Beauty Movie Reviews

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Family movie reviews for "Beauty" sorted by average review score:
Almost Famous/American Beauty
Released in DVD by Umvd/Dreamworks (01 July, 2003)
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Billy Crudup
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas

American Beauty
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism. It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence. Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland

Average review score:

ALMOST FAMOUS,ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS
CAMERON CROWE TAKES HIS BIGGEST STEP FROM GOOD MOTION PICTURE DIRETOR TO SUBLIME CINEMATIC ARTIST IN THIS TRULY ENTERTAINING FILM.
EVERY CHARACTER,BE IT THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND STILLWATER,THE ROCK&ROLL GROUPIES KNOWN AS THE BANDAIDS,OR CROWES OWN ALTER EGO
WILLIAM MILLER,ARE ALL SUPERBLY WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY ALL INVOLVED.
ALMOST FAMOUS BLENDS A SPECTRUM OF EMOTIONS,FROM COMEDY,TO BITTERSWEET LONGING ,AND A SUPERIOR CLASSIC ROCK SOUNDTRACK
EFFORTLESSLY.

Beauty of Flowers and Gardens
Released in DVD by Red Ball Group (27 May, 2003)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Average review score:

Relax and watch plants bloom
Find a Haven of Tranquility awaiting you in this musical sanctuary,while enjoying and experiencing the symbolic relation of man and nature. Feast you eyes on nature at it's best,as you listen to these inspiring songs

1. Autumn Leaves ,Autumn
2. In the Garden, Blooming Flowers
3. Greensleeves, Tropical & Butterflies
4. Air on a G String by Bach, Heavenly Flowers
5. Love Lifted Me, Japanese Gardens
6. Wonderful Peace, Orchid Gardens
7. Malagenia De La Rosa, Rose Gardens
8. Amazing Grace ;Sunrise & Sunsets
9. Jesu Joy of Man's Desire by Bach; Four Seasons
10. El Condor Pasa ;Nature from a Bird's view
11. A) Symphony #40 in G Minor by Mozart
B) Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart ,Nature's Big Picture
12. Evening of Roses, Floating Roses

Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection
Released in DVD by Home Vision Entertainment (02 June, 1998)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Directors: Jean Cocteau and René Clément
Starring: Jean Marais and Josette Day
Beauty and the Beast is one of the all-time great movie fantasies, and one of the most gorgeous pictures ever made. It was the first feature film by French director Jean Cocteau, a writer, poet, and painter with ties to the surrealists. (In fact, his first film, The Blood of a Poet, was delayed after the scandal caused by L'Age D'Or, made by his fellow surrealists Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali.) The haunting, surreal visuals (candelabra made of human hands, for example) and a sensitive performance by Jean Marais as the Beast imbue the film with an indelible, mythical power. --Jim Emerson
Average review score:

Sublime
Movies just don't get any better than this Cocteau masterpiece. The film, especially the scenes in the Beast's palace, overflow with a dreamlike quality that is positively spellbinding. The imagery and creativity put to work by Cocteau and company should be used as textbook examples of how to create astonishing magic with restraint. Criterion's restoration is, as always, beyond reproach. This production company is, arguably, the finest in the business. The images are crisp and clean and so beautifully touched up that the entire film has a fantastic sheen normally attributed to Hurrell and Richie glamour shots of the 20's and 30's. In my opinion, the seductive qualities of "La Belle et la Bete" have yet to be replicated in any other film. There have been many fantastic movies made since "Beauty" but none really come close to matching Cocteau's brilliance and sense of cinematic wonderment. A must have for lovers of cinema. For me, this is a desert island DVD along with "Cries and Whispers," "Brief Encounter" and "Nights of Cabiria" all of which just happen to be part of the Criterion Collection.

Simply some of the finest cinema ever made!
If you're considering buying any one item here, you have just found it. This is quite simply one of the top five films ever made, combining such a lyrical reading of the story, memorable acting and special effects that couldn't be better illustrated in any other context. It is as if Cocteau is holding a wand.

