SEINFELD BLOG

Alphaville - Criterion Collection

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 9780780021549
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 0780021541
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Pan & Scan
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 27, 1998
Running Time: 99 minutes
Sales Rank: 11695
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: 1965

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Editorial Review:

Description:
A cockeyed fusion of science fiction, pulp characters, and surrealist poetry, Godard's irreverent journey to the mysterious Alphaville remains one of the least conventional films of all time. Eddie Constantine stars as intergalactic hero Lemmy Caution, on a mission to kill the inventor of fascist computer Alpha 60. Criterion's edition of this seminal film features a new digital transfer.

Amazon.com essential video:
As the French New Wave was reaching its maturity and filmgoing had evolved as a favorite pastime of intellectuals and urban sophisticates, along came Jean-Luc Godard to shake up every convention and send highfalutin critics scrambling to their typewriters. 1965's Alphaville is a perfect example of Godard's willingness to disrupt expectation, combine genres, and comment on movies while making sociopolitical statements that inspired doctoral theses and left a majority of viewers mystified. Part science fiction and part hard-boiled detective yarn, Alphaville presents a futuristic scenario using the most modern and impersonal architecture that Godard could find in mid-'60s Paris. A haggard private eye (Eddie Constantine) is sent to an ultramodern city run by a master computer, where his mission is to locate and rescue a scientist who is trapped there. As the story unfolds on Godard's strictly low-budget terms, the movie tackles a variety of topics such as the dehumanizing effect of technology, willful suppression of personality, saturation of commercial products, and, of course, the constant recollection of previous films through Godard's carefully chosen images. For most people Alphaville, like many of the director's films, will prove utterly baffling. For those inclined to dig deeper into Godard's artistic intentions, the words of critic Andrew Sarris (quoted from an essay that accompanies the Criterion Collection DVD) will ring true: 'To understand and appreciate Alphaville is to understand Godard, and vice versa.' --Jeff Shannon




Rating: - The big computer
The action in Alphaville is set in a future where everything is run by the big computer Alpha 60. ... Read More

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Rating: - 2.5 Stars, Not an Easy Watch
"Alphaville", an acknowledged high point of New Wave film, is billed as a must see for its genre-bending ... Read More

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Rating: - Boring
This movie is super super dull. Very artsy, weak plot, dadaistic dialogue, nothing but two hours of meaningless ... Read More

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Rating: - One of the most unique, moving, and poetic science fiction films ever made...
This film really doesn't get as much attention as it should. I was recently watching clips of this on youtube, ... Read More

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Rating: - Brainwashed Drones
Lately I have been interested in watching films that have a strong leftist political feel to them. In the realm ... Read More

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