| Midnight Cowboy | | Cast : | Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight | | Director : | John Schlesinger | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 1969 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | X (Mature Audiences Only) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | This amazing film deserves a DVD with extras!!!!!! | Content
 | The 5 Stars here are for the quality of the film itself. I have resisted the pull to buy the DVD because I am waiting for one to come out with all the extras about the making of the film. Although sadly John Schleisinger, James Leo Herlihy and Waldo Salt have passed on Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman could still do a commentary as could a few other principles which would be just amazing!
As a screenwriter this film has had a huge impact on my writing and the scope of the kinds of stories that can be told with film. The acting is amazing in this film precisely because its not the showy -- "look at me I'm acting!" kind. It just feels like you're spending time with real people. Real people that most of us would just look away from if we saw them on the street.
I'd say the only false note this film strikes is when Joe kills the priest who offers him the St. Christopher medal. As everything we've seen so far about Joe (and we've seen A LOT no kidding) being a killer, especially of someone who was basically helpless and non threatening does not seem to be in his character-- that is part of why the city grinds him down-- he is too soft-hearted-- he doesn't have the killer spirit one needs to survive there. It just feels unmotivated My suspicions were laid to rest when I read the novel-- Joe does not kill the priest in the book. I think maybe they just added it to make it more shocking, more like other films of that period who emphasized physical rather than emotional violence and to make Joe and Ratso's escape more urgent or cause the viewer to pull away from Joe's character to make the end less devestating.
For me this film stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Hollywood Renaissance films like Taxi Driver, Chinatown, Cuckoo's Nest, and the Godfather, because Midnight Cowboy has something these other films don't-- a BASIC HUMANISM-- understanding rather than condemning the things people do to survive--
These characters were so obviously created with love by the people who made them--
and you get a sense that every character you see in the film has a past-- (the woman at the bar in the beginning who first tells Joe Ratso's nickname-- I've always wondered about her story).
As much as the film is X rated and all that, it doesn't go in for shock value. The scenes of interaction between the two main characters especially are incredibly subtle and naturalistic. And the little moments of offbeat humor-- Ratso's odd little dance to the Orange Juice on Ice jingle-- never cease to charm me.
To the people on this posting who've condemned this film for corrupting young minds and criticized it for being dated-- well look around you.
We live in a world of crystal meth and ecstasy at clubs, homophobia endorsed by the government, Catholic priests in the closet, traumatized veterans returning from a war initiated on the basis of lies, a serious lack of proper healthcare for the disenfranchised, rampant homelessness, (not to mention an upswing in antibiotic resistant TB cases) in other words, a world very close to the one in Midnight Cowboy, albeit with slightly different clothes and haircuts.
Yeah, I WISH this film had become dated because that would mean we were no longer dealing with the kind of intolerance that led Herlihy to write the book in the first place.
By the way if you have never read the book you really should. I think it may be out of print now, I'm not sure. Lines I thought must have been made expressedly for the movie are actually in the book and you get to find out both Ratso and Joe's complete backstories. (How'd Ratso get that limp?) It is amazing and I really think Herlihy should be a better known author today, a lot of the stuff he did really pushed the envelope and his psychological character sense was next to none |
| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2005 | | Summary | Haunting | Content
| Midnight Cowboy is the story of two losers - dreamers whose lives have not lived up to the expectations they've created in their own minds. Joe Buck (Voigt) is a Texas dishwasher who emigrates from Big Spring to New York City with a vision of becoming a wealthy gigolo. His naive plans soon take a beating from reality as he comes to understand that the asphalt jungle is a far different place than the Texas plains. Looking to get a foothold in the male-escort business, he is swindled by Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman), a sickly cripple who takes $20 and disappears after leaving him at an apartment where he has a bizarre religious confrontation with the tenant. As his fortunes decline and he's left with literally nothing more than the clothes on his back and a transistor radio, he meets Rizzo again, who invites him to share an apartment in a soon-to-be-condemned building.
From this point on, Buck and Rizzo work in futility to better their situation, eventually giving up on the Big Apple and making plans to follow Rizzo's dream and move to Florida. We're shown their flashbacks of painful personal history and brief dream sequences of the way they want to be. Eventually, however, the inevitable catches up. The closing scene is one of the most powerful and moving shots in cinema.
This movie is very dated - focusing heavily on the drug scene of the late 60's, but the themes remain true. Hope and despair. Dreams and responsibilities. And the performances from Voigt, Hoffman, and the supporting cast are incredible. Disturbing and hurtful in many places but strangely uplifting, Midnight Cowboy will stay with you. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 08, 2005 | | Summary | Rating Midnight Cowboy | Content
| I saw this movie when it was first released and it made a lasting impression on me. Seeing it a second time this many years later - it was just as I remembered the movie to be. even better. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 14, 2005 | | Summary | One of My Favorite Films, But...... | Content
| As the owner of a wide screen TV, I find it hugely disappointing that this DVD is not anamorphic. I would think a movie of this stature would get better treatment. Oh well, maybe a special edition's coming. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 22, 2005 | | Summary | Killer-movie. | Content
| This one pierces the heart.
I don't know why the tragic lives of these lowlifes could have a very strong and powerful effect on the intelligence. A smell of existentialism.
Very profoundly sad. Could have been written by Ouida. Or, because of its theme of friendship, by Maupassant.
Superb acting. Dustin Hoffman's is most goddam beautiful.
One of the most stirring movies of all times.
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