SKIN DEEP.....................
Indeed! This is the 'ultimate' version of the fable created by the legendary Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais as you know who ...... The restoration is magnificent, crisp, pristine images and lots of required extras on this version including the Philip Glass score [absolutely a double-plus].

It's a dreamy, semi-nightmarish vision - never quite duplicated [copied?] by Hollywood ~ and light-years ahead of its time. Superior and expertly detailed costume and set design.

Forget the cartoon version - silly bland fare by comparison.

Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)
Released in DVD by Criterion Collection (11 February, 2003)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Directors: Jean Cocteau and René Clément
Starring: Jean Marais and Josette Day
This is definitely not the Disney version. While it remains faithful to the plot of the classic fairy tale by Leprince de Beaumont, Jean Cocteau's 1946 French romantic fantasy is the product of a sophisticated, mature sensibility in its tones and textures and, above all, in its surprising emotional power. With sparkling black-and-white imagery that, for once, is actually dreamlike rather than cute or kitschy, and with a Beast (Jean Marais) who is almost as glamorous with his silky blonde facial hair as he is clean shaven, the movie casts a seductive spell. It might actually be a little too rich and unsettling for kids. Even the costumes and the draperies are entrancingly ornate. Viewers intoxicated by this enveloping vision should consider moving on to Cocteau's even more aggressively other-worldly 1949 masterpiece Orpheus, in which Marais plays the doomed poet of ancient Greek legend, updated to a Parisian "punk" milieu of motorcycles and black leather. --David Chute
Average review score:

Sublime
Movies just don't get any better than this Cocteau masterpiece. The film, especially the scenes in the Beast's palace, overflow with a dreamlike quality that is positively spellbinding. The imagery and creativity put to work by Cocteau and company should be used as textbook examples of how to create astonishing magic with restraint. Criterion's restoration is, as always, beyond reproach. This production company is, arguably, the finest in the business. The images are crisp and clean and so beautifully touched up that the entire film has a fantastic sheen normally attributed to Hurrell and Richie glamour shots of the 20's and 30's. In my opinion, the seductive qualities of "La Belle et la Bete" have yet to be replicated in any other film. There have been many fantastic movies made since "Beauty" but none really come close to matching Cocteau's brilliance and sense of cinematic wonderment. A must have for lovers of cinema. For me, this is a desert island DVD along with "Cries and Whispers," "Brief Encounter" and "Nights of Cabiria" all of which just happen to be part of the Criterion Collection.

Simply some of the finest cinema ever made!
If you're considering buying any one item here, you have just found it. This is quite simply one of the top five films ever made, combining such a lyrical reading of the story, memorable acting and special effects that couldn't be better illustrated in any other context. It is as if Cocteau is holding a wand.

SKIN DEEP.....................
Indeed! This is the 'ultimate' version of the fable created by the legendary Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais as you know who ...... The restoration is magnificent, crisp, pristine images and lots of required extras on this version including the Philip Glass score [absolutely a double-plus].

It's a dreamy, semi-nightmarish vision - never quite duplicated [copied?] by Hollywood ~ and light-years ahead of its time. Superior and expertly detailed costume and set design.

Forget the cartoon version - silly bland fare by comparison.

Beauty and the Beast
Released in Theatrical Release by (22 November, 1991)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson
The film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. It relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides himself), Belle boldly takes her father's place, imprisoned in the Beast's gloomy mansion. Naturally, Belle teaches the Beast to love. What makes this such a dazzler, besides the amazingly accomplished animation and the winning coterie of supporting characters (the Beast's mansion is overrun by quipping, dancing household items) is the array of beautiful and hilarious songs by composer Alan Menken and the late, lamented lyricist Howard Ashman. (The title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar, and Menken's score scored a trophy as well.) The downright funniest song is "Gaston," a lout's paean to himself (including the immortal line, "I use antlers in all of my de-co-ra-ting"). "Be Our Guest" is transformed into an inspired Busby Berkeley homage. Since Ashman's passing, animated musicals haven't quite reached the same exhilarating level of wit, sophistication, and pure joy. --David Kronke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Average review score:

Yes, men are abusive beasts transformed by our love
Am I the only person with a problem here? What kind of message are we sending with this idiotic story???

