Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0024543115687
Format: Anamorphic
Label: 20th Century Fox
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-08-03
Running Time: 142
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1964-12-17

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Zorba the Greek Revisited
Comment: Through Amazon, this wonderful old film was brought back to life for me by way of modern technology. This meant the quality of the film was excellent which added just that much more to the enjoyment of this very moving story - without doubt, one of our film classics.
It also meant that I was able to show it to friends who had not seen the film at the time of its release and so share the enjoyment that I first had many years ago.
We take modern technology so much for granted in this modern era, but when you consider I was able to purchase this film on CD for only a little over $20, it is truly remarkable.
Keep going Amazon. You are carrying out a great service through your business.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Probably the greatest film of all time
Comment: This wonderful film has never become dated. It is a catalogue of superlatives -- an outstanding film score (and indeed soundtrack), an outstanding cast (Alan Bates and Irene Papas were probably the two most beautiful people in the world at that time and Anthony Quinn was certainly the most charismatic actor), a stunning screenplay by Michael Cacoyannis, extraordinary sets and settings, superb photography and above all, a vivid sense of the pathetic and the ridiculous make this a film that you should watch. You won't regret it.

The film has a few flaws. The cinema is a medium in which dozens of characters can gleam and live for a few minutes or seconds at a time, as Fellini showed us. Despite the profound human intimacy achieved among the principal characters, the lives of the islanders are not penetrated and their depiction as cruel, rapacious and ignorant can hardly have been atoned for by Cacoyannis's dedication of the movie "to the people of Crete." As in an ancient Greek drama, the cast is starkly divided into chorus and a handful of characters. More could have been achieved.

All in all, however, this was a dazzling moment in which Quinn, Cacoyannis, Bates, Papas, Kedrova, Theodorakis and others reached the apotheosis of their careers.

None of these great artists ever surpassed this glorious performance.

Highly recommended.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Wonderful movie!
Comment: I was amazed by the quality of this movie! It is quite old and I was not expecting such a perfect dvd.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A True Classic
Comment: The Film was excellent. There are two types of people who watch this film Greeks and everybody else who after watching this film wish they were Greek. I highly recommende this film to everybody and I'm not just saying this because I'm Greek. Great Cast, Great Location, Great Plot.
YASAS!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Zorba the Greek
Comment: Based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, the multiple Oscar-winning "Zorba" is all about Quinn's indelible, galvanic performance. A bon vivant who exhorts Basil to "loosen your belt and go find trouble", Zorba is a hurricane of manic energy and strapping muscularity, but also great tenderness. Bates portrays the cerebral, sissyish Basil with perfect restraint, while Oscar winner Kedrova (as ailing French hotelier Mme. Hortense) and Eleni Anousaki (as a stunningly gorgeous widow) provide excellent support as doomed love interests. Zesty and passionate, even in its darkest half-hour, Cacoyannis's "Zorba" is an irresistibly salty portrait of Greek life.

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Editorial Reviews:

If you think Zorba the Greek is a simple-minded homage to a man with a zest for life, then you haven't seen the movie. Basil (Alan Bates), a reticent British writer, comes to the Mediterranean island of Crete to revive a mine his father owned. On the way, he meets a Greek roustabout named Zorba (Anthony Quinn) and hires him to help, little suspecting that Zorba's exuberance will lead him to some dark and troubling places--frankly, if the last 30 minutes of Zorba the Greek are what it means to embrace life, some viewers will want to shut the door in life's face. But there's no denying the movie's ambitious scope and implacable force, even as it paints an alien and disturbing portrait of life in a Greek village. On top of that, gorgeous cinematography and one of the greatest film scores ever give this movie almost demonic energy. --Bret Fetzer