Stop right where you are! Don't flutter an eyelid! (Far And Away (DVD))

Member Name: hildas

Product:	Far And Away (DVD)
Date:	02/11/09 (170 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great drama film full of adventure.

Disadvantages: The PG rating is too low in my opinion.

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Reasons For Purchasing:
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Far and away is one of the best drama films I have watched. It certainly is high on my list of best ever films and is one I bought on DVD for my collection as I enjoyed it so much. This film not only takes the cast on a great adventure from Ireland to America in the late 1890's, it also takes us as a viewer there also and what a thoroughly enjoyable trip it is in my opinion. From the very first scene I was hooked to this film and also kept there, focused, right until the final credits rolled.

This really is an excellent movie that I have watched many times over the years and every time I do, I seem to pick up another piece of the story that I somehow missed before. Far and away was released in 1992 and is an adventure, drama, and romance film all rolled into one that is brilliantly directed by Ron Howard. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman so it certainly has two great performers in it's cast. The movie lasts for 140 minutes and it cost $30 to make apparently.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play Irish immigrants in this film seeking their fortune in 1890's America and then eventually they take part in the great Land Run of 1893. Tom Cruise was heavily criticized for his Irish accent not sounding realistic in this film, but the acting from them both, really makes up for it in my opinion. It really is an excellent performance from the pair, although they did not win any awards for it unfortunately.

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The Films Plot:
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Far and away starts of with Joseph Donnelly (Tom Cruise) a handsome young Irish farmer who is faced with eviction from his family home after his Father dies. Well Joseph is mad inside when he finds out this news, so he plans to seek his revenge on his spiteful landlord named Daniel Christie (Robert Prosky) by attempting to kill him. He is caught though, by Daniel's daughter, Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman) and she injures him with a pitch fork when he tries to escape from her home. Joseph is held captive, but manages to get hold of a gun and tries to shoot Daniel Christie, but the gun explodes in his face injuring him instead. Joseph is looked after and held in the Christie house while they treat his wounds, but he knows the family are really planning to have him hanged for his crime.

Shannon Christie is also growing weary of not being able to express her views to her Mother and wants to be a modern girl. She rebels against her Mother by playing America's modern music on her piano when her Mothers friends come around for tea. Her Mother is disgusted with her for doing this, so Shannon plans, behind her parents back, to leave for America to claim land that's being given away for free. Shannon asks Joseph to help her and accompany her on the trip, so he plans the escape for them both.

Well the two of them flee the Christie home after and the wealthy Shannon pays for Joseph's ticket to America. Well Joseph pretends to be Shannon's servant and the pair set off on a large ship destined for America, with dreams of free land spinning around in their heads. Shannon meets a man on the ship and tells him about wanting to get some free land for herself. He tells her that they need to travel west to Oklahoma when they arrive in America as this is where they are giving the land away.

Well once in America this is where the film really does begin. It is a story of hopes and dreams really, that is packed to the gills full of many different events that happen to Joseph and Shannon on it's journey. It is a romantic adventure and a very inspirational tale in my opinion that will keep you captivated for the whole running of this film. Opposites really do indeed attract in this film.

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The Cast:
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Joseph Donnelly ... Tom Cruise.
Shannon Christie ... Nicole Kidman.
Daniel Christie ... Robert Prosky.
Nora Christie ... Barbara Babcock.
Molly Kay ... Eileen Pollock.
Stephen ... Thomas Gibson.
Grace ... Michelle Johnson.
Kelly ... Colm Meaney.

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My Thoughts On The Far And Away Movie:
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Far And Away is the type of film which path is one most of us would like to travel on in our lives really. It really is a strange twist of fate that brings these two young people together in life. They really are complete opposites though. Shannon is from a very wealthy land owning family and Joseph is from a very poor working class farming one. They both share one dream though and that is to go to America and win some land, so this joins the two characters together to help them both find their destiny's.

