Product Description

It was the War to end all wars – well not quite. For with the ricochet of one bullet, the entire course of human history was changed forever...Now, for the first time, Academy Award®-winner Richard Attenborough’s* directorial debut is available on DVD. Based on the stage musical by the same name, Oh! What a Lovely War features a stellar cast that includes Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Mills, John Gielgud, Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian Holm, Dirk Bogarde and Susannah York. By fusing the surreal with the factual and juxtaposing savagely funny satire with quiet sorrow, Attenborough has created the oddest and most outstanding film ever made about the "game" that became World War One.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36108 in DVD
• Brand: ALNUTT,WENDY
• Released on: 2006-11-07
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 144 minutes

Amazon.com
It's a product of its Vietnam era just as surely as Robert Altman's M*A*S*H, and like that film Oh! What a Lovely War is ostensibly about a different war. Based on a celebrated anti-war stage piece produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, the film chronicles the various madnesses of the First World War. Along with vignettes involving the members of the fictional Smith family, the movie lands its punches with a two-pronged attack: by using the songs of the war, mostly patriotic; and by using the real-life words of various figures from WWI. You can see how this would have fit a stylized stage show; in the more literal, realistic realm of film, it mostly comes across as heavy-handed pretentiousness. Richard Attenborough, who would later explore the lives of Gandhi and Chaplin, first made his way to the director's chair here, and he enlisted a staggering who's who of his fellow British actors for roles in the large ensemble: Olivier, Gielgud, and Richardson among them. John Mills plays the most bull-headed of the generals, blithely measuring out yards of territory gained by the thousands of casualties involved. The songs are a historically fascinating lot, mostly given an ironic or sinister treatment in this incarnation, as jolly patriotic tunes that mask the utter carnage at the front. Among the high points is Maggie Smith singing (well, declaiming) an ode to recruitment, promising war as a grand adventure. The blending of arch content with Attenborough's realistic staging of trench warfare just doesn't take, but what does hit home are the actual quotes and the statistics of killing; World War I set a bloody standard for sheer, blind slaughter. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

A work of genius
"Oh! What a Lovely War" takes on nothing less than the immense task of encapsulating the entirety of World War One into two and a half hours. This is a story of courage and sacrifice beyond comprehension, and of stupidity and heartlessness on a truly monumental scale. But the courage and sacrifice are not, as in the usual telling of tales, that of a handful of heroes, but of an entire generation. And the stupidity and heartlessness belong to the military and world leaders of the day. As monarchs, generals, and politicians wallow in luxury and privilege, the ordinary soldier wallows in mud - and brutal death. This is a story that will make you gasp and cry `never again.' And you know your cry is in vain.

A notice after the opening screen credits states something that must be kept in mind throughout the film: "The principal statements made by the historical characters in this film are based on documentary evidence, and the words of the songs are those sung by the troops during the First World War." Therefore, to underscore the absurdity of an international effort that did its utmost to murder an entire generation, much of the dialogue of the historical characters, comfortably ensconced away from the fighting, sounds absurd. Is it really possible, for example, that General Haig, after considering the huge loss of life on both sides, could have said something like "in the end, the Germans will have five thousand men and we will have ten thousand, so we will have won"?. Apparently so.

The men in the trenches, on the other hand, had the unenviable choice of facing probable death or mutilation on the battlefield, or facing the firing squad for cowardice if they deserted. They express themselves in the memorable songs of the day, many of which are rich in gallows humor ("hanging on the old barbed wire" is one cheerful refrain). But despite its gruesome themes, there is not one drop of blood in the film: when death comes, it arrives in the form of a bright red poppy.

Those who cannot relate to epochal events except through the eyes of a circumscribed set of characters may have trouble with this film. And some may find frivolous a film that depicts human tragedy through upbeat song and dance numbers (all of which are wonderfully staged and performed). But recall that the words sung are those of the actual participants in the unfolding tragedy. "We're here because we're here because we're here" underscores the troops' view of the meaningless sacrifice. If their impious words set to beloved hymns seem offensive, perhaps it is because when life is at its bleakest, humor can help save one's sanity.

This film, directed by the great Richard Attenborough, is a work of genius; it delivers a message that is all-too-relevant for our times.

AT LAST!! A Thought Provoking Musical
I first saw this film on the big screen in London when it was first released. I have been waiting for this film to appear on any video format for years. I can only hope that this is not the edited version. Shown on television only rarely and severely edited the film loses its sarcastic wit and anti-war feelings.
The very idea of setting a musical retelling of the WWI, from the English point of view, on Brighton Pier's Fun Fair is audacious to say the least. "England Put the Kibasch on the Kaiser" truly begins the fun and shock. Maggie Smith's appearance as a Music Hall star is wonderful as she exhorts the troops to sign up. All of the songs, excepting the title one are from the era and provide enough feeling to swamp your feelings. Hooray! I shall use it in class Winter Quarter. It will be a revelation to those who have not seen it!

If You Buy Only One DVD In Your Lifetime............
Yes, I know it is a hackneyed old cliche but in this case, entirely correct. I first saw this movie in the Cinema in London's Kilburn during it's first run in the late Sixties. About halfway through it some people got up and left, feeling that it was abusive to the memory of those who gave their lives in that War to end all Wars. How wrong they were. The Movie is a masterpiece in every respect. The sheer stupidity, the waste of that generation are both self evident on screen. Note the beautiful Maggie Smith when viewed from a distance in the Theatre, note again how thick the make up when we are on stage with her "Taking the shilling". The other face of war. The final scene on the glorious South Downs as the camera pulls back to reveal the hillside is breathtaking and at once heartbreaking. In all the times I have seen this movie, I have yet to watch the whole of this scene without a flood of tears filling my eyes. Do I remember which lovely young girl I took to see it in 1969? Sadly no. Have I ever forgotten the movie? No.