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| Reds (Special 25th Aniversary Edition) | 
| Actors: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Phil Brown, Noel Davis
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $11.00
You Save: $8.99 (45%)
New (34) Collectible (1) from $11.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  109 reviews
Sales Rank: 8609
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Finnish (Original Language), French (Original Language), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Running Time: 195 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PARD013314D
UPC: 097360133141
EAN: 0097360133141
ASIN: B000GG4Y32
Theatrical Release Date: December 4, 1981
Release Date: October 17, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
Warren Beatty's lengthy 1981 drama about American Communist John Reed and his relationships with both the Russian Revolution and a writer named Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) is a compelling piece of little-known history told in a uniquely personal way. Beatty plays Reed as he did the title gangster in Bugsy and Senator in Bulworth, as a visionary likely to die before anyone fully recognizes the progressiveness of the vision, including those who are supposed to be on the same page. Jack Nicholson has an interesting part as fellow intellectual Eugene O'Neill, and the late author Jerzy Kosinski--himself a refugee from then-Soviet-controlled Poland--makes a strong impression as Reed's problematic Russian liaison. --Tom Keogh
Amazon.com
In some ways, Warren Beatty's 195-minute film about the radical movement at the beginning of the 20th century is the last Hollywood studio epic. A peerless reporter, John Reed, mixes with the intellectuals of the time who see socialism as the answer to end what would become the First World War. As with epics, we go on a journey--from Portland to New York to Europe and finally Russia--just in time to witness the revolution that would make Reed famous upon publishing "Ten Days That Shook the World." But Reed had more ambition, and Beatty's ambition is splendidly captured on the screen, matched by a tremendous cast and stunning visuals (shot by Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro). Reds doesn't have the action or vistas as a David Lean epic, but travels on the road less taken--here, seeing the birth of communism. Beatty and Trevor Griffiths lace their talky script of ideas with plenty of humor and fashion a poignant love story. Reed's infatuation with the rebel without a cause, Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton), turns into a love triangle with playwright Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson at his most sublime). As Brooks becomes more complex and stalwart, the love story becomes something more. Keaton is perfect in following the arc of Brooks, just another spot-on casting decision by Beatty. Also impressive is Oscar winner Maureen Stapleton as feisty activist Emma Goldman and author Jerzy Kolinsky (Being There) as a Russian diplomat. The boldest stroke is hearing from real "witnesses" talking about the times. They are funny, poetic, deft, provide musical accompaniment and, most importantly, expertly set up scenes. The uninitiated will learn about this time in remarkable fashion; the cineaste can marvel in the ground Beatty covers, never better then a montage ending first half as Reed and Brooks are literally swept up in the revolution. Beatty states at the top of the DVD extras he's not a big fan of talking about a movie (and did no publicity for the film upon its release in 1981). So there is no commentary track, just an expertly produced 90-minute retrospective with interviews from most of the major players, minus Keaton. We find out why Beatty's best performances are the ones he doesn't direct, while Nicholson provides the reason why Beatty had to star. Beatty talks about the process to interview the witnesses, and when we see bits of unused footage, it whets the appetite for more. Certainly, an hour of witness outtakes would have been something special, and would allow Beatty not to speak about his masterpiece. --Doug Thomas
Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 10/10/2006
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| Customer Reviews: Read 104 more reviews...
 Smug communist propaganda and boring at that October 1, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
"Reds" is an irritatingly self-satisfied film telling the story of two unbelievably selfish and naive American communists John Reed and Louise Bryant (played by a smug Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton).
Since the film was made in 1981 communism has fallen rendering the fledgling communist movement in the US - and this film - largely irrelevent and reinforcing how naive and misguided people like John Reed and his colleagues were - one can't help but be disgusted as one watches the film at how they were prepared to look the other way as the Bolsheviks tyrannised the Russian population.
The low budget look of the film, combined with its mediocre actors and gargantuan length (188 minutes) give "Reds" the feel of one of those 80s mini-series. Only Jack Nicholson as writer Eugene O'Neill gives it any spark. Smug communist propaganda and boring at that.
