Cheap Rain Man (Special Edition) (DVD) (Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise) (Barry Levinson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rain Man (Special Edition)

Have to watch Jeopardy
This is a masterpiece. The story of a greedy, selfish yuppy, Cruise, whom discovers he has an autistic brother played by Dustin Hoffman. It just so happens this autistic brother has inherited the family fortune. Being institutionalized and not even understanding the concept of money, Cruise kidnaps him. Then trying to swindle the institution to give him half the money. Cruise then takes Hoffman on a cross country roadtrip, where he bonds and finds love for this special person. A movie with some hilarious situations and some to make even the stone hearted teary eyed. Hoffman deserved that oscar 100%. One of the best acting performances I have ever been privalaged to have seen. This an essential to any DVD collection. A true film of the soul!

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Amazing and effective
Rain Man was my first R-rated movie. I think I was nine when I saw it. My older brother has autism, and I was able, even at the age of nine, to draw startlingly similar parallels between Raymond and my brother.

In the film, a car dealer (Charlie, played by Tom Cruise) more concerned with his own well-being than that of anyone else discovers he has an autistic brother (Dustin Hoffman-Best Actor Oscar) in an institution. He kidnaps his brother in an effort to get inheritance money "unfairly" left to Ray. As they journey to California, Charlie makes some new realizations about his life.

Whenever someone meets my brother and asks me what's wrong with him, the first thing I ask is, "Have you seen Rain Man?" The amazing fact is that many have. It is such an outstanding movie that it is watched even by a new generation.

I'm pleased that Hollywood took the initiative to introduce autism to the general public. Autism is more common than Down Syndrome. Everyone knows what Down Syndrome is, but autism is often downplayed in importance.

Rain Man strives to change that.

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"Rain Man: Special Edition" -- Good DVD, Even Better Film!
"Rain Man" reigned in the 1988 "Best Picture" Academy Award, and deservedly so. This film is everything a "Best Picture" Oscar winner should be, in my view. It has tenderness, romance, drama, compassion, likeable characters, and a biting humor as well. It's a "road" picture, while at the same time encompassing so many other things too.

Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman give highly-memorable and powerful performances in "Rain Man". Some of the moments in the movie that I find particularly memorable (and deserving of multiple replays whenever loading this up into the DVD Player) include these ............

> The first meeting between "Charlie" and "Raymond", when Charlie finds Ray behind the wheel of his rare 1948 automobile (excellent "first meeting" of these characters).

> The "shorts on the highway" scene.

> "Qantas never crashed".

> The Blackjack scene in Vegas.

> "I like having you for my big brother".

This "SE" release of "Rain Man" includes an enhanced (anamorphic) 1.85:1 Widescreen version of the movie -- and it gets an A+ on my "PQ Report Card". The digital video is beautiful throughout, with radiant colors.

The audio comes through loud and clear via the disc's bold English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track. Two foreign-language DD tracks are also part of this DVD -- a 2.0 Surround in French, and a Spanish 2.0 Mono track.

The DVD Special Features are a wee bit on the light side for a so-called "Special Edition". Although, if you like Audio Commentaries, you've come to the right place with this "Rain Man" DVD. Three separate filmmaker Commentary Tracks are featured on this one-disc "SE", including one by Director Barry Levinson.

Other bonus material includes ..........

>> Original Featurette. -- This short bonus is fairly thin on content, but does provide a few comments from stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise (circa 1988). Not much to sink your "Making Of" teeth into here though. The video for this featurette is Full Frame (1.33:1). Length = 6:55. .... It would have been nice to have had a feature-length "Making-Of" documentary included on this "SE" DVD. But, maybe next time.

>> One Deleted Scene. -- I kind of liked this. This excised scene shows Raymond entering a convenience store, where he begins helping himself to the store's stock of food and beverages (to the dismay of the shop's proprietor). Charlie enters at the end of this short scene to "rescue" Raymond. It's a pretty good scene, but certainly not essential to the storyline; and I can see why it was cut. Especially considering the film's already-lengthy 134-minute final running time. This deleted clip lasts 2:01, and is presented in 1.33:1 Full-Frame ratio.

>> Original Theatrical Trailer. -- A fun and funny trailer. Shown in 1.33:1. Run time -- 2:14.

>> Photo Gallery. -- This Gallery (which *is* anamorphic) is broken up into five different segments.

>> Bonus DVD Trailers.

No "Chapter List" paper insert is included with this DVD. The case looks kind of bare without any insert, I must admit. But, starting in late 2003 (approx.), many studios began to go the "el-cheapo" route on us, and no longer provide physical paper enclosures inside the DVD cases anymore. Gee, you'd think a "Special Edition" release would at least warrant a slim, one-page insert. Oh, well...what are ya gonna do? No biggie really. But I'd still prefer to have an insert for all DVD releases (even if it's only an ad for other DVD products).

Even with the rather skimpy selection of supplements here, this DVD still comes highly recommended by this "Rain Man" fan. The picture and sound quality are dazzling; and the film itself is ... well ... I'm sure you know ..... Oscar worthy! Get this today!