A Christmas Story (Full Screen Edition)
Warner Home Video
| List Price: |
$19.98 |
| Amazon Price: |
$19.98 |
| Lowest New Price: |
$5.94 |
| Lowest Used Price: |
$4.25 |
| Total New: |
36 |
| Total Used: |
43 |
DVD Details:
- Starring: Yano Anaya, Peter Billingsley, Leslie Carlson, Melinda Dillon, Colin Fox
- Director: Bob Clark
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
- Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Theatrical Release Date: Nov 18, 1983
- DVD Release Date: Sep 26, 2000
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- ASIN: B00000JKNR
- UPC: 012569504424
- Sales Rank: 8033
Editorial Review from Product Description:
Set in Indiana during the 1940s; nine-year-old Ralphie desperately wants a Red Ryder BB-gun for Christmas, over his parents' objections.brbGenre: /bChristmasbrbRating: /bPGbrbRelease Date: /b27-SEP-2005brbMedia Type: /bDVD
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    Ho ho ho! Ultimate Collector's Editions due out November 4th, 2008, comparison here, 2008-07-16
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:
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br /-- a collectible retro Christmas cookie tin (the container for the set)
br /-- 48-page cookbook with recipes inspired by the movie
br /-- photos and quotes from the movie
br /-- a red chef's apron with an A Christmas Story logo on it
br /-- 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)
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br /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.
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br /There's nothing in the studio press release that indicates the new editions will be remastered.
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br /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:
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br /-- audio commentary by director/co-writer Bob Clark and star Peter Billingsley (Ralphie)
br /-- two readings by Jean Shepard, author and narrator for the movie (audio only)
br /-- Another Christmas Story featurette, includes interviews with Clark and a few members of the cast
br /-- Get a Leg Up featurette, about the making and ongoing sale of the (in)famous leg lamp
br /-- A History of the Daisy Red Ryder featurette, on the object of great desire's actual history
br /-- Triple Dog Dare Interactive Trivia
br /-- Decoder Match Challenge
br /-- easter eggs (including an actual ad for the leg lamp)
br /-- original theatrical trailer
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br /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.
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br /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.
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br /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.
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br /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.
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br /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.
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br /There are Amazon pages to pre-order the Ultimate editions here (standard DVD) and here (Blu-ray).
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