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All The President's Men (2 Disc Special Edition) [1976]


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Editorial
Synopsis

Alan J. Pakula (KLUTE, THE PARALLAX VIEW) found a story worthy of his gift for conspiracy-driven drama in this adaptation of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their investigation of the Watergate burglary, of which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. The story of an apartment complex break-in brings together Washington Post reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) to pursue a newspaper story that leads them deeper and deeper into a web of corruption and intrigue, danger and disbelief.


2 little guys beat the monster that is the US Presidency
Review date: 2008-04-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

I watched this without blinking...an amazing movie...most of us wouldnt have had the guts to investigate something like this. We just assume that people in power must be moral and right. This film motivated me to read about Richard Nixon's presidency (and his advisors like Kissinger) - these men should never have been allowed to such powerful positions because frankly (read Robert Dallek's book) they were psychotic. Sad and scary. Thanks for bringing this alive in this movie. Excellent.

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Reviews


An absolute classic
Review date: 2008-01-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

The film itself is well-known, and is the true story of the second burglary and bugging attempt on the national HQ of the US Democratic Party, which took place in June 1972, and was organised by President Richard 'Tricky Dicky' Nixon's top aides, and almost certainly the President himself, The film also touches on numerous other crimes carried out by Nixon's team. The story is told from the point of view of the two journalists who uncovered the truth, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who were both junior Washington Post reporters, and significant parts of the dialogue in the film are taken verbatim from their book of the same name. It really only covers the first 6 months after the burglary, up to Nixon's d second inauguration, which is the period when the facts were being discovered and reported. It took another 20 months for Nixon to finally be forced to acknowledge the truth, and resign - this period is shown only as a series of headlines coming over a teleprinter. The film features one non-actor in a brief but starring role: Frank Wills, the Watergate security guard who discovered the break-in plays himself.

The second DVD is far more recent, and much of it was made following the disclosure that one of Woodward's main sources of information was Mark Felt, nicknamed 'Deep Throat' in the movie, then No. 2 at the FBI, one of the institutions corrupted by Nixon, along with the CIA and the Justice Dept. It contains:

Telling The Truth About Lies - 27 minutes
2006 documentary about the making of the film with Redford, Hoffman, Woodward, Bernstein, Bradlee, etc

Lighting The Fire - 18 minutes
2006 documentary about the significance of the journalism with Linda Ellerbee, Walter Cronkite, Greg Krikorian (LA Times), Jonathan Alter, senior editor of Newsweek, who believes that if Watergate happened now, due to political pressures to reveal their sources the reporters would probably have gone to jail, and the corruption of Nixon would not have been exposed. Ms. Ellerbee makes a claim I find hopelessly optimistic: 'we proved the system worked'. I have to say that I disagree strongly: it was sheer luck that Nixon was proved to be a crook. Firstly, if the Watergate buggers had been even half-competent, no link to the White House would have been discovered. Secondly, had Bob Woodward not happened to be a friend of Mark Felt, they wouldn't have been able to have developed the story, and finally, had Nixon not have had the sheer arrogance to have taped his corrupt conversations for 'posterity', the truth could still have been obscured by spin and lies.

Out Of The Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat - 16 minutes
2006 documentary following the revelation that 'Deep Throat' was in fact Mark Felt, the former No. 2 at the FBI.
This documentary is marked by a right-wing author who claims that Mark Felt had numerous options available to him apart from revealing the truth about Watergate to Bob Woodward. Thankfully this nonsense is shot down by many other contributors, notably Carl Bernstein, who says 'As we saw, when other institutions fail, the press is the last resort'. Bernstein, Woodward, the Washington Post, and the world got lucky.

Pressure and The Press - 10 minutes
1970's documentary about the events and reporting.

Dinah!
1976 TV interview with Jason Robards.

I guess I'd give the second DVD here 3 1/2 stars, if that were possible. I wouldn't rush out and buy this version if you already have the single disc, however.

Fantastic Film!!!
Review date: 2007-12-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

Fantastic film, intresting it takes a few watches to get to grips with firstly what actual went on during the watergate scandal and secondly the script you really have to pay attention.But really interestng stuff and if your intrested in conspiracy films then its a must buy!!!

Completely dire and very very boring
Review date: 2007-11-07 Rating: 2 out of 10

There doesn't appear to be a film in this film. If you're looking for a thriller, it's not here. If you're looking for a drama, it's not here.

Acting, well, if you call asking questions acting, fine.

A lot of it is executed in a way of saying that working for the Washington post is very boring and all these people do all day long is just phone people up and chase stories, go home and phone more people up. They get informants and then get more stories and fall asleep and get more information and then phone more people and maybe visit somebody.

In the end, you don't care at all. In America this was a big deal because it was the president and it was all discovered by accident and some reporters thought there was a connection but nothing was executed that well. They try to make Redford and Hoffman look extremely macho and arrogant and I bet that worked in the 70s because they were hunky blokes who didn't give a damn and got the work done.

For instance, if they are even threatened they don't look threatened, they don't look shocked, they just carry on as usual like they are reporting a cat up a tree. Why was the cat there. What ladder did they use. What colour is the cat.

Very boring. Avoid for your own good otherwise you will tell people it is good and the circle continues. Break the circle, for the good of mankind.

IT COULD NOT HAPPEN NOW!!!
Review date: 2007-09-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

"All The President's Men" (2 DISC) is a classic film about an important period in American Political History. The Director and his Actors did a very good job. Two intrepid reports expose the rampant corruption within the Whitehouse and bring down a criminal president.

What is shocking on seeing this film again is that with the present political climate in America the actions of these iconic reporters would not be possible.

Under this present administration these reporters would be subpoenaed and made to reveal their sources. So quite possibly if Woodward and Bernstein revealed nothing as would be expected, they could, before the night is out, be stuck in some flea infested jail without the basic right of seeing their lawyer AND before the story had a chance to make any political waves.

What is happening in America is the rapid corrosion of Civil Liberties and a grand exercise in consolidation of power. No reporters today could do what those reporters did.

The American media as a whole has been eroding it's own power by following the party line and cowering to it's public. On the DVD extras there is a very interesting documentary about the American Media and it tells us that only six papers can invest in Investigative Journalism today.

People want traditional propaganda news like the O'Rielly Factor, which is basically irresponsible journalism in a nutshell. Watching shows like these you can see, only too clearly, the backward strides American Journalism is constantly taking and in the possess harming itself irrevocably.

Bush Jr. it seems has bigger balls than Nixon by signing his own get-out clauses. (See the provisions to the "Terrorist Tribunal" Act). The press never ask why?

I would like to ask why you can't speak?

The Media calmly follow and spout the shallow rhetoric. The press wouldn't have a chance at bringing this baby down. Not even Robert Redford could do it.

Hip-Hop is not dead. I would hate to think the media is.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Martin Balsam
Robert Redford
Jason Robards
Hal Holbrook
Dustin Hoffman

Creators:
Robert Redford (Primary Contributor)
Dustin Hoffman (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900734011
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Box set, PAL, Special Edition,
Release date: 2006-02-13
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 133 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1976
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Portuguese (Original Language)

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