| | American Beauty DVD (3 Customer Reviews)
| Category | Dramas DVDs, Essential Cinema Movies, Black Comedy Videos | | Starring | Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Scott Bakula, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Sam Robards, Barry Del Sherman | | Director | Sam Mendes | | Composer | Thomas Newman | | Costume Designer | Julie Weiss | | Director of Photography | Conrad L. Hall | | Editor | Tariq Anwar | | Producer | Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks | | Production Designer | Naomi Shohan | | Screenwriter | Alan Ball | | Song Composer | Pete Townshend |
122 minute special edition feature film DVD. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a gainfully employed suburban husband and father. Fed up with his boring, stagnant existence, he quits his job and decides to reinvent himself as a pot-smoking, responsibility-shirking teenager. What follows is at once cynical, hysterical, and, eventually, tragically uplifting. A flawless cast (Spacey, Bening, Birch, Suvari, Bentley, and especially Cooper) combines to deliver one of the decade's strongest ensemble performances in this multiple-Oscar-winning film. Director Sam Mendes, already a wunderkind in the world of British theater, proves that his talent isn't limited to the stage in his feature-length debut. AMERICAN BEAUTY tells the story of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a suburban father who snaps when he becomes disgusted with his stale, repetitive existence. Burnham lets us know in voice-over from the film's opening that this is the day he dies (using the SUNSET BOULEVARD flashback approach), a technique that adds an inevitable tension to the proceedings and keeps the story moving forward at all times. On a whim, Lester quits his job and begins a regression into young adulthood, lifting weights, smoking pot, doing nothing, and discovering the overflowing sexuality of his 16-year-old daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). His wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), has her own midlife crisis of sorts. A real estate agent, she experiences a youthful awakening when super-agent Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher) seduces her repeatedly. Meanwhile, Jane (Thora Birch), the Burnhams' daughter, is pursued by Ricky (Wes Bentley), the mysterious boy next door who carries a video camera around with him at all times. When Ricky's militaristic father, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper), discovers something potentially horrifying on one of his tapes, and when Carolyn's rage for Lester's actions boils over, the time bomb finally explodes. AMERICAN BEAUTY composer Thomas Newman won a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. American Beauty Quotes/Excerpts: "I rule!"--Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) American Beauty Reviews: "...AMERICAN BEAUTY is that rare instance where all the elements of a movie -- story, setting, acting, shot construction -- come together to convey its message..."
-- Annlee Ellingson, Box Office "...Spacey gives sardonic snap to every line he delivers....The movie is a beaut. It's as feeling as it is funny, a quality recent movies seemed to have lost..."-- Mike Clark, USA Today "...Unsettling, unnerving, undefinable....BEAUTY is a blood-chilling dark comedy with unexpected moments of both fury and warmth, a strange, brooding and very accomplished film that sets us back on our heels from its opening frames..."
-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times "...Spacey, an actor who embodies intelligence in his eyes and voice, is the right choice for Lester Burnham..."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times "...Consistently provocative and devilishly amusing....AMERICAN BEAUTY is a real American original..."
-- Todd McCarthy, Variety Ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's "Ten Best Movies of 1999" -- "...[A] justly celebrated look at what gets lost in life when we numb ourselves to feeling..."
-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone "...Sees beauty in our most common mistakes and failures. This is a masterpiece..." -- 5 out of 5 stars
-- Christopher Kelly, Premiere American Beauty Video American Beauty  Widescreen; Special Edition For Sale Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, February 02, 2010
|  | $8.60 |
American Beauty Movie Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  The most amazing movie since
What can be said about a movie that left all others in the dust? A fascinating combination of style and eloquence, this movie definetly deserves to be on every single top ten list from here until eternity. With the terrific casting and the eerie music, this movie combines comedy, drama, suspense, and romance all in one. Sam Mendes is an amazing director, with unusual skills. When I first heard about this movie, I traversed to the Blockbuster near my house every day for two months until I finally received a copy. After watching it, I was appaled. I could not believe I waited so long and sat through a long, horrible movie. Then, by some wonderful stroke of luck, I watched it again...and again...and again...and finally, I realized something...it was perfect. An amazing movie that everyone should see, even the closed-minded people who will take it for its face value and not what it really is. This is my favorite movie and a brilliant addition to any household.