Well this film in my opinion is very enjoyable, although it can be a little predictable at times. This takes nothing away from this fairytale type of film though as it still is an excellent film to watch. I honestly fell in love with this movie from the word go. There is plenty of little twists and turns that do keep you guessing at times also. It really is all about hopes and dreams, hardship and money really. It is a tale of immigrants going to America that soon realise not everything is about owning land, but learning that love is important also.

Shannon and Joseph really are a clash of characters though. The sparks do fly a lot between these two and it is quite hilarious watching them. They hurl plenty of great one liners back and forth to each other that do have you laughing a lot out loud when hearing them. The romance between the two characters though is quickly noted, but it does take a while for anything to happen between the two of them also. Every single moment between these two is very entertaining really.

Far and Away is your typical boy meets girl movie, but I think it's the social status and time period that they meet in, that really gives this movie a unique little tale of it's own. The film is a great adventure film also. There is plenty going on in this film and there's never a dull moment either. It also teaches us a little of Americas History as lots of people in the 1800's left Ireland and where drawn to winning land in America and it is good to see how this was done, how people lived and what they went through to achieve their dreams.

Far And Away is a fairly long film, but it certainly does not feel like it. It is fast moving and filled with so many different and interesting scenes that it really keeps you clued to it throughout. The film is very suited to both male and female viewers in my opinion. There is a love story involved, a great bare fist boxing scene, horse riding stunts and fantastic music to suit everyone all onboard it also. I loved it and think it would be hard not to really.

Shannon and Joseph also both come together in this film by learning to help each other out in tough circumstances and it really shows their strength and determination to succeed in their lives. I loved the tale of not only romance, but of the history, their class, the politics, class discrimination and humour in this film also. It really was very well made, well researched and put together brilliantly in my opinion overall.

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Characters:
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Tom Cruise plays his character of Joseph Donnelly exceptionally well in my opinion. He is a very likable young Irish farmer from a very poor family, but is determined to follow in his fathers footsteps of wanting to own some land of his own. He really shows some great acting skills in this film, from being very serious, to romantic and also being quite comical at times. He also shows us he's got a bit of muscle and toughness to him, as there's a great bare fist boxing scene which brings out his character very well. His Irish accent to me at times was a little off, but overall his acting makes up for it.

Nicole Kidman's character in Far and Away is a pleasure to watch. She plays Shannon Christie, the daughter of a very wealthy landowner extremely well. She really is a stuck up snob at first in this film, but is very level headed, smart and also a very determined, set in her ways young woman also. You really cannot help but like her. She is very comical at the start of this film and is very feisty also. Nicole certainly gives this film everything and shows what an incredible actress she really is.

Well all of the other characters in Far And Away are all great actors. There is plenty of great characters to meet along the way in this film and some are very comical, quite mean and lovable at times really. Shannon's Mother and Father are a great pair to watch and also Shannon's boyfriend Stephen Chase (Thomas Gibson) plays the awful, mean and typical bad guy we see in so many films really. All of the films characters though give top performances also.

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The Costumes, Scenery And Special Effects:
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There is plenty of visual excitement and great wagon racing scenes in Far And Away. To me it is well done and very realistic to watch. Also there is one scene of Tom Cruise bare back riding a horse and it is actually quite funny watching him, but very well filmed. The background scenes and real scenery taken in Ireland are really nice and show plenty of beautiful lush green hills and swooping sea shots also. There really is plenty of great shots in this film, from the picturesque Irish scenery to the large American desert and it's vast open land.

The film takes on quite a western touch in the last half an hour of it and it has lots of horses, wagons and desert sand involved. The background scenes are great and are meant to be filmed in Oklahoma, but I don't think they where actually shot there. There is also a great train stunt with Tom Cruise also that I quite enjoyed watching.

Also the setting for the Far And Away film of the late 1890's is very realistic in my opinion and very well done. We get a look at how people lived and worked at that time also. We see plenty of run down slum areas in America, to large grand houses all filled with the best furniture of that time. Plenty of money was certainly spent on scenery in this Far And Away movie and the scenes all look fantastic to me.

