Product Description

Acclaimed drama based on the controversial life of Larry Flynt. Nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Actor in a Leading Role - Woody Harrelson, Best Director - Milos Forman) and won two 1997 Golden Globes (Best Director - Motion Picture, Milos Forman; Best Screenplay - Motion Picture). Commentaries with Milos Forman and writer Larry Karaszewski, and with Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love and Ed Norton.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19774 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2003-05-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Leave it to Czech director Milos Forman (One Flew Over to Cuckoo's Nest) to make the most entertaining and offbeat celebration of the American Constitution that the movies have ever given us. You think the First Amendment was designed to protect you from offensive speech? Think again. The real glory of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights--as brought to life in this splendidly quirky and alternately reverent and irreverent comedy--is that it ensures everyone's freedom by protecting a whole range of expression, from the banal to the outrageous. Scripted by the writers of Ed Wood (another affectionately twisted biography of a disreputably eccentric entertainment figure), The People vs. Larry Flynt applies a similar sort of exaggerated and telescoped editorial-cartoon sensibility to the wild life and times of Hustler skin-magazine publisher Larry Flynt. It's the great (and fictionalized-but-true) American story of how smut-peddler Flynt--the poor man's redneck Hugh Hefner--ended up appealing a libel case (brought by televangelist Jerry Falwell) to the Supreme Court and winning a major legal victory that affects us all. Terrific performances by Woody Harrelson as Flynt, grunge-star-turned-glamour-puss Courtney Love as his wife Althea, and Edward Norton as their lawyer (a composite character). --Jim Emerson

DVD features
Two new, well-produced, 30-minute features anchor this DVD edition of Milos Forman's dandy film. One deals with the making of the film, the other with the life of Larry Flynt. New interviews with the cast members and writers are used along with words from Flynt and, most surprising, Jerry Falwell. Two commentary tracks are worth the time, although the writers' energy and plethora of anecdotes makes for a better listen. The three main actors recorded their commentaries separately, and Courtney Love (natch) has the most to say, but a reunion would have been more fun to listen in on. Oddly, Edward Norton states Forman didn't want to do the commentary because he thought folks wouldn't understand his English, but he sounded just fine on the Amadeus commentary. Two minor deleted scenes are also included. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Try watching a little more objectively...
It's sad to discover that *some* people (who have posted reviews here) have overlooked the merits of this film... and focused only on Larry Flynt as a man. Well, listen up... a movie is not WHAT it's about, but HOW it's about it!

Don't complain about the actions of Mr. Flynt in the movie... after all, he (Flynt) overlooked the production... he really did those things. Perhaps Milos Forman should've CHANGED the events somehow? No!

This film is essentially a sad love story. Nevermind the politics and Ammendement speeches... what we have here is a destructive relationship in the vein of Sid Viscious and Nancy Spungen. It is masterfully directed, beautiful to look at, and deeply engrossing.

Whatever your feelings about Flynt, remember that he did play an important role in our era. Think he's a horrible person? You probably won't get an argument from him, as this film demonstrates.

informitable and powerful
the people verses larry flynt was a moving and powerful movie based on a true sory in so many differnt ways. free speech the main storyline and the there is with enough money minipulation in the court happens and can even turn into a circus it shows if little poeple like us had all the money our courthouse would be a totaly different place today. larry flynt is a decent man who wasent given a fair shot we just called him a prevert insted. with all the pain he has indured realy who cares about nudie pictures.

A great movie finally gets solid bonus material
"The People vs. Larry Flynt" has long languished in a no-frill, barebone widescreen edition. Now Columbia has finally released a Special Edition that includes bonus material that fans of the film can appreciate: two full-length commentary tracks (both free of the excessive "back-patting" that other commentary tracks devolve into), a pair of interesting deleted scenes (though they are very brief, they include commentary), and some other bells and whistles.

The featurettes deserve a special kudos as they're actually quite good, not the normal fluff studios usually put in DVDs. Both were produced in 2003 for the Special Edition and allow the interviewees to reflect on the entire production and theatrical life of the movie and the backlash it recieved from the Left. The interviewees include Foreman, Flynt, Harrelson, the producers, screenwriters, and as a commendable surprise, Rev. Jerry Falwell himself. The featurette on Larry Flynt's life (narrated by Dennis Hopper) gives a brief synopsis of Flynt's entire life -filling in areas that the movie did not cover (like his service in the Army and Navy) and putting the events of the movie in actual chronological order -making it interesting to compare to how the movie interprets the truth.

As for the movie itself, I would recommend that you rent a movie before buying a more expensive "special edition." I personally enjoyed it a lot when it was theaters. Milos Forman's style is very visual, and he's able to keep his subject at enough distance to allow the audience to make up their own minds about him. Harrelson's performance is top notch (he recieved an Oscar nomination) and the rest of the cast definitely fits the bill. It stands alongside Forman's Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Just be forewarned, it is quite graphic -so if sexual situations bother you, it may not be something you'll enjoy.

As a final note, the DVD is actually contained within a jacket (the stripes you can see in the picture), when you pull the DVD case from the jacket you get to see the original "People vs. Larry Flynt" film poster that wasn't released due to it's parody of religion, sex, and patriotism -a good synopsis of the film indeed.