Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #578 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Palme D'Or-winning British classic, If...'s long wait for a DVD release is finally over, and the end result does it proud. Boasting commentaries, interviews and a quality documentary too, it's a true collectors' piece for fans of the film.

And make no mistake about it, it's the superb movie that's the star here. If... is, for those new to it, set in a British public school, and from this setting it has plenty then to say on authority and society. Directed by the late, great Lindsay Anderson, the film centres on Mick Travis, magnetically portrayed by Malcolm McDowell.

Superbly marrying fantasy and more realistic elements, If... is packed with iconic, and often quite surreal moments, leading right up the to the famed and indelible ending that sticks long in your mind once the credits have rolled.

A strong, powerful influence for many who followed it, If... is powered by Malcolm McDowell's astounding performance (which would earn him the part in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). It's arguable that he's never been better than he is here, and he's in good company, thanks to a top-quality supporting cast too.

Perhaps the greatest complement to If... though is that, decades after is initial release, it's not only recognised as one of the finest British films ever made, but it's regarded in many quarters as a classic of cinema full stop. And if you've not yet had the pleasure, this DVD release finally, belatedly, can open the film up to a whole new audience. Let's hope it does. --Jon Foster

Special Features

Customer Reviews

BRILLIANT
Imagine if you will, Dvid Lynch's Mullholand Drive or Blue Velvet meeting St Trinians or Clockwork Orange or American History X. THIS FILM IS EXCELLENT. AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE TOP 50 FILMS OF ALL TIMES. BY THE WAY, SP SHOULD THE HILL, DEVILS REJECTS, JACKIE BROWN, MONSTER, THE 400 BLOWS, LA HAINE, CITY OF GOD AND SEVERAL OTHERS. PLEASE WATCH THESE FILMS (BUT DONT START WITH DEVILS REJECTS COZ SOME PEOPLE WONT LIKE IT)!!!!

If.... you were there...
'If....' was a great film when it came out, but I'm not convinced that it still is. Really great movies are timeless, but 'If....' is very much of its decade. On the plus side, much of the film is grittily, sometimes brutally, realistic, almost foreshadowing institutional movies of the 80s such as Scum (this certainly ain't no 'History Boys'). Attention to detail around the dorms and studies is terrific, and historically fascinating, the performances are all-round good, I still love that music... I guess what lets it down is the narrative and the themes (which fundamentally come down to that old favourite, 'sticking it to The Man'), which no doubt seemed right on the money in 1968 in the context of the Paris riots and Grosvenor Square but now seem somewhat naive. Hard, too, to see some of the experimental techniques, the clunky dialogue and the more surreal elements as other than pretentious now, refreshing and innovative as they doubtless seemed in their day.

I saw it around 1970 when I was 13, and read the screenplay, and loved both. My daughter saw it at the same age and, though she laughed at quite a few scenes (it is a pretty funny film in places), she was baffled by most of it. 'Why does it keep going black and white?'. 'Why is the Chaplain in a drawer?'. I was damned if I could provide many good answers.

If you were there or thereabouts in the late sixties, or early seventies, you'll love it as a) a pretty good film, b) a period curiosity and c) a bit of a nostalgia trip, probably in that order. A great film? Hmmm... maybe you had to be there.

If.......... you havent seen it then do so.
I cant belive i have gone so long without seeing it.This movie blew me away.The final scene in the film is something i would have loved to have done at school (im not even joking there)I wont give away to much becuase if you have seen it you will love it if yu havent then go fourth and see it now.