Cheap The Color Purple (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD) (Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey) (Steven Spielberg) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Color Purple (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The second disc of this "Special Edition" contains several excellent documentaries about the making of COLOR PURPLE. Most refreshing is Alice Walker herself, who is wise and thoughtful about the movie-making aspect of her Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Steven Spielberg has some reflectful things to say as well - he admits to his own limitations in filming the Shug/Celie love scene. (Alice Walker calls the scene "sweet").

Oprah appears looking glamorous and very different from her mid-80's self. As she tells the story of how she won the part of Sophia, one cannot help but be moved. Whoopie Goldberg, too, is very humble about the process of winning then filming the role of Celie.

It's wonderful to see the new interviews with the cast (Margaret Avery looks incredible!) - and shocking that COLOR PURPLE did not win in any of the categories it was nominated for at the Academy Awards. I always thought that Akosua Busia gave an incredible performance as Nettie - did you know she shares a screenwriting credit on Winfrey's BELOVED?

Watching the film again was a wonderful experience. The dvd looks incredible and sounds great - no complaints there. (It is dual-layered, so it is not necessary to flip the disc any more!) Spielberg can still tug my heartstrings with this movie. I cry on cue at several scenes. His direction and the actors' performances are truly wonderful. My only qualm is that THE COLOR PURPLE is an old-fashioned film in style. It is more like GONE WITH THE WIND than BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA. There are some themes that Spielberg glosses over that could have been examined more closely. The film is not diminished by this. Another director, however, would have made a differently styled film.

THE COLOR PURPLE is one of my all-time favorite films. I'm glad to have this "Special Edition" in my dvd library.

A Beautifully Realized Epic
By turns devastating and uplifting, Steve Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is one of those rare films that effectively captures and builds on the book's underlying themes and moods. Epic and grand in its exectution, "The Color Purple" is accessible to viewers of any race and is no more an "african-american" film than "Gone With the Wind" was a "southern" film. The themes presented here - tolerance, integration, poverty, aspiration and assimilation - are universal and real and Spielberg delivers a potent mix of superb film technique, a well-crafted plot and simply said, breakthtakingly heartfelt performances from an all-star cast.
Whoopie Goldberg earned an Oscar nod for her amazing performance as Celie, literally transforming herself from the stand-up comedienne we all know and love into a sensitive woman-child whose life is a mix of tragedy and triumph. Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey are bookends in Celie's life - they embody their characters fully and in doing so, complete a triad of powerful women coping with fear, loss and repression that testify to the unique challenges women, and especially women of color, face even today. Very few films deserve to be classified as required viewing for all - "Schindler's List" "Birth of a Nation" are two that come to mind - and "The Color Purple" is one of them. Filled with raw dramatic power and awe-inspiring humanity, "The Color Purple" is a film for the ages. Read the book and watch the film to see how great film adaptations are done!

"It's about time we had some stability around here."
This film received 11 Oscar Nominations back in 1985, won none of them(Shame on you, Academy voters!), and really should have won Best Picture over "Out of Africa." Whoopi Goldberg never got another role like this one, showing her incredible and untapped acting talent by way of Steven Spielberg's inspired and altogether ambitious direction. Mr. Spielberg was not even nominated for Best Director(Shame on you, Academy voters!). It was great to hear that he did win the Director's Guild Award(handed out by his peers), but this horrible oversight still needles me to this day. Back to the acting. Oprah Winfrey was given an Oscar nomination, as was Margaret Avery, but there are so many stunning performances here from the entire cast that pointing out any standout performances is nearly impossible. There is also some clever film editing(certainly the most under-rated facet of filmmaking), that keeps the film constantly fresh and the story moving forward with some fantastic cinematography. The only thing that breaks the continuity is that the character "Celie" is played by two different actresses, while her sister "Nettie" is played by a single actress both at a young age and when she is older. It is really a small discrepancy given that both actresses that play "Celie" are excellent(in particular, Whoopi Goldberg). For those who know only Whoopi's fairly lame films like "Burglar," I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised by her amazing work here. There are many moments in the film that are so genuinely touching and heartfelt that by the end of the final scene I suddenly realized that it never felt so good to cry. This is easily one of my favorite "Spielberg" films. Everything about this movie is gorgeous! Thank you.