Mad City | 
| Director: Costa-gavras
Actors: John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, Mia Kirshner, Alan Alda, Robert Prosky
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.91
You Save: $9.07 (91%)
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Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 42965
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Full Screen, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.6
MPN: D15433D
ISBN: 0790734737
UPC: 085391543329
EAN: 9780790734736
ASIN: 0790734737
Theatrical Release Date: November 7, 1997
Release Date: March 31, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A desperate man. A hostage crisis. Its an explosive situation. And one career driven tv reporter wants to make sure it explodes just in time for the nightly news. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: John Travolta Mia Kirshner Run time: 144 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Costa Gavras
Amazon.com
This earnest effort at media criticism is never convincing enough to stir a viewer's outrage in the way filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Music Box) might have intended. John Travolta plays a barely educated museum guard who is laid off from his job and ends up holding his former boss (Blythe Danner) and a bunch of schoolchildren hostage. Dustin Hoffman is a former television-network journalist making a grab at the limelight again by pushing and controlling press coverage of the story. What follows is by the numbers and not nearly as enlightening or enthralling as other films (such as Dog Day Afternoon or Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole) about simple events manipulated into a media circus. Despite Travolta's tragic performance and Hoffman's impassioned one, the film breaks up over efforts to blame electronic voyeurism for social chaos. The DVD release has optional full-screen and widescreen presentations, production notes, theatrical trailer, television spots, optional French soundtrack, French or Spanish subtitles, and Dolby sound. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
A 'Dog Day Afternoon' At The Museum March 15, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
Man, this was some indictment of the television-reporter-mentality! It was exaggerated, of course, but still interesting to see and in many respects good to see because of the onslaught of "tabloid journalism" that seems to have taken over the media in recent years.
Whatever, you can enjoy this film for the acting alone with Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, Alan Alda, Robert Prosky, Mia Kirschner and Ted Levine. These actors, and some good dialog, make the film move along at a good clip despite the absence of much happening on screen.
The story gets you involved and reminds me of the famous 70s film, "Dog Day Afternoon," in which much of the film takes place in a bank. Here, it's a museum, and a man is in a predicament something like Al Pacino was in that film except Travolta's character here is totally innocent.
The screenwriters added bit of humor to this involving story and that made it even better. It's very good entertainment and certainly recommended.
 COMPLETELY ENGROSSING IF NOT COMPLETELY PLAUSABLE! September 1, 2008
! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b (TRI STATE AREA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
'Mad City' is an exceptional film with some minor flaws. The subject matter is intriguing and provocative. John Travolta deserves much of the credit for playing his character both sympathetically and unpredictability. Hoffman is great as usual in this tale of desperation, media manipulation and greed! It's easy to get engrossed in this drama although it's not completely plausible when it comes to police tactics allowing the media and civilians to bum rush scene in question etc., but it's a fascinating film and should not be passed up! The DVD transfer is very good.
 A good message, but flawed movie April 15, 2008
Eric Staley (Phila, PA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think this movie depicts how the media blows many incidents way out of proportion. In fact, they will desperately go to great lengths and alter what people said in order to present a more catchy, dramatic news headline. John Travolta portrays a man who lost his job a museum. All he wants is his job back. He brings in a gun to be used as threat but accidently fires it and kills a security guard. He realizes that his whole life is ruined. Meanwhile a reporter tries to portray Travolta as a working class man who was simply trying to provide for his family. He shuold serve some time but then should be granted a second chance. Basically he was trying to portray that not every criminal is evil at hurt. However, the media quickly revamped his story and turned it into a sick twisted, racist pig who is holding kids hostage.
As far as the movie goes, it is rather long and boring. Most of it is slow and dragged out over the 2 hour mark. This movie could have been made into an hour and a half. It starts and ends well but the middle became a bit confusing and can be very disinteresting for the viewer to follow.
Wow - I didn't know John Travolta had such depth. February 12, 2008
William J. Kasulaitis (Spring Hill, Florida)
I was truely impressed with the acting of both Dustin Hoffman & John Travolta. You think these men are the people they're portraying here. I honestly can not believe this movie got any bad reviews. I bought mine as a Previously Viewed from a Video Rental Store and then go to Amazon and notice the low prices and think to myself - This is going to be a lousy movie to watch -- Wrong. I watched it from start to finish like reading a good book and can't wait to see how it turns out.
Do yourself a favor and buy this movie at these low prices. You won't be sorry.
An Interesting Misfire July 10, 2006
J. Merritt (Washington-Baltimore Corridor)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Lord knows the media is a worthy target for social commentary. However, it is also an easy one, and has been often targeted in the past. Thus the central problem with "Mad City," Costa-Gavras' updating of Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole." The film spends nearly two hours denouncing the media---namely print and television news---for a variety of social ills, for not all of which it can so easily be blamed. And those things it can be blamed for, we kind of already knew.
Nonetheless, an excellent cast works hard to bring off this story of reporter Max Brackett (Dustin Hoffman), who `lucks into' an exclusive when a disgruntled, laid-off security guard (John Travolta) takes his former employer and a group of kids hostage in a museum while Brackett just happens to be in the bathroom. Travolta is to be commended for taking on a part that is not particularly sympathetic, in the form of a character that is not very bright. He and Hoffman carry the film as far as it can go, but by the end you are likely to feel that you're being hit over the head with the simplistic central message, such that the tragic coda loses impact. It's not a bad film, and with these talents it can't help but have its moments, but overall it's a bit of a missed shot.
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