Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4128 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-07
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Subtitled
• Original language: English, Dutch
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 224 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
First off, if you're a GwtW fanatic, you must buy this four-disc collection. But then again, you probably don't need to read this to make that decision. For the rest of us, know that the kitchen-sink approach has been established here with two full discs of extras. The film's restoration under Warner's brilliant Ultra-Resolution process is the major contribution to the set. However, the bare-bones version released years ago isn't bad and the film still doesn't pop off the screen as do films from the headier days of Technicolor (like the earlier Ultra-Resolution DVD release of Meet Me in St. Louis). That said, the set is worthy of the most popular movie ever made. Rudy Behlmer's feature-length commentary is dry but an exhaustive reference guide to the entire history of the film. Need more? There's the excellent full-length documentary The Making of a Legend (1989) narrated by Christopher Plummer, plus two hour-long older biographies on the two main stars. There are many new vignettes on the rest of the cast, all narrated by Plummer (a nice touch to tie everything together). The new 30-minute interview/reminisce with Oliva de Havilland will be interesting to older fans, but tiresome for the younger set. The usual sort of trailers and premiere footage is here along with a curious short ("The Old South", directed by Fred Zinnemann) that was produced to help introduce the world to the history of the South. --Doug Thomas

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 stands among the greatest epic dramas ever filmed.

Customer Reviews

GWTW-great DVD
Yes,this is a 70 year old movie and it has dated somewhat- but what entertainment value you get on this 4 disc DVD- it is without doubt one of the best DVDs ever released and the picture quality is as good as if it was made in the last few years. They don't make movies like this anymore and they never will again but at least we and future generations can always appreciate Gable and Leigh at their best and believe me millions of viewers will still be watching them in 100 years time when present so called movie stars will be long forgotten.

One of the Greatest Motion Pictures in the History of Cinema
Gone with the Wind is quite simply one of the greatest films ever made. Its a masterpiece on all levels of production: the acting is first rate, the epic story is breathtaking and awe inspiring, the cinematography and the depth of detail is extraordinary and the production values are astounding.

Vivien Leigh stars as Scarlett O'Hara, a young girl living with her family on their southern cotton plantation, Tara. She is desperately in love with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), an attraction which proves hopeless when it is announced that he is to wed his cousin, Melanie Daniels (Olivia de Havilland).

At a party at the Wilkes', she tells Ashley of her love for him but is spurned. Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), who has overheard their conversation, takes a fancy to Scarlett and makes a pass at her. She turns him down however, still obsessed with Ashley and painfully jealous of Melanie.

Apart from all this, Scarlett's life is perfect. However, the outbreak of the American Civil War throws everything into chaos and changes her family life and that of the whole country forever.

The film charts Scarlett's life from her early teenage years up until her adult life, charting her adventures in Georgia during the horrific attacks on the town as well as her reclaiming Tara after the war and her marriage to Rhett Butler. It also vividly chronicles the American Civil War in horrific detail, at one point depicting the massive scale of injuries as Scarlett tends to wounded soldiers.

A magnificent epic that seduces, shocks, thrills, inspires and uplifts, the film won eight Academy Awards - including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniels' hilarious performance as Mammy, Scarlett's maid - and is an absolute classic. A must see for everyone!

Rather overblown, just like its reputation
I found this watchable, just about. I think some of its big panoramic shots must definitely have inspired the young David Lean to have a go at film making, rather than simply editing. As for the famous drama, well, I coped with it, lets say, rather than loved it. It asks a fair bit of the viewer, like all epic movies, and demands to leave its impression on you. Gets three stars from me for having charisma, but I really don't see what is so glorious about it. It is a film of a type, is a good example of that type, and is very typical of the great Hollywood blockbuster style of the age, but this rich type of melodrama is never going to appeal to absolutely everyone, surely. I've met a fair few people who don't have the time of day for it as a great piece of cinema even though it's always referred to as one of best movies ever made. And I'm afraid it does have rather serious flaws. The casting of Leslie Howard for the major part of Ashley, with both his accent and demeanour straight out of a Mayfair gentleman's club, is one of the worst pieces of casting I've ever seen, for one thing. Leigh was brilliant in her part despite her accent often joining up with Howard's in their scenes together, but she made an effort with it for most of the film. Howard though, quite remarkably, made no attempt at all even to try a Southern States accent at any point! This made the film at times seem more like a piece of theatre than real cinema, to me. It was only back outside in the great open landscape that it really began to feel like cinema again, and at times, yes it did look great. The very rich screenplay is another thing widely open to criticism, but really I don't see the point, as I quite like it really, and am already certain it's seriously not one of the greatest movies ever made.