The costumes of the 1890's era are also really good in Far And Away. We see lots of beautiful expensive gowns worn by Shannon and her rich friends and family. They are very colourful and show that they where the height of fashion of that time. We also see the poorer styled clothes worn by Joseph and those in the slum areas of America also. It is all very well in keeping to this time period indeed. The make up is done well also and there is a little bit of fake blood used in the bare fist boxing scene that certainly looks real, but is not for the faint hearted to watch really.

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The Music:
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The Music throughout Far And Away is excellent. It really does help to give each scene a little bit of atmosphere. There is beautiful Irish folk music at the start of this film when it is set in Ireland and makes you feel as if you are actually there in the land of the leprechauns. It honestly is a well put together score that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to and it really did help to make this film overall.

The Far And Away Movie also has an excellent soundtrack available and features nineteen great songs that are played during the movie on board it, from Book Of Days by Enya and Fighting For Dough by The Chieftains, which where two of my favourite songs in this film and fitted the whole atmosphere very well indeed. It is certainly worth buying the soundtrack also if you enjoy this film.

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My Favourite Quotes From The Film:
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(1) Shannon Christie: She's got an awfully large chest to be going' to church.
Joseph Donnelly: Shannon, all chests are equal in the eyes of our Lord.

(2) Shannon Christie: Get your filthy hands off me you ugly animal!
Flynn: That will cost you a day's wage. Go ahead. Insult me again.

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Extras:
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This DVD comes with one disc with16 chapters and after that the film trailer. That's it. Extras included only are theatrical notes, production notes; film makers notes and directors notes. Biographies about Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are included, a little tiny snippet of information about the film is included and a little bit of information from the director Ron Howard, but it really is disappointing. I guess they will eventually get around to making a special edition to update this DVD with extras like a few older movies have done.

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My Overall Opinion:
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Well this really was an amazing film that I enjoyed from start to finish and I will certainly be watching it again. I highly recommend Far And Away to everyone that has never seen it before as it really is a well put across story of hardship, love and drama that will keep you clued to your seat. The acting is excellent in it and the characters are really well thought about and acted out perfectly by all the cast members. The costumes are great and the stunts and action scenes are very realistic. A great family movie indeed (although I would certainly not recommend it for young children to watch due to the boxing scene) There is also a few swear words in this film also.

Far And Away really does make a wonderful evenings entertainment. It is a great film to snuggle down to for a great two and a half hours of jam packed viewing. There is something in this film for everyone to see and it has plenty of funny one liners to make you laugh out loud to also. It certainly plays with your emotions at times, but is a very warming film that I personally enjoyed a lot. Some parts of this film are predicable. Some parts of this film are not, so it is a little bit of a bumpy ride at times, but straightens out very well really.

Well honestly. If you have never seen Far And Away before I strongly recommend giving it a watch. It was set in the late 1800,s, so it certainly should never date really, as at the time it was very well made and a lot of money was spent on producing it. It certainly is a great storyline I enjoyed and it left me thinking afterwards about these two characters for a while. A great adventure story that begins in the Emerald Isle Of Ireland, flows along over the Atlantic Ocean and finishes up in the enticing Land Of The Free.

Far And Away has received some mixed reviews over the years about it's 'apparently' weak storyline. Well honestly I did not find it weak at all and wonder what people actually are watching at times. Of course everyone has their own tastes and opinions, but I certainly would have to give this film a full five stars. I was going to knock one star off for the PG rating given to this film as I honestly do not think it appropriate for this movie, but I thought that unkind and will still award this film full marks.

Far and away is rated a PG-13 film and this maybe is inappropriate in my opinion, as I found a few of the scenes like in the Bare Boxing Fight quite bloody and violent really, so I would strongly recommend watching it without your child first to make sure you would approve of them seeing this scene. An over 13 rating would have been a much rating to give this film in my opinion.

Far And Away can be purchased for under £3 on Amazon at the moment. This is great value in my opinion as it was the type of film, once I had watched it, wanted to add it to my DVD collection. Well look out for it on TV also, as it is highly recommended by me, but £3. You could just about rent this out for that, so buying it would be better.

©hildas/hillhead.

Summary: Quote: I've never seen anything like you in all of my living life.