Cheap Rio Bravo (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rio Bravo (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Not if you don't mind your own business
I love this movie. It's always been my favorite western, and while cinefiles may put "The Searchers" or "Red River" above it, I think no other western is more enjoyable and thrilling to watch than this one. As an examination of what the western really means, why it's such a durable art form, it is perfect. Right vs. wrong, good men vs. bad men, courage vs. cowardice, it's all in there. <
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>Even though I've owned the old cardboard-box DVD for some time now, I bought this new edition the day it came out. (For one thing, I HATE those stupid boxes Warner Brothers put out and I'm glad to see they're correcting their mistake) The new edition contains an excellent 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, including a great interview with Angie Dickinson, who I believe is the only person involved with the movie still alive. I wish she was on the commentary, but she has plenty to say here. Another, shorter documentary talk about Old Tucson, where the movie was filmed and where westerns continue to be filmed even today. Finally, an excellent older hour-long documentary on Howard Hawks himself, with liberal sprinklings of scenes of his movies and a great long interview with Hawks from the early 1970's. It's all worth the price of buying the new edition. <
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>There is also a commentary track with film historian Richard Schickel and director John Carpenter, who says this is his favorite film by his favorite director. The commentary is somewhat less successful, but still very interesting. It appears to be two separate commentaries spliced together; they refer to the movie, but not to each other. I'd rather they had included both commentaries separately, although it is true that by about midway through the movie they both kind of run out of steam and for long stretches you forget you've selected the commentary track at all. <
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>Nevertheless the main thing is the movie, and it is a great one. John Wayne was never better, or at least never more powerful and charismatic, than he was here. Dean Martin calls him "Papa" at one point, and you see the truth of this: John Wayne is the patriarch of the movie, guiding it and helping it along, centering it with the force of his gravity. He's befuddled by the attentions of young Angie Dickinson, to be sure, but you never doubt that he's in charge of this town and he knows what he's doing. Dean Martin is a revelation as Dude, displaying all the raw acting talent he always seemed to hold back with Jerry Lewis because he knew he was the straight man. His torture as he goes through withdrawals from alcohol feel absolutely real, and we root for him as he slowly pulls himself up from the depths to which he's sunk the last few years. It's ironic that his next project was "The Young Lions" with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift; there are three great actors who all, in their own way, seemed to forgo on the promise of their talent and coast or dissipate themselves into oblivion. At least we have this performance, because Dean was a great, great actor. Walter Brennan is perfect as always, adding spice and flavor to every scene where he appears or is likely to appear. A greater character actor there never was. Rick Nelson is good, if a bit stiff, but he holds his own here and is enjoyable in the role. He and Dean sing a couple of great songs, too, because if you have two of the biggest singers in the world you put 'em to work. Finally, Angie Dickinson is wonderful as Feathers, she's a smart alec (alice?) and she's vulnerable all at the same time, as good as Bacall in her best days, and the difference in age between her and John Wayne is never jarring, not even for a second. You want them to get together, and since this is an old-school western you figure they probably will. <
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>Great movie, great dialogue, great acting, great direction, great color cinematic scope, great everything. Great movie. Check it out. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Too bad.

Excellent DVD movie....
Rio Bravo is one of John Wayne's more enjoyable movies and this movie is considered to be one of the greatest westerns ever made. Wayne is superbly supported by Dean Martin who also carried the movie as well as Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson. Great cast, superb script and excellent direction make this movie a viewing a pleasure many times over. It has everything anyone want in a John Wayne movie. Gunfights, fist fights, slow developing story to developed all the main characters and even pacing with a song or two thrown in. So successful was this movie that it was remade two more times as El Dorado and Rio Lobo. Amazingly, all three movies were directed by Howard Hawks and starred John Wayne. Even more amazing is that all three movies proves to be just as good and entertaining as ever. <
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>This two disc Special Edition of Rio Bravo is a definite upgrade in both quality of image as well as sound over the previous release. I found the running commentary by John Carpenter and Richard Schickel to be somewhat enjoyable but the extra features proves to be a disappointment. There are three special features on the second disc. Two of them, Howard Hawk's Rio Bravo and Old Tucson: Where Legends Walked proves to be quite interesting. However, I was pretty disappointed by the main feature of this second disc, Men Who Made Movies: Howard Hawks. This feature I have seen already on Bringing Up Baby two disc edition (superb Katherine Hepburn/Cary Grant movie). I was very unhappy that a documentary already used in one DVD movie was reused for another. Warner Brothers made a cheap move here. (However, if you do not owned Bringing Up Baby, then you will get more out of the second disc then I did.) <
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>I gave five stars for the movie, three stars for the special features, averaging out to four stars for this review. It should be noted that this two disc edition is exactly identical to the "ultimate edition" although that edition cost more and have a reproduction of Dell comic book based on the movie and promo booklet attached to it. (Much like the Ultimate Edition of the Searchers.)