The Terminal (Three-Disc Collector's Edition) | 
| Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-jones, Chi Mcbride, Stanley Tucci, Diego Luna
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy New: $6.44
You Save: $33.54 (84%)
New (34) Used (15) Collectible (3) from $3.83
Rating:  286 reviews
Sales Rank: 35452
Format: Ac-3, Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dubbed, Dvd, Limited Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Bulgarian (Original Language), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Russian (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 3
Running Time: 128 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D93166D
ISBN: 1417035250
UPC: 678149316629
EAN: 9781417035250
ASIN: B0003JANCI
Theatrical Release Date: June 18, 2004
Release Date: November 23, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 11/23/2004
Amazon.com
Like an airport running at peak efficiency, The Terminal glides on the consummate skills of its director and star. Having refined their collaborative chemistry on Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me if You Can, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks mesh like the precision gears of a Rolex, turning a delicate, not-very-plausible scenario into a lovely modern-age fable (partly based on fact) that's both technically impressive and subtly moving. It's Spielberg in Capra mode, spinning the featherweight tale of Victor Navorski (Hanks, giving a finely tuned performance), an Eastern European who arrives at New York's Kennedy Airport just as his (fictional) homeland has fallen to a coup, forcing him, with no valid citizenship, to take indefinite residence in the airport's expansive International Arrivals Terminal (an astonishing full-scale set that inspires Spielberg's most elegant visual strategies). Spielberg said he made this film in part to alleviate the anguish of wartime America, and his master's touch works wonders on the occasionally mushy material; even Stanley Tucci's officious terminal director and Catherine Zeta-Jones's mixed-up flight attendant come off (respectively) as forgivable and effortlessly charming. With this much talent involved, The Terminal transcends its minor shortcomings to achieve a rare degree of cinematic grace. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 281 more reviews...
 As a whole the film makes very little sense, but Hanks works a magic I very rarely see from him... June 25, 2009
Andrew Ellington (Mulholland Drive)
A lot of people consider Tom Hanks to be one of the greatest actors of his generation. They laud his every performance, even the mediocre ones (and personally, I feel as though he has a lot of those). I mean, the man has two Oscar's so OBVIOUSLY he's amazing, right.
I am not a Hanks fan really. I think that he has been superb twice (in `Big' and `Cast Away'), and merely adequate most other times. In fact, I find his two Oscar winning performances to be near the bottom of his pile of performances, and I often find his ignored work to be his most inspired. Why wasn't anyone paying attention to him when he delivered delicious line after line in `That Thing You Do' or when he stayed in step with Leonardo DiCaprio in `Catch Me if You Can'? Why, instead, does he find himself nominated for boring and uneventful work like `Saving Private Ryan', or cliched and flawed work like `Philadelphia'? Personally, I find him to be highly overrated and overpraised.
So, `The Terminal' was not very high on my list back in 2004.
I actually happened to see this film because my mother-in-law is one of those delusional Hanks fans and so we took her to see this movie while my father-in-law was away on business. Now, I will be honest right off the bat and tell you that this movie is rather ridiculous and that it is cliche ridden and completely unoriginal even if the so-called `plot' is original, but...and there is a but...Tom Hanks completely saves this movie from being forgettable and worthless. Yes, this is one of his best performances.
It's sad that this is one of his worst movies.
The film tells the `inspired by a true story yet nothing like the true story it was inspired by' story of Viktor Navorski, a middle-aged man who travels to New York from his home country in order to do something `mysterious'. While in the air his country goes to war and he walks off the plane a citizen of no where. Without legal citizenship he becomes a citizen of the airport, unable to fly home and unable to take a step on American soil. He makes a home for himself at the airport, making friends, getting work, falling in love; all the while the head of security, Frank Dixon, is desperately trying to get rid of him.
The plot is preposterous. There is so much that goes on here that makes no sense whatsoever it's almost as if the screen writer just gave up trying to make this believable. Between Viktor's sudden grasp of English to his remodeling of the airport, not a whole lot here is even remotely plausible. That's kind of sad, because this had the potential to be a really smart and really touching drama. Instead it is nothing but a cliched, unrealistic kinda-sorta romantic comedy.
The performances, outside of Hanks, are merely serviceable, but I blame the scripting for that. Catherine Zeta-Jones is quirky and somewhat adorable, but the script doesn't give her real room to flourish, which is sad because this could have been a prime role for her. Stanley Tucci is spot on as the tyrant Dixon, but the film's final scene with him is contradictory (he is not painted as a playful cat and mouse type adversary, he's painted as a real creep, so his nonchalant attitude at the films end is out of place). The supporting players like Chi McBride and Diego Luna and Kumar Pallana and Zoe Saldana aren't really given much to do except cliched one-liners and implausible plot points. Luna and Saldana's romance is ridiculous to say the least, and while Pallana is hilarious in every scene he is in, he winds up being nothing but a walking stereotype.
