The documentary on the disc does a good job of demonstrating just how unique the tone of this story is, how it perfectly navigates between funny and sad. Not everyone in Hollywood saw the funny side when it was released, and it lost to ALL ABOUT EVE at that year's Oscars. So what? With this disc, SUNSET BOULEVARD is finally getting it's due.

Besides the documentary, you can read two screenplay drafts of an excised opening sequence, explore 1950's Hollywood with an interactive map and watch the film with audio commentary by a critic and historian. All these features are secondary, of course, to the movie. It looks gorgeous. The black and white picture is rich and crisp, the sound is re-mastered and the story is as compelling as ever. The special features only do what all good special features should do on a DVD. They add to the richness of the film. You may already know that Eric von Stroheim (who plays a character who directed Gloria Swanson's character in silent films) directed Gloria Swanson in silent films. But did you know that the drugstore where all the screenwriter's hang out in the movie is the drug store where F. Scott Fitzgerald had a heart attack in 1940? One of the reasons I love this movie is because it is so rich with Hollywood history.

I can't recommend this disc highly enough. Kudos to Columbia for doing right by a classic, a real film lover's film. I love this movie and I love this disc! 5/5 stars.


Excellent   March 16, 2001
 50 out of 54 found this review helpful

I first saw this film about a month ago expecting to see a campy, vampy classic the likes of which I hadn't seen since Mommie Dearest. Boy was I suprised! This film is not campy at all, it's a finely crafted work of art that fully engaged me in it's story of desperation. I was suprised by the richness and depth of characters all around, but espicailly by Norma Desmond. As over the top and outragous as Gloria Swanson is I never once didn't believe her. To achieve this level of believability and honesty from this character takes great craft. The story is dark and twisted with some new depth of character being revealed at the most suprising moments. Cinematography and lighting are astounding. I will never be able to forget the one close up shot of Norma on the movie set back lit by the sets lights. My breath was taken away and it was only one of many times.

Sunset Boulevard is a film that will stay with me forever and one that's become a classic for one really good reason: It's a flawless production.


SUPERB GOTHIC FAIRY TALE ROMANCE   January 22, 2003
 24 out of 28 found this review helpful

The greatest movie about Hollywood, SUNSET BOULEVARD is really a Gothic fairy tale about a not-so-innocent boy who gets lost in the woods and sells his soul to a witch. Former Golden Boy William Holden is dead-on (pun intended) as a down and out screenwriter who comes under the spell of Gloria Swanson's frozen in time silent star Norma Desmond.

The late great Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay (with Charles Brackett) and directed this must have 1950 masterpiece that has not lost one iota of its power to entertain and disturb.

The level of writing is superior and sustained. After they first meet, Holden says, "You used to be big." Swanson replies, "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." Holden mutters, "I knew there was something wrong with them."

Erich von Stroheim, who actually directed Swanson in the ill-fated Queen Kelly (1928), steals the show as Norma Desmond's faithful butler, protector (and first husband) Max.

Swanson's bold and daring performance was overlooked by the Academy but has since become iconic. She was only 53 when the film was made and close ups of her face reveal undamaged skin -- smooth, wrinkle-free and youthful (she was a health nut).

By the way, Desmond's house "in the 10,000 block of Sunset" was really the overgrown and empty home of one of J. Paul Getty's ex-wives a few blocks away on Wilshire. It's now a gas station.

The meticulous transfer is crisp and clean and the extras include a fascinating making of documentary and an insightful commentary by Wilder scholar Ed Sikov.


Dark and Addictive--Melodrama at its best!   May 7, 2000
 17 out of 19 found this review helpful

Simply put, this is the greatest movie ever. And Gloria Swanson gave the greatest film performance in thie movie. You forget your Bette Davises, your "All About Eve"s, your "Titanic"s, your Katharine Hepburns, your Jack Nicholsons, and your "Citizen Kane"s. This--Hollywood will never produce anything better.

A striking film, visually, emotionally, and in every sense, this is a dark, bitter, darkly comical study of what happens when a faded star (who was a bit out of touch with reality to begin with) clings a little too tightly to her gone days of fame. Gloria Swanson gives a phenomenally powerful, over-the-top performance as Norma Desmond, histrionic ex-silent film star. Bill Holden is fine as the down-and-out screenwriter from Dayton, Ohio, that accidentally gets mixed up with her. Max von Stroheim is magnificently creepy as Norma's devoted butler, and Nancy Olson is heartbreaking as the one innocent with no idea of the trouble that surrounds her.

Every frame is perfectly filmed, every image marverlously conveyed, every line wonderfully spouted. Nothing is wrong or out of place. And practically every line is a classic. Most remember the last line of the film's insane conclusion: Norma, finally completely descended into madness, sweeping dramatically down the grand staircase as cops, reporters, and even Hedda Hopper look on; the music swells to a deafening height, and Norma--with that deranged look in her eyes--breathes, "I'm ready for my closeup..." But the best line of all, and the line that symbolizes everything that stands for the golden days of Hollywood, is spoken when Joe recognizes Norma and makes the mistake of saying, "You used to be big." She eyes him bitterly, raises her chin, looks down her nose at him and cries, "I AM big! It's the PICTURES that got smaller!"

If you have to choose a movie to see one day, and can only choose one, don't let the opportunity go by. See this.


this DVD features proper aspect ratio !   December 5, 2002
 17 out of 18 found this review helpful

Despite some amateurs complaining about this film being in full screen (and not widescreen), please note that widescreens were only invented in 1953 - movies like this one (produced in 1950) were shot in a classic 1:1.33 format, thus naturally filling your old square TV screens. Releasing it in widescreen would actually cut image from the top and bottom, not show more image on the sides. Fullscreen, in this case, is spot on.