Gone With the Wind

[baumer]

Review Discuss and have fun!

[DAR]

I never really understood the appeal of this movie. It's well made, but awfully boring. C-

[Ariadne]

A+I love this movie, I've seen it over a dozen times. I was able to see it in a beautiful old movie theatre about 10 years ago as it would have originally been seen in 1939 - it was amazing. This movie defines epic.

[fmpro]

An overrated classic...But big for its time...7/10

[lab276]

I wanted to find this overrated, for it to be totally unworthy of its number one of all time status. But I loved it. It's fantastically well made and the acting in it is great.A-

[lab276]

The title sequence was really cheesy though.

[Lordmandeep]

For a film from 1939 it is a huge epic.A bit to long especially near the end...The middle parts is the best when the civil war takes place.A lot of these old epics are just too long for people these days however they are still enjoyable films.Another fav of mine is Dr. Zhavigo

[baumer]

One of the most annoying characters in the history of film:

I gave this film an 8 when I voted for it. But that was a difficult decision for me. Do I rate the film based on what it is worth in the scope of film or do I rate it based on what the film accomplished in it's day and age? Because this film is still quite cardboard when it comes to acting and as some other people noted in here, this is really just a four hour episode of The Young and the Restless. But then I also had to realize how the film made me feel. And I did get through all 3 hours and 52 minutes of it, and that is an accomplishment in itself. The first time I saw Citizen Kane, I fell asleep, the second time I saw Citizen Kane I wanted to smash the T.V. But Gone With The Wind is quite good, for this day and age or for the 30's or 40's. I generally don't like older classic films because I just find that they are too one dimensional. They don't have an edge to them and they are very synthetic. Gone With The Wind does fall into that category in some ways, but in other ways it is brilliant.

To think that this film is 70+ years old is quite remarkable. It must have been quite the achievement back in the day. The colour in this film was amazing as well as the cinematography, the landscape, the fire and yes even some of the acting. I found Clark Gable to be fascinating and I realized the the film was much more enjoyable when he was in the picture. That is not to say that Vivien Leigh was not good, she was, but I just found Rhett Butler's character to be very charming, engaging and suave. I also liked his carefree attitude. He always bounced back from whatever was troubling him and he never let Scarlett get him down, until the very end.

Scarlett on the other hand was the most annoying character I have ever seen in any film. Vivien Leigh played her brilliantly and if that is what the script called for, a winy bitch that has no idea what life is really about, then Leigh nailed it perfectly. But I must say that she got to me after a while. When she constantly opted for Ashley instead of other men even after her and Melanie became good friends, I wanted her to die. I was hoping the Yankees would capture her and torture her. She was spoiled and nasty and people say that she went on some journey to discover who she was and such but she was the same at the end as she was in the beginning. And that is why the famous line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" is so appropriate. Someone finally told her off and it was about time. She had been handed everything to her ( except Ashley ) and she didn't appreciate any of it. I do think this was one of the great performances of the era.

Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel were also great. Melanie was the backbone of the film and Mammie was just a joy to watch. She made me laugh and I think she is one of the few characters from the old films that would still sound real and genuine today. Both were a pleasure to watch.

GWTW has it's place in history and I guess it deserves it. Still I don't think this is one of the best films ever made although it is entertaining. I can only imagine how this must have delighted audiences back in the 30's and 40's though.

I really didn't want to see this film for the longest time. I have been disappointed with some of the other so called classics and I was not looking forward to sitting through another, especially at 4 hours in length. But I was pleasantly surprised. It captivated me and kept me entertained and that is what is missing from many of the 30's 40's and 50's films, entertainment. Gone With The Wind doesn't disappoint.

[fishstick]

Fantastic first half, extremly choppy "most memorable book moments w/o transition" second one. The choppiness is obvious before reading the book and even more so after.

Is it OK to root for the pony to kill beyond annoying Bonnie? Yes it is. That fuckin Mary Sue character was big irritation and eye-roller in the book but that WTF looking actress who couldn`t possibly pass for Leigh-Gable kid even to a blind man sealed the deal.

Other than that, Leigh-Gable chemistry is a classic.

[pinocchio]

GWTW has it's place in history and I guess it deserves it. Still I don't think this is one of the best films ever made although it is entertaining. I can only imagine how this must have delighted audiences back in the 30's and 40's though.

It was a hit you can only compare to Star Wars when it was released. The whole country went bananas.

I guess just like Star Wars the timing was perfect. Movie critics often write Star Wars was perfect for the post Nixon era. Country was somehow depressed. People wanted something new and fresh and Lucas delivered.

GWTW was a movie about the civil war released at a time the USA just entered WW2. It told the nation: We have a big history, we have something worth fighting for and so on.

And of course the book was a huge bestseller and Selznicks marketing was just perfect, which helped, too.

[Captain Craig]

One of the true Hollywood classics of old that I own and watch from time to time.An "A" of a film in any era.

[DeeCee]

GWTW was a movie about the civil war released at a time the USA just entered WW2. It told the nation: We have a big history, we have something worth fighting for and so on.

I should say I haven't seen it but my understanding of the plot is that it centres on the losing Confederate side of the civil war and not the winning United States side. Also, the USA didn't actually enter WW2 until 2 years after the film was released. So although war was underway in europe I'm not sure how that would impact on the American publics desire to see the film.

[lab276]

It's about the death of the old south. Which is why it's called "Gone with the Wind".

Edited June 4, 2012 by lab276

[pinocchio]

I should say I haven't seen it but my understanding of the plot is that it centres on the losing Confederate side of the civil war and not the winning United States side. Also, the USA didn't actually enter WW2 until 2 years after the film was released. So although war was underway in europe I'm not sure how that would impact on the American publics desire to see the film.

As the title credits say: A civilisation Gone with the Wind... (They meant the South with all its glory.) But civil war was also the birth of the USA. Which a long time tried to keep out of WW2 and followed its isolationalistic path.So, I think it hit the zeitgeist very well, unintenionally. "We have to go to war again." And it will be worth it. (Which in the end was true.)

[pinocchio]

And in the USA preparations for WW2 started in 39, so it was just the question: Will we finally join it or not?

[Heretic]

I finally watched all of this last year, and It's a truly fantastic film.The score is pretty incredible.

[Plain Old Tele]

I haven't seen this in awhile, but I remember being pretty entertained by it overall. It's long, sags in a few spots, and it's somewhat dated, but a great score, great cinematography, and some very memorable characters carry it through.

B

[pinocchio]

Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia are two of those old historical epics I can watch again and again.

[Plain Old Tele]

Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia are two of those old historical epics I can watch again and again.

I'm with you on LAWRENCE... probably my single favorite movie ever.

[pinocchio]

The only problem I have with Lawrence is the fact the german restored versions have a few parts in just english with german subtitles and the rest is german.Some s*** with Bringing up Baby.