Since Amazon lumps the reviews for all the various releases of this movie together, I want to be clear that this review is for the single disc, 132 minute blu-ray version with the cover picture of smiling man made of bricks with the word "Brazil" flying out of the top of his head.
For those who don't know the history of this movie - there are at least three different versions. It was originally released in Europe as a nearly two and half hour long film. The studio who financed it didn't like that version because it A. was too long, B. was too uncommercial and C. had a dark, depressing ending. The contract they had with Gilliam stipulated that the movie had to be less than 2 hours and 15 minutes, so it could have multiple prime-time showings in theaters. They suggested he cut the ending.
Gilliam refused, so the studio took it upon themselves to create the "Love Conquers All" version, which chopped out almost an hour of footage - they only kept the parts that showed the main character Sam in a heroic light, anything that contributed to the Sam/Jill love story and anything that featured Robert DiNero. And, of course, the ending was changed to a happy ending by removing the final scene. Also, to make the plot easier to follow, they used some alternate takes, some deleted footage and hired voice actors to overdub dialog.
Unsurprisingly, Gilliam didn't want that version released, so he finally edited the movie down to 2 hours and 12 minutes, kept the dark ending and made a few other minor changes and the studio was contractually obligated to release that version to theaters in the United States.
It's this US version that appears on the blu-ray, with absolutely no additional features (not even the Gilliam commentary that's included on most other releases of the film). Annoyingly, they also added advertisements for other movies to the main menu screen. But I'm still happy to have this version, because it's the first time I've seen the "US edit" since originally seeing the film in a theater on the campus of Penn State back in my college days.
I can't really write an unbiased review of the movie itself, because from that first viewing I became obsessed with both Brazil and Terry Gilliam's films in general. I bought all his movies on VHS as soon as they came out and eventually replaced them with DVDs. I bought the 3-DVD Criterion "Final Cut" version of Brazil back when it was an expensive new release. I was surprised that it included scenes I'd never seen before - I think it's based mostly on the European version, with some additional tweaks by Gilliam. It also included the "Love Conquers All" version of the movie and a ton of bonus features. Sadly though, it wasn't animorphic, so on my widescreen TV it put black letterboxing bars on all four sides, shrinking the picture down to about 60% of the screen.
This blu-ray was exactly what I was looking for. While it's missing a few (non-essential) scenes, it's the version of the movie that I "grew up" with and is presented in full 16X9 animorphic widescreen. It's the best looking version I've seen since originally seeing it in the theater. For example, I never really noticed the makeup on Katherine Hellmond at the beginning of the movie to make her look older (pre-surgery), but it's clearly visible on the blu-ray. I've always felt bad for one actress during the explosion scene in the restaurant because it looks like she really does get hit by some of the flying debris - the blu-ray is maybe a little too clear there, because now I can tell it's just a dressed-up mannequin.
As for the movie itself - it's one of those films you'll either love or hate. Its alternate-reality, retro-futuristic look makes it seem nearly as fresh and amazing today as it did when it first came out. And the background plot of a government bureaucracy turning a country into a surveillance state in response to a perceived terrorist threat - I know it was based on things happening in England at the time, but it's like Gilliam had a crystal ball and looked 30 years into the United States' future. The alternating between "reality" and dream sequences and the general Gilliam quirkiness will probably put a lot of people off, but it's what drew me to this movie in the first place.
If you become fanatical about the movie like I am, you'll need both this blu-ray and the Criterion release. To fully experience the film you need to see every version (even the Love Conquers All version) because each one includes bits that aren't in any of the others.
If you do decide to watch Brazil and find that you like it, give some of Gilliam's more recent movies a try, like The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassis and The Zero Theorem. Really, if you like odd, out-of-the-mainstream movies that you'll be thinking about for days after you see them, you can't go wrong with pretty much any Terry Gilliam film.
