Eddie and the Cruisers

Eddie and the Cruisers
by Martin Davidson

Eddie and the Cruisers
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $10.49
You Save: $3.51 (25%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $1.95 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Helen Schneider, Joe Pantoliano, Matthew Laurance, Michael Par??, Tom Berenger
Director: Martin Davidson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-09-04
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)

DVD Reviews of Eddie and the Cruisers

DVD Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars

Though I was a teen in the 80s, I never saw Eddie and the Cruisers until recently. I enjoyed John Cafferty's hit songs from the soundtrack years ago and wanted to like the movie. Sadly, I didn't think much of the movie and doubt I would have even when I was 14 years old at the time of its release. The story is quite unbelievable, particularly toward the end when a series of events revolves around main characters re-visiting a fantastical junkyard that has remained totally undisturbed for decades. The writing is cheesy, the acting is weak, and the characters are paper thin. The film also suffers from major sins as a music-themed movie. The lip syncing by the lead actor is overwrought and unconvincing and Tom Berenger looks ludicrous bopping exaggeratedly behind the piano he's obviously not playing though we're supposed to believe he is. Everything about the movie is merely average and its only likely appeal is nostalgia for those who saw it years ago and associate it with happy 80s memories.

DVD Review: The fate of the artist
Summary: 4 Stars

"Eddie and the Cruisers" isn't a lost masterpiece, but it's a solid, thoughtful, enjoyable film about one of the great driving narratives of Western culture: The Artist Ahead Of His (or Her) Time, doomed to be ignored during life, then rediscovered after death. From William Blake to Nick Drake, we've seen this story repeated over & over ... and we'll see it many times again.

Yes, there's a touch of fantasy & wish fulfillment here -- but we're not dealing with a gritty, utterly realistic film. This is really parable & myth, after all. The references to Rimbaud, the quote from Wordsworth early in the film, the stylized look of some of the settings, the rock and roll legends evoked throughout -- it's all quite clear.

In which case, complaints about the music are beside the point. How can any soundtrack writer be told, "OK, we need something as good as Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony,' or Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue,' or Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks'?" Obviously that's just not possible. The faux-Springsteen songs are strong in their own right, but we should take them as stand-ins for the music that Eddie & Frank actually created, just as in Patricia Rozema's film "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing," glowing panes of framed light represent the magnificent paintings created by one of the characters.

The acting itself is quite good, with Tom Berenger negotiating a rather difficult role as Frank/Word Man: he's the main character, but he often has to stand at the side & simply observe events. He effectively conveys naive uncertainty in flashbacks to his younger days, and a wistful world-weariness as an older man. In fact, he's said that this was one of his favorite roles. Michael Par? makes a fine, brooding, fiery Eddie; singer Helen Schneider is sultry, vulnerable, seeing more than she lets on; and Joe Pantoliano is a slick, raspy-voiced delight. A young Ellen Barkin does what she can with a somewhat underwritten role.

Again, it's not a great film. But it is a very good, honorable & thoroughly entertaining film, with a final scene that still has the power to evoke chills after repeated viewings. You'll have to be open to the sort of story it's telling -- if so, you'll find that it's quite rewarding. Recommended!


DVD Review: The editorial review is BS
Summary: 5 Stars

Who is Tom Keogh and why does Amazon pay him? Eddie and the Cruisers is about invention and striving for excellence. It is about two great minds, Frank and Eddie, coming together to create something new. Eddie sees in Frank a great songwriter and uses his (Eddie's) leadership ability to put the words to music just right. This is a movie about ideas, values and friendship working toward a common goal. Cross your fingers and say 'words and music'. Then sit back and enjoy this wonderful movie.

DVD Review: Eddie and the Cruisers
Summary: 5 Stars

I was very satisfied with the price, preoduct condition, and prompt delivery. I would strongly recemend purchasing from Amazon.

DVD Review: My Second-Favorite Movie Of All Time
Summary: 5 Stars

A fantasy story about a Jersey bar-band that makes good, but TOO good! Great music by the Cafferty band. Includes "On The Dark Side". After you watch this, watch the sequel. Great fun!

