Cheap Chinatown (25th Anniversary Widescreen Edition) (Video) (Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Jack Nicholson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Chinatown (25th Anniversary Widescreen Edition)

Nicholson at his best.
I am a huge Jack Nicholson fan. This movie is what made me a huge Nicholson fan. When I first saw this when I was 13 years old, I really didnt have an appreciation for what I considered "old movies", (I'm 18 now, and have a pretty broad taste in movies for someone of my age, mostly as a result of seeing this film). My dad forced me to watch it with him, insisting it was a classic and that I wouldn't regret it. I finally gave in, and I can tell you right now, Pops was right. This movie is incredible. Roman Polanski, the acclaimed and legendary director, does an outstanding job of re-creating 1930's L.A. and making the viewer really feel the vibe that the era created. While many might think that isn't necessarily a vital part of great filmmaking, it definitely is here, as it really gives the movie alot of its flavor. Nicholson, who plays P.I. Jake Giddes, has never been so convincing and captivating. There's no lack of Nicholson charm, as is the case in all of his movies, and he is so believable as a private investigator who gets so entangled in his case that you can't help but let your stomach churn as the story twists and turns until its completely unpredictable ending. I have seen nearly all of Nicholson's movies, from Easy Rider to The Shining, and while they're all remarkable, this one takes the cake. It's Jack Nicholson as you'll never forget him.

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70s noir, complete with absurdist polanski touches
"chinatown" is a damn fine film. it is among my favorite movies, but i'll qualify that a bit and say that it didn't really blow me away the first time. <
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>it's strange to say, but for a film with an angular faye as femme fatale, a salty and zoot-suited nicholson, a convoluted plot design, virtuoso direction, some kinetic physical violence and a dash of sordid sexual tabbooed subject matter is actually a bit on the SUBTLE side. something about the pacing and the washed out dull browns and pale yellows gives the film an uncharactoristic languid feel for a whodunit. <
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>that said, i watched it a second time about a year or two later and it was a revelation. i was thrilled at every line and twist and marvelled at the 1930s fantasy of the sets and outfits. when approached with patience, "chinatown" is full of details, nuanced moments and dark existential energy. <
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>this movie operates on many levels. one obvious level is a modern homage to film noir, even using john huston as a primary charactor. noir classics such as a private dick in over his head, a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, a femme fatale, bad guys, angst...the whole kaboodle, you get the idea. <
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>however at another level the noir is updated and given a more 70s type psychedelic sophistication and polanski's stamp of nihilistic absurdism. every charactor is given more nuance and breathing room then in typical treatments. for instance, faye's evelyn becomes more fragile and less "fatale" with every scene she's in. her beauty also takes on an odd charactor, as a friend pointed out to me, she almost starts to appear as grotesque by the end, and her final revelation to gittes (nicholson) is overwhelmingly grotesque, making the admission not nearly as surprising as it could be, because you are sensing the depth of her disaster long before it is brought in full light. <
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>combined with the overall richness of the personalities and the constant snapiness of the dialogue is the unmistakable goofy and very dark touches of polanski. i am a huge admirer of his, and he puts his mark fully in this picture, including of course his infamous cameo with the knife. among my favorite "polanski" moments in the film are the many inept fighting sequences in which gittes is made to look like somewhat of a clown whose bark can not defend his bite. that gittes spends fifty percent of his screen time with a silly looking nose bandage adds to his folly. additionallly the ending sequence in the street of chinatown polanski has several charactors who are hand-cuffed together limping in tandem vaudeville-style to see what the result of gun fire is. i feel that this is classic polanski because we know that something horrible has happended, yet before we get confimation of this we are forced to see an obviously goofy lampoon. the mix of the deadly serious and negative with a sharp and humorous bite is a very endearing and brilliant charactor of polanski's best work. (see "rosmary's baby") <
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>on a whole other larger layer this film seems to be about LA, and maybe about america generally and maybe about humans generally. i don't know if it's so heavy-handed as all that, but nonetheless it does come very close to the true story of the double dealing involved in the origins of america's prototypical sprawl, the san fernando valley. "chinatown" seems to hint not subtly at what lies inside of american utopianism. an idea seemingly displayed in chinatown is this - "someone with power and money writes the book, then everybody goes along with it, believing it is bible. then someone some time later rewrites the book for personal gain. then, since no one can really remember what the book was supposed to say in the first place takes the rewritten book as the original." whistleblowers in this process, such as our private dick jake gittes protagonist, are squashed immediately and treated to a buffet of nasty humanity in the process. <
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>it's a film noir staple that is given a new level of cynical desperation. but because the whole miasma is wrapped in a thoroughly stylish and entertaining package i didn't feel bummed out or turned off by the downbeat vibes and outcomes. <
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> 70s film fans buy immediately. it's cheap as far as dvds go too.

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Doesn't Get Any Better Then This
This is one movie that time will never age. One of the few movies you can watch over and over and enjoy it as much the lastime as the 1st. Maybe even more because you know what scenes to focus on. Memorable scenes: Nicholson tells a joke to his co-workers while a female and her attorney are standing behind him which he doesn't notice. The Barber shop scene. My favorite is when he goes to the Mayor's office for the 2nd time and is waiting in the reception room fidgeting which is driving the receptionist up the wall. That scene is so well acted out you feel the tension. I believe this movie was Nicholson's finest hour and certainly one of the best movies ever made.