It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition) |  | Director: Frank Capra
Actors: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Studio: Paramount
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $11.80
as of 11/7/2009 09:28 CST details
You Save: $8.19 (41%)
New (50) Used (16) Collectible (1) from $9.98
Seller: classicflix
Rating:  534 reviews
Sales Rank: 259
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 130 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 097369600149
UPC: 097369600149
EAN: 0097369600149
ASIN: B000HEWEJO
Theatrical Release Date: January 7, 1947
Release Date: October 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Voted the #1 Most Inspiring Film Of All Time by AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers, It's A Wonderful Life has had just that. With the endearing message that "no one is a failure who has friends," Frank Capra's beartwarming masterpiece continues to endure, and after 60 years this beloved classic still remains as powerful and moving as the day it was made. A good but slightly ineffectual man tries to off himself after an error that really wasn't his fault. In Christmas carol fashion, his crusty-but-lovable guardian angel shows up to give him a tour of the world without his presence, and it isn't a pretty place. Moral courage, small-town American life, civic cooperation, and family love are glorified; corporate greed and self-involvement are vilified; at the climax, a blanket of snow like spun sugar makes everything pure and clean like redemption itself.
Amazon.com essential video
Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 534
 Looks awesome, but.... November 7, 2009
James (Dallas, TX USA)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Of course the movie is great and it looks fantastic on the newly released blu-ray version. But, I was really hoping that it would have been in 16:9 ratio to fit the width of my TV. Unfortunately, it is only in 4:3 (1.33:1); so, there are black bars along the side of the screen. I really thought it was going to be widescreen.
I do not want to dismiss the overall quality of this release, though. The picture is absolutely wonderful - crisp, wonderful contrasts.
 Amazon please stop listing reviews of the DVD on the BluRay page!!! If I wanted a review of the DVD I would go to that page. November 5, 2009
Outrageous (CT)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Amazon please stop listing reviews of the DVD on the BluRay page!!! If I wanted a review of the DVD I would go to that page.
Amazon Please Stop November 5, 2009
B. Scott
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Amazon please stop listing reviews of the DVD on the BluRay page!!! If I wanted a review of the DVD I would go to that page.
Need a sixth star for this movie; September 12, 2009
justicescale.org (Colorado)
4 out of 24 found this review helpful
In my view there are three really great movies:
1) Wonderful Life - especially this newly re-worked version in color
(ohhhhhhh........ Donna Reed as a young girl........ what a dream !!)
(Much like the woman I married :) )
2) Gone With the Wind - Scarlette my love !
.
Life is very hard and painful for a lot of people in the US today
and because the US middle class has been gutted they have no money
to buy the things developing countries make and the crisis
is worse in those countries as a result.
.
However, there is always having faith in God as a choice (yes or no).
It's always a choice......... essentially "to be" or..... "not to be".
These are the same choice.
When we have nothing else but faith which enables the possibility of hope
then we have nothing else and nothing else.
.
It's that simple.
.
A classic...at least in Black & White! September 7, 2009
Jason Kirkfield (Rocky Mountain High)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
It was designed to be shot in B&W. Sets were constructed, costumes were designed, and lighting was used to optimize how the movie would look on black and white film. Why would anyone think it was doing the film any favors to colorize it decades later?
In the interest of full disclosure, and from the screen captures I've seen, the colorization on the most recent release (Two-Disc Collector's Set from 2007) is the best so far. But still, for me, the B&W of this classic film is still classic.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 534
|
|
|
|
![A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B002EXW7DY.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
![Miracle on 34th Street [Blu-ray]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0029XFNA8.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
