Great Gatsby, The [1974] | ![Great Gatsby, The [1974]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WZ5FXJSKL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Jack Clayton
Actors: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, Scott Wilson
Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £15.99
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 992
Format: Pal
Languages: Turkish (Subtitled), Arabic (Subtitled), Croatian (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), Romanian (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Slovene (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Bulgarian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Serbian (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 135 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014437835239
ASIN: B0000A5BT1
Theatrical Release Date: March 29, 1974
Release Date: December 15, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Perhaps no movie could capture F Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby in its entirety, but this adaptation, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, is certainly a handsome try, putting costume design and art direction above the intricacies of character. Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby. The problem seems to be that director Jack Clayton fell in love with the flapper dresses and the party scenes and the jazz age tunes, ending up with a Classics Illustrated version of a great book rather than a fresh, organic take on the text. While Redford grows more quietly intriguing in the film, Mia Farrow's pallid performance as Daisy leaves you wondering why Gatsby, or anyone else, should care so much about his grand passion. The effective supporting cast includes Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband, and Scott Wilson and Karen Black as the low-rent couple whose destinies cross the sun-drenched protagonists. (That's future star Patsy Kensit as Daisy's little daughter.) The film won two Oscars--not surprisingly, for costumes and musical score. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Worst film ive ever seen. October 17, 2008
Wheeler Dealer (Reading, UK)
I love the book, its well written with a great storyline.
The film however is completely terrible. Some of the worst acting ive ever seen, ridiculous direction and any of the bits that arent straight quotes from the book (which leaves little) are written awfully.
In all, I can't think of a film ive seen that ive hated this much.
I seriously recommend you don't see this, this includes if you are doing it for A-Level. It really doesnt help.
 A Great "Gatsby" July 20, 2008
F. S. L'hoir (Irvine, CA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This stunning production with its splendid cinematography and its intelligent script by Francis Ford Coppola captures the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the man who pursues his preposterous dream. Robert Redford is utterly convincing as the enigmatic protagonist, Gatsby, whose personality "seemed to face . . . the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you, with an irresistible prejudice in your favor" [Fitzgerald, Chapter 3]. Young Sam Waterston portrays a believable Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald's narrator and empathetic observer; and Mia Farrow is pitch perfect as the shallow, spoiled young woman whose "artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes" [F. Ch. 8]. Farrow's performance makes us understand how Daisy's porcelain beauty and fecklessness could ignite the obsession of a man who has, after all, invented his own persona. Both of them are equally unreal.
The production values are superb. The settings, the music, and magnificent costumes--the pastel beaded silks and satin pumps, the feathered head-dresses--convincingly portray privileged wealth of the 1920s, which would soon plummet into the Depression--the great Valley of Ashes that infected the 1930s and indeed contaminated the entire twentieth century.
 Nowhere near as good as I was expecting May 20, 2008
Jon Turner (Bradford on Avon, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Well, this was a film that I never got round to seeing when it first came out, and I was looking forward to seeing it for the first time. I've never read the book but have read some of Fitzgerald's other work.
So I was disappointed as the film was very dated in my view, the use of music in particular cliched and far too obvious for today's tastes. I wasn't convinced by either Robert Redford's or Mia Farrow's performances - it seemed to me that neither had the acting depth to really carry off these parts, and at times the dialogue was very stilted, as another reviewer here has stated. Two and a half stars would have been more accurate perhaps but the performance of Bruce Dern in particular was much more convincing and helped to save the film.
 Faithful and sumptuous adaptation April 8, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
F. Scott Fitzgerald, himself, battled with self-depreciation, as he believed his literature was a failure. If you have read his work, you would find this incredulous, he was a man of great wit and value. Turning Gatsby into a film would be easy, after all the book is written in the style of flashback and has the contemporary use of the cinematic cut-showing how Fitzgerald was very avant garde by incorporating the most modern and fresh ideas in his work.
Perhaps as the novel is short, it does not receive enough acclaim to the likes of Vanity Fair or War and Peace, however, it is no matter. The sharp social satire mixed in with casting which no one could protest at- Mia Farrow as Daisy is a particularly refined and polished performance-and the entire allure of the novel has been transfered into the spelendour of technicolour.
A plot that unfolds itself reveals the cold nature of the frivoulous 1920's high flyers, whom consequence to their actions is unheard of. Gastby, played by a much younger Robert Redford, is an enigmatic millionair who's desire for the cold hearted Daisy (Farrow) uncomprimisingly brings the film to an unsettling climax.
Packed full of witty observations and a potent emotional punch, this adaptation if Fitzgerald's masterpiece allows people today to appreciate just how celluloid an author he was.
Mixed feelings February 24, 2005
The Fisher Price King (London)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a disappointing film of one of my favourite books. Its strengths are Francis Ford Coppola's script, which is very faithful to Fitzgerald's novel, and the production design and wardrobe, which are superb. But the acting is stilted, with Mia Farrow especially disappointing. There is none of the chemistry between her as Daisy and Robert Redford as Gatsby that you'd hope for. I also found the score pretty horrendous. The film undoubtedly captures a sense of the Jazz Age, but it's nothing like as rewarding as the book, and it doesn't even serve as a worthwhile supplement to the book. Perhaps three stars is a little generous, but I've given three because the look of the film is very strong realized, especially in its attention to Fitzgerald's preoccupation with colours (gold, white, yellow, green). If you're a Robert Redford fan, I think this is definitely one to avoid - not his finest hour.
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