Funny Games
by Michael Haneke
List Price:
Our Price: $26.99
You Save: $2.96 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $12.28 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Arno Frisch, Frank Giering, Stefan Clapczynski, Susanne Lothar, Ulrich M?heDirector: Michael Haneke
Cinematographer: J?rgen J?rges
Writer: Michael Haneke
Editor: Andreas Prochaska
Producer: Veit Heiduschka
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language); German (Original Language), Unknown; Italian (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Kino Video
DVD Reviews of Funny Games
DVD Review: 3.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bottom Line:
So many films decry violence while simultaneously revelling in it (e.g. The Condemned) that it's refreshing to see a film that honestly takes on the topic of cinematic bloodshed; couple that to the fact that it's one of the most clever movies I've ever seen and this is a movie you're unlikely to ever forget.
DVD Review: Stressful, suspenseful, brutal and intense!
Summary: 4 Stars
This film starts off feeling very realistic. The dialogue is down to earth, and the characters act like normal people. The movie exponentially escalates into a suspenseful, violent, and intense experience that will leave you with a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
Watch this if you enjoy the thriller/horror genre and want to see something TRULY original. (Though the film has been remade at least once, and more recent movies such as "The Strangers" have borrowed elements from it.)
DVD Review: The only shock here is this film's smothering self-righteousness.
Summary: 2 Stars
After watching Funny Games, I cannot comprehend the reasons for which people are upset and appalled. During my viewing, I kept hoping this movie would live up to its visceral reputation, but it was stuffy, stolid, and moved much too slow. I understand Haneke wants to manipulate the audience into feeling guilty as active participants in senseless torture, but with this film as the catalyst for such emotion? Really? Am I supposed to feel bad for these exceedingly pretentious people? The family is obnoxious--especially the impotent father and emotionally overwrought mother. I wanted them to suffer the second they began guessing opera singers and classical composers in their luxury vehicle. There were many opportunities where escape was possible, even easy, seeing as the captors were skinny, initially weaponless, prep school boys. Their entry into the home was even less comprehendible. Who the hell puts up with that from a complete stranger? I would have been too cheap to even give out my eggs, anyway. In all, I felt absolutely no sympathy for the family--and at least hoped their torture would be acerbic and compelling. Instead, I was subjected to the most genteel, accommodating, and BORING torture/murder ever. Their games could have been more inventive too. Far worse things could have happened to that family, and do happen to people every day in the news. The only shock is how self-righteous Michael Haneke is with this material. I'll admit it, I enjoy violence in cinema--but I don't feel bad about it, and the director's attempt to change that failed.DVD Review: Well-Made, but Sick
Summary: 2 Stars
It is hard to fathom the point of this twisted tale. Surely it can provide some entertainment for sadists, but beyond that? Is there supposed to be some point about outsiders taking out their bitterness on that lynchpin of a mainstream society, the typical nuclear family? Or is it simply a cinema verite tale of sadistic manipulation and violence? Or does the writer-director want to remind us of the persistence of evil, even in the happy domain of bourgeois people on summer vacation? This is a coldly presented, intelligently made horror film that wants to mess with your head and leave you feeling bad about things. The most interesting moment occurs toward the end, when Haneke literally hits the rewind button and denies the audience the satisfaction of seeing one of the psychos get what he deserves. Very clever - but still repulsive.DVD Review: This was so well done it was almost boring
Summary: 5 Stars
You know that the 2 boys are playing cat and mouse with their victims. Take out the male first, kill the dog, kill the boy, and when their good and ready they'll come back and finish the job. I don't think it was robbery, I think these two creeps where from wealthy family's themselves, and know the area, I don't know if they had any accomplices, and they seemed to be on college summer break, they were well dressed they didn't have any baggage with them so they may have lived in the area. What really bothered me is how passive the victims were. And did anyone ask why they were wearing gloves? Big Red Flag! And these are wealthy people in what looked like an exclusive gated summer community, no security systems? They only have 1 cell phone? Gimmie a break. And when the wife did escape she runs directly into the two psyco's instead of hiding in the brush and going to the neighbors, quietly, to look for a working phone or get in her car and go get help. You have to think, these guys aren't going to let us live, they already killed the dog and the boy, and probably their neighbors, so you got nothing to loose, take a chance. I really enjoyed this movie, of course one never knows what you'd do in the same situation. Enjoy!
Description of Funny Games
Studio: Kino International Release Date: 03/11/2008 Run time: 104 minutesIt is impossible to have a neutral opinion about the Austrian thriller Funny Games--a movie so relentless in its ability to shock that it gained pariah status on the film festival circuit in 1997. In the warped tradition of A Clockwork Orange, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and Blue Velvet, this is a film--directed with electrifying audacity by Munich-born Michael Haneke--that addresses the controversy of screen violence by making the viewer as guilty as the Leopold and Loeb-like killers who terrorize a young family of three during their summer vacation. They arrive as friendly neighbors, seducing the family with phony congeniality, but soon Funny Games reveals its devious strategy, turning savage and appalling... and completely captivating for those who can endure the terror. There's actually less violence than you'd see in a typical American horror flick such as Scream, but Haneke's forceful staging effectively fulfills his agenda of viewer complicity; we vividly experience this doomed family's fate and feel helpless to save them. So helpless, in fact, that Haneke dares to offer a hint of respite by giving a victim the upper hand, only to "replay" the same scene with the darkest of outcomes. Funny Games is guaranteed to outrage some viewers with its manipulative schemes, but there's no denying the film's visceral impact, generated by Haneke's expert handling of a superior cast. Don't even think of allowing anyone under age?17 to watch this film; all others should proceed with caution. --Jeff Shannon
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Life Is BeautifulRelease date: 1999-11-09; DVD
Best price: $9.28
Price in other shops:
I've Loved You So LongSony; Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $15.01
Price in other shops:
AmelieTAUTOU,AUDREY; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $11.17
Price in other shops:
Pan's LabyrinthWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $2.37
Price in other shops:
Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series)BINOCHE,JULIETTE; Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops:
MartyrsRelease date: 2009-04-28; DVD
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops:
Tell No OneMPI; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate GiftUltimate; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Let The Right One InRelease date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
Slumdog MillionaireTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $10.40
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Inside (Unrated)WELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Them (a.k.a. Ils)MPI; Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $13.64
Price in other shops:
Before the Devil Knows You're DeadImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-04-15; DVD
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2008-08-26; DVD
Best price: $28.03
Price in other shops:
There Will Be BloodPARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-04-08; DVD
Best price: $11.96
Price in other shops:
Let The Right One InRelease date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
Cache (Hidden)Sony; Release date: 2006-06-27; DVD
Best price: $5.72
Price in other shops:
No Country for Old MenRelease date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $5.54
Price in other shops:
Benny's VideoRelease date: 2006-05-16; DVD
Best price: $18.52
Price in other shops:
Funny Games (2008)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops: