A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Yano Anaya, Peter Billingsley

A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Yano Anaya, Peter Billingsley | Ho ho ho! Ultimate Collector's Editions due out November 4th, 2008, comparison here

DVDs:

A Christmas Story ...

	A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition) Yano Anaya, Peter Billingsley Warner Home Video, 2003 average customer review:based on 500 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This delightfully funny holiday gem tells the story of Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsly) a 1940's nine-year-old who pulls out all the stops to obtain the ultimate Christmas present.Running Time: 98 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 012569576421

This is "THE" Christmas Classic Movie In Our House!

"A Christmas Story" is by far my family's favorite holiday movie! Our VHS tape wore out and we had to replace it with this DVD. We watch it at least twice during the Christmas season and once or twice in the summer. We also find ourselves quoting some of the classic lines all year round!

Based on great book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, this movie captures the mania that built up around Christmas in almost every child in a more innocent age. The sub plots are well conceived and wonderfully woven into the story.

HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!

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Ho ho ho! Ultimate Collector's Editions due out November 4th, 2008, comparison here

New Ultimate editions of A Christmas Story are coming out in standard definition and Blu-ray. It appears from the announcement that each will repackage the current version with special memorabilia. So, the standard DVD Ultimate edition will have the same DVDs as the 2003 2-disc Special Edition, and the Blu-ray Ultimate edition will have the same DVD as the 2006 Blu-ray. In addition, they'll have these non-DVD extras:

-- a collectible retro Christmas cookie tin (the container for the set)
-- 48-page cookbook with recipes inspired by the movie
-- photos and quotes from the movie
-- a red chef's apron with an A Christmas Story logo on it
-- 5 collectible cookie cutters "in iconic Christmas Story shapes" (looks like a star, a house, a leg lamp, Ralphie in his bunny suit, and what may be Peking Duck)

And the Blu-ray will have an exclusive strand of leg-lamp Christmas lights (see the Blu-ray page for a photo, the second thumbnail). Pretty cute.

There's nothing in the studio press release that indicates the new editions will be remastered.

The 2-disc Special Edition from 2003 and the Blu-ray from 2006 both have the same DVD special features, which are shared by the Ultimate editions:

-- audio commentary by director/co-writer Bob Clark and star Peter Billingsley (Ralphie)
-- two readings by Jean Shepard, author and narrator for the movie (audio only)
-- Another Christmas Story featurette, includes interviews with Clark and a few members of the cast
-- Get a Leg Up featurette, about the making and ongoing sale of the (in)famous leg lamp
-- A History of the Daisy Red Ryder featurette, on the object of great desire's actual history
-- Triple Dog Dare Interactive Trivia
-- Decoder Match Challenge
-- easter eggs (including an actual ad for the leg lamp)
-- original theatrical trailer

The video quality of the 2003 standard DVD release is fairly good, a bit soft, with good mono sound. It includes both the original 1.85:1 widescreen format (anamorphic) and full screen versions. The Blu-ray from 2006 is soft-looking for a hi-def version, with fairly good color and the same mono sound.

Now, about the really good stuff, the movie. A Christmas Story is that odd film that appeals to a cross-section of viewers who often can't agree on what to watch. Fans of sweet Christmas cheer are happily joined by people with a more jaundiced eye to the holiday. To be sure, the movie leans more to the sweet than the sour, but it has enough edge and good-natured twistedness to please some of our darker Christmas angels too. It conveys a genuinely warm nostalgia and some sharp, sometimes pretense-deflating observations about human nature.

The story is set at some indefinite time around 1940 in an Indiana town approaching the holidays. Young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants only one thing for Christmas, the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action 200-Shot Lightning Loader Range Model Air Rifle with a compass in the stock. (That is, a BB gun, a very particular one.) He plans carefully well in advance how to lay the groundwork for this while avoiding the dreaded rebuff, but almost everyone says it anyway: "You'll put your eye out!" The relentless struggle for the one true gift develops alongside several other small stories and amusing details, a tongue-on-frozen-pole triple-dog dare, facing the local bully, the notorious leg lamp, the Santa slide, Peking Duck for Christmas, and several others, each memorable in itself.

The actors aren't very well known, but they're all just right. There is narration throughout, representing an older Ralphie, done by the originator of the story, Jean Shepard, also just right.

This movie, made in 1983, has gradually become a favorite Christmas classic, now shown in an annual 24-hour Christmas marathon on cable, which attracts a huge number of viewers. If you've never seen it, give it a try, even if you have a little Scrooge in you, and you'll probably enjoy it. If you're a big fan, or know one, you might want the memorabilia with one of the new Ultimate editions for yourself or a gift. If you don't care about such extras, just get one of the older editions.

There are Amazon pages to pre-order the Ultimate editions here (standard DVD) and here (Blu-ray).

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A must see classic!!!

My wife first saw this movie when she was a teenager....she saw it again when it appeared on Cable and recorded it :)Sadly, we moved and had to give the Cable/DVR box back, so we lost it...so I re-ordered it here on Amazon.com.If you only every see ONE Christmas movie, make it this one!!! You will NOT be disappointed!!!

Best Christmas movie ever!

I have this movie in the full screen edition and am looking to upgrade to the Blu-ray edition. I watch this movie over and over between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it gets me in the holiday spirit. A Christmas classic that everyone should own.

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christmas cult classic

I love this movie from the 1st time I saw it (over 20 yrs ago). It truley is't the holidays untill you have watch this movie on TV or DVD.

Great laughs many viewings later with so many memorable moments. But I don't beleive in spoilers so I won't mention them for the 1 or 2 poor souls out there who have not had the pleasure of enjoying this movie with a hot cup of cocoa.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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