Product Description

In October 1913, a group of aristocratic men and women gather for a shooting party at an estate in the heart of the English countryside. Assured and opulent, they move through the elaborate rituals of an Edwardian country house party. But times are changing, The values that have ordered their glittering world will no longer have any meaning in the new age about to dawn.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43413 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-10-17
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Mono, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
At last, the British film classic The Shooting Party receives the digital restoration that does justice to its sweeping vistas and heartbreaking snapshots of an era in its death throes. Set in 1913 England, on the brink of what would be the war to end all wars, the film focuses on an assortment of upper-crust acquaintances who gather for a weekend of hunting and society niceties (billiards, cards, draping oneself in jewels the evening after stomping around all day in the muck). Presiding over the festivities is a masterful James Mason as Sir Randolph Nettleby, a sort of benevolent dictator of his breathtaking estate, as his family and friends dip in and out of the action, adhering to the strict code of class conduct for all of their affairs--sport, self-advancement, illicit love. Though the weekend is supposed to be a holiday, there is subtle, ominous foreshadowing in the very first scenes, of the men lined up in a meadow, as though troops on a battlefield, taking out ducks and hares with an almost dispassionate relish. The 2006 remastering allows full appreciation of the cinematography of Fred Tammes, the muted greens, grays and tweedy browns of the English countryside combining to make a painterly backdrop for this drama of manners. Mason as Nettleby has rarely been better--crisp, bemused, comfortable in his role but not quite in his own skin. The score by John Scott is transportative. Extras include a making-of documentary; a tour of the Knebworth House, the stately home here the film was shot; rare stills, and more. Splendid! --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

Wonderful story. Excellent actors. And finally a first-rate DVD transfer from BBC Video
The Shooting Party shows the decline of the British aristocracy (and why they became irrelevent) through the story device of a weekend of country shooting and the relationships among the manor head (James Mason), those he has invited, those who are retainers on his estate, and those protesting the shoot.

Mason is absolutely superb. He was a subtle actor who made some awful role choices in his career. This was one of his great roles. In the Shooting Party, he embodies the sadness of the loss of values he treasures as well as an understanding of why these values are being lost.

Update as of November 3, 2006: Please note that I have just looked through the BBC Video's new release of the film. It does the the movie justice. The picture is just a little soft, but the colors are rich and the transfer has clarity. The audio is excellent. The BBC's version is worthy of the film. If I could now change my rating to five stars, I would.

Jusr remember that the version from Jef Films, for all practical purposes, is unwatchable. It looks and sounds as if it had been made from a fifth generation home recorded video tape. Color is faded, the images are out of focus, the sound is variable.

A beautiful film ruined
Having waited for ages to find a DVD of this, one of my favourite films, I was thrilled to find it available Across the Pond in R1. That thrill has now turned to despair, however ! This is a classic example of an otherwise beautiful movie ruined by a truly appalling transfer. The perpetrators of this monstrosity should be punished by being locked in a darkened cell for a year, fed only on a diet of bread, water, and a perpetual tape of Britney Spears (any album will do).
Save you money for the professional version.

Bad quality transfer
After a long wait, the quality of this DVD is dissapointing, and not worth it at any price. Without the deep fall colors and contrasts of the original, "The Shooting Party's" minor flaws, its sentimentality and heavy symbolism, take over. The print look like a fifty year old Kodachrome slide--washed out, flat contrast and no shadow detail. And the sound is almost as bad.

That said, the secenes between James Mason as the estate owner, and John Guielgud as the animal rights activist, are priceless. But why should this print be worse than the one shown on television...?