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The Sting [HD DVD] [1973] [US Import]


Our Price: £7.96 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, this critical and box-office hit from 1973 provided a perfect reunion for director George Roy Hill and stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who had previously delighted audiences with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969. Set in 1936, The Sting features a pair of Chicago con artists (Newman and Redford) who find themselves in a high-stakes game against the master of all cheating mobsters (Robert Shaw) when they set out to avenge the murder of a mutual friend and partner. Using a bogus bookie joint as a front for their con of all cons, the two feel the heat from the Chicago Mob on one side and encroaching police on the other. But in a plot that contains more twists than a treacherous mountain road, the ultimate scam is pulled off with consummate style and panache. It's an added bonus that Newman and Redford were box-office kings at the top of their game, and while Shaw broods intensely as the Runyon-esque villain, The Sting is further blessed by a host of great supporting players including Dana Elcar, Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, Charles Durning, and Harold Gould. Thanks to the flavourful music score by Marvin Hamlisch, this was also the movie that sparked a nationwide revival of Scott Joplin's ragtime jazz, which is featured prominently on the soundtrack. One of the most entertaining movies of the early 1970s, The Sting is a welcome throwback to Hollywood's golden age of the 30s that hasn't lost any of its popular charm. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com


AN ALL TIME GREAT.......................
Review date: 2008-04-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

A film I never tire of watching. Superb performances from Redford and Newman as they outwit the late Robert Shaw in the big con.
The film twists and turns but never bores. The cast reads like "Who's Who" and they give of their best. The script is outstanding and I'll bet this one was great fun to make.
If you have not seen it, then whatever you do, DO NOT MISS IT. You will not be disappointed.
Must be one of the top movies of all time.

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Reviews


The Heist
Review date: 2007-12-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

'The Sting', if you like jolly heist movies, is an easy movie to like. It tells a tale of a con artist, who decides to avenge the death of his mentor and friend by cheating a notable amount of money from a man who was responsible of killing his friend. So there even is a slight moral in the story, not just stealing money from the heck of it.

So the main players of the film are: Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), who is the man who wants to revenge the death of his mentor with the help of Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman). So as you can see, the cast has the two huge starts of its own era in the lead. The chemistry of Redford and Newman works very well and they don't seem to be battling each other to gain more screen presence over each other.

'The Sting' is the kind of a movie, that will stand against the test of time relatively well, as it relies more on the actors and plot than anything else. I don't think it's the greatest heist film of all time, it actually can be said, that if the lead men would be someone else than Newman and Redford this film would barely be remembered, but it is entertaining and it carries through its duration very easily.

There was very little sting in this hugely overrated movie
Review date: 2007-08-26 Rating: 4 out of 10

This is a vastly overrated movie and always has been. Saw it on its release and I enjoyed the spectacle, and the tinkly music, but I was only seven. Got to look at it more closely over the years, and its reputation, to me does seem vastly overblown. It is just so clanky, every carefully managed scene seems just that, the famously twisty plot doesn't seem so intelligent to me as just plainly contrived. The script is godawful hammed up depression era street talk that seems risibly unrealistic to me, and the Scott Joplin soundtrack is actually far too invasive. Only the cast really lends this film any merit at all, but even these top actors are not really on top of their game. I've seen Shaw give more convincing performances than he gave here, and I find Redford irritating as a dodgy small time crook (he's just far too wholesome for this type of role). Only Newman looks comfortable as his character, and he looks like he enjoys playing the world weary, burnt out hustler, but he alone can't make this stagey looking contrivance believable. With this top cast, the movie can't fail to have presense, but for me it has little of anything else. In fact I find it amazing that the Acadamy saw fit to award this film so many Oscars! Surely they were conned much more convincingly than Mr. Lonnegan was.

A clumsy climax
Review date: 2007-03-20 Rating: 6 out of 10

Am I the only one who thinks this film is over-rated? Sure, the plot is pleasingly complex, the period detail is rich, and the performances are all top-notch... but where it really counts the direction falls short. The conclusion to the 'sting' itself is rushed and anti-climatic, and the end credits follow too fast on its heels. What it really needs is a Casablanca-style exit by our heroes: 'this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship' etc. The twist involving Lonegan's secret assassin is bungled too. I've seen this film 3 or 4 times now, and I always feel let down.

Great film, poor DVD
Review date: 2005-09-14 Rating: 6 out of 10

As someone has already said, this film is in mono, which is rather odd. Also it's not anamorphic widescreen, rather it's a widescreen presentation in a 4:3 frame, so if you've got a widescreen tv you have to use 'cinema' mode to get it full screen and it's considerably lower resolution than a real widescreen version would be. Also the picture is fairly low quality and dirty.

So, a DVD produced with the minimum of expense and care. Hope someone does a quality version some day cause it's a great film.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Robert Shaw
Charles Durning
Paul Newman
Robert Redford
Ray Walston

Creators:
Paul Newman (Primary Contributor)
Robert Redford (Primary Contributor)
Robert Surtees (Cinematographer)
William Reynolds (Editor)
Julia Phillips (Producer)
Michael Phillips (Producer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
EAN: 0025193281029
Binding: HD DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: AC-3, Colour, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen,
Release date: 2007-01-16
Universal product code (UPC): 025193281029
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Running time: 129 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1973
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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