Belle is to put up with the Beast's outbursts, rages, and inappropriate behavior until he comes around? Her love will save him. It will transform him. Uh-huh. Bull mahjockey.

Enough with this idea we give our daughters that somehow they are to be gentile in the face of people being verbally abusive to them. They are to continue on and conquer all with their love. We wonder why women marry men and think they can change them? Why they might stay with a man who never hits.. he only talks ugly to them and yells... breaks into rages... Hmmm... wonder where they might have gotten the idea that all they must do id be patient and wait for him to change?

My fondest childhood memory
I remember when I was young, I went to see this movie at the cinema. It completely changed my life. I became a Disney freak. This is by far one of the greatest movies of me generation and of all time. The dvd is even better. With all the extra stuff and the amazing digital remastering, this movie will surely go down in history.

One of Disney's Best Ever
When I look at the Disney corporation the last 15 years I have to sit and think. Would Walt Disney be happy with what has been done with what he started. Sometimes I think he'd cry in shame except for when I see a movie like Beauty and the Beast and say to myself no, Walt would have loved this.

Disney has always been the standard for animated movies. Beauty and the Beast is the only to ever get a nomination for "Best Picture" by the academy awards and Disney has called it one of top three best they've ever done. Those are some pretty good credentials.

Beauty and the Beast tells the story of the beauty bookworm Belle. She has moved to a new town in France and doesn't fit it to well. Her father is a crack pot inventor is looked to be a madman from the local town folk. On a way to the fair to show off his newest invention Marious gets lost and ends up at a castle. It is at that castle he is imprisoned by a Beast. Belle who has complete compassionate love for her father finds him and takes his place. It's there that she teaches the Beast to love. Back in town though one of the towns men is angry. The conceited and wicked hearted Gaston wants Belle for himself and no one else, and he'll stop at nothing to get her.

There are so many reasons this movie is great. It has some of the most loveable characters ever. Belle and the Beast are both fantastic. In the castle all the workers were imprisoned into different animate objects. There's Cogsworth the Clock and Lemuix the Candlestick. There is Mrs. Potts the Teapot and many other loveable characters that leave you feeling good inside.

The music is fantastic. It did win the best score and best song Oscars. "Beauty and the Beast" is an awesome song sung by award winning artists Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Other notable songs are "Gaston," "Be Our Guest," and Many Many more. I'd watch the movie just to see the music.

Beauty and the Beast is one of the best movies you will ever see. It's easily up there with the Wizard of Oz as the best family movie ever made. If you don't have this DVD you can't seriously have a DVD collection. It's one of the best of all time and will be forever. So be there guest and sit down for a ride you'll never regret.

Beauty and the Beast (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
Released in DVD by Walt Disney Home Video (08 October, 2002)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson
The film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. It relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides himself), Belle boldly takes her father's place, imprisoned in the Beast's gloomy mansion. Naturally, Belle teaches the Beast to love. What makes this such a dazzler, besides the amazingly accomplished animation and the winning coterie of supporting characters (the Beast's mansion is overrun by quipping, dancing household items) is the array of beautiful and hilarious songs by composer Alan Menken and the late, lamented lyricist Howard Ashman. (The title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar, and Menken's score scored a trophy as well.) The downright funniest song is "Gaston," a lout's paean to himself (including the immortal line, "I use antlers in all of my de-co-ra-ting"). "Be Our Guest" is transformed into an inspired Busby Berkeley homage. Since Ashman's passing, animated musicals haven't quite reached the same exhilarating level of wit, sophistication, and pure joy. --David Kronke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Average review score:

Yes, men are abusive beasts transformed by our love
Am I the only person with a problem here? What kind of message are we sending with this idiotic story???

Belle is to put up with the Beast's outbursts, rages, and inappropriate behavior until he comes around? Her love will save him. It will transform him. Uh-huh. Bull mahjockey.

Enough with this idea we give our daughters that somehow they are to be gentile in the face of people being verbally abusive to them. They are to continue on and conquer all with their love. We wonder why women marry men and think they can change them? Why they might stay with a man who never hits.. he only talks ugly to them and yells... breaks into rages... Hmmm... wonder where they might have gotten the idea that all they must do id be patient and wait for him to change?

