Chinatown: Centennial Collection |  | Actors: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Fritzi Burr, Cecil Elliott
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $16.99
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Seller: allbooks99
Rating:  246 reviews
Sales Rank: 16792
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Original recording remastered, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Portuguese (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 131 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 072984
UPC: 097360729849
EAN: 0097360729849
ASIN: B002HK9HR8
Theatrical Release Date: 1974
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/06/2009 Run time: 130 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com essential video
Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 246
 Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown March 16, 2010
C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
He didn't say any more, but in considering the life of a certain individual who goes by the name of Roman Polanski, I'm inclined to reserve judgment. Let the courts decide his fate. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
As for his oeuvre, that's another matter. I will judge that until the cows come home. And my judgment is this: Chinatown is a great film by a great director, Roman Polanski; with a great script by Robert Towne; and a great actor, Jack Nicholson; a great actress, Faye Dunaway; and a pivotal performance by another great director, John Huston.
Chinatown is kind of a roman à clef, if you will, where Noah Cross, played by director John Huston, stands in for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power director William Mulholland (1855-1935), the man who created modern Los Angeles out of a desert by adding water and stirring.
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Noah Cross: Either you bring the water to L.A. or you bring L.A. to the water.
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Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is a private eye who usually handles divorce cases. When the wife of the director of the water department comes in he tells her that if she loves him, it might be better not to know. Later, when the real Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) comes in he starts to realize that there is a lot more to the case than meets the eye. He wants to help the real Mrs. Mulwray but senses that she is hiding something. Is she ever. Gittes sticks his nose into other peoples business and almost gets it cut off for his trouble, but he can't stop until he gets to the gritty truth.
If Humphrey Bogart's detective in "The Maltese Falcon" (directed, by the way, by John Huston) was the prototype, then Jake Gittes was the updated, post-modern version. Where Bogart lacked the classic leading man good looks, Nicholson took it even further, with a receding hairline and a face somewhere between Mickey Mouse and the wolf in a Tex Avery cartoon. He is crass and crude, but buried deep within there is the desire to do the righteous thing. The whole genre of film noir is updated in "Chinatown." Instead of a case involving a fabulous jewel, the stuff from which dreams are woven, we have instead a case involving water, and the crime and corruption it took to deliver that water to Los Angeles. Water, Power, Hollywood--the real stuff from which dreams are woven!
Nicholson was born to play Private Investigator Jake Gittes. Or rather, Robert Towne wrote the role with Nicholson in mind. He was a friend of Jack's, and modeled Jake's dialogue after Nicholson's distinctive mode of speech.
The story goes that Producer Robert Evans wanted Towne to do a screenplay based on The Great Gatsby, but Towne didn't want to take on F. Scott Fitzgerald. I know the feeling. Though he was offered $175,000 to do the Gatsby script, he said that for only $25,000 he'd do an original script based on something a Los Angeles police officer had told him when asked what he used to do while working in Chinatown:
"As little as possible."
The cop explained that since they couldn't speak Chinese, they couldn't decipher what was really going on, and therefore couldn't tell if their actions were preventing crime, or helping the criminals commit a crime under the color of the law. So they did as little as possible.
Throughout "Chinatown," the film, the idea of Chinatown as a place or situation where the standard moral compass is no help to navigation runs like a Chinese wall. The film is really about Los Angeles--and why it is called Chinatown might seem like an enigma--but after watching it you'll know exactly what is meant.
The film might seem slow paced in parts, as layer after layer of the puzzle is slowly peeled away, but it is tightly written by Robert Towne, nothing is wasted, and even when nothing much happens, the tension is being ratcheted up. Take for instance a scene in the Hall of Records where Gittes encounters an officious petty pimple faced bureaucrat. Or the scene where Gittes visits the office of the director of the water department and annoys the secretary. The tension continually builds. It is all so very Hitchcockian.
And speaking of Alfred, Polanski pulls a Hitchcock by appearing in the film himself. I won't blow his cover, but no doubt the role was a way for Polanski and Nicholson to blow off some steam. The relations between director and star--as well as between the director and the screenwriter, and the director and the leading lady--were notoriously contentious. Polanski even smashed Jack's portable TV with a mop as he was fed up with Jack always stalling his scenes so he could watch L.A. Lakers games.
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Noah Cross: I don't blame myself. You see, Mr. Gitts, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they're capable of ANYTHING.
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Though all the aspects of "Chinatown" were top notch, a final 'note' on the soundtrack is in order, pun intended. Parts of the score reminded me of "The Planet of The Apes" where percussion punctuates the mounting tension. But in a good way. Other parts used Jazz and Pop songs from the era (mid to late 30's, early 40's) to give a feel for the period. Sometimes the tunes were echoed by the actors, like when Jake Gittes is waiting in the Water and Power Department office, annoying the secretary by humming and singing said songs. The best moments though are the beautiful trumpet solos that were played by Hollywood studio veteran Uan Rasey.
"Chinatown" was Roman Polanski's last American film before he fled the country, so far never to return--unless he is extradited.
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Jake Gittes: You're dumber than you think I think you are.
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The Pianist (2002) Directed by Roman Polanski
Bitter Moon (1992) Directed by Roman Polanski
The Witches of Eastwick (1987) Jack Nicholson was Daryl Van Horne
Barfly (1987) Faye Dunaway was Wanda Wilcox
Mommie Dearest (1981) Faye Dunaway was Joan Crawford
Carnal Knowledge (1971) Jack Nicholson was Jonathan
Five Easy Pieces (1970) Jack Nicholson was Robert Eroica Dupea
Myra Breckinridge (1970) John Huston was Buck Loner
Candy (1968) John Huston was Dr. Arnold Dunlap
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Faye Dunaway was Bonnie Parker
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Walsh: Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
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Blu Ray March 5, 2010
Juan Luna Trevino (Bellingham, WA)
I am wondering when this movie will be available in Blu ray. It's a masterpiece.
A great achievement in the art of noir March 4, 2010
Reef Shark (Houston, Texas)
Chinatown is a dark bit of neo-noir cinema directed by the great Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby) and starring three time Academy Award winning actor Jack Nicholson (both of whom are no strangers to dark stories). So to say that Chinatown is a journey into the darkside of humanity is putting this gloomy story lightly. Everything about this movie has a lingering feel to it that refuses to leave a viewer's head. Is it the characters or the plot? It's both. Chinatown is a mystifying puzzle of a film that immerses its viewers into its world.
Chinatown is not a nice film, being in no way your typical Hollywood picture. I could really feel how this film was made during the Vietnam War because everything about it is very cynical to say the least. The characters are hateful and are constantly following questionable and deplorable morals in order to finish their jobs. In a normal Hollywood picture a man like Jake might be looked down upon, but in Chinatown the other characters are so cruel that the stubborn detective becomes an enormously charismatic lead. He's sarcastic as well as a scoundrel, but that's Jake's charm. He likes to put things bluntly in an often *dark* comical light. Jake can be beat down, sliced up, and shot at yet will keep on going in search of the truth. It's a determination that can't be healthy for the character, but admirable nonetheless. How he keeps such good humor about the events is anyone's guess.
Jack Nicholson's performance is one of the best I've seen out of him (and that's saying something) truly embodying J. J. "Jake" Gittes; I really believed that this character could be for real. Jake Gittes will bring you into Chinatown with a fast tongue and scathing sarcasm.
With such a bleak film it's almost hard to believe it can be such a beloved classic, yet here it remains as one of the greatest films of all time. But why is this? People always seem to look for happy endings; a quick fix that wraps the story up in a tidy little package. While some may view Chinatown's ending as a flaw it is in actuality one of the things that makes it a stand out movie.
The sad, quite frankly, tragic ending is one that lingered in my mind (and I'm sure those of everyone else who saw it) long after it had ended. Chinatown isn't meant to please its viewer. It succeeds because it challenges the viewer to look into the dark reality of life while also questioning what the characters in the film might have done differently. A tale of murder, dumping water and incest might not be good for a mainstream audience, but for viewers who want a movie that stimulates all their senses there are few better than Roman Polanski's Chinatown.
A great director brings his or her vision to screen without compromise. Polanski does this without flaw.
Chinatown February 16, 2010
paddy wagon (PALM DESERT, CA, US)
This is an excellent movie. Stars and director are amazing. Quality of the film was very good. Shipping and handling of the product was exceptional. Thank you!
Re: Special Collector's Edition 2007 February 13, 2010
BruceB (Michigan)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
When trying to decide what release of Chinatown to buy, I was looking for reviews regarding the video quality of a particular release because some DVDs look like they were copied from VHS tapes. Instead of finding the information I needed, I got "noir"ed to death. In spite of the useless reviews, I am happy to report that the "Special Collector's edition - 2007" version of Chinatown has descent video quality compared to other standard-definition DVDs.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 246
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