Cheap Cruising (Deluxe Edition) (DVD) (William Friedkin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Cruising (Deluxe Edition)

Long overdue release of a controversial thriller
This review is about the actual features contained on the Deluxe Edition that is due for release in September 2007. This marks the long overdue release of this controversial film on DVD, and it is good to see that there shall be plenty of extra features, since I have been arguing with other people about the meaning of this film's ending since its release in 1980. Cruising stars Al Pacino as a cop who infiltrates the homosexual S&M night life scene in order to solve a murder. Unable to just leave his work at the office in this case, the experience begins to affect his whole life - his outlook, his relationship with his girlfriend, everything. This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies. Few people come out on the fence on this one. It is a shocking dark film any way you approach it, but it is also just about the first major motion picture to portray homosexual men as strong masculine types, not just as the effeminite stereotypes that had been characteristic of the role since the birth of motion pictures. The soundtrack for this film has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and includes the following extra features: <
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>Commentary by Director William Friedkin <
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>2 New Featurettes: "The History of Cruising" and "Exorcising Cruising" <
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>Original Theatrical trailer <
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>Languages: English & Spanish <
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>Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish (feature film only) <
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>Director William Friedkin has personally supervised the creation of an all new high-definition master and new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track for the release with the new director's commentary. Eminent documentarian Laurent Bouzerou is the creator of the included featurettes which contain interviews with actors and filmmakers who provide thorough perspective on the incidents surrounding the production. In addition to Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub, participants include editor Bud Smith, actors Don Scardino (Ted Bailey) and James Remar (Gregory), and real-life cops Randy Jurgensen (Det. Lefransky) and Sonny Grosso (Det. Blasio). The bad news is that the 40 minutes of deleted scenes that were removed from Cruising 26 years ago at the behest of the MPAA have not been restored in this release. The information on these special features is from a press release from Warner Home Video.

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Perception
"Cruising" <
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>Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride <
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>It is hard to believe that William Friedkin's "Cruising" is already 27 years old. What is amazing is that it has not been released on DVD but rumor has it that it will be soon. Friedkin <
>has recut it and is showing it again at this year's Cannes Film Festival so I suppose that is a sign that its release is imminent. <
> When "Cruising" came out it created quite a furor because of the way it depicted gay men as "they are". People saw masculine men dancing and kissing and participating in S&M activities and this was something that many had never seen before. The movie violated the picture people had of gay men as being effeminate and weak. The movie broke ground by showing that gay men, in particular the leather subculture, are real people and have some influence. The movie also showed the interiors of gay bars and the activity there as it was. <
> This is a brutal film and definitely affects the viewer as it combines murder, mystery, sex and subculture. Viewed today it still shocks and many still consider it to be homophobic by depicting gay men as being sexually obsessed whereas those many of the men who are members of the leather scene claim that it is accurate. It is important to remember that the movie was made before AIDS when sexual excess was extremely popular. <
> I do not think that people were fair to the movie--it is not a look at gay culture as a whole--it uses the leather scene to show how one man's life is affected by his work. Al Pacino as a cop investigating a murder gives an outstanding performance. <
> William Friedkin is known for making mysterious, dark films and he has done himself proud with this film. The controversy around it brought about a dialog which led to a better understanding of the gay community and if had done nothing else, that would have been enough. But "Cruising" is also a good movie even with all of the controversy. <
> This is not an easy film to watch. The characters are not the kind of people that we like and for some reason the film seems incomplete. I have heard that 40 minutes of film were cut due <
>to censorship problems but some of that is being restored to the film with the new cut. This should clarify any ambiguity of the film. What the film really seems to be about is the thin lie between good and evil. <
> "Cruising" is more than a movie--it is an experience and a provocative one at that. It has no soul and it is dark and physical. It is a riveting ad dark look at something many know nothing about. It is a sexual thriller in which Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is sent undercover into the gay community to find a serial killer who stalks the leather bars. The grittiness of the film reflects the scenes it pictures. This is not a gay film--it is a horror film, a very tense thriller with remarkable performances. It is also important as it pushed the door wide open for others to come in and take up filming the gay community. The plot may ramble but then so does life---like the movie, life is all over the place. <
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you loved it or hated it
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> Cruising is an offensive thriller and that's precisely what Friedkin wanted it to be, despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie. I was 13 when this came out. I remember it was the talk of the town for a few weeks before disappearing from theaters. Some of the scenes are so vile and make one's stomach turn. In 1980 homosexuality was not quite as accepted as it it today, and it was pretty much okay to call yourself a "homophobe." This movie played on those fears that people had- and some still have. While it's undeniable that this type of underworld existed- and I'm sure still exists- I think the movie implied that this is how most gay men probably live. <
>I do agree with an earlier reviewer who said that the movie gets more interesting after watching it several times. By the way, did you notice who plays one of the police detectives?? it's that guy from "Married With Children." <
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