Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #632 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Overlooked in the end at the Academy Awards, and not ratcheting up the box office you'd perhaps expect of a Tom Hanks movie, Charlie Wilson's War is nonetheless a challenging, entertaining and underappreciated film, that deserves to find a bigger audience on DVD.

Starring Hanks in the title role, the strength of Charlie Wilson's War is in some talented people doing what they do best. Hanks eases into his part, as the Texas congressman who uses his extensive contacts book and unorthodox nature (which is putting it mildly) to initiate and wage a secret war. Alongside him is Julia Roberts on fine form in a small part, and the excellent Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is at the heart of the film's best, and funniest, moments.

Gluing Charlie Wilson's War together is an assured turn behind the camera from veteran director Mike Nichols. Nichols, still best known for The Graduate, is confident enough to let the comedy in a deathly serious story play out, while not shirking the drama either. It's a tender balancing act, that only flusters a little near the end.

It's not a perfect film, and the tone may be a little uneasy for some. But Charlie Wilson's War is, nonetheless, a very strong piece of American cinema, that has questions to ask, and manages to entertain at the same time. Well worth discovering. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
The first time the audience sees Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) in the early 1980s, he seems far from a model politician. Surrounded by strippers, a Playboy Playmate, and cocaine, the naked congressman lies in a hot tub at a party. Despite the distractions, the TV news catches Charlie's attention as Dan Rather reports from a war-torn Afghanistan. As Soviets invade the country, the Afghans lack the money and technology to defend themselves. Enter Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts), a wealthy Texan who champions the cause of Afghanistan and, by extension in the Cold War, America. Together with CIA Agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Charlie begins a secret war where he must unite Israel, Pakistan, Egypt, and America to defeat the Soviets.
Just as director Mike Nichols brought a sense of fun to what should have been dour proceedings in films such as The Graduate and Closer, this comedy about the largest covert war to date never feels like a history lesson. Writer Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is sharp and it's delivered with impressive verve from the film's trio of Oscar winners. Hoffman is famous for transforming into various characters, and he's remarkable, but it's Hanks's turn that's the most surprising. Outwardly, Charlie could resemble many of Hanks's previous roles, but the actor adds layers to the character and changes without the aid of makeup or prosthetics.

Customer Reviews

What Not to Buy
Although a great film with a funny plot, brilliant performances and interesting insights, I would not buy this particular DVD item for one single reason:

When you put it in, it forces you to watch an anti-AIDS fundraiser. For 4 minutes you have to watch this very moving little film portraying a serious problem. There is no way to skip or fast forward through it. I bought this thing, if the producers wanted money for this, they could take it out of the cash I gave them for the film WITHOUT annoying me with this. When I pay for a movie, I don't want commercials of ANY type on it!

Great film - bad DVD
OK let's get it straight I really enjoyed the film. The start of the film was a bit slow and confused (I really wasn't that interested to explore Charlie's predilections for nudes in spar tubs) but once the reason for the story is made known it is gripping and moves at a pace that keeps you interested and ultimately moved until the end. The great thing was showing what a few individuals can achieve in the face of international lethargy and disinterest.

It was good to meet the real Charlie in the extras but why did that have to effectively have a 'Making Of ...' and then a shorter 'Meet Charlie Wilson' that has identical footage of Charlie and nothing new?

So a good film so why only 2 stars. As other people have pointed out I absolutely hate this DVD - you have to sit through nearly 4 minutes of a UNICEF campaign for Aids in Africa. There is no option to skip or fast forward through it. Then you get nearly a minute of loud noise about video piracy (which I object to as I just bought the damn thing - why treat ME as a pirate when pirates can easily strip the crap) and then to add insult to injury there is a further copyright notice. OK we finally get to the film but for heaven's sake don't press the menu button on your handset during the film or you have to endure the whole lot again - it doesn't even go straight to the menu.

What is the net effect of all this - people will copy the DVD just to remove the crap so they can watch the film in peace. This totally negates the charity appeal stuff and the copyright notices and turns users in to copyright infringers because of the publishers own stupidity!

Don't get me wrong I thing publicising the work of UNICEF in Africa is laudable and I wouldn't mind it being on the disc (even though the disc has nothing to do with UNICEF or Africa or Aids) provided it is in the extras section and is optional.

when there's nothing else on...
Ok, so it was Tuesday night, there wasn't anything on and this was on pay-per-view. Based on the true story of one congressman's efforts in fighting a covert war in Afghanistan it is fairly lighthearted fun which I will probably have entirely forgotten by the time I've finished writing this.

Tom Hanks plays the man from Texas on Capitol Hill, first seen in a hot-tub with strippers and a Playmate whilst cocaine does the rounds. Almost never without a glass of whiskey he isn't the obvious facilitator of funding for the mujahadeen in Afghanistan. The woman pushing his buttons is the wealthy and anti-communist socialite Julia Roberts. Together with the guidance of CIA man Philip Seymour Hoffman, Wilson brings together Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and America in an unlikely alliance against the Soviets. Hanks is on reliable form enjoying the character of a man who's hiring policy in the office is 'you can teach them to type but you can't teach them to grow t*ts'. Roberts does well in a small role but most of the laughs come from Hoffman whose belligerent spy deals in the uncomfortable truth from behind his ever present shades. The film deals with the politics pretty lightly and seems to take quite a long time to make a fairly simple point. It lacks the skill employed in another Hanks film 'Catch Me If You Can' which made a real entertainment from the life of fraudster Frank Abagnale. Not to worry though, it filled a couple of hours nicely enough.