Submitted by beccachan7 (Oklahoma City, OK)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 2 of 2 found this helpful. American Beauty is a magnificently constructed film
American beauty is a very different but almost perfect film which employs magnificent elements and is the greatest film of 1999. It definitely deserved the Academy Award for best picture. It has great acting, magnificent storytelling, chilling suspense, startling visuals and imagery, great delivery of dialogue from the actors and all these elements combine an almost perfect film. American Beauty is a film I watched recently and I was glued to the screen from the opening moments of the film. I knew I was in for something different but fascinating. Ever since, it has become one of my favorite films. I advice this film highly.
Submitted by Joey 34 (L.A California)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No cult classic
this is a movie I could never get tired of. the acting is excellent, the plot is thought provoking. definately worth owning
Submitted by justin p (ca,usa)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you seen this movie? |  |
American Beauty DVD Region 1
Keep Case
Single Side - Dual Layer
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
DTS Surround 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Making Of: AMERICAN BEAUTY...LOOK CLOSER
Film-to-Script Comparison
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Audio Commentary:
1. Sam Mendes - Director, Alan Ball - Writer
2. Sam Mendes - Director, Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer
Text/Photo Galleries:
Production Notes
Biographies: Cast & Crew
Storyboards
DVD-ROM Features:
Chat Links
American Beauty Video 51 Birch Street, Bigger Than Life, C'est le Bouquet, Capturing the Friedmans, Daria: Is It College Yet?, Daria: Is It Fall Yet?, Elegy, Fargo/Rain Man, Friends - The Complete Ninth Season, Happiness, Ice Storm, Lawn Dogs, Little Children, Loggerheads, Married Life, One Hour Photo/Donnie Darko 2-Pack, Ordinary People, Panic, Quiet, Revolutionary Road, Second Best, Six Feet Under - Complete Seasons 1-3, Six Feet Under - The Complete First Season, Six Feet Under - The Complete Second Season, Six Feet Under - The Complete Third Season, Six Feet Under: The Complete Fifth Season, Spanking the Monkey, Storytelling, Sunshine Cleaning, Weather Man, Weeds - Season 1, Weeds - Season 3, White Oleander, Wonder Boys American Beauty DVD Awards | Best Actor, Academy Awards, 1999 - Kevin Spacey | | Best Cinematography, Academy Awards, 1999 - Conrad L. Hall | | Best Director, Academy Awards, 1999 - Sam Mendes | | Best Original Screenplay, Academy Awards, 1999 - Alan Ball | | Best Picture, Academy Awards, 1999 |
Purchase American Beauty Movie To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Sleepy Hollow DVD (1999) Widescreen
American Beauty film
$8.55  
In Tim Burton's stylish, creepy retelling of the classic Washington Irving story, SLEEPY HOLLOW, Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) is a squeamish, bookish 18th century New York City investigator sent to a small town in lower Westchester county to look into three mysterious decapitations. When the always rational Crane arrives at the little Dutch village, he finds that most of the townsfolk believe the culprit to be the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a monstrous Hessian soldier (Christopher Walken), who seems to be mysteriously tied in to one of the town's most prominent families. Burton's natural instincts for campy humor, combined with the hauntingly gorgeous technical work (Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography and Danny Elfman's score included), collide to create a work of exhilarating entertainment and poetic storytelling. Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien and Christina Ricci help make up an ensemble cast that, combined with the historically accurate village sets and dreamlike magic of the haunted Western Woods--created on the largest sound stage in film history--makes SLEEPY HOLLOW a visually stunning, gripping, and, at times, chilling film.
Closed Captioned; Additional Footage; Bio/Filmographies; Soundtrack English; Soundtrack French; Academy Awards; English Subtitles; Director's Comments
| | Patriot DVD (2000) Widescreen; Special Edition
American Beauty review
$9.79
Mel Gibson stars in this action-packed historical drama from the director of INDEPENDENCE DAY and GODZILLA. Gibson portrays Benjamin Martin, an unassuming South Carolina widower who is forced to join the American Revolution when the British threaten to take his farm away from him. Together with his patriotic son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), the pair faces the vicious Redcoats with a heroism that reflects the stubborn pride of a young country's most dedicated supporters. THE PATRIOT is a sweeping epic adventure that sheds light on America's past, and at the same time entertains audiences.
