Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27597 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The lunatics are running the asylum in The Ninth Configuration--but are they really lunatics? Is Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) really a noted psychiatrist assigned to supervise patients in an experimental government clinic or is he really "Killer" Kane, a decorated US Marine who committed atrocities in Vietnam before going insane? These are just some of the puzzles that will eventually be solved in this giddy and often brilliant drama created by William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist before going on to direct this adaptation of his own novel, Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane. A satirical study of war's traumatic aftermath, the film uses battle psychosis as the springboard for a delirious and scathingly intelligent human tragedy, laced with some of the wittiest dialogue you're ever likely to hear. The film boasts a veritable menagerie of crazy characters, all brought vividly to life by a stellar supporting cast. One patient is preparing a production of Shakespeare with an all-dog cast. Another is convinced he's Superman and the resident doctor can't seem to find his trousers. But there's a method to this madness and it takes a barroom brawl--one of the most memorable in film history--to provide the harsh slap of reality to Blatty's elaborate group therapy scheme. When the true purpose of The Ninth Configuration is revealed, the film (and particularly the fine performances of Keach and Wilson) offers a depth of compassionate sanity that may well take you completely by surprise. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
English
Region 0
Stereo English
Stereo
Alternative Ending
Directors Commentary
Director And Cast Biographies
Featurette
Out Takes

Synopsis
A secret government center for high-ranking officials who have had mental breakdowns is the location of this unsettling drama about a brilliant, unorthodox psychiatrist who turns out to be crazier than his patients. William Peter Blatty won the Golden Globe in 1980 for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.

Customer Reviews

A true lost classic...
Directed in 1980 by William Peter Blatty, "The Ninth Configuration" still remains one of the true lost classic films... A mix of comedy, drama and an exploration of faith set around a military hospital for the insane, this film works both the brain cells and the funny bone!

Yes i'm leaving this review vauge as this really is a movie that the viewer must make their own mind up about!

Dvd wise the widescreen transfer could be a little better but a decent set of extras and audio com make up for that...

A film to be watched by everyone. The most powerful movie I've seen in ages.
I will not write much about this film because I don't think I would be able to express myself sufficiently about how powerful and touching it is. The plot has been described before so I will not indulge in it, but I will say that the imagery, and the amount of communication conveyed through one single facial expression, delivered by the magnificent cast is astounding. After I watched it I was speechless for hours, and I thought I was relatively desensitized. I guess I got the same treatment Cutshaw did. In fact this is a film i would describe as therapeutic. To whoever has the opportunity to see this film, I say "sit down, pay attention and enjoy".

"The truth of the matter is Custer called Sitting Bull a 'Spic'."
For the first three-quarters of this film, it's a surrealist comedy about a bunch of Vietnam crazies, with some truly bizarre ideas and some absolutely excellent performances from Stacey Keach, Scott Wilson and a particularly stern Neville Brand as Major Groper, the 'Straight Man' lost in the asylum.

Then, just as you're settling into the madness, there's a shift from screwy comedy to a totally different fable of sacrifice and redemption, in which Killer Kane can bring death to redeem rather than just to destroy.
In truth, this sea-change is one of the reasons why it has become a forgotten gem, as it's so difficult to categorise, and for many the change in tone sits uncomfortably with the whimsy, slapstick and throwaway one-liners of earlier in the film. I, however, feel that there is a dark undercurrent all the way through, and the final confrontation between Kane and the Hell's Angels is a reflection of the madness within the asylum to that within society.

And the end - well, it just fills me with hope and belief in humanity every time I watch it.

Do watch this film - it should not remain a forgotten gem!