Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 14-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18612 in DVD
• Brand: JONES,TOMMY LEE
• Released on: 2008-08-05
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 157 minutes

Amazon.com
Although Gary Gilmore had a pitiful life, it was enough of an American story gone bad to give Normal Mailer a platform for a grand, strange, utterly compelling book: The Executioner's Song, published in 1979. Mailer's literary collaborator, Lawrence Schiller, made the book into a TV-movie (with Mailer scripting), a landmark for its frankness and the general excellence of its acting. Gilmore is brought to vivid life by Tommy Lee Jones, who electrified audiences with his insightful work (this, coming shortly after Coal Miner's Daughter, was one of the roles that really put Jones on the map). Even more revelatory was Rosanna Arquette, virtually unknown at the time, whose role as Gilmore's girlfriend and "guardian angel" instantly put her on the A-list. The heat the two actors generate goes a long way toward establishing their unholy bond, credibility the film absolutely needs in order to work; watch them in an early scene where Gilmore describes the mystical nature of their connection, and you see two actors working at an uncanny level. The approach overall is plain, but that might be why the movie is so effective. This version, advertised as the "Director's Cut," is a curious amalgam of the movie's other versions; the original U.S. TV cut, which stretched out over two nights, and a European cut that included nudity and unexpurgated language. This one is 135 minutes long, has the language, but not the nudity--a swifter-moving entity than either of the previous films. It can't really be called a definitive issue, although the power of the material still comes through. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

two versions
A well-acted film, with one of Tommy Lee Jones' most compelling performances. There are two versions of the film, though: a censored U.S. tv print, and an uncensored, edgier rest-of-the-planet version. The one shown recently on Universal's HD channel is the censored version, which probably doesn't bode well for us getting the complete print.
MUCH LATER: as you can probably tell from the other reviews, this release, allegedly the director's cut, is the US tv version. On the plus side, the transfer is very good - better than any version I've seen.

This "Director's Cut" Is An Outrage
For many years, I'd been hoping to see "The Executioner's Song" released on DVD. But now that it's finally available, the result is extremely disappointing.

A "director's cut" usually indicates that a movie has had footage ADDED to it. But Lawrence Schiller has done the unimaginable and ripped 50 minutes from his three-hour film! I mean, WHY? Did Schiller actually believe that anyone would be happy to see nearly one-third of "Executioner's Song" hacked away?!

For anyone who is familiar with this movie (either from the VHS version or broadcast viewings), watching Schiller's "director's cut" is a very frustrating experience since none of the many deleted scenes were superfluous to the film!

In addition, the total lack of any extras on this DVD is another big disappointment. I'd have gladly paid more to see a "making of" documentary or interviews with the principal actors (who are all still living 26 years after the production of this movie).

"The Executioner's Song" was one of the very best made-for-TV films of the 1980s and deserved far better than the cheap, hack-job of a DVD release it's gotten. I would advise a search for the VHS version--and then enjoy "The Executioner's Song" as is was meant to be seen.

Please, Please Please bring it to DVD
I absoulutley love this movie and recently went searching to buy a copy only to be faced with having to a pay a minimum of $55.00 for a used copy. Please, Please, Please bring this movie to DVD. Its a classic and stars Tommy Lee Jones any other better reason ????