Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition) | Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones

Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition) | Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones | Ray Liotta gives the standout performance in this gem.

DVDs:

Field of Dreams (W...

	Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition) Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones Universal Studios, 2004 average customer review:based on 206 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

HD ROCKS

I love this movie anyway, I played in the minors and my dad was a big Joe Jackson fan. The HD enhancement is really great and makes the voice sound really good. The extras on this disc are great. The Galena tour and the Costner interview at his home with the baseball greats is excellent. I am a big Kevin Costner fan and this in one of his best and the HD is really an upgrade.

Ray Liotta gives the standout performance in this gem.

In my opinion Ray Liotta gave the best performance in this wonderful ensemble of talent. His natural delivery and boyish earnestness gave Field of Dreams a quality rarely seen in cinema today. His performance harked back to Cary Cooper or Jimmy Stewart of the 1930's.

In a magnificently well-written role, Academy Award winner Burt Lancaster, in the twilight of his career, shows why he became a film legend and remained one for almost six decades.

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Following a Dream

Field of Dreams, is more than a great Baseball movie, its about following a calling or dream despite what others think. This is a bright movie with great cinamatography. When Joe Jackson appears for the first time is magic. At first i didnt understand why the Black Sox, but soon realized why. You really need to see this and Eight men out to understand. Field of Dreams is a joy for Baseball fans or movie buffs.

More Important Than Baseball

FOD has always been one of my favorite movies. As a man, I'm forced to admit its one of the few over which I've ever shed a tear (and yeah, continue to do so, every time I watch it).

Its odd too, because I don't buy the "baseball is magic" concept. Rather than being the "only consistent thing in America," in my opinion, Baseball has accurately reflected America's ugly, selfish, and win at any cost philosophy. Today, the sport (at least at the major league level, which is the focus of the movie) is in caos. The owners only care about making money. They got rid of the Commissioner, the players spit at umpires, they're all taking illegal drugs, and the sport is promoting a steriod user as he tarnishes one of its most cherished records (Barry Bonds). At its highest levels, the sport is tainted. Even one of the main baseball characters in the movie, "Shoeless Joe Jackson," was involved in one of th more famous betting scandals!

For me, the move is better than baseball. Its about the father-son relationship, the persuit of life's goals, accepting the reality of our own limitations, and making a success out of life by doing the best we can. Perhaps its also about listening to and following that little voice in the back of our heads, we most often ignore.

When the Burt Lancaster character steps over the line and away from his dream (once again), to save the little girl from choking, it reminds me of my own father (who was a physician, and is now deceased), and I lose it.

Wow. What character, what dignity, what a powerful moment.

"I'd best be getting home now. My wife will think I've got a girlfriend."

The whole thing is built on a bizarre premise and it defies all logic, but somehow it works, and works wonderfully. Well written, good acting, nice camera work, and the music (those three notes!) all contribute to a wonderful experience.

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Guy Thing? That Ain't Necessarily So Bad

"Field of Dreams" another Kevin Costner baseball movie, was originally released in 1989, and is now nearly twenty years old. Most viewers would agree that it's held up pretty well, and is still one of the best baseball movies around.

It is, of course, the story of that famous Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (It's not heaven, it's Iowa, folks), who regrets his abrasive relationship with his late, baseball-loving, father. One day, he hears a voice telling him: "If you build it, he will come." He therefore believes he's being told to plow under his prime cornfield and plant a baseball diamond. So he does. The voice then sends him to Boston to find reclusive 1960's cult writer Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), and to Minnesota to find mysterious "Doc" Graham (Burt Lancaster.) The baseball diamond will, we know, call forth somehow, from somewhere, some historic ballplayers --principally the disgraced (for throwing the World Series, to the benefit of some notorious gamblers, including "Funny Girl" Fanny Brice's husband Arnie Rothstein) Chicago White Sox of 1919. They are led by famed "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta, shooting sparks in this portrayal). Costner's character is supported in all this, despite the fact that it's driving his family into bankruptcy, by his loyal wife Annie ( Amy Madigan). The movie's clearly well-cast, though, after paying Jones, Lancaster, and Liotta, in addition to Costner, the producers probably weren't willing to spend big bucks on casting wifey, as well. Nevertheless, Madigan acquits herself honorably.

The film is generally considered a guy thing, and, in fact, a guys' weepie, but it ain't necessarily so. It's crisp as a new ten dollar bill, moves at speed like a good fastball, and is, in reality, quite witty, as was noticed upon its release. It's also got a resonant subtext. Kinsella, we're specifically told, is actually neither a farmer, nor an Iowa native, by family background; his dad worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Kinsellas are characterized as left over 1960's hippies, He wears an old University of California Berkeley t-shirt, there's a peace sign on the old Volkswagen van, and Annie's big PTA speech would do any Berkeley-educated mom proud. When Costner tracks down the Jones character, the writer sprays him with Flit, probably not distributed since the 60's, and tells him to get back to the 60's while he still can: it's a frequently-cited scene. In Minnesota, Costner experiences a little more time travel -- he finds himself in 1972. "The Godfather" is playing. And there's a poster hung by the Committee to Re-Elect the President--Nixon, that is-- giving us CREEP, of Watergate notoriety.

We're told that "Shoeless" was forced to finish his career on a 10th rate team in Carolina, an interesting echo of Costner's other baseball movie, "Bull Durham." In addition, "Shoeless" Joe's best speech, about that Carolina team's travel and hotel arrangements, echoes one of Costner's most-quoted "Bull Durham" speeches. Finally, Madigan's character is named "Annie," as is Susan Sarandon's in "Bull Durham." Supposedly, ballplayers call their groupies "Annies."

In sum, yeah, the movie's probably a guy thing. But that ain't necessarily so bad.

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