My fondest childhood memory
I remember when I was young, I went to see this movie at the cinema. It completely changed my life. I became a Disney freak. This is by far one of the greatest movies of me generation and of all time. The dvd is even better. With all the extra stuff and the amazing digital remastering, this movie will surely go down in history.

One of Disney's Best Ever
When I look at the Disney corporation the last 15 years I have to sit and think. Would Walt Disney be happy with what has been done with what he started. Sometimes I think he'd cry in shame except for when I see a movie like Beauty and the Beast and say to myself no, Walt would have loved this.

Disney has always been the standard for animated movies. Beauty and the Beast is the only to ever get a nomination for "Best Picture" by the academy awards and Disney has called it one of top three best they've ever done. Those are some pretty good credentials.

Beauty and the Beast tells the story of the beauty bookworm Belle. She has moved to a new town in France and doesn't fit it to well. Her father is a crack pot inventor is looked to be a madman from the local town folk. On a way to the fair to show off his newest invention Marious gets lost and ends up at a castle. It is at that castle he is imprisoned by a Beast. Belle who has complete compassionate love for her father finds him and takes his place. It's there that she teaches the Beast to love. Back in town though one of the towns men is angry. The conceited and wicked hearted Gaston wants Belle for himself and no one else, and he'll stop at nothing to get her.

There are so many reasons this movie is great. It has some of the most loveable characters ever. Belle and the Beast are both fantastic. In the castle all the workers were imprisoned into different animate objects. There's Cogsworth the Clock and Lemuix the Candlestick. There is Mrs. Potts the Teapot and many other loveable characters that leave you feeling good inside.

The music is fantastic. It did win the best score and best song Oscars. "Beauty and the Beast" is an awesome song sung by award winning artists Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Other notable songs are "Gaston," "Be Our Guest," and Many Many more. I'd watch the movie just to see the music.

Beauty and the Beast is one of the best movies you will ever see. It's easily up there with the Wizard of Oz as the best family movie ever made. If you don't have this DVD you can't seriously have a DVD collection. It's one of the best of all time and will be forever. So be there guest and sit down for a ride you'll never regret.

La Bella y la Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) - Special Edition
Released in DVD by Walt Disney Home Video (08 October, 2002)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson
The film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. It relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides himself), Belle boldly takes her father's place, imprisoned in the Beast's gloomy mansion. Naturally, Belle teaches the Beast to love. What makes this such a dazzler, besides the amazingly accomplished animation and the winning coterie of supporting characters (the Beast's mansion is overrun by quipping, dancing household items) is the array of beautiful and hilarious songs by composer Alan Menken and the late, lamented lyricist Howard Ashman. (The title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar, and Menken's score scored a trophy as well.) The downright funniest song is "Gaston," a lout's paean to himself (including the immortal line, "I use antlers in all of my de-co-ra-ting"). "Be Our Guest" is transformed into an inspired Busby Berkeley homage. Since Ashman's passing, animated musicals haven't quite reached the same exhilarating level of wit, sophistication, and pure joy. --David Kronke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Average review score:

Yes, men are abusive beasts transformed by our love
Am I the only person with a problem here? What kind of message are we sending with this idiotic story???

Belle is to put up with the Beast's outbursts, rages, and inappropriate behavior until he comes around? Her love will save him. It will transform him. Uh-huh. Bull mahjockey.

Enough with this idea we give our daughters that somehow they are to be gentile in the face of people being verbally abusive to them. They are to continue on and conquer all with their love. We wonder why women marry men and think they can change them? Why they might stay with a man who never hits.. he only talks ugly to them and yells... breaks into rages... Hmmm... wonder where they might have gotten the idea that all they must do id be patient and wait for him to change?

My fondest childhood memory
I remember when I was young, I went to see this movie at the cinema. It completely changed my life. I became a Disney freak. This is by far one of the greatest movies of me generation and of all time. The dvd is even better. With all the extra stuff and the amazing digital remastering, this movie will surely go down in history.

