Gosford Park [DVD]

We have watched this film several times on DVD, with respect for Altman and the actors growing each time. But the sound really is a drawback--it is often impossible to hear what has been said and with such a complicated plot, this is a real handicap. With the help of online plot summaries, one can get the idea, but why can't we hear it for ourselves?

This should be a five star rating for a great film and a great DVD edition, but the absence of subtitles is quite inexcusable for a dialogue based film like this which is targeted at a mature audience and will appeal to elderly viewers. Hence the four star rating.The plot centers around a murder during a house party on a large English country estate. The story is rather slow in developing, and it is told, interestingly, from the point of view of the numerous servants in the household. And while the murder mystery is mildly interesting (and well thought through to the end) the real attraction of the film is the stellar cast, both of the gentry upstairs (Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Michael Gambon, Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam and many more) and their servants down below (Alan Bates as the head butler, Helen Mirren as the competent house keeper, Eileen Atkins as the cook, Kelly MacDonald as lady's maid and Ryan Philippe as valet to mention just a few).The real fun here is seeing all the greats of British stage and screen acting, with the odd overseas talent in a suitably 'exotic' role thrown in for good measure, strut their stuff. The dynamics of the large household with all its rules and conventions are well observed with all the actors doing wonderful work portraying their characters' idosyncrasies and mannerisms.The DVD includes the following extra features: - Director's Commentary with Robert Altman - The Making of 'Gosford Park' featurette - The Authenticity of 'Gosford Park' featurette (with retired servants who acted as expert advisers for the film) - Cast and Filmmaker Q & A Session (featuring Robert Altman, Helen Mirren, Kelly MacDonald, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Ryan Philippe) - Deleted Scenes - Trailer

Always liked this film, watched quite a few times, nice music with well known actors. If you like Downton Abbey you may like this. There is a scene where they are out shooting and they are really shooting so birds are being shot and falling fluttering out of the sky so that isn't pleasant unless you like watching actual killing. It doesn't last ages but it lasted long enough that for certain ones watching, they were upset and the film was turned off at that point which was a shame as it's worth watching, I would suggest fast forwarding this part if it's too much, good to be forewarned. There are no subtitles which could do with being rectified. When purchasing pride and prejudice there was the same issue. I don't know why amazon version doesn't have them but if I had a dvd player I'd have purchased the dvd for that option alone.

When I saw that a 2021 film was £8 I thought OK fair enough, I'll go for it. I quite liked the movie but was puzzled by how young the stars looked (Helen Mirren etc.) but all became clear at the end of the film when the credits came up - this film was made in TWO THOUSAND AND ONE !!! 2001 !! £8 for a 20 year old film? I feel cheated. The film itself was totally spoilt by the arrival of Stephen Fry as a ridiculously camp & thick detective straight out of a "Carry On" comedy - not remotely in keeping with the rest of the cast or the movie. The actors that had scenes with him looked noticeably uncomfortable.

Very disappointed with the sound quality. I saw this film when it came out 16 years ago and enjoyed it. However, I could not understand what they were saying on this DVD, I am a native English speaker, with good hearing. There were no sub-titles. Consequently I fell asleep.

Typically stellar cast, beautiful setting and costumes, but at a complete loss as to tell you how this was nominated for seven (!!) Oscars aside from the aesthetic aspects. I have watched this movie twice and am still baffled as to the conclusion, since the second half seems as if it was rushed. Far too many convoluted side-stories that became both exhausting and irritating to follow, and post-homicide everyone seemed as though they were hastening to finish the entire story because they'd lost interest in it themselves. Also quite surprising and disappointing to see Stephen Fry in what can only be described as 'pantomime detective' mode.

when this movie came out it was FABULOUS and this was the reason why I was prepared to rent it .... but times have changed and I am sorry to say , that THIS FILM IS NOT WORTH RENTING or BUYING ..Blame Downton Abbey for making this film now look dull and boring ... even so there is a murder - BUT it isnt really exciting , leaves quite a few open questions...DONT RENT OR BUY--- if you can watch it free - TRY IT ..

I ordered this Blu-ray version to replace a previously owned issue on standard DVD. For my own part, thedifference in visual quality wasn't that apparent and the disc had a continuity hiccup with the temporaryloss of sub-titles during playing. The film itself provided its own brand of pre-Downton Abbey pleasures,not least watching a class cast do their bit to entertain us mere mortals, including the fictional presenceof the composer Ivor Novello, played with elegant conviction by Jeremy Northam singing some of his songs.