165 minute feature film DVD starring Adam Baldwin and Mel G ibson.
| | Fight Club DVDs (1999) Widescreen; Collector's Edition; Dubbed; Subtitled; Digipak
American Beauty DVD
$21.49
FIGHT CLUB is narrated by a lonely, unfulfilled young man (Edward Norton) who finds his only comfort in feigning terminal illness and attending disease support groups. Hopping from group to group, he encounters another pretender, or "tourist," the morose Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), who immediately gets under his skin. However, while returning from a business trip, he meets a more intriguing character--the subversive Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). They become fast friends, bonding over a mutual disgust for corporate consumer-culture hypocrisy. Eventually, the two start Fight Club, which convenes in a bar basement where angry men get to vent their frustrations in brutal, bare-knuckle bouts. Fight Club soon becomes the men's only real priority; when the club starts a cross-country expansion, things start getting really crazy.
Like Tyler Durden himself, director David Fincher's FIGHT CLUB, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, is startlingly aggressive and gleefully mischievous as it skewers the superficiality of American pop culture. Outstanding performances by Norton and Pitt are supported by a razor-sharp script and an arsenal of stunning visual effects that include computer animation and sleight-of-hand editing. One of the most unique films of the late 20th century, FIGHT CLUB is a pitch-black comedy of striking intensity.
This is a 139 minute special editon feature film DVD starr ing Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham.
| | Usual Suspects DVD (1995) Widescreen
American Beauty movie DVD
$9.69 
Director Bryan Singer's labyrinthine crime drama centers on five career criminals (played by Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, and Stephen Baldwin) who meet after being rounded up for a standard police line-up. Upon their release, the men band together to pull off an intricate heist involving $3 million worth of emeralds. Their success brings them to the attention of the enigmatic Keyser Soze, an unseen, nefarious, and mythic underworld crime figure who coerces them into pulling off an important and highly dangerous job. The scenes that follow make THE USUAL SUSPECTS one of the most fascinating crime thrillers in cinema history.
Working from the Oscar-winning screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, Singer adroitly tells the complex story through flashbacks, cross-cutting, and voice-over narration. Such nimble handling of the intricacies of the nonlinear narrative adds to the suspense, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats until the clever, satisfying finale. Singer's expertise in the technical aspects of filmmaking--his use of a dioptic filter to keep two close-up faces in focus, as well as his inventive use of six-frame step printing--helped him earn his reputation as a visually impressive and stylish director. Filled with excellent performances from veteran actors (Kevin Spacey won his first Academy Award for his breakthrough role as Verbal Kint), THE USUAL SUSPECTS placed Singer squarely on the cinematic map.
Benicio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Dan Hedaya, Gabriel Byrne, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bartel, Pete Postlethwaite, Steven Baldwin, Suzy Amis - Director: Bryan Singer. Who Is Keyser Soze? To know him is to fear him. He murders his enemies, slaughtered his family. He is the most ruthless, brutal killer the world has ever known. Mastermind behind a $91 million dollar drug heist with no drugs, no money and 29 dead bodies floating in the harbor. Who is Keyser Soze? "If you can figure out before th
| | Pulp Fiction DVDs (1994) Collector's Edition
American Beauty video
$15.25
Writer-director Quentin Tarantino revisits the seedier side of Los Angeles--following 1992's RESERVOIR DOGS--with this funny, violent, tongue-in-cheek tribute to the less "classic" side of filmmaking--the potboilers and capers, the Blaxploitation flicks and gangster movies. The film interweaves three tales, told in a circular, fractured manner, which only fully connect by the time the final credits roll. The first story focuses on Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), two hit men on duty for "the big boss," Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), whose gorgeous wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), takes a liking to Vincent. In the second, a down-and-out pugilist (Bruce Willis), who is ordered to take a fall, decides that there's more money in doing the opposite. The final chapter follows a pair of lovers (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth) as they prepare to hold up a diner.
Tarantino wears his cinematic influences proudly, bringing them to life in the ironically hip, self-referential 1990s. The result is a work that changed the face of independent cinema forever, making it a legitimate player in the Hollywood mainstream. The all-star cast steps into their roles with obvious glee, and Tarantino once again uses his soundtrack to up the "cool" ante yet another notch, making for a motion picture event that has worked its way into our national vernacular.