Yes, Tom Hanks is really the only reason to see this movie. He has a wonderful grasp of who Viktor is, and he makes us want to root for him, want to rally behind and support him. We fall in love with him, just as Amelia obviously does, and we understand why (because, obviously, we are not Frank Dixon). He has the `Romantic Comedy' charm, but he backs it up with a dramatic reality that gives weight to his character, even if the script is uninterested in giving him any.
Yes, `The Terminal' is entertaining. It has wit and ample amounts of charm, but I can't help but think of how much better this could have been if they hadn't gotten lazy with it.
Defies expectations, but not always in a good way March 19, 2009
E. Beckstrom (Indiana, USA)
Hanks' acting is wonderful as usual. There are also some very charming moments between his and the other characters.
There are two main issues I have with Terminal. On occasion, Spielberg falls prey to his penchant for over-sentimentalization. For instance, do we really need four reaction shots of people fawning over a good deed Hanks' character does for a secondary character? In another part, dozens of characters rally around the protagonist in another sentimental scene, but the direction is so heavy-handed I literally groaned. I actually love sentiment, but a little subtlety goes a long way.
I also had problems with how certain plot and character threads played out. I won't give anything away, but let me just say, this movie is set up as a low key comedy, with a sweet romantic subplot; and sometimes it's okay for movies to just give into convention and go with their own flow. Instead, Terminal goes for a more philosophical conclusion that I found disappointing. It brings us in one direction with the romance plot and then whiplashes us into another.
Relatedly, I was disappointed with how little character development there is with regard to the three main characters - Hanks', Zeta-Jones's, and Tucci's. All three are pretty much the same at the end of the movie as in the beginning. The movie winds up giving way to themes related to fate and destiny that I just didn't like in relation to the rest of the film.
Having spent all this time criticizing it, I would still say it's a solid three star movie. Ultimately, on some level I can appreciate its attempt to defy expectations, and it never stopped being entertaining. If you're a Hanks fan, and if you go into it setting aside your expectations as to how a romantic comedy normally plays out, you'll probably find it enjoyable.
The Terminal December 25, 2008
Keith G. Cromer (Navy Veteran - South Carolina)
The movie clams to be a critically acclaimed comedy. Tom Hanks portrays a character how arrives in New York to find his homeland in war and now is unable to return home and unable to enter New York since the takeover of the government of his homeland is now not recognized by the US.
The movie had a few good parts and Hanks acting was pretty good. However it did not end the way I thought it would. There is not a lot that really holds your attention to the storyline.
 Waiting can be exciting... It can be also entertaining... December 14, 2008
Roberto Frangie (Leon, Gto. Mexico)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The film begins with a cool look (green and blue), because Spielberg doesn't think of Immigration as a warm place to be for the few minutes it takes to clear a passenger and get him on his way... So all the cool tones are evident until Viktor starts to settle into his new home... He is going to be stuck in New York's JFK airport for an unspecified amount of time... From this moment we see Viktor stuck, trapped, unable to enter United States and that's the fun of this film...
Tom Hanks is really so calm, so likable, so emotional, so funny and so real in what he does... Here, he's a very dignified person who is extremely trusting and always full of positive hope... You couldn't insult him if you try... It's very hard to hurt his feelings... He finds the bright side of every angle problem he faces and finds a way for him to live with the situation... He has the virtue of patience, and the testament to hard work, perseverance, and humility... He loves people, and he experiences the culture in an odd way...
Hanks plays a Krakozhian capable gentleman whose name is Viktor Navorski who finds himself without a passport and a visa once both are taken from him by the powers-that-be at the terminal, because his visa no longer counts, since his country is no longer in existence, and his passport is no longer valid...
Catherine Zeta-Jones brings vulnerability and insecurity to her unhappy character... She plays the gorgeous flight attendant Amalia Warren, a very sensible woman who's always looking for love, trying to find the person that will be her prince... She really wears her emotions on her sleeve and is lonely... She wants some strong relationship in her life... Viktor and Amelia have oceans of things in common and it ends up playing itself out and that's a nice thing to play...
The story leaves a lot for reflection, and in some ways, Viktor's stillness allows him to be a mirror for the people working in the airport to meditate on their own lives...
"The Terminal" is a charming film... It looks beautifully and elegantly, but realistically...
 A Sweet and Charming Movie November 24, 2008
G. Jennings (Outside)
Tom Hanks is just brilliant. I loved everything about this movie, especially how kindness and compassion transcends all nationalities.
|
|
|
