s not always that a stage play translates particularly well to the medium of movies. But for anyone considering such a challenge in the future, Frost/Nixon is surely a fine template to follow. In the capable hands of director Ron Howard, the extraordinary story of how a then-fairly low profile television interviewer managed to bring the disgraced former President of the United States to account is, at best, absolutely riveting.

Much of the reason for this is the two leading performances, which are both absolutely exception. The awards attention for Frost/Nixon has been directed towards Frank Langella, and truly he’s an actor long overdue some recognition. Here, as ex-President Nixon, he’s flat-out brilliant: a complex, intriguing character portrayed with real measure and expertise. It’s unfair, though, that Michael Sheen has been overlooked by some. Fresh from portraying Tony Blair in The Queen, Sheen is once more brilliant here, injecting Frost with an erratic, on-the-edge fallibility that sets up the film’s final act extremely well.

Now you can argue, with some right, that Frost/Nixon flattens out some of the facts to its own liking, and certainly the portrayal of David Frost doesn’t seem to do the man too many favours. But when it gets to the interviews themselves, it’s electric, and proof that you don’t need a bunch of effects and flashy gimmicks to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ron Howard has done this to us before with a true story, in the shape of Apollo 13, and here again, even though we know the ending, the journey there is quite brilliant. You really can make compelling drama with just two people sat in a chair… --Simon Brew

Michael Sheen stars as journalist David Frost	Kevin Bacon stars as Richard Nixon's aide Jack Brennan	Michael Sheen and Rebecca Hall
Frank Langella works with director Ron Howard	A scene in which David Frost visits Richard Nixon’s home	The superb supporting cast including Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt and Matthew Macfadyen

DVD Description
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard brings to the screen writer Peter Morgan's (The Queen, Last King of Scotland) electrifying battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the untold story of the historic encounter that changed both: Frost/Nixon. Reprising their roles from Morgan's stageplay are Frank Langella, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Nixon, and Michael Sheen, who originally played the part of Frost onstage in London and New York.

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit down for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans.

Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Forst confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who had built a career out of stonewalling? Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity--ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth.

Synopsis
The power of television and one man's drive to achieve what seems like, at times, an impossible dream, are the two central themes explored in Ron Howard's enthralling drama FROST/NIXON. The impossible dream belongs to David Frost (Michael Sheen), a moderately successful English talk show host who sets out to interview disgraced former president Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) following his resignation in 1974. Howard examines how Frost pulled off such an audacious achievement, and also looks at how both sides prepared for the series of interviews, which eventually transpired in 1977. The confrontation between the two is laced with tension, and the director makes it clear that both men had plenty to lose and a lot to gain, depending on who the public perceived to be in control.


Langella gives a supreme performance as Nixon, easily matching Anthony Hopkins's turn as the former president in Oliver Stone's NIXON (1995). Howard's film, which is based on the play of the same name by Peter Morgan, expertly pits the two men against one another by highlighting both their strengths and weaknesses. Frost was a consummate TV host but was out of his depth in political commentary; Nixon was highly adept at avoiding direct answers to Frost's questions, but couldn't mask his sullen facial expressions from the camera. Sheen and Langella are supported by a resolutely excellent cast, and the tension builds to almost unbearable levels as the two finally sit down and discuss Nixon's career. The key scene, in which Nixon's true feelings are exposed via a simple trick--a close-up shot of the former president's sad-eyed face, clearly indicating his deep unhappiness at all his failings--is adeptly handled by Howard, and serves to highlight how vital it is for politicians to perform under the unforgiving gaze of the media.

Customer Reviews

A Compelling Thriller
'Frost/Nixon' is a compelling, suspenseful drama taking its inspiration from the 1977 television interviews between television personality David Frost and disgraced former American President Richard Nixon. Peter Morgan's screenplay, based on his stage play, attempts to convey what these events meant to the two men - for Frost, it represented an opportunity to leap into the big league and revive a somewhat flagging career, for Nixon, the chance to rehabilitate himself and put the Watergate scandal behind him. But Frost and his crack team of investigative journalists went in determined to give Nixon the trial he never had for the abuse of his Presidential power, and thus ensues a cat-and-mouse game between interviewer and interviewee, as Frost attempts to pin Nixon down and provoke the right response. It's well directed by Ron Howard, but it's the cast where the film's real strengths lie - Michael Sheen and Frank Langella reprise their stage roles, and Sheen in particular is uncanny as the cocky but charming Frost. Without a doubt, this is one of the best, most gripping films I've seen for some time, and fully deserved its Oscar nominations (which included Best Picture).

On Blu Ray, the picture and sound quality is excellent, and even the archive footage used looks reasonably good where presented either in the film or amongst the bonus material. Extras-wise, there's an illuminating commentary from Ron Howard, a collection of deleted scenes, some Making Of material, and some exclusive Blu Ray content, including the option to view snippets of archive and behind the scenes footage whilst the film is running in picture-in-picture form. This in itself is perhaps a little needlessly flashy, as it's difficult to concentrate on one programme when there is another running elsewhere on the screen at the same time. But it's good to see films such as this receiving additional bonus material to the standard DVD release.

For the film alone, I can't recommend this enough. The bonus material is the icing on the cake - an essential purchase for anyone who loves a good political thriller.

Quality
I wasn't loking forward to this film. It all sounded rather dull. In actual fact it's that rare thing, a genuinely intelligent film with a great script and quality cast. It is also highly watchable. Great stuff.

Dialogue driven drama works well on Blu Ray too
If you think Blu-Ray is just for action films, you need to take a look at this film which features superb picture quality, sound quality and great extras. Even with a Profile 1.1 player (subject to firmware) you should be able to watch Picture-in-Picture contrasts between the original interviews and the cinematographic recreations.

The film is full of superb acting performances. Frank Langella is the star as a brooding, tormented and nigh-on demented Nixon at times. Sheen is superb as Frost managing to juggle a seemingly native superciliousness with an inner resolve to prove that he is more than the lightweight talk-show bunny for which he is initially dismissed by almost all around him. Kevin Bacon is also excellent as Nixon's bulldog like lawyer. Sam Rockwell from "Jesse James and Robert Ford" is also energetic and convincing as part of Frost's investigative team. Matthew Macfayden is a very good foil to Frost, and only Oliver Platt is a little weak as Rockwell's colleague. He is partly let down by having too much of the film's rarest resource: occasionally duff dialogue.

For the most part, as a stage-adaptation should offer, the dialogue is very good. Perhaps the boxing metaphors as a description of the verbal contest are occasionally overdone - Langella's comment to Bacon about "throwing in the towel" comes off a little half-baked. My only other minor criticisms would be that the film is a bit of a slow-burner, although gripping once the two leads have met. And I also found that Rebecca Hall's role as Miss Cushing seemed somewhat expendable. It seemed to me more the traditional economic wisdom that without any prominent female roles the film is not sufficiently relatable for half of ticket-buying humanity than genuine dramaturgy. I am of course not advocating films with fewer female roles! Just questioning how well managed they were in Frost/Nixon.

Minor gripes aside this is a compelling grown-up drama, a worthy Oscar candidate and a film well worth seeing. Why not buy the DVD? There are plenty of close-ups were seeing every pore of the contenders' faces blossoms so much more in High Definition, and a DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack means you will never be reaching for the subtitles button even when words are whispered or intoned closer to incoherence than one might normally want due to emotional pressure. Highly recommended.