Ship of Fools

Ship of Fools
by Stanley Kramer

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Category: DVD
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DVD details

Actor: Jos? Ferrer, Lee Marvin, Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret, Vivien Leigh
Director: Stanley Kramer
Brand: LEIGH,VIVIEN
Cinematographer: Ernest Laszlo
Editor: Robert C. Jones
Writer: Katherine Anne Porter
Writer: Abby Mann
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 149 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-12-02
Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation

DVD Reviews of Ship of Fools

DVD Review: One of the best!
Summary: 5 Stars

One of the great classics about human vulnerabilities and how we deal with them. Sublime moments of humor and saddness. Just like life.

DVD Review: Very dull
Summary: 2 Stars

Exceedingly long, fairly slow, retread topics about rascism. A bunch of different types on a boat, an allegory for the world in the 1930s, foreshadoing the clash of WWII and other events to come. A lot of droning talk about Jews. Very slow and long movie. Emphasis on trite discussions about social classes. Obnoxious Germans. Dull diner table discussions on the cruise ship. Vivien Leigh gave a nice performance. A Jew and a midget assess the situations.

DVD Review: 2.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 3 Stars

The Bottom Line:

Ship of Fools tells the story of various passengers on an ocean liner heading for pre-WWII Nazi Germany by unwisely ignoring the more interesting sociopolitical themes in order to focus on the more leaden soap opera type interactions between the passengers; something of a forerunner to Irwin Allen's later blockbusters in this regard (though without a disaster) it's not a film to make time for.

DVD Review: Careful - Full Screen Rather than the Original Aspect Ratio
Summary: 1 Stars

I just received my DVD copy of Ship of Fools & was disappointed that it is presented in the hackneyed, butchered Standard/Full Screen rather than respecting the original aspect ratio. Such tampering/butchering should be illegal. It's not only a rippoff to the film's admires but its being sold without clearly warning the customer.

DVD Review: A real klunker: over-obvious and overlong
Summary: 2 Stars

A socially conscious would-be epic, from back in the days When Art Mattered. The story takes place on a German ocean liner in the early 1930s, traveling from Mexico back to Der Fatherland, with an all-star cast of Spaniards, Americans, Jews, drunks, dwarves, exiles, tortured artists and Germans -- both good and bad -- all sailing towards their date with Destiny. Honestly, I could only force myself to watch about two-thirds of the way through, and then I had to admit I was stone cold bored, and besides, the rental was already one day overdue and it was getting close to closing time. This isn't a bad movie, but its earnest, over-serious style of presentation felt very dated, and I could see where the plot was headed from a mile away. Some fine character actors, but kind of a lumpy, klunky script. (Axton)

Description of Ship of Fools

The interlocking stories of a group of people sailing from Mexico to pre-Nazi era Germany.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 2-DEC-2003
Media Type: DVD

An all-star drama in the grandest of Hollywood traditions, Ship of Fools is now a glossy, Oscar?-nominated relic from a bygone era, when actors were valued more than special effects. "Prestige" is the keyword in describing this high-toned Stanley Kramer production, and the passage of time brings the pros and cons of Kramer's filmmaking into stark relief. In adapting Katherine Anne Porter's acclaimed novel set aboard a German liner sailing from Mexico to Germany, Kramer and screenwriter Abby Mann (who shifted the story from 1931 to 1933) attempted to display the oncoming horror of Nazi Germany in microcosm, as represented by the ship's colorful variety of passengers, including maritally combative artists (George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley); a has-been baseball star (Lee Marvin); a pair of illicit lovers (Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret); a despondent divorc?e (Vivien Leigh, shockingly garish in her final film); and several others who play symbolic roles with varying degrees of obviousness. Porter's potent themes are somewhat deflated by Kramer's pompous, heavy-handed approach, but powerful acting remains. Having lost what relevance it had in 1965, Ship of Fools is still fascinating as a showcase for well-drawn characters (including an observant dwarf, played by the late, great Michael Dunn) whose inner lives and outward interactions reflect a turbulent world irrevocably headed for war. --Jeff Shannon

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