One of Disney's Best Ever
When I look at the Disney corporation the last 15 years I have to sit and think. Would Walt Disney be happy with what has been done with what he started. Sometimes I think he'd cry in shame except for when I see a movie like Beauty and the Beast and say to myself no, Walt would have loved this.

Disney has always been the standard for animated movies. Beauty and the Beast is the only to ever get a nomination for "Best Picture" by the academy awards and Disney has called it one of top three best they've ever done. Those are some pretty good credentials.

Beauty and the Beast tells the story of the beauty bookworm Belle. She has moved to a new town in France and doesn't fit it to well. Her father is a crack pot inventor is looked to be a madman from the local town folk. On a way to the fair to show off his newest invention Marious gets lost and ends up at a castle. It is at that castle he is imprisoned by a Beast. Belle who has complete compassionate love for her father finds him and takes his place. It's there that she teaches the Beast to love. Back in town though one of the towns men is angry. The conceited and wicked hearted Gaston wants Belle for himself and no one else, and he'll stop at nothing to get her.

There are so many reasons this movie is great. It has some of the most loveable characters ever. Belle and the Beast are both fantastic. In the castle all the workers were imprisoned into different animate objects. There's Cogsworth the Clock and Lemuix the Candlestick. There is Mrs. Potts the Teapot and many other loveable characters that leave you feeling good inside.

The music is fantastic. It did win the best score and best song Oscars. "Beauty and the Beast" is an awesome song sung by award winning artists Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. Other notable songs are "Gaston," "Be Our Guest," and Many Many more. I'd watch the movie just to see the music.

Beauty and the Beast is one of the best movies you will ever see. It's easily up there with the Wizard of Oz as the best family movie ever made. If you don't have this DVD you can't seriously have a DVD collection. It's one of the best of all time and will be forever. So be there guest and sit down for a ride you'll never regret.

Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)
Released in DVD by Walt Disney Home Video (09 September, 2003)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Starring: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, and Eleanor Audley
Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here. And Malificent's castle, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke
Average review score:

Okay Film - Poor Extras
This was sneaked out onto release on region 2 disc ages ago in England (minus commentary). Although the film is visually stunning and has some nice set pieces it lacks warmth and, with some small exceptions, has no compelling characters. The extras are as dry as sticks and smack of the pompous. If you want a special edition Disney disc stick to 'The Lion King' or 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Not my favorite film, but nothing inherently wrong here
I don't know why this film just doesn't do it for me. But it doesn't. My daughter likes it though. There's not too much here to be concerned about. Some scary scenes, but not the worst offender by far. A lot of people have fond associations with this film. I just don't happen to be one of them. But I wouldn't hesitate to let my kids watch it.

Animation classic..
This DVD is a "must have" for any animation fans. The Special Edition has the widescreen version as it was originally shown in 1959. This was the first animated movie shot in 70 mm. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it made from having the sides croped off for television.

The 2nd disc has great extras showing the main artist's involvement and the black and white acting for the fight scene.

Dangerous Beauty
Released in DVD by Warner Studios (06 November, 2001)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Marshall Herskovitz
Starring: Catherine McCormack and Rufus Sewell
Although it was unfortunately ignored during its brief theatrical release, this sumptuously seductive production is that rarest of cinematic breeds, the (barely) respectable guilty pleasure. Combining historical fact with hysterical anachronisms of language and mannerism, it's been tailored for maximum contemporary appeal but maintains a lush, romantic feel for its factual 16th-century tale of Venetian love, lust, and political repression. Catherine McCormack (Mel Gibson's ill-fated bride in Braveheart) delivers a star-making performance as the "dangerous beauty" who becomes a skillful courtesan to pursue her forbidden love for a dashing Venetian senator (Rufus Sewell). It's all rather silly in a high-toned fashion, and the film turns dour when the church intervenes with a Scarlet Letter-like papal inquest. But the movie's joyously ribald vitality is utterly irresistible, and the casting of McCormack with Jaqueline Bisset (as her mother and courtesan mentor) is a stroke of pure genius. Merchant-Ivory would've made a smarter film from this material, but it probably wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. --Jeff Shannon
Average review score:

An underrated gem
This highly evocative and entertaining film was sadly ignored when it was released in 1998, but it is most definitely worth a second look. The film explores the world of courtesans, women in Renaissance-era Venice who lived to pleasure men but were also allowed access to education at a time when most women couldn't even read.

Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack of "Braveheart" fame) has no dowry to marry her true love Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell) and thus learns the art of giving pleasure from her mother (Jacqueline Bisset). She quickly becomes the most sought-after courtesan in Venice, earns renown as a poet in her own right, and finds herself afforded a small deal more power than most women in Venice.

The cast is first-rate. McCormack imbues Veronica with a great deal of intelligence and passion, as well as a searing wit. She may come across as far too post-modern in a few scenes, though those are likely meant to portray her as ahead of her time. Rufus Sewell may not have the looks of the typical romantic lead, but he is probably the most convincing one in recent years. The male characters may be intriguing, but far more fascinating are the women, who display the limited options available to Renaissance women. As Beatrice, Marco's sister, Moira Kelly marries a man older than her father, and condemns herself life of motherhood and lack of fulfillment. The regret registers on her face more and more with each scene in a very affecting performance. Naomi Watts makes a brief appearance as Marco's pious wife, who cannot be anything more than what she was taught.

Things begin to fall apart, literally and artistically, when the Plague and the Inquisition roll into town, and the grandstanding finale may strike some as over the top, but on the whole, "Dangerous Beauty" is a provocative, interesting, lovely film.

Bravo!!!
From the first scene, where the courtesans were paraded down the canals of Venice, I was captivated by this movie! Catherine McCormack played a very convincing Veronica Franco, capturing both the physical beauty and the witty intellect of this real-life courtesan. Rufus Sewell, who is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite actors (aka "hunk") is simply wonderful!!! I laughed, I cried, I ooohed and I aaahed! This movie definitely rates as one of my favorite romances. I am an avid reader of historical romances and courtesans are refered to from time to time. Although I had a broad idea of what a courtesan was - this movie gave the meaning real depth and showed how some women were taught the arts of seducing and pleasuring a man by their mothers in order to obtain a better life for themselves and the families who depended on them. Other women chose the profession because they felt it offered them a better life and more freedom than they'd find in a marital arrangement. And it also showed that even having chose this profession, these women still loved and yearned to be loved.
The costuming and the scenery were dynamic! From the costumes the courtesans wore while "entertaining" to the dress of the more proper wives and the townspeople - it was all extraordinary.
All in all, I truly enjoyed this movie and am so glad I purchased it after having someone recommend it to me.

Very Sexy! Very Enjoyable!
In the hands of a less talented cast, this movie might have been relegated to the status of a soft porn timefiller on latenight cable TV. However, Catherine McCormack takes the story of Veronica Franco, a sixteenth century Venetian courtesan and fills it with intelligence and sensuality.

Veronica is a relucant (an exceptionally reluctant) recruit into the profession of courtesan; tutored by her mother (played by the ageless Jacqueline Bisset). Denied a marriage to her true love, a young aristocrat (Rufus Sewell), by the unfortunate combination of flimsy economic and precarious social standing, she is forced into a calling that allows her to exploit her beauty, wit, brains and... uh... physical prowess into a position of power and weatlth. She blossoms from innocent girl to sophisticated woman, sought by men for both her body and companionship; despised by women for her independence and influence. Her standing is eventually threatened by competing forces that hide behind the Church, culminating in a trial before the Inquisition.

As always, the afforementioned Ms. Bisset is endlessly capable of making the male heart race. And the montage of scenes during which she educates the young Vanessa in the ways of a courtesan is unforgettable! I would go so far as to say that this segment will make you forget the famous dinner sequence from the classic "Tom Jones" for its demonstration of lust and sensuality.

Oliver Platt also stands out in this cast for his portrayal of an evil opportunist who slithers into a position of Inquisitor, bent on defeating the woman he could never afford. Other well known names are so immersed in their roles that you might not recognize them, actresses like Naomi Watts, Melina Kankaredes, Moira Kelly and Joanna Cassidy.

There are a number of films that merge history with an examination of the sexual politic, but perhaps none do it as well as this one. It portrays a society that sees itself as genteel and refined, albeit one in which a simple rhyming contest between man and woman can escalate into a bloodletting and exile. Above all, it is quite simply one of the sexiest movies I've ever seen!

Black Beauty
Released in DVD by Warner Studios (05 June, 2001)
MPAA Rating: G (General Audience)
Director: Caroline Thompson
Starring: Sean Bean and David Thewlis
Don't waste this one on your children: buy it for yourself. A spectacular adaptation of the Anna Sewell novel, this is faithful to the source material but creates a life of its own on the screen. Told from the point of view of the horse, it recalls a time and a place that could be both beautiful and cruel. Black Beauty faced both hardship and kindness as he passed through the hands of many owners throughout his life. Some are generous, but the agonies endured by the title character may be too harsh for small children. Unfortunately, director Caroline Thompson did not resurrect her magical touch a few years later with another animal tale, Buddy. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Average review score:

Overhyped and Pointlessly Altered
I love horses. I will suffer through bad acting, awful plots, and overly precious child actors in just about any horse movie, and for me to say Black Beauty was almost unbearable is a statement and a half. I was hoping for so much more from this film after reading about how much more faithful a version it was. Having sat through two '80s animated monstrosities, an entertaining but in-name-only New Zealand made TV series, and a downright awful '70s version that has Beauty in the circus, going to war, and involved with a bunch of Irish Travelers, I was expecting much better from something prouduced in the '90s.

It all starts innocently enough, with the lovely Sean Bean attending to Beauty from his birth and throughout his training and though I was a bit annoyed that the fox hunt was cut I could understand why something so brutal was left out. From thereonin it was all downhill. Absolutely pointless changes were made, nobody is permitted to die, they simply get fired or move to the country, and if we aren't shown anything an offhand remark tells us that 'all the other horse were saved too'. I can understand not wanting to frighten children but for heaven's sake, animals died in Babe didn't they?

Black Beauty was not intended to be a kids' book, it was meant to draw attention to animal cruelty of the time period and for it to be so dumbed down is annoying. We are told Ginger is vicious, and there is an offhand comment about previous bad owners but that's about it. Only Beauty is given a voice and Merrylegs' and Ginger's stories are left frustratingly untold, replaced with overlong shots of them frolicking that will have even children getting antsy. And how annoying is it that Ginger is bizarrely made into a love interest? At least with the other Black Beauties the changes were apparent enough from the start that you weren't expecting much later on.

Weird edits give us random shots of doors as scenes end or shots of Beauty tossing his head for minutes on end. The movie is 87 minutes long but because of the extended horse footage it seems to take forever. You know there's a problem when I'm counting down the minutes to when David Thewlis pops up instead of swooning over the horsies.

I'm not so heartless as to not admit that the film made me cry, twice no less, but those were the only times I felt anything other than apathy or annoyance. It's too bad, because this really had the potential to be like Nightmare Before Christmas or Spirited Away and have a crossover appeal to young and old audiences. If you want a good horse film you won't have to suffer too much through, get Misty instead and, for a lush children's period piece, pick up the '95 incarnation of A Little Princess. Either way you'll have a nice family movie that will encourage kids to pick up a book without insulting your intelligence in the process.

Not the best movie ever, but good
I first saw this movie when I was 5 years old, and I loved it. I was at the time absolutely crazy about horses (my greatest ambition was to own a horse myself someday.) Although I am no longer nuts about horses, I have watched the movie over again from time to time.

It's been a while since I read "Black Beauty" but as far as I can remember the movie is for the most part true to the book. The horses are beautiful, and the ending is happy.

There is one thing, however, that I must complain about. It's that the movie opens on the night of Black Beauty's birth--with the result that we must watch the actual birth of a foal. (It can be rather sickening.)

Nonetheless, this is definately a movie worth seeing. Any horse lover will be estatic about it.

Terrific Movie
I loved this Movie! I've always liked the Novel since I was in Junior High and finally decided to watch the story on the screen and I was highly impressed by the great performances by the Black Beauty horse and other ones. Music was just great!!!

A Must buy!

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