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starring: Richard Bakalyan, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Fujikawa, Bruce Glover, John Hillerman
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300216501
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, Live, NTSC
ISBN: 0792106105
Label: Paramount Home Video
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount Home Video
Release Date: February 10, 1998
Running Time: 131 minutes
Sales Rank: 18138
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: June 20, 1974
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - CHINATOWN a masterwork
Chinatown is a potent reminder that films are more than just the hormone fueled adventures of Dick and Jane. The film takes on a large social issue and shows one mans struggle against the machine in Los Angeles of the 50's. Powerful performances by Nicholson (not a fave) and Dunaway frame a beautifully directed drama demonstrataing the power of film. If you have never seen this film, I highly recommend that you do so. If you haven't seen this for years, reaquaint yourself with a masterpiece.
Rating: - "How to Stop a 'Nosebleed'"
Deeply atmospheric and mysterious. Jack Nicholson is great as a "nosy" private detective. He is really not prepared for the information Faye Dunaway's character lays on him. It is unthinkable, horiffic and chilling--a conclusion not many would easily jump to. Beautifully directed by Mr. Polanski who has a very bit part in the movie.
Rating:  - Very Good, but not Great
Pros
Fantastic melange of nostalgia, feel-good, period-piece, proto-noir, detective, horror, drama and suspense movies - one wishes more movie makers would riff like this instead of making the type of hidebound, genre-tight movies that utterly fail to spark the imagination of the viewer.
Shines with intelligence, beauty and craftsmanship of the highest order - the film-makers really poured their hearts and souls into making this movie and it can't but help rub off ... Read More
Rating: - A crime noir has never looked this good...
Finally; a crime noir that works. After watching quite a few lackluster film noirs I decided to revisit `Chinatown' to see if it still held up as the greatest film noir of all time and, quite honestly, it does. Polanski gets everything right with this one, creating a film that is stunning, captivating, dark and brooding while always maintaining a level of hope that helps glue the audience to their seats (even if that hope is crushed in the devastating finale). There are few films that have been ... Read More
Rating: - Great, although painful, movie
It took me a while to get this movie. I ordered a "like new" version and it was filled with scratches and was unwatchable. It took a little finagling to get a better copy, but it ended up working out. I would've ended up giving it 5 stars had the disc be in "like new" condition.
I really like this movie, although "the nose" scene (so I don't ruin in for anyone who hasn't seen it, but specific enough for the people who have seen it to understand) was incredibly disturbing, the performances ... Read More
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