Gods and Monsters | 
| Director: Bill Condon
Actors: Ian Mckellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, David Dukes
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $6.98
You Save: $8.00 (53%)
New (39) Used (19) Collectible (1) from $5.00
Rating:  150 reviews
Sales Rank: 23162
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 71872
ISBN: 1588177858
UPC: 003139883322
EAN: 9781588177858
ASIN: B000092T3P
Theatrical Release Date: November 4, 1998
Release Date: June 17, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
GODS AND MONSTERS (DVD MOVIE)
Amazon.com
One of the most critically acclaimed films of 1998 and winner of several awards including the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Gods and Monsters is a compassionate speculation about the final days of James Whale (1889-1957), the director of Frankenstein and 20 other films of the 1930s and '40s, who was openly gay at a time when homosexuality in Hollywood was discreetly concealed. Adapted and directed by Bill Condon from Christopher Bram's novel Father of Frankenstein, the film stars Ian McKellen in a sublime performance as the white-haired Whale, who is portrayed as a dapper gent and amateur artist prompted by failing health into melancholy remembrance of things past. Flashbacks of lost love, World War I battle trauma, and glory days in Hollywood combine with Whale's present-day attraction to a newly hired yard worker (Brendan Fraser) whose hunky, Frankenstein-like physique makes him an ideal model for Whale's fixated sketching. The friendship between the handsome gardener and his elderly gay admirer is by turns tenuous, humorous, mutually beneficial, and ultimately rather sad--but to Condon's credit Whale is never seen as pathetic, lecherous, or senile. Equally rich is the rapport between Whale and his long-time housekeeper (played with wry sarcasm by Lynn Redgrave), who serves as protector, mother, and even surrogate spouse while Whale's mental state deteriorates. Flashbacks to Whale's filmmaking days are painstakingly authentic (particularly in the casting of look-alike actors playing Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester), and all of these ingredients combine to make Gods and Monsters (executive produced by horror novelist-filmmaker Clive Barker) a touchingly affectionate film that succeeds on many levels. It is at once a keen glimpse of Hollywood's past, a loving tribute to James Whale, and a richly moving, delicately balanced drama about loneliness, memory, and the passions that keep us alive. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 145 more reviews...
 Yes, this is a lame=weird movie June 30, 2009
Harry M. Shin (Livermore, CA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
1. one may try to impress others by talking up this artsy fartsy movie, but the intellectually honest will realize that this movie is just... lame.
2. the acting is stilted and so unrealistic and of course--> the storyline is just bizarre. but of course, the self-indulgent and narcissistic love unusual storylines so as to fool the general public.
3. at the end of the day, dismiss the high brow critics and realize this movie for what it is--> an odd / bizarre movie with surprisingly lame acting.
 Sadly not so good June 27, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
The Bottom Line:
Everyone seems to love Gods and Monsters so I think it's my duty to inform you that it has an interesting first half but kinda flies off the handle in its hard-to-believe final act; the acting is fine and the concept interesting but the execution is rather spotty.
2.5/4
 Incredible acting April 3, 2009
Atlanta
Gods and Monsters is one incredible display of unsurpassed acting. Whow! You can feel the emotion of loneliness, frustration and longing Ian displays from his character. lynn redgrave is brilliant. For me this is one of those videos once viewed will draw me back to watching it again. This DVD will make you a fan of Ian Mckellen if you are not already.
Artful, Entertaining and Moving March 8, 2009
Paul G. Bens, Jr. (Los Angeles, California)
It hardly seems like 11 years since Gods and Monsters was released. I had the opportunity to view it again just recently and I am happy to say that this film remains as rich and full as I had recalled it being. The performance by Sir Ian McKellan reminds us just how masterful he is as an actor, and Brendan Frasier gives a nuanced performance that is subtle and reflective and reminds one that much of the art of acting is listening and reacting. Lynne Redgrave spectacularly burst back onto the scene, giving a performance as Whale's maid/friend/caretaker that is richly complex: She is a friend and employee, both loving and judgmental of Whale for his homosexual "lifestyle."
The story is a simple one of friendship and understanding. It is about the ghosts which haunt us all. The Gods that have created us and the Monsters which have torn us down, and how sometimes the Monsters are what we need the most. Director Condon expertly intersperses clips from Whale's The Bride of Frankenstein with flashbacks to WWI, Whale's bygone days of fame, and young Jimmy Whale's childhood in order to give us an overview of the remarkable life this man has led. The result is that while Whale may seem like a broken down old man at the point the movie takes place, these flash backs paint a full picture of the man. Likewise, this lets us understand how Whale feels that all that he was is slipping away, just like his art is falling by the wayside. In the end, we see an immensely dignified, human being, who did wonderful things. He loved. He lost. He fought in the war. He was a hedonist. He was a pacifist. And he was loved.
With Clayton Boone, the director and Brendan Frasier, give us a modern day physicality of the Frankenstein monster which first draws Whale to the young man. In the beginning, we're not quite sure what Whale wants from the lad -- does he desire a true friendship or is he just a lecherous old man-but as things progress we realize that while the friendship is important, his desire for the young Boone are a bit darker that even we could have thought. Likewise we're not sure what Clayton wants from Whale. But as we watch them become friends, we see a unique bond form...gay man to straight man...and each has found in the other someone to listen to them and understand.
Perhaps unsung in this movie is the brilliant performance by Redgrave. Her housekeeper Hanna is not only an homage to Una O'Conner's "Minnie" in The Bride of Frankenstein, but an expert characterization that is humorous and judgmental and, ultimately, loving. The characterization is as broad as Whale might have directed O'Conner, but the humanity underneath it all is very, very real.
Gods and Monsters is clearly fiction. No one really knows about the last days of Whale. But in that speculation, the film manages to paint a portrait of a man who was ahead of his time and who lived a life worth living. In the end, Director Condon and novelist Christopher Bram -- whose book The Father of Frankenstein serves as the underlying source of the movie -- gave Whale a friend in his last days, a young man named Clayton who was as different from Whale as he could be. They gave him a friendship, and as a result they have created a sad, touching, joyful movie about living and dying with dignity.
As the Monster himself would say: Alone, bad...Friend, good.
Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable.
A strange gay suicide January 29, 2009
R. Bagula (Lakeside, Ca United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It appear to be a movie about the last days of an historical English gay Hollywood film director.
The acting is good, but the theme is just not what I like in a movie.
He makes passes at a college student and his ex-marine gardener.
Lynn Redgrave is very good as the maid/ cook character actor.
The English seem, like the Catholic Priesthood, have a real problem
with homosexuality.
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