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| The Black Dahlia (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Actors: Brian De Palma, Steve Eastin, Troy Evans, Mia Frye, Gregg Henry
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $0.76
You Save: $14.22 (95%)
New (77) Used (173) Collectible (1) from $0.76
Avg. Customer Rating:  221 reviews
Sales Rank: 31893
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 122
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD61029180D
UPC: 025192918025
EAN: 0025192918025
ASIN: B000K2UVZM
Theatrical Release Date: September 15, 2006
Release Date: December 26, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
The Black Dahlia drips with film noir atmospherics as it unspools a lurid and complicated story taken from James Ellroy's true-crime-inspired novel of the same name. Two boxers-turned-cops--Lee "Mr. Fire" Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking) and Bucky "Mr. Ice" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett, Black Hawk Down)--are morally tested as they pursue the killer of a young would-be actress, grappling with corruption, narcissism, stag films, and family madness along the way. L.A. Confidential turned Ellroy's heated prose into a taut, compelling movie, but The Black Dahlia collapses like a soggy meringue. Director Brian De Palma (who once made such vibrant, entertaining movies as Carrie and The Untouchables) can't muster the energy to craft one of his trademark bravura action sequences and seems outright bored by the more mundane tasks of shaping performances and establishing mood. The actors flounder; Eckhart seems to be emoting for two, perhaps to compensate for Hartnett's bland lack of affect; even actresses as dependable as Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) give clumsy, unconvincing performances. The one exception is an unsettling performance by Mia Kirshner (Exotica) as the doomed actress, seen only in perverse screen tests and stag films. The story is incomprehensible (and when you can follow it, it's silly); the dialogue is atrocious; the characters make hardly any sense from scene to scene. The movie is, however, good for many moments of absurd camp, such as when Bucky enters the most lavish, palatial lesbian bar you'll ever see, featuring a Busby-Berkeley-style stairway of smooching babes and a crooning k.d. lang. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
The black dahlia is set in 1940s l.A. Two cops bucky bleichert & his partner lee blanchard investigate the death of elizabeth short a young woman found brutally murdered. Bucky soon realizes his girlfriend had ties to the deceased & soon after that he begins uncovering corruption in the police department. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/08/2008 Starring: Josh Hartnett Aaron Eckhart Run time: 122 minutes Rating: R Director: Brian Depalma
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| Customer Reviews: Read 216 more reviews...
 The Black Dahlia November 3, 2008
I do not own the movie and will not own it. I saw the movie in the theater and it was a very bizzare movie. Even though it was based on a true story it was still hard to follow on screen. If the reviews could give minus stars then I would give it a negative 1. I just don't think it is worth buying and definately was not worth seeing to begin with.
The Blah Dahlia October 29, 2008
Wow - I didn't know they still made movies this bad. I knew Brian De Palma's reputation had taken a beating in the last decade or so, but I really understand why now. This was easily the worst movie I had seen in a long time. And a warning for anyone who is interested in seeing this film because of the real Black Dahlia murder: "The Black Dahlia", the film, treats it as nothing more than a springboard and a background. The very real murder is secondary or perhaps tertiary to the silly and contrived plot, and - at least in my opinion - this film trivializes what was the brutal and gruesome death of a very real woman. I would have been embarrassed to have made a movie like this. Embarrassed, or perhaps ashamed, if we lived in a culture that could still feel shame.
The Worst Film of the Year? October 12, 2008
This historical drama is inspired by a true crime from 1947, the murder of Elizabeth Short. The film opens with a riot in 1945 Los Angeles. Sailors were attacking the "zoot suiters" because of a prior attack on sailors. There is a plan to stage some boxing matches to help pass a municipal bond issue. There is a domestic scene that is supposed to mean something. Some of those hats don't have the wide brims of that era. Was the fight realistic? Do those scenes of entertainment have a meaning? There is a sudden shoot-out. Next police cars arrive where a body was found. [Do those scenes inside a home look too upscale?] The internal organs of that body were removed by the killer!
The police investigate the death of Elizabeth Short. [Does the film drag here?] Does that girl's family seem strange? "I'm really so sorry." That family is strange! Can anyone make a fortune by building cheap housing? Does the drama go downhill? The story just stumbles along from scene to scene. Does the ending seem believable? Will this movie never end? Finally there is a surprise at the end. Does it make sense? Any of them? Is that family really crazy? Will there be another cover-up? Will this movie never end? Was it the worst film of the year?
The credits say it was based on the James Ellroy novel. The tiny lettering for the credits suggests they were ashamed to be named for this film. I'll bet the Bulgarians turn out better films for their people. This film could have benefitted from a lower budget and a better script. Was the book better than this film?
Oh, my... mind....was....falling alseep September 13, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
A painful and laborious game of trying to catch the killer of "The Black Dahlia." I'm glad I read the book a few years ago. At least it held my attention more than this movie.
Josh Hartnett, as "Bucky - ICE" the L.A. Detective is a real boring and stiff. Aaron Eckhardt, as "Lee - FIRE," his partner was intense, but average. Scarlett Johannson, "Kay" and Hilary Swank, "Madeleine" were also big bores, and they showed it with their acting.
It was almost like watching a stage play; with the dinner at Madeleine's house being excruciatingly painful to watch. As was the "love scene" with Hartnett and Swank, which looked like a "Carol Burnett Show" or "Saturday Night Live" parody of a classic movie. Some of these scenes will make you or snicker or laugh; which in effect, will wake you up and out of your boredom enough to finish the movie.
At 53 minutes into the movie, I checked the timing display to find that the movie is 121 minutes long. As Doctor Smith from "Lost In Space" used to say: "The pain. Oh, the pain."
DISAPPOINTMENT FROM DePALMA September 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Why wasn't this a better film?
The novel (so personal to author James Ellroy who wrote this to honor his murdered mother) has so many incredible elements: a provocative crime, interesting characters, sex and romance, and set in a really evocative time and place.
It certainly wasn't the fault of most of the technical professionals who worked on the film; indeed it has great work by one of the finest cinematographers in the world. Moreover, the cast, on paper, is quite good. So what went wrong to cause this to be so bland, so tedious, and such a whopping misfire?
Answer: Brian De Palma, who's never really managed an intelligent, singular style and usually best when he doesn't try to make his own conscious "art". But here his pacing seems way off, as does the overall cinematic movement of the film. I do like the fact this time he avoids pretty much copying Hitchcock (as he's done so much throughout his career) but he couldn't resist the last shot of the dead body: it is photographed in three quick cuts similar to the farmer's death in Hitchcock's "The Birds". And, if that isn't enough, De Palma roosts a crow looking down at the body to let us know Hitch was (again and alas) being forced to peer over the director's shoulder.
In summary, this is a disappointment even considering this displays good work by both cast and crew. And it is not even a pale shadow of Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential", a classic of the genre. I'm thinking William Friedkin, for example, could have made a really effective film here but DePalma missed the target by a mile.
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