Chaplin (1993)

Sir Richard Attenborough's biographical film of the life and times of Charles Chaplin is a little thin as a narrative, but it is so charmingly creative and ultimately moving, it's hard to care about any deficits. Robert Downey Jr. does an excellent job re-creating Chaplin's graceful slapstick and getting inside the silent-film superstar's head over many years of triumph, defeat, scandal, official persecution, exile, and inner peace. A huge cast portray the allies, friends, lovers, and enemies in Chaplin's life, including Moira Kelly as his final, longtime wife, Oona, Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks, Geraldine Chaplin as Charlie's mother, and James Woods as a prosecutor working hard to nail Chaplin for anti-American sentiments. Attenborough declines to tell the story in a flat, linear way, employing such clever techniques as detailing one chapter in Chaplin's life as a silent comedy. The climactic scene set at an Oscar tribute for Chaplin will get the tears flowing. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Not much of an anniversary celebration...

I would agree with D. Reyes' review on this dvd reissue. The picture quality is improved, but the special features are very short and the two short docs that were on the original release are not included here. Surely they could have squeezed an extra 14 minutes of material onto this anniversary release. A commentary would have been wonderful, as would some deleted scenes. Attenborough states that he wishes he could make the film again, so perhaps we might see an extended version or director's cut one day (perhaps on the 20th anniversary)? October 25, 2008

This is an okay re-release

The first time this came out on DVD was in 1998 I believe. The new release differs in the sense that it's a cleaned up print and that it's also enhanced for 16x9 televisions, where as the original wasn't. If you watched the original on a wide screen TV it was letter boxed. As far as special features go for this one, there's about 3 new featurettes that are less than 10 minutes long as well as some home movie footage of Charlie Chaplin and of course a trailer.

Unfortunately there are no deleted scenes. I suspect that this release has come out only due to Robert Downey Jr's rise in popularity again. But it's good to see it on DVD with a cleaner print and enhanced for today's televisions. I have given this a 5 star rating because it's a good film none-the-less and a must watch for fans of Chaplin. October 23, 2008

wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been a fan of Charlie Chaplin and Robert Downey Jr for years. This is the perfect combonation of the two. RDJ does a wonderful job becoming Chaplin. It is not an easy task to do. I love the movie. October 1, 2008

Robert Downey, Jr, - The Bad Boy at His Best!

If you're anything like me, the almost semi-annual relapse and recovery of Robert Downey Jr. has been an interesting periodic feature of the morning news. After a while one begins to question why does Hollywood put up with him when there is no shortage of talented actors desperately trying to make it in Hollywood? Why would producers and studios, who are so financially dependent on their productions going off without a hitch, take yet another chance on Robert Downey, Jr? Then I saw Chaplin, and I understood.

The intensity and power of the Robert Downey's performance in this film is the stuff of Oscars and true movie legend! It's both a beautiful performance and a beautiful film!

Somehow Sir Richard Attenborough got out of Downey the kind of performance that can sustain a career, and a legend. But Sir Richard's mastery didn't stop there. He got spectacular performance out of everyone, including a young, pre-X-Files David Duchovny. (I know I misspelled that. But you know who I mean.)

In summation, Robert Downey's performance is every bit the equal of James Dean's in Giant, East of Eden or Rebel without a Cause, and maybe that's what we should keep in mind. For unlike Dean, another self-destructive personality, Robert Downey has not driven off the cliff yet, and hopefully he never will. September 29, 2008

ONE BUSY "LITTLE TRAMP"! WORTH SEEING FOR DOWNEY'S PERFORMANCE ALONE!

'Chaplin' is a difficult film to pull off for at least two reasons, first... who could possibly portray Charlie Chaplin and his genius?... and how do you fit this guy's entire story into one film? Chaplin had one heck of a complicated, long life with many severe ups and downs! Fortunately for us, they got some of these important factors right. The film runs well over two hours, but I never felt truly satisfied with the detail of many scenes. The biggest flaw is that some areas of his life are whisked by so fast it's hard to grasp everything.

Robert Downey Jr. should get a lot of credit as without his believable portrayal of this man, the movie could never work at all. It's a very interesting movie with great performances, but it's not a great movie. The DVD has a very good transfer, but lacks in any worthy extras. September 14, 2008

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