Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2-Disc Special Edition / The Comedians / The Sandpiper / The V.I.P.s) 5 Disc Set dvd movie. |
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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2-Disc Special Edition / The Comedians / The Sandpiper / The V.I.P.s) 5 Disc Set buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices
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Features
• Box set
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• DVD-Video
• Widescreen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 31 October, 1967
DVD Release : 05 December, 2006 |
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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2-Disc Special Edition / The Comedians / The Sandpiper / The V.I.P.s) 5 Disc Set description
The British-born Elizabeth Taylor was the quintessential Hollywood screen goddess. The Welsh-born Richard Burton was one of the most compelling British actors of his generation. Together, they were a perfect storm of talent, glamour, and offscreen scandal, which made even their lesser films essential viewing for those fascinated by cinema's royal couple. This four-film set captures the prolific couple at the height of their 1960s heyday. The essential entry is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), which earned Taylor an Academy Award, and launched the film directing career of Mike Nichols. This adaptation of Edward Albee's searing play was ahead of its time for its use of profanity, as chronicled in bonus featurettes on this two-disc Special Edition. Taylor and Burton star as the braying Martha, a college president's daughter, and her husband George, an associate history professor. An ambitious teacher (George Segal) and his mousy wife (a heartbreaking Sandy Dennis) arrive for an unforgettable night of such emasculating sport as "Humiliate the Host," "Get the Guests," and "Hump the Hostess." The V.I.P.s (1963) is a star-studded soap opera about a group of notables stranded at a fog-shrouded airport, each desperate to get off the ground. In addition to Orson Welles as a film director trying to stay one step ahead of the British tax man and Margaret Rutherford (who earned an Academy Award) as a financially strapped duchess, we have Taylor as the unhappy wife of magnate Burton, set to elope with a reformed (?) gigolo (Louis Jordan). The Sandpiper (1965) is one of those vaunted enjoyable "golden turkeys" that at least has the beautiful Big Sur coast and the Oscar-winning song "The Shadow of Your Smile" as consolation for the silly illicit romance between Taylor, an unconvincing bohemian artist, and Burton, the tortured Episcopalian reverend to whose school Taylor's illegitimate son has been sent. The Comedians (1967) is hardly a laughing matter. Graham Greene adapted his novel of upheaval in Papa Doc-run Haiti. You have to jump 40 years to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to find another couple with Taylor and Burton's wattage. This collection gives a time capsule glimpse at what all the fuss was about. --Donald Liebenson |
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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2-Disc Special Edition / The Comedians / The Sandpiper / The V.I.P.s) 5 Disc Set Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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Timeless, nostalgic film excellence
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| I can hardly say enough good about this boxed set -- there's not a clinker in the bunch. My two personal favorites are The V.I.P.s and The Comedians. The latter was Graham Greene's Opus magnus and Burton and Taylor pull it off with brilliance, finesse, and pure craft excellence. The story is generally about Papa Doc's reign of terror in Haiti (Burton owns a hotel there) and Taylor is an ambassador's wife whom, of course, has a torrid, running affair with Burton. There's a lot of action in this film, more than I ever expected. Honestly, I really love this film and watch it frequently. The V.I.P.s is bulging with major stars of the period, including Orson Wells, and the story is a good one -- Burton is a multi-millionaire whose wife (Taylor) is leaving him for a well-known gigilo.... sort of. Through a comedy of errors, Burton discovers his wife's treachery at the last minute before she can leave England and tries to win her back, at the airport and at a nearby hotel, (they get fogged in), over the next 12 hours. The viewer really cannot anticipate what is going to happen from one moment to the next. The cinematography is especially impressive and the numerous sub-plots are both amusing and dramatic. One of the most satisfying films I've ever seen, reminicent of "Hotel". I won't dwell on the remaining films of the set except to say that they're equally fine movies. These films represent some of Hollywood's finest moments. I cannot recommend the set highly enough, especially for hard-core film buffs. |
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