 Magnificent achievement September 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While this is ostensibly about the Russian Revolution, it is really about unbounded youthful enthusiasm and the ultimate brick wall it hits when experience sets in. Ignorance, youth and over-confidence are a lethal combination. Made shortly after the similar youthful outburts of the 1960s, the movie could easily have used that backdrop for the same purpose.
The revolution began with high hopes and sank into an Orwellian slough, just as many of the 1960s visionaries became the conservative suburbanites of the following decades. The supposed father of the Russian Revolution was Karl Marx, but in short order all that remained of him was his poster picture--because his ideals, as John Reed and Louise Bryant would discover, were impossible, e.g., the abolition of all private property.
Reed died early, before the purges, before the advent of Stalin--who would probably have killed Reed. Bryant lived on, married a U.S. ambassador and lived in Paris, where her scandalous behavior was of a different sort. The movie doesn't go into all that, any more than "Hair" went into the rise of Ronald Reagan.
The acting in this movie is superb, flawless. The use of witnesses is especually effective, although I wish they had been labeled. I recognized some but not all of them.
This is a movie that has stayed with me since I first saw it more than 25 years ago. It felt just as fresh upon seeing it again yesterday.
yes September 21, 2008
not much yu can say. reds was probably one of or the greatest films of all times.
One of few July 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first saw this within a month of its release in 1981-1982 (came out over 1981 holidays.)
When the video was released in the 80s, I was thankful.
After watching it about every month, and more now, I have no doubt Reds is up there with Last Tango in Paris, The Third Man, The Maltese Falcon. In short it might be on many critics' list of Ten Best Films ever.
I do not overestimate. Everything is perfect.
The most nuanced, detailed, politically sophisticated movie on the Russian Revolution ever July 1, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm an undergraduate in history at Harvard, and I've studied the Russian Revolution with some degree of depth, but all the books in the world could never succeed in doing what "Reds" did for me, which was truly to give me a feeling for what it FELT like to experience those events. The political atmosphere, the material environments, all of these are meticulously (and rather accurately) reproduced, and all of this is combined with a compelling narrative propelled by difficult personal and political choices that the main characters must make.
(Examples: Support Woodrow Wilson or not? Struggle for the revolution in the USA or Russia? Concerning the Russian workers, whether going on strike will be a betrayal of their Russian soldiers and American allies, or whether that would be a comradely gesture that would set an example and ignite revolution around the whole world? Accept the Bolshevik rationalizations for their dictatorial ways, or reject the Bolsheviks? Etc. The movie doesn't just pose such questions; the movie shows how ordinary people (soldiers, workers), as well as the main characters, wrestled with these questions, and the window into this history that the movie provides is simply fascinating.)
That's what truly makes the movie work: the detail and sophistication given to the intricate political questions. For these, the movie does not prescribe normative answers, only a view to how these particular characters responded. I really do not understand the reviews arguing that "Reds" glorifies communism or the Soviet Union. Reds includes plenty of hard-hitting skepticism and criticism of communism and the Soviet Union from the likes of Emma Goldman, Jack Nicholson's O'Neill, and some of the documentary-style witnesses. It would have been much easier to make a movie that hammers a single, unified message into the viewer, but "Reds" doesn't do that. Throughout, the movie constantly confronts the characters and viewers with tough questions: was the revolution worth it? Are Reed and Bryant deluding themselves, as O'Neill claims? Which comes first, revolution or love? Are they mutually exclusive? What does it take for a person like Reed to balance between being an objective journalist, a creative artist, a partisan for his true political feelings, and a lover to his wife? Questions like these (that the film never definitely tries to solve for the viewer) are what keep the viewer gripped to the movie and make every minute of the 3 and a half-hour movie worth it. The only thing that this movie demands from the viewer is an open mind, and unfortunately it seems that that is too much to ask from some viewers.
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