Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1301 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-07-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Highly influential, When Harry Met Sally revitalised (in 1988) the moribund romantic comedy genre, made a superstar of Meg Ryan, and in two minutes of heavy breathing gave cinema one of its most memorable scenes. Set over 12 years in New York, young professionals Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) go from meeting to becoming friends to, well--this is a romantic comedy. Benefiting from an observant and witty script by Nora Ephron, it also offers insight into the differences between men and women. More importantly it's very funny, though the most hilarious scene is also the least believable: Sally is really too conventional to do that in a crowded restaurant. Knowingly modern, the picture's snappy one liners, neurotic honesty and straight-to-camera interludes are in the tradition of Woody Allen's New York Jewish humour, a prime example being Annie Hall (1976), while the inspired use of standards not only made a star of Harry Connick Jnr. but started a trend developed in Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and Love's Labour's Lost (2000). Perfectly played, with excellent support from Carrie Fisher, When Harry Met Sally is the archetypal modern romantic comedy.

On the DVD: There's an excellent 33-minute documentary made in 2000 which interviews all the key players talking candidly not so much about how the film was made but why, and revealing just how much of it is actually based upon director Rob Reiner and star Billy Crystal's own experiences and personalities (the story about Reiner acting out the fake orgasm scene for Meg Ryan is priceless). There are seven short deleted scenes (easy to see why they didn't make the final cut) and a commentary track by Reiner, which contains a lot of space and does little more than repeat the information in the documentary. The anamorphically enhanced 1.77: 1 picture though a touch grainy in dark scenes is generally rich and detailed with excellent colour. Audio is stereo, and only blossoms when there is a song on the soundtrack. There are 14 subtitle options including English for Hard of Hearing.--Gary S Dalkin

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Original Theatrical Trailer
The making of WHMS - How Harry Met Sally
Studio Commentary by Rob Reiner
Harry Connick Music Video "It Had To Be You"
Deleted Scenes
Soundtrack: English
Subtitles: English, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Czechoslovakian
Widescreen Version: 16.9 1.85:1
Dolby Digital

Synopsis
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... tracks a star-crossed pair as they repeatedly drift apart and meet again over a span of 13 years and gradually fall madly, deeply, passionately into friendship, a friendship ever teetering on the edge of love. Harry meets Sally when they share a car ride to New York City upon graduation from the University of Chicago. A few minutes into the trip, the conversation between womanising, neurotic Harry (Billy Crystal) and driven, equally neurotic Sally (Meg Ryan) becomes heatedly contentious. The question arises: Can a man and a woman be just friends

Customer Reviews

Classic Dry Humour
This film is a gem in a world of special effects and mindless screenplays. The sharpness and wit of the writing zing you through the development of the relationship between the characters. The soundtrack is superb and gives the movie a timeless quality.

Too much is made of the scene in the cafe with Meg Ryan screaming her head off. Watching the characters develop from college, through the years where their personalities are changed by their life experiences is one of the joys of this movie. Billy Crystal's performance in his decline into a neurotic hypochondriac is excellent, as is Meg Ryan’s portrayal of a high-maintenance-woman.

If you're after a drama with excellent writing, humour and romance, then this is the movie for you.

The mother of all romantic comedies, but not a chick flick
Difficult as it may be to write a review for such a classic, I will do my best. By all means get this DVD, even if you are not a romantic comedies' fan (and just for the record, neither am I). Though some of it may seem cheesy and repetitive do bear in mind that this was among the first films in the genre and the source of many later film plots.

In my opinion this film is a masterpiece, for reasons that would exceed the amount of space at my disposal. Marvellous acting, original characters, plot that spans more than a decade and portrays how the characters change as they mature and come to terms with life and love, just to name a few. If you are among the very few people who still have not seen it do get the DVD, and if you have seen it than you know what I am talking about.

Additional features are not exquisite but still enable you to get a glimpse of this world that I had shelved. Though it is easy to see why the deleted scenes had been removed in the first place, they still give you additional insight into the world of Harry and Sally.

To sum up, good value for your hard earned pay, excellent film for when you are feeling blue. What are you waiting for?

What's not to love?
This is where so much started -- not just most romcoms, but the best of modern TV classics like Friends and Sex and the City, which blend sharp dialogue and relationship angst against a loving depiction of New York. Meg Ryan is at her best here (I think she spent a lot of her career trying with limited success to recapture the edgy charm she nails in this film). Billy Crystal has some hilarious lines which he delivers with characteristic expertise. The chemistry the leads have is matched by the lovely performances turned in by Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby as their best friends. And the interspersed interviews with elderly married couples is a stroke of genius.
Yes it's schmaltzy and soppy and sentimental -- but why should that be a bad thing?