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No Country for Old Men
by WALT DISNEY VIDEO
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$19.99 |
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$12.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$7.50 (37%) |
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DVD
BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
Publisher: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
Roger Deakins
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Actors: Javier Bardem, Rodger Boyce, Josh Brolin, Barry Corbin, Beth Grant
UPC:786936746754
DESCRIPTION: Acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen deliver their most gripping and ambitious film yet in this sizzling and supercharged action-thriller. When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Not even west Texas law can contain it. Based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy, and featuring an acclaimed cast led by Tommy Lee Jones, this gritty game of cat and mouse will take you to the edge of your seat and beyond right up to its heart-stopping final act.
The Coen brothers make their finest thriller since Fargo with a restrained adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Not that there aren't moments of intense violence, but No Country for Old Men is their quietest, most existential film yet. In this modern-day Western, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a Vietnam vet who could use a break. One morning while hunting antelope, he spies several trucks surrounded by dead bodies (both human and canine). In examining the site, he finds a case filled with $2 million. Moss takes it with him, tells his wife (Kelly Macdonald) he's going away for awhile, and hits the road until he can determine his next move. On the way from El Paso to Mexico, he discovers he's being followed by ex-special ops agent Chigurh (an eerily calm Javier Bardem). Chigurh's weapon of choice is a cattle gun, and he uses it on everyone who gets in his way--or loses a coin toss (as far as he's concerned, bad luck is grounds for death). Just as Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a World War II vet, is on Moss's trail, Chigurh's former colleague, Wells (Woody Harrelson), is on his. For most of the movie, Moss remains one step ahead of his nemesis. Both men are clever and resourceful--except Moss has a conscience, Chigurh does not (he is, as McCarthy puts it, "a prophet of destruction"). At times, the film plays like an old horror movie, with Chigurh as its lumbering Frankenstein monster. Like the taciturn terminator, No Country for Old Men doesn't move quickly, but the tension never dissipates. This minimalist masterwork represents Joel and Ethan Coen and their entire cast, particularly Brolin and Jones, at the peak of their powers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Captivating as the Big Sky |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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The wide open spaces seen during the first few minutes of the film establishes the land as a character in itself. I have been to that part of west Texas and remember well the impression of being able to see into infinity. For someone living most of their life "back East", suddenly being able to see 20 miles or so to the horizon does not sit comfortably in the brain. Usually landscape scenes in cinema, captivating as they can be utilizing lighting, are limited just by the very physical properties of film. It lacks depth. Not so in this film. The country takes you in to a place where, as the title suggests, old age is getting to be a rare condition. Violent crime is eating into society like a raging cancer. Men die young, and old lawmen are struck by the sheer body count, and can't quite wrap their mind around what is happening within the land of their jurisdiction. They reminisce among themselves of earlier generations and of simpler times.
Other reviews have given the gist of the story and the described quite accurately my impressions of the characters, so I will not delve so much into the plot. But what I want to express is that there is a pure power to this film, captivating imagery, elevated tensions and the dynamic energy. This film is an instant classic that will be studied by future film makers for many years to come.
It's characters are unique, as are the locations where the story takes you. It is not a high action packed film, in fact most of the action takes place before you as a viewer arrive on the scene and try along with the sheriff to make sense of it. But as it all unfolds you do find yourself engrossed with the various characters.
If you love movies, and art of the film, this is definitely one you will want to view over and over.
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| Very good,but unresolved.... |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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"Bladder" asked "What more could you ask from a movie?"
Well considering that the movie ends up absoloutely nowhere,totally unresolved,how about a sequel?Could have been a great one on it's own if they'd wrapped it up nicely and tied it in a bow,(mind you,the fact that it isn't resolved will keep me interested in case there is a part II.)The sherrif retires and the baddie gets away.How about the sherrif un-retires and the baddie gets his due?What more could you ask from a sequel?
I don't know if I'm allowed to do this or not,but I think that LynnJynh9315 has the best review.
Bladder,no nastiness intended,but yours reminds me of the old Monty Python skit re the coughing lady's theory on dinosaurs: "...ahem...they're skinny at one end,fat in the middle,and skinny at the other end."
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| No Country for Old Men |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to prevent. This movie is gut-wrenching, bleak, violent, super-tense and surprisingly funny in a darkly comic manner. Its brilliance and lasting impact will leave you haunted.
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| A crime drama, a thriller, a modern day western and a character study. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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In the early 1980s, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) a poor working class man goes out hunting in the south Texas desert and comes across the aftermath of a shootout. It turns out to be a drug deal gone bad, complete with dead Mexicans, a pickup truck loaded with drugs and a satchel with two million dollars in cash. He takes the satchel unaware that he will now be tracked by an absolutely relentless and merciless psychopath with an air gun named Chigurh (Javier Bardem.) The cat and mouse chase between the two are what makes up the bulk of the film. However the heart and theme of the movie lies with the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) who is also on their trail. He's an aging lawman who doesn't understand the new kind of brutal violence that's occurring due to the escalating drug wars along the US/Mexican border.
There are moments of nail-biting tension throughout the film reminiscent of the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock and the westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. The writing of the Coen brothers is as usual brilliant and has a timing and a style with the way that real people in these types of situations would probably talk. Particularly interesting is a scene at a remote gas station between Chigurh and the cashier/owner. The film is intense, bleak, very violent and much darker than even other Coen brother's films like "Fargo."
**SPOILERS** The storyline may put some people off as it does not have the standard ending that one would expect from a crime drama. But then again this really isn't a crime/action movie. The film is a character study and the satchel of money is merely what brings all the characters in conflict with one another. The film especially struck a chord with me and my own feelings of alienation as it opens with a voiceover which emphasizes that there are people who are so cruel that they will go out of their way to hurt others even when it presents absolutely no benefit to themselves. There are people who are so inhuman that although they may not be murderers like the Chigurh character, they actually have more in common with him than they'd be comfortable with or that they're willing to admit.
The film's theme about alienation is shown mostly from the perspective of the Sheriff. When one examines his character and the seemingly random ending regarding what ultimately happens with the money and all involved it does make sense in the context of the film's message. The Chigurh character represents the new wave of senseless violence that haunts the Sheriff. He's getting older and sees the world degenerating all around him. He can't comprehend it and is no longer young enough to effectively cope with it as a police officer.
"No Country for Old Men" is an unconventional film even for the Coen brothers but it's brilliantly executed and destined to be an American classic.
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| Frustrating - |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Llwellyn Moss, a Vietnam Vet and welder, discovers a drug exchange gone violently wrong. He finds a suitcase of money, and decides to just take the money and run. He lives in a trailer with a young wife, and realizes they are both at risk when he takes the $2 million for himself.
Heading the drug-related transaction, Anton Chigurh, is the psychopathic killer and on Moss' trail like a hound dog. He has no empathy, just dispassionately kills almost every person involved in his hunt for the money. Moss tries to keep one step ahead of the bloodbaths, but Chigurh is relentless.
Sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) sees the enormity of the crimes, and understands the growing intensity of the pursuit. He is smart, but realistic. He is also soon to be retired.
From the beginning, the Sheriff tries to convince Moss, through his wife, Carla Jean, that he should turn the money over to authorities. He has a bad feeling this is ending in tragedy.
In the end, the cat and mouse game is between Tom and Anton. Tom goes to a hotel room (behind the crime scene yellow tape) where the assassin waits. Chigurh has shot the lock cylinder out, indicating to Ed that it's Chigurh's doing, and both of them watch the other's movement in the reflection in the shiny lock tube. Ed Tom draws his pistol and enters for a search, and realizes the killer is still within, given the locked window in the far room.
The ending surprises you, no matter what you think is going to happen..... The bad news is that the problems raised in the film end up unresolved.
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