Product Description

IT'S THE LATE 70'S IN NEW YORK - STUDIO 54, DESIGNER JEANS, DRUGS & DISCO. ONE GIRL IS LIVING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE. SHE CAN HAVE ANY MAN - OR ANY WOMAN - SHE WANTS. SEX, MONEY, GLAMOUR, FAME...IT'S ALL WITHIN HER REACH. SHE'S A GODDESS. SHE'S A STAR. HER NAME IS GIA.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #528 in DVD
• Brand: HBO HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2004-08-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed "Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene. Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British, Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of complications from AIDs (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight, and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real Carangi was--effective, and stunning.

With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews

Missing 6 Minutes
This is a terrific movie and I was thrilled to see Angelina Jolie playing this part, (I first saw her in Hackers). But in case you don't know this, the DVD is missing 6 minutes of the movie. the only way to have the extra 6 minutes is to have gotten the original release on VHS (or recorded in from HBO). After Angelina became more popular, 6 minutes of her nude scenes were deleted from later re-releases of the movie including this DVD. But it still is a good movie.

A Great Film - Wonderful Acting - Good Storytelling
This is it folks - a genuine "breakout performance". We don't get them often enough so we should pay attention when we do.

WARNING ::: This review reveals some plot points !

"Gia", a film for HBO, stars Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell and Mercedes Ruehl.

This film is the life-story of Gia Carangi, one of the first "supermodels". How big a star/model was Gia? Well, Cindy Crawford was dubbed the "young Gia" and the "next Gia" - that's how famous she was.

Unfortunately, besides being the "face" of the day in the modelling world, she was also fairly famous for her drug addiction and ultimate fall from grace.

If you want a more indepth depiction of Gia's life - there are a couple of books available. The best being "Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia".

Back to the film.

Angelina Jolie BECOMES Gia in every sense of the word. Her performance is one of the best portrayals of real people in years. She is completely and utter believable. She captures what is surely the essense of Gia. She brings a desparate wanting to the character that you can feel.

Elizabeth Mitchell ( recently of "ER" fame ) co-stars and really provides an excellent touch-stone for Gia's tortured existance.

There's nothing pretty about this film - it shows the whole story, the drugs, the parties, the sex, the pain and the suffering. It depicts, with little filter, the USING of Gia and her decent into her fate.

It's no surprise that Angelina won a Golden Globe for this amazing performance. It's no surprise that she was nominated for an Emmy either. You're not able to take your eyes off her. As a matter of fact, this is a much awarded film - including a best actress award for Angelina Jolie at the LA Outfest.

Faye Dunaway is mainly here for star power - almost as if they weren't sure Angelina Jolie could pull it off. She's okay here, but we all know that Faye has done some amazing work and here, she sort of phones it in.

Mercedes Ruehl plays Gia's mother and she does a good job. She's a little over the top but you suspect it's an accurate portrayal.

For the Angelina Jolie fan - it's a MUST SEE, MUST OWN film. For others, it really is worth the time and money.

You don't often get a chance to see a young star make an amazing film like this. You'll see small tales of "Lisa" from her Academy Award winning performance in "Girl, Interupted" in Gia, but mostly you'll see an INCREDIBLE performance by Angelina Jolie. Really remarkable.

FYI : There is an UNRATED version available on VHS that is currently not available on DVD. The UNRATED version contains more explict scenes ( specifically the shower sequence is longer ).

In all, a great film. Well written, directed and acted. A real gem. Thank you HBO.

All The Best, turtlex

Gia: A Tragic Story of the American Dream
While some viewers may be shocked or even disgusted by the graphic love scenes in Gia, it is a film that can be apprecitated nonetheless for its sensitive, yet up-front, portrayal of a young girl who finds herself very quickly thrown into the dark world of the modeling business. Angelina Jolie is perfect as the ill-fated Gia who went from top model to anonymous AIDS case in a welfare hospital. The chemistry between Jolie and her on-screen love interest, Elizabeth Mitchell, is amazing, and Jolie's incredible performance only adds to our feelings of sorrow as dark beauty Gia spirals downward into an underworld of drugs and eventually death. Viewers will be haunted by the the graphic scenes in which Gia finally loses her battle with AIDS. The film contains sporadic documentary-style interviews with Gia's friends and family, and Mercedes Ruehl stands out as Gia's never-quite-there mother. This film will leave viewers breathless as they try to comtemplate how such a fate could befall such a young, beautiful woman who seemed to have everything. This film shoud be seen by everyone for it showcases a problem too often dismissed by a seemingly glamourous profession.