Paris, Texas | | Cast : | Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell | | Director : | Wim Wenders | | Studio : | Fox Home Entertainme | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | November , 1984 | | DVD Released Date : | December 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | A great movie artistically, but a better outcome would have been nice. | Content
 | This review is for the 2004 DVD release by 20th Century Fox.
I really loved the look of this movie when it started in West Texas and the cinematography was astounding. The soundtrack by Ry Cooder also fit the mood of the desert perfectly. The main character is Travis, (Harry Dean Stanton), who wanders recklessly in the Texas desert. He is later rescued by his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), and Walt takes him back to Los Angeles to be with Walt's wife and Hunter, the son of Travis whom he abandoned 4 years earlier. We see the household situation that Hunter has been placed in with Walt and his loving wife the past several years and it seems very healthy and stable.
The film slowly moves in a direction where it appears that Travis wants to put his life back in order. Finally there is a plan to reunite Travis, his son and estranged wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski). After some amateur detective work they find Jane in Houston. There is one powerful scene where Travis confesses to Jane why he left her. The final outcome is a blemish for this film in my opinion - especially the social placement of the young boy (if you realize in what situation he was in when the movie started and what circumstance he was in when the film ended). But all in all, it's a beautifully filmed movie that's very good, but a better ending could have made it a great movie.
The DVD picture quality and audio are first rate. The only bonus feature is optional real-time commentary by director Wim Wenders.
Movie: B
DVD Quality: A |
| Rating | | | Date | July 20, 2005 | | Summary | Beautiful | Content
| this film is just great. i didnt believe everything, thats true, but is awesome anyway. watch it. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 24, 2005 | | Summary | pure heart, Texas style | Content
| Sam Shepard, the actor-writer, wrote this beautiful film; his friend Wim Wenders directed it. This is a cinematic emotional masterpiece with a core that points straight to the things we love and says, Are we in love with them as they are, or as we imagine them to be?
The title is a perfect representation of this point; it's the town where Travis, played by Harry Dean Stanton in probably his best role on screen, was conceived and where his father said his mother was from, without giving the name of the state, only the town. Paris--as in France--is the fantasy. Paris--as in Texas--is the reality. Did his father love his mother for what she was, a plain girl from Texas, or what he imagined her to be, a "fancy woman" from France?
Travis has the same problem; he's the real focus of the film and around him the Texas twilight casts long, sad shadows that glisten with hope, brilliant colors, and soon to be approaching night. In him's a heart that's torn between his love for what he knows and for what he wants to run away from, between his son, Hunter, his ex-wife Jane, and himself. The only one of these he knows is real is his son, who's the second core of the film. Hunter is the reality of his marriage to Jane, the one thing he knows is solid and true and right in front of him.
Nobody makes films like this anymore. This was done in 1984 and deservedly won a Palmes d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, one of the top awards given to a film director.
Nobody makes films with this much heart anymore. Things have changed.
Things have changed. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | plodding | Content
| One of the worst, by one of the worst film directors of all time. They say that Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space is the worst--well, how about giving the Golden Turkey Award to this turkey instead?
I can only say two or three good things about this dud: Nastassja Kinski is always wonderful--and what she does here is no exception. Robby Muller's cinematography is stunning. Ry Cooder's score is perfect.
As far as everything else? Forget it. Didn't believe any of it. Harry Dean Stanton, usually very good in character rolls, is unwachable here. Why? Again, this director has a gift for being pretentious. His flicks drag on and on forever. Maybe this "style" had enough people convinced to call it art and give it the top award at Cannes back in 1984. I don't know...frankly, I have no idea how this dull flick won anything. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 26, 2005 | | Summary | My Favorite Film....like my life on screen | Content
| I can't begin to express just how much this film touches my soul. I really feel as thought I'm watching a surreal home movie of my childhood. I certainly had those two characters as parents. I highly recommend this film if you're feeling nostalgic, or just a little sad or when you simply want a good cry. My partner says he recognizes 'me' in this film through Hunter's character, which is a compliment, but still sad. I had no idea Sam Shepherd was even involved in this movie until I recently visited Wim Wenders' website and saw that he wrote it, what a huge surprise to me, especially since Jessica Lange's my favorite actress...it's all very cosmic....Please buy this film, you'll love it. Every actor in 'Paris, Texas' is superb! There aren't lots of classic films from the 1980's but this is one GREAT film!!!!! |
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