Bound for Glory | | Cast : | David Carradine, Ronny Cox | | Director : | Hal Ashby | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 05, 1976 | | DVD Released Date : | May 01, 2001 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | March 31, 2005 | | Summary | From the Dust Bowl to the Sugar Bowl | Content
 | Woody Guthrie is a legendary American figure. His prolific song writing, grass roots activism, and even his influence on other song writers like Bob Dylan and Steve Earle are only partially responsible for that legend. Woody represents a classic American type - the ramblin' man with no fixed home who champions the underdog wherever the wind may blow him, and therein lies the heart of the legend. This film captures that aspect of Woody superbly.
`Bound for Glory' covers Woody's life from just before he left dust bowl Texas to his first sojourn into the sugar bowl of California. It expertly captures the harsh conditions and brutal treatment that inspired many of Woody's songs. From dust storms, desperate migrations via highway and railway, to the squalid conditions of California migrant camps, this film recreates the world that Woody saw.
David Carradine gives a career best performance as Woody. He captures Guthrie's ambiguous nature - from his genuine concern for the downtrodden and oppressed to his irresponsibility in shirking his obligations to his own family. His performance powerfully embodies Guthrie's fierce independence, restlessness, and gut-level dissatisfaction with the system.
This film is a superb addition to the Guthrie legend. If you have ever been moved by Woody's songs, consider it a must see. I highly recommend it.
Theo Logos
|
| Rating | | | Date | December 26, 2004 | | Summary | A treasured moment from my past! | Content
| I had the pleasure of being an extra in the scenes filmed in Isleton, CA (the migrant camp scenes). It's impossible for me to watch this film and not see all the action taking place behind camera and between takes. David and Ron were wonderful, as was Randy Quaid. They had fun with this movie and with many of the principle group of extras. We spent a lot of time playing songs on guitars, harmonicas and anything else that could be used as an instrument. The movie is a must for any archive if you like documentaries or movies that teach a part of American history. I highly recommend it. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 09, 2004 | | Summary | The worse quality ever for a timeless masterpiece | Content
| I have bought this dvd because I read other reviews and I understood that the quality of this edition was very good. This is one of my favourite movies and I was very unhappy with the original VHS I had. To my surprise I found out that the quality of the dvd was not better. The movie is presented in a letterbox format but the information that we are given (even on the dvd's case) is Widescreen!!! Try it on a good DLP projector and see yourself the difference... This is the worse quality I have ever seen. I don't know if I am more ungry with MGM or with the customers that wrote the reviews I read. If you are not able to appraise the real quality of a product do us a favour: keep your opinion for yourselves! |
| Rating | | | Date | February 11, 2001 | | Summary | SOUNDTRACK WAS FINE | Content
| Unfortunately, for months I was frightened away from purchasing this movie, because one reviewer a year ago said the DVD soundtrack was such a bad transfer it was difficult to hear the dialog at certain points. Finally I decided I wanted to see this classic film so bad, I'd risk the bad sound. To my surprise and delight, I discovered no problem at all with the sound -- and I'm usually ultra-critical of fuzzy sound, which normally drives me up the wall. If, in fact, there was any sound problem on early prints of the DVD version, it appears to have now been corrected in the later prints. The viewer discovers belatedly, at the end of one music sequence, that it was tinny-sounding on purpose, because one of the characters was listening on an old-fashioned wind-up phonograph -- a nuance easy to miss if you blinked in the wrong place. In a few other sequences, the movie appears to utilize early-day recordings by the real Guthrie -- which helps rather than hinders the impact. True, the soundtrack technology in this 1976 movie is not up to modern-day Dolby Surround Sound standards -- but it's amazingly good for a 25-year-old soundtrack. Relax, and enjoy the Academy Award-winning Depression Era photography of Haskel Wexler that will make you feel you've stepped into a Walker Evans photograph of 1936 Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to the supposed golden land of California. Almost every scene is suitable for framing. Not to be missed. A "must buy" for collectors. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 11, 2001 | | Summary | SOUNDTRACK WAS FINE. | Content
| Unfortunately, for months I was frightened away from purchasing this movie, because one Amazon reviewer a year ago said the DVD soundtrack was such a bad transfer it was difficult to hear the dialog at certain points. Finally I decided I wanted to see this classic film so bad, I'd risk the bad sound. To my surprise and delight, I discovered no problem at all with the sound -- and I'm usually ultra-critical of fuzzy sound, which normally drives me up the wall. If, in fact, there was any sound problem on early prints of the DVD version, it appears to have now been corrected in the later prints. The viewer discovers belatedly, at the end of one music track, that it was tinny-sounding on purpose, because one of the characters was listening on an old-fashioned wind-up phonograph -- a nuance easy to miss if you blinked. In other places, the soundtrack seems to have utilized less-than-perfect, early-day recordings of Guthrie himself, which helps rather than hinders the impact. True, the soundtrack technology in this 1976 movie is not up to modern-day Dolby Surround Sound standards -- but it's rather good for a 25-year-old soundtrack. So relax, and enjoy the Academy Award-winning Depression Era photography of Haskel Wexler that will make you feel you've stepped into a Walker Evans photograph of 1936 Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to the supposed golden land of California. Almost every scene is suitable for framing. Not to be missed. A "must buy" for collectors. |
|
