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The Shooting Party (Collectors Edition) [1985]


RRP: £17.99
Our Price: £2.31 (subject to change)

England before the Great War
Review date: 2008-09-29 Rating: 8 out of 10

An melancholy look at the world of England's landed gentry a year before the war they once called the Great War, a world that will never exist again. Don't let the remarks about "digital restoration" give you the impression this is a film made in the 1930s. It was released in 1985, and thus before DVDs, hence the need to make it digital. If you watch serious BBC shows, you'll recognize a number of the actors. And unlike some, I found nothing disappointing with the film's colors.

Michael W. Perry, editor of Chesterton on War and Peace: Battling the Ideas and Movements that Led to Nazism and World War II

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Reviews


"I must write a Pamphlet"
Review date: 2008-06-05 Rating: 8 out of 10

England 1913.Over a long weekend Lord Nettleby(James Mason)entertains various members of the aristocracy at his country home where the men indulge in the shooting competition and the women gently gossip about marriages ,potential marriages and debt.
Exquisite rendering of Isobel Colegate's dazzling book has memorable performances(James Mason and Dorothy Tutin in particular), a beautifully judged script from Julien Bond which allows so many characters(from the peasantry to the gentry)to be fully developed thus allowing themes such as the seriousness of the disintegration of rural life and concerns about a forthcoming" conflict" to be interwoven into the narrative from multiple perspectives.
Wonderful period detail and John Scott's subtle score add finesse to this lovely film.Only an obviously limited budget and a slightly abrupt ending detract from an even more profound study of Edwardian mores.
The documentary is affectionately done with the reminder of exactly who was meant to have been playing Lord Nettleby but did not complete the first day of shooting.

Superb Evocation of a Lost Society
Review date: 2008-04-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film might have been a little slow. It is not. Kept to a reasonably short length, it retains the interest throughout, as a decent landowner, just before 1914, invites some English and foreign semi-vulgarians to shoot on his estate. The actors are superb (Fox, Mason et al) and the locations authentic. You feel as if you are there at times. The jarring clash of the Victorian, Edwardian and post-Edwardian ways of life is beautifully drawn. I very nearly saw this film on or soon after its release, when it was being shown (I think, only) at the art-house Curzon Cinema, in Curzon Street, Mayfair. I wish I had. Recommended.

Wonderful story. Excellent actors. And finally a first-rate DVD transfer
Review date: 2007-08-21 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Shooting Party shows the decline of the British aristocracy (and why they became irrelevant) through the story device of a weekend of country shooting and the relationships among the manor head (James Mason), those he has invited, those who are retainers on his estate, and those protesting the shoot.

Mason is absolutely superb. He was a subtle actor who made some awful role choices in his career. This was one of his great roles. In the Shooting Party, he embodies the sadness of the loss of values he treasures as well as an understanding of why these values are being lost.

The BBC Video's release of the film does the the movie justice. The picture is just a little soft, but the colors are rich and the transfer has clarity. The audio is excellent.

Whatever you do, don't buy the version from Jef Films, For all practical purposes, it is unwatchable. The Jef release looks and sounds as if it had been made from a fifth generation home recorded video tape, and might well have been. Color is faded, the images are out of focus, the sound is variable and unpleasant. Unfortunately, it can still be found as a Region 1 DVD and may be out as a Region 2..

Really enjoyed this film
Review date: 2007-06-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Shooting Party really does takes it's viewers make to the class system that existed before World War One. We still the upper class and lower class, how the upper dismiss the lower and so on.

Good cast.
Well acted.
Good story line.
Good DVD!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Edward Fox
Dorothy Tutin
John Gielgud
Robert Hardy
James Mason

Creators:
Edward Fox (Primary Contributor)
Dorothy Tutin (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5014138305383
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2006-10-09
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 93 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1983
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Original Language)

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