Alexis Arquette, Amanda Plummer, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Frank Whaley, Harvey Keitel, John Travolta, Julia Sweeney, Maria de Medeiros, Quentin Tarantino, Rosanna Arquette, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Uma Thurman, Ving Rhames - Director: Quentin Tarantino
| | Death Becomes Her DVD (1992) Keep Case
American Beauty film
$6.55
An overweight woman loses her alcoholic plastic surgeon boyfriend to an aging star and immediately doubles her weight. An enchantress puts a spell on the women that makes them immortal -- no matter how dead they get.
DVD. Feature film. In keep case. Rated PG-13. Stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, & Isabella Rossellini. D ir. by Robert Zemeckis. W/ production notes, talent bios, f ilm hilites, & featurette. 103 min. Dolby dig. Full frame. Sound in Engl., French, & Spanish. Subtitles in Engl. & Spa nish.
| | They Crawl DVD (2001) Widescreen
American Beauty review
$10.35 
The brother of a recently deceased computer whiz teams up with a detective (Tamara Davies) to look into his brother's death. Meanwhile, more dead bodies are discovered with their internal organs missing. Clues lead to Lazarus, a scientist with ties to a cult, and it is discovered that he has a gigantic army of genetically-mutated cockroaches.
A computer whiz named 'Bean' is among several people found dead with strange striations, odd puncture wounds and missing internal organs. Bean's brother Ted teams up with detective Gina to get to the bottom of it. With the help of a computer hacker, they find a blueprint that reveals the killer who has been terrorizing the city... a rampaging posse of genetically mutated cockroaches! Stars Daniel Cosgrove, Dennis Boutsikaris, Ken Lerner, Scott Rinker, Tamara Davies, William Keane. Director's Commentary; Behind-the-scenes footage; Deleted Footage; Trailer
| | Clawhammer Style Banjo - Ken Perlman DVDs (2004)
American Beauty DVD
$26.05
An instructional video on banjo playing clawhammer style featuring Ken Perlman.
The basics of playing this instrument are featured: basic right-hand & left-hand positions, simple chords, and fundamental clawhammer techniques, like the brush, the bumm-titty, strums, pull-offs, slides, and more.
This pack includes Beginning and Intermediate Clawhammer Banjo DVDs.
| | God Made Babies DVD (2006)
American Beauty movie DVD
$10.15
Closed Captioned; Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
| | Circus Season: Travels With Tarzan DVD (1998)
American Beauty video
$13.59
A journey with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus, one of the few family-owned circuses in America. Featuring an in-depth look at the pressures and triumphs that the circus faces every day, plus performing elephants, tigers, and more. Seen on PBS.
Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
| | MXC - Most Extreme Elimination Challenge - Season 3 - Disc Two DVD (2005)
American Beauty film
$12.29
MXC - MOST EXTREME ELIMINATION CHALLENGE is a Japanese television show in which contestants are eliminated through a series of outrageous stunts that usually take place above water, mud, or other liquids. Collected here is the second disc of the third season, bringing together numerous instances of pratfalls, daring, and hilarity.
Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
| | Sex And Breakfast DVD (2007) Subtitled
American Beauty review
$9.75
The 20-somethings in the drama SEX AND BREAKFAST discover that the cure for their ailing love lives may be a surprising one. James (Macaulay Culkin) and his girlfriend, Heather (Alexis Dziena), find that the heat in their romance has quickly cooled, but they're determined to stick it out. Enter Dr. Wellbridge (Joanna Miles), a sex therapist who prescribes a swap with another ailing couple (played by Kuno Becker and Eliza Dushku)--a proposal that has some shocking results.
James (Macaulay Culkin) and Heather (Alexis Dziena) along with Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku) are two twenty-something couples whose lives are intertwined as they experiment with group sex as a way to sort out the rudiments of a successful relationship - sex, love and communication. After a series of mishaps fueled by jealousy, confusion and insecurities; they soon find that true love and lasting relationships (at their core) are ultimately about more than sex and breakfast.
| | Dateline Europe Espionage Collection DVDs (2008) Box Set
American Beauty DVD
$9.99
Black & White; Standard Screen; Soundtrack English
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