The Big Chill [Region 2] |  | Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Actors: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  110 reviews
Sales Rank: 204624
Format: Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Hindi (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Turkish (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Arabic (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), German (Dubbed), Italian (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5024165792445
ASIN: B00004CYNW
Theatrical Release Date: September 28, 1983
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Amazon.com essential video
Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 big-budget variation on John Sayles's The Return of the Seacaucus Seven finds a cluster of old college radicals--who have since gone on to sundry professions and various degrees of materialism--reuniting over the death of a friend. Both playful and thoughtful, the film represents Kasdan (Body Heat) at his most astute. The attractive cast meshes perfectly into a group of characters for which a former closeness is out of synch with their current lives, yet their warmth is enviable and inviting. The script may be a bit too glib, with many one-liners, but it is still a perfectly designed story with telling irony and no little passion. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 105 more reviews...
 Excllent Movie with Fantastic Music June 22, 2009
Regina Sinclair (Indianapolis, IN)
Enjoyed this ensemble cast with different personalities, yet all fit well together. Fantastic, fun to watch, and a joy to listen to. The only thing I wish is that during the special features, it spoke of a college Thanksgiving dinner that was eventually deleted, I think I would have really enjoyed watching it. ras
Cheers to The Big Chill March 23, 2009
Theresa J. Lopez (San Diego, CA USA)
I've been waiting for years to get this DVD, so I finally decided to research it on Amazon. Got the movie, and of course, it is excellent! Brought back a lot of memories.
 2.5 stars out of 4 February 1, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
The fact that The Big Chill takes itself seriously doesn't mean you should: this is a slow-moving drama about college buddies reuniting after one of them dies which features the requisite drama and tears but never manages to be terribly interesting.
A wonderfully effecting film about the true meaning of friendship... January 30, 2009
Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Friends; the real ones only come around once in a lifetime. Sure, the general embodiment of the term `friend' comes in and out of our lives with reckless abandonment and makes their little dents in who we are, but true friends never leave us and are irreplaceable. You'll know it when you meet that someone, or those someones. You'll know it immediately because there is a close comfort that comes very rarely; a feeling of overwhelming ease that allows you to be yourself, more yourself then maybe you've ever been and thus it is those real friends that help you realize who it is that you really are.
I'm lucky to have such a friend, and no doubt you have that person (or persons) as well.
`The Big Chill' is a story about that kind of friendship, a friendship that survives all and continues to shape and mold us. It's a story about realizing that we are nothing without that friendship, and that all that we have attempted to become becomes null and void without that friendship.
The film begins under very somber pretences, with the passing of a dear friend; Alex. Alex, who took his own life, left a tight-knit group of friends to ponder why it was that he left them. Over the weekend these eight people lock themselves away in a house and rediscover themselves. There is Sarah and Harold Cooper, the happily married couple (who own the house in which they are all staying); there is Sam Weber, the ashamed television actor; there is Michael Gold, the obnoxious journalist; there is Meg Jones, desperate for a child; there is Nick Carlton, out of touch with himself and those around him; there is Karen Bowens, the unhappily married mother and there is Chloe, Alex's girlfriend, stranger to the group.
They all fight, they all break down, they all overreact and possibly underreact and basically all deal with the sudden situation as humans do; naturally and passionately.
What makes `The Big Chill' so wonderful is that it feels so real, so raw and intelligent. Each character is wonderfully fleshed out to reveal their honest and true emotions and the metamorphosis they make over the short weekend seems legit and understandable. Sometimes being away from the ones who complete you for so long can make you become a variation of yourself that you are not comfortable with. When you are reunited with those persons it doesn't take long to realize what has been missing and what needs to change.
The script is magnificent, but it is the acting that elevates every scene. Standouts are definitely William Hurt, Glenn Close and Kevin Kline; all three of which turning in some of their finest work. This was a breakout film for a lot of these actors, proving to be a jump off point in their careers. Hurt went on to do `Kiss of the Spider Woman' shortly after (winning an Oscar); Kline went on to do `A Fish Called Wanda' (winning the Oscar). Close had a string of Oscar nominations in the late 80's (she was also nominated for this). Meg Tilly received an Oscar nomination for her work in 85's `Agnes of God'; Berenger went on to be nominated for his stunning work in `Platoon'. The entire cast used this as a solid foundation for their careers, and some of them (namely Close and Hurt) are still working solidly today.
Couple the acting and the script with the impressive musical accompaniments and you have a film that feels complete and warming and understanding and moving. It is a complete package, from start to finish, with never a dull moment and barely a thing to fault it over (I am not a Goldblum fan, and he annoyed me here, but there is always that one friend you can't stand so it fits well).
phoenix7751 October 13, 2008
T. Bennett
Brought back a rush memories! I enjoyed watching it again after so many years, but the music is what was most nostalgic. Glad to make it part of my personal library.
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