 List Price: $9.98 
Amazon.com: A story line that truly deserves the A-list treatment, The Last Unicorn is memorable for its attempts to stay faithful to its origins, the Peter Beagle novel of the same name. The animation is vintage Rankin/Bass, and that's too bad; but there's an undeniable strength in this tale and telling. A unicorn (Mia Farrow)--she believes herself the last--searches for any others of her kind, while avoiding the malevolent Red Bull, the agent believed to have destroyed the rest of the herd. Along the way, she is mistaken, ignored, attacked, and obsessed about, finally finding help from a magician named Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and a knight named Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges). A haunting film that pays homage to mythology and the people who love it. --Keith Simanton Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-31
Wonderful and magic
So nice to see that movie I saw when I was 5 years old.
A magnificient fairy tale with a beautiful music Rating:
Date: 2008-05-28
Amazing film cannot be blamed for the DVD setup...although the 25th anniversary release is better than the other regular DVD...
Okay, LOVE the film. I must say, that the reviews I read were commenting on the DVD setup of the OTHER DVD version that has been released...not the 25th anniversary DVD that they are commenting on and you are about to purchase. That being said, the DVD IS widescreen and DOES have extra features and the image is CRYSTAL CLEAR almost taking away from that grainy feel that I love. Though cheezy music runs through the extra features, they are worth listening to and watching if you have interest in the film and the writer.
The one thing I HATE, hate, HATE about BOTH DVD versions though (and this is coming from a Last Unicorn film connoisseur, those of you who aren't in love with the original won't even notice) is that they CUT OUT Molly Gru's tormented "Damn You!" to the unicorn!!!!! (This is during the "How dare you" scene for those of you who don't know.) This ticks me off beyond belief!! That was one of the favorite and most heartbreaking moments of the film! Peter S. Beagle even mentions the moment in his interview because it is so important to the film! It's just not the same. At least in this version they cut it out completely rather than just putting silence over the image in the other DVD so that her mouth is moving but she's not saying anything. UGH.
Anyway, overall this particular DVD that I am reviewing on now (the 25th anniversary version) is actually quite well put together. I just wish they would interview Jeff Bridges and Mia Farrow and Alan Arkin NOW (or at all for that matter) about the film...that'd be cool. Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-12
A cut up classic
I just love this movie and own an older copy I bought when I was young on vhs video (along with numerous copies of the book). I was really excited to see this movie on dvd, expecially in an anniversary addition.
I of course bought it, the excitment of what it had to offer growing.
I will start with the bonus features, these are a bit of a disapointment, there was a lot they could have added, deleted scenes, artists scetches, cells, the soundtracks, an actual interview with Peter S. Begal, none of which they had. And while I read on the back what fetures they offered, there is no actual interview with Peter S. Begal just him telling you the story line (in case you didn't watch the movie) and Schmendrick gallery was simpley a few frozen scenes from the movie and 2 books covers (out of many.)
But the movie still was the most important part to me so I could forgive. And the movie I will admit they restored the color on which was refreshing. My vhs video appears quite washed of color throughout and where it does have color it was way over saturated so the color restoration was a nice change. But this I will say is my only compliment to this dvd, for restored color it is nice.
What they did not restore was the scene where they were trying to find their way down to the red bull and made the skull laugh (the actual scene of what they did that made him laugh.) was left out, thye did leave in the scene where he turns water into wine (some versions had that left out because of the religious reference) but not only that they also blanked out the words "damn" in two places and "hell" which seem very awkward. (Where Molly first sees the unicorn and says "damn you where have you been", when Prince Lir is trying to complete his poem, and when roak says hell asking mommy fortuna what they stopped for.)
The older vhs version I have at least has the original words in it. Apparently the company was trying to rerlease the movie for 5 year olds not fans.
Generally dvd rereleases (especially anniversary additions) have ADDITIONAl scenes, not more cut scenes.
It was a large disapointment that they would cut it up more before releasing it. I am glad I have the VHS, it is something to collect, the dvd is something to use and play but not an edition worthy of collecting. Unless you desperately prefer the dvd format you might as well stick with your vhs copy if you have one. Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-06
Love the movie, hate this cut of it.
I can see I am not alone in my dislike of this DVD. As mentioned, this edition only comes in fullscreen, which I find annoying. The worst part has to due with the almost complete lack of cleaning the film; it looks like it was copied from the VHS.
The sound was also sub-par, and obviously not mixed well. Considering I only paid nine bucks for it, I consider it a worthwhile purchase... My VHS is so worn that about half the movie is unwatchable. There are a couple of problems with the audio warping that was also not fixed in this edition.
If you're like me (in the sense that you have a VHS in poor condition) and simply want a watchable version of this movie, then this cut shouldn't give you any problems. If you're a die-hard fan and want a bit more, go for the special edition. I hear good things, but have not seen it myself as of yet. Rating:
Date: 2008-04-11
I'm aliiiiiiiiiiiive!
I love this movie, and I've loved it since I was a little girl. The first time it was released on DVD it was crap, but now it's been re-released, and the new version is much better. The story is amazing, the voices and acting are great, and the animation is gorgeous.
If you haven't bought the DVD yet, PLEASE buy it directly from Conlan Press -- otherwise, Peter Beagle receives none of the profits, no royalties or anything; you can learn more at www.conlanpress.com. And no, I'm not associated with Conlan Press or with Beagle -- I'm just trying to help him get the money he deserves for having written the amazing, gorgeous book that this movie was based on. |