Description of Eddie and the Cruisers

They say rock 'n' roll never dies, but one dark night in 1963, Eddie Wilson's car took a dive off aJersey bridge with the troubled rock idol at the wheel. His body was never found. Tom Berenger (Platoon), Michael Par?(c) (Streets of Fire) and Ellen Barkin (Sea of Love) star in this cool, compelling classic that really rocks! Twenty years after the lead singer (Par?(c)) of"Eddie and the Cruisers" disappeared, the band's songs are hotter than ever. And renewed interest in the band leads TV reporter Maggie Foley (Barkin) to pursue a tantalizing mystery: What if Eddie isstill alive? The circumstances surrounding his death are just shadowy enough to make it a distinct possibility, and someone (could it be Eddie?) has been ransacking the homes of surviving band members in a desperate search for tapes of the group's visionary, never-released album. As Maggie interviews the former "Cruisers," the pieces of the puzzle start to fit...but only until still deeper mysteries begin to surface.
Perhaps best known for its faux Springsteen soundtrack, the 1983 Eddie and the Cruisers is a rock lover's fantasy run wild. The story finds a reporter (Ellen Barkin) tracking down rumors of an unreleased album by a band whose charismatic leader (Michael Par?) allegedly died years before. As she approaches surviving members--who have since gone on to other things--she gets different points of view on Eddie's life and artistic drive, and the mystery about that album deepens. The trouble with the film is simple: it's impossible to accept. Michael Par? is far from suitable to play a Jersey shore rocker with thematic pretensions toward Rimbaud that go back to the '60s, and the soundtrack by John Cafferty sounds like a hack's rendition of E Street Band magic. An all-around embarrassment. --Tom Keogh

General DVDs

DVD Video
Bestsellers in General DVDs
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth Season ImageCSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Eighth Season
Release date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $43.99
Price in other shops: $84.98
Mad Men - Season One ImageMad Men - Season One
MAD MEN - SEASON 1 (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops: $49.98
The Unit - The Complete Third Season ImageThe Unit - The Complete Third Season
Release date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $25.50
Price in other shops: $39.98
Smallville - The Complete Seventh Season ImageSmallville - The Complete Seventh Season
Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $34.97
Price in other shops: $59.98
House, M.D. - Season Four ImageHouse, M.D. - Season Four
HOUSE: SEASON FOUR (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $28.99
Price in other shops: $59.98
Dexter - The Complete Second Season ImageDexter - The Complete Second Season
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $18.25
Price in other shops: $39.98
Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season ImageGrey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth Season
Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $31.00
Price in other shops: $59.99
John Adams (HBO Miniseries) ImageJohn Adams (HBO Miniseries)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $30.96
Price in other shops: $59.99
The Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition) ImageThe Dark Knight (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)
Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops: $28.98
The Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) ImageThe Dark Knight (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy)
Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops: $34.98
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Tough All Over ImageJohn Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band - Tough All Over
Release date: 1993-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $8.09
Price in other shops: $11.98
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! ImageEddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
Lions Gate/Live Home Video; Release date: 1990-01-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $16.98
Price in other shops: $89.98
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) / Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1988) (Totally Awesome 80s Double Feature) ImageEddie and the Cruisers (1983) / Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1988) (Totally Awesome 80s Double Feature)
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Idolmaker ImageThe Idolmaker
Release date: 2000-04-25; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops: $14.98
Streets Of Fire: A Rock & Roll Fable (1984 Film) ImageStreets Of Fire: A Rock & Roll Fable (1984 Film)
Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.17
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Philadelphia Experiment ImageThe Philadelphia Experiment
Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $4.09
Price in other shops: $9.98
Eddie & the Cruisers: The Unreleased Tapes ImageEddie & The Cruisers - Eddie & the Cruisers: The Unreleased Tapes
Release date: 1991-10-22; Music CD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops: $11.98
Eddie & the Cruisers 2: Eddie Lives! ImageJohn Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band - Eddie & the Cruisers 2: Eddie Lives!
Release date: 1990-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $6.84
Price in other shops: $11.98
Eddie & The Cruisers - Soundtrack ImageEddie & The Cruisers - Soundtrack
Release date: 1990-12-13; Music CD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops: $11.98
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! ImageEddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
Published: 2004; DVD
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops: $24.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners