Product Description

Clark Gable, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, Laura Hope Crews, Harry DavenportDirectors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1238 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Drama
• Released on: 2009-11-16
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 224 minutes

Special Features
Disc 1:
Full Feature film mastered in high definition
Behind the Story: Commentary by Historian Rudy Behlmer

Disc 2:
Behind the Story:
▪ The Making of a Legend documentary (1989 TV Special): Narrated by Christopher Plummer
▪ Warner Bros. Home Entertainment presents 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
▪ Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On
▪ Cast Profile - Gable: The King Remembered
▪ Cast Profile - Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond
▪ Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland: Exclusive 2004 documentary
▪ The Supporting Players: Cameo portraits of an unforgettable ensemble
▪ 1939 Atlanta Premiere Newsreel
▪ 1940 MGM Historical Short The Old South
▪ 1961 Atlanta Premiere Newsreel
▪ Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara Wars 1980 WBTV Special
Additional Footage:
▪ International prologue ▪ Foreign language version sample scenes Trailers:
▪ Trailer gallery - 5 trailers

Synopsis
Hot-tempered, self-centered, part-Irish Southern beauty Scarlett O'Hara, played to the teeth by Vivien Leigh, loves the gentlemanly Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Smug, rebellious, honest blockade-running profiteer Rhett Butler, portrayed gracefully and naturally by Clark Gable, loves Scarlett. Ashley, who is also in love with Scarlett, marries his genteel cousin Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) because he believes that their quiet similarities will create a better marriage than Scarlett's passion. Meanwhile, sparks fly between Rhett and Scarlett at their first encounter and continue throughout Scarlett's first two marriages. Scarlett and Rhett finally wed, but Scarlett continues to pine for her beloved Ashley. Set against the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction, this tragic love quadrangle offers the burning of Atlanta and fields of wounded Confederates as part of its lush scenery. Meticulous backdrops, glorious sunsets, numerous silhouettes, and the ultrasaturated Technicolor film create a hyperreal vision. The romantic score is every bit as lush and dramatic as the photography, borrowing folk melodies from the Old South to make the tragic war concrete. Heavy nostalgic tones pervade the often witty dialogue and larger-than-life charms and faults of the leads. GONE WITH THE WIND, winner of 10 Academy Awards, stands among the greatest epic dramas ever filmed.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Blu-ray for Gone with the Wind
Firstly, just to say that if you like this film already, don't hesitate to get the Blu-ray. The remaster is remarkable. The film looks incredible, considering this is its 70th anniversary. I'd never seen the film before so can't compare it to previous editions, but I can't imagine it looking better than this. Some intensive work must have been done, definitely. You can see textures and fine detail throughout, which makes the most of the wonderful costume design for starters. Colour is great. Eyes and expressions are also sharp and poignant. The sound is good, in that dialogue is clear. The orchestral score also sounds better than I would have expected for the age of the material, so it must have been recorded well at the time. It sounds a step higher in quality than the dialogue. There are plenty of extras, which I understand are in SD. I can't confirm this yet, because I rented only (I'm watching the price to buy, as it was a very impressive experience). Do bear in mind that there's a 4-disc version available in the US, I believe with 3 Blu-rays and 1 CD (corrections welcomed about that), although I don't know if it's region free. Lastly, to the film. Many old 'classics' can be a bit wearing to the modern eye. Gone with the Wind really impressed and moved me. It's timeless, no doubt. I can't compare it to the book, but taken on its own merits it deserved all the awards and praise it got! Very highly recommended.

Gone with the Wind
An orchestra rendering of Dixie accompanies the picturesque sunset spectacle of contented slaves bringing in the cattle at "quitting time". Over this gentle scene, the poignant words shown below slowly roll:-

There was a land of cavaliers and cotton fields called the Old South...
Here in this pretty world gallantry took its last bow...
Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies fair, of master and of slave...
Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered.
A Civilization gone with the wind...

This is the unforgetable opening scene of David O. Selznick's 1939 film rendering of Margaret Mitchell's great romance. To me at least; this is the greatest historical/romantic drama of all time. The story centres on Scarlett O'Hara(Vivien Leigh) as she grows from spoiled plantation owner's daughter into a very resourceful woman amidst the tumultous years of the American Civil War, and those immediately following. Clark Gable gives the preformance of his life as Rhett Butler, the strong, even ruthless entrepreneur who loves her, while Lesley Howard and Olivia de Havilland both give depictions of the Old South's 'Aristocracy' at it's best.

The Blue Ray format enhances Selznick's clever use of light effects to emphasise the many dramatic scenes in this film, and the final result has to be seen to be believed. Two examples are:- Rhett and Scarlett escaping as the city of Atlanta burns; and Scarlett parsnip in hand, vowing to the rising sun that she will never be hungry again.

Today many of the attitudes depicted in this film seem old fashioned, quaint, even offensive to some; but the depiction of the Old South, with all it's strength's and weaknesses is a fair one, made at a time when some still living could remember the reality; while the deeper reasons behind the momentous events depicted are illustrated throughout in the words of the actors. I have no hesitation in recommending this film, in this format; they were, like Rhett and Scarlett, "made for one another".Gone With The Wind [Blu-ray] [1939]

gwtw
this is a great blue ray of a rather poor film,mr bradbury previous reviewer got it all wrong,david o selznick produced the film he didnt direct it!ans so had nothing to do with the look of the film