1984

1984
by Michael Radford

Our Price: $149.10
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $17.95 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases

Compare Prices for 1984

Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Cyril Cusack, Gregor Fisher, John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton
Director: Michael Radford
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 115 minutes
Release Date: 1997-02-11
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Polygram Video
Studio: Polygram Video

VHS Movie Reviews of 1984

Movie Review: A nightmare worth watching
Summary: 5 Stars

Michael Radford's adaptation of the well-known novel by Orwell is very faithful to its source material and very impressive. The cast is perfect in its leading trio: John Hurt as Winston Smith, Suzanna Hamilton as Julia and last but certainly not least in his last movie performance Richard Burton as O'Brien.

Orwell's dystopian vision of the future will be well known to most of us.
Winston Smith, the central character, lives in a totalitarian world, in which all pay homage to the ominous ever present "Big Brother" and, To sort of keep birth rates at an acceptable level, war is continually waged against some kind of enemy, that seems to change as much as wind direction whatever the fear mongers deem appropriate.

Inhabitants of this world are continually bombarded with propaganda through a kind of two-way TV screens that are present in both the private as well as the public domain. The screens also serve as a way of keeping continuous watch on people as it is forbidden to switch them off

Through the destruction of any sense of history and knowledge that might be identity reinforcing, the masses are being "educated" into being mindless canon fodder.

Love, never mind sex, is forbidden, as it sabotages the goal mentioned above and aside from that all that penned up sexual frustration can be used as a reservoir to tap into and turn into boundless aggression and almost erotic admiration for "Big Brother".

In this mob Winston is consumed and invisible, until he meets Julia and they start an affair, half out of love, half as an act of rebellion against the state. However, from the outside they know their eventual fate and admit to each other "We are the Dead".

The third figure O'Brien comes into the picture when Smith and Julia want to contact a supposed underground resistance movement and they contact him as being a key figure in it. The truth is both shocking and revealing.

Contrary to what some people think, the book was not meant as a criticism of communism per se, but against any form of dictatorship, there are plenty of comments made by Orwell on this subject.

The movie does a wonderful job in bringing not so much uplifting as shockingly hypnotic and intriguing story to life. Orwell envisioned as a location a post-WWII London and Radford very much stayed true to this idea. His city quite obviously is in decay and full of ruins shown in murky colors like WW II archive documentary images. The cinematography is wonderful.

John Hurt is perfect as the worn out Winston Smith being in a state of hopeless and irreversible decay.
Burton as O'Brien is equally unforgettable and merciless; his eyes that offer nothing but the hopelessness of self-awareness, the realization of the insignificance of the individual being grinded down under the boot of the state.

The movie is as merciless as the book, thank God. I consider it the most faithful book adaptation. It was exactly as I imagined it while reading the book.

A masterpiece, still underrated.

Write your own review

More 1984 VHS Movie Reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Summary of 1984

Michael Radford's adaption of George Orwell's foreboding literary premonition casts John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton as lovers who must keep their courtship secret. Aside from criminalizing sex and interpersonal relationships, the ruling party in their country Oceania both fabricates reality and reconstructs history for the sake of oppressing the masses. They brainwash their citizens via large, propaganda-spewing TV monitors installed in their living rooms, which also inspect everyone's activities. Hurt and Hamilton are among the few we see desperately trying to fight the system by keeping control of their thoughts and beliefs. While the atmosphere becomes a bit too stifling at times, the images are quite striking with their muted colors and dilapidated sets. In an interesting bit of casting, Richard Burton costars (in his final role) as a government agent who surreptitiously exposes Hurt to the ideas of resistance. Unlike many like-minded films, 1984 does not offer a flashy vision of the future, but then that aspect makes it feel all the more real. In an age when more and more of our everyday activities are being scrutinized, Big Brother may not be so far off after all. --Bryan Reesman

Science Fiction & Fantasy VHS Video

Drama

VHS Video Movies

Movies most talked about in Smash The State And Have A Nice Day!

Shenandoah
Release date: 2003-05-06; DVD
Best price: $4.34
Price in other shops: ~~$9.99~~

Uncovered - The Whole Truth About the Iraq War
Release date: 2004-03-30; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: ~~$9.95~~

Bush Family Fortunes - The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
Release date: 2004-09-28; DVD
Best price: $7.31
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Amistad
Release date: 1999-05-04; DVD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Coverup - Behind the Iran-Contra Affair
Mpi Home Video; Release date: 2001-05-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $79.94

Salo - Criterion Collection
Release date: 1998-08-12; DVD
Best price: $44.99

L.A. Confidential
SPACEY,KEVIN; Release date: 1998-04-21; DVD
Best price: $5.12
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Chinatown
Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: ~~$24.99~~

A Man for All Seasons
Release date: 1999-01-26; DVD
Best price: $10.39
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

Spartacus - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2001-04-24; DVD
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops: ~~$49.95~~

Similar VHS Movies

Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
Plume; Published: 2003-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops: ~~$15.95~~

THX 1138 - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops: ~~$26.98~~

1984
Release date: 2005-10-25; Published: 2005; DVD
Best price: $14.95

Animal Farm
Release date: 2004-11-02; DVD
Best price: $16.66
Price in other shops: ~~$24.95~~

1984 (Cliffs Notes)
by Nikki Moustaki, Gilbert Borman
Cliffs Notes; Published: 2000-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.90
Price in other shops: ~~$5.99~~

1984 (Signet Classics)
by George Orwell
New American Library; Published: 1961-01-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: ~~$9.99~~