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Brazil (The Criterion Collection Three-Disc Special Edition)
Jonathan Pryce
(Actor),
Kim Greist
(Actor),
Terry Gilliam
(Director, Writer)
&
0
more Rated: Format: DVD
R
IMDb7.9/10.0
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
September 5, 2006 "Please retry" | Criterion Collection Special Edition | 3 |
—
| — | $16.84 |
DVD
January 9, 2007 "Please retry" | DVD | 1 |
—
| $36.99 | $4.68 |
Watch Instantly with | Rent | Buy |
Brazil | — | — |
Genre | Horror |
Format | Widescreen, Color, NTSC, Dolby, Multiple Formats, Box set |
Contributor | Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan, Jonathan Pryce, Jim Broadbent, Katherine Helmond, Tom Stoppard, Terry Gilliam, Bob Hoskins, Barbara Hicks, Kim Greist, Ian Richardson, Charles McKeown, Ian Holm See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours and 22 minutes |
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Product Description
A megalopolis bureaucrat notes a fatal error over a man named Tuttle and a man named Buttle. Directed by Terry Gilliam.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 8.8 ounces
- Item model number : CRRN1630DVD
- Director : Terry Gilliam
- Media Format : Widescreen, Color, NTSC, Dolby, Multiple Formats, Box set
- Run time : 2 hours and 22 minutes
- Release date : September 5, 2006
- Actors : Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm
- Language : Unqualified
- Studio : Criterion Collection
- ASIN : B000G8NXZK
- Writers : Charles McKeown, Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard
- Number of discs : 3
- Best Sellers Rank: #115,403 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #2,550 in Science Fiction DVDs
- #4,289 in Horror (Movies & TV)
- #19,012 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
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2,895 global ratings
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1 Star
Disappointed
The DVD I received would not play on my DVD Player due to a "Region" error. I was not familiar with this, and Googled the problem. DVD's made in other countries have a "region" and sometimes will not play in other countries. I am able to view the DVD on my computer, and did enjoy it, but I would've preferred that it play on my large TV. When I did play it on my computer, it did have a note that the "region" was Australia, which might be where the DVD originated. It's not worth shipping it back, not even sure if they could correct the issue. Just disappointed. This movie really needs to be watched on a large screen. <sigh>
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2016
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
A dark comedy that is a great cult classic! If you haven’t seen it, stick it in your machine. You’ll like it!
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
If you like quirky, off the wall stuff, you'll love this..Almost feels like there's some Python in it..
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2011
The film Brazil itself is one of my favorites, and easily deserves five stars: If you haven't seen the movie, go read some of those glowing and well-deserved five-star reviews to learn why you really ought to. I'm docking a star exclusively from the Universal BluRay edition. (Incidentally, Amazon: It would be nice if we had the option of star-rating the work and the release separately.)
The audio and visual quality are generally quite good, though there's visible dirt and grain in a surprising number of frames. What's especially striking, though, is the absence of any special features--in sharp contrast to the abundance of bonus material available on the Criterion releases, above all Terry Gilliam's audio commentary and the "making of" documentary. Moreover, while I actually prefer this original U.S. theatrical version (with the proper ending--not that "Love Conquers All" travesty) to Gilliam's longer director's cut, I was surprised that the missing scenes (about ten minutes' worth of additional material) from that version were not available on this release in any form. Maybe I've just been spoiled by Criterion, but since nothing on the disk itself hints at which of the many versions you're getting, I had wrongly assumed the viewer would have at least the option of seeing the longer version.
That said, this release does substantially improve upon the audio and visual quality of the DVD edition, and serious fans of the movie will certainly want to pick it up. The quality difference is enough that I'd probably still recommend BluRay player owners opt for this over the more feature-rich DVD releases, all things considered, if it's going to be one or the other. But a really definitive edition--with the film imperfections cleaned up and some of the added features that modern movie buyers have come to expect with a home video release--has yet to be produced, alas.
The audio and visual quality are generally quite good, though there's visible dirt and grain in a surprising number of frames. What's especially striking, though, is the absence of any special features--in sharp contrast to the abundance of bonus material available on the Criterion releases, above all Terry Gilliam's audio commentary and the "making of" documentary. Moreover, while I actually prefer this original U.S. theatrical version (with the proper ending--not that "Love Conquers All" travesty) to Gilliam's longer director's cut, I was surprised that the missing scenes (about ten minutes' worth of additional material) from that version were not available on this release in any form. Maybe I've just been spoiled by Criterion, but since nothing on the disk itself hints at which of the many versions you're getting, I had wrongly assumed the viewer would have at least the option of seeing the longer version.
That said, this release does substantially improve upon the audio and visual quality of the DVD edition, and serious fans of the movie will certainly want to pick it up. The quality difference is enough that I'd probably still recommend BluRay player owners opt for this over the more feature-rich DVD releases, all things considered, if it's going to be one or the other. But a really definitive edition--with the film imperfections cleaned up and some of the added features that modern movie buyers have come to expect with a home video release--has yet to be produced, alas.
Top reviews from other countries
Donatella Moisio
5.0 out of 5 stars
Un mito
Reviewed in Italy on January 21, 2024
È un film spettacolare, pazzesco e attualissimo.
Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bravo!!
Reviewed in France on December 23, 2023
Service rapide bien emballé conforme excellent rapport qualité prix je recommande vivement ce vendeur. Bravo!!
Kim Franklin
5.0 out of 5 stars
CHANGING the ENDING was NOT an OPTION
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2023
The DIRECTOR was told to finish with a HAPPY ENDNG
but TERRY GILLIAM stated that it would
completely CHANGE what he was trying to PROVE
but TERRY GILLIAM stated that it would
completely CHANGE what he was trying to PROVE
Yoram D.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Monty Python, Kafka, 1984, mix
Reviewed in the Netherlands on April 11, 2023
Een mengsel van Monty Python, Kafka en 1984, in zijn genre zeer geslaagd.
Jordi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Muy buena pelicula.
Reviewed in Spain on December 30, 2021
La conversión a bluray muy buena.