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I am not a fan of James Spader since he ruined my favorite TV series, The Practice, perhaps the best legal show ever produced. And, yes I know he didn't write the script, but his farcical character did transition from an excellent drama to a comedic Boston Legal series. Anyway, regardless I ordered this dvd and it did arrive just as described and in a very timely fashion. Thank you.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This older version of "Crash" by Canadian director David Cronenberg won an award for "originality, audacity and daring" at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. I'll agree with all of that. And I'll also agree with this Variety Magazine critique of the film and its director: "...Cronenberg is a master of creating and sustaining a mood of insinuating cool and dark allure..." - Todd McCarthy. This strange movie is about fetishists who enjoy reproducing famous car crashes. The Jimmy Dean one and the Jane Mansfield one are both examples that the film portrays. "Crash" (1998) is based upon the novel by J.G. Ballard, who is also the lead actor in the show played by none other than a very sexy slimmer James Spader. The show begins in a private airplane hanger with a beautiful blonde, Deborah Unger leaning forward over an airplane while an unknown man steps out of an elevator and becomes erotic with her. (This is the time you take the kids and run out of the movie theater or turn the DVD off!) Ballard (Spader), is in his office, is also engaged in erotica, while his name is being called to be the director on the set. Right off the bat, you know this film is graphically erotic in the first two scenes. Then, we realize that Unger and Spader are an item. This opening sets the mood for the entire flick. Monogamy is not a family value in this film. After Ballard (Spader) survives a head-on car collision with Holly Hunter that triggers an erotic heightening in them both, the nihilistic television producer gathers round him other car crash nihilists. Their car crashing features are erotic as it gets. What is erotic to them is skid marks, scars, crumpled metal, leather bindings for broken bones, live reproductions of and films of car crashes. This story seriously questions what is erotic? And, who says? If you're looking for a really steamy and yet not quite pornographic show with stars like Rosanna Arquette being extremely sensuous, "Crash" by Cronenberg is the best. Rated RRRRRRRRRRR!Read full review
Director David Cronenberg has always been intent on filming the darkest chambers of existence, and of the human heart. In Crash, he creates a work of psychological brilliance while making it nearly unwatachable. The debate, of course, is whether or not this constitutes masterful, or even good filmmaking. To answer that is to answer the age-old debate on art/entertainment, but one thing is clear: The film must be viewed not as entertainment but as a medical text. It is frank, disturbing, and gross. The film centers on James Ballard (James Spader) and his wife (Deborah Kara Unger) in a so-called “open marriage”, having affairs with strangers and telling each other about it for excitement. The film opens with an explicit sex scene, progresses into another, and the cycle continues for awhile. While at first this seems pornographic, it works as a reflection on the mind track of the main players: and their mind is one track. The fact their sex is entirely un-erotic and without passion is another facet to Cronenberg’s method. We feel, within the first ten minutes, a sexual confinement, we are trapped in the mundanity of their sex lives, which translates roughly into the mundanity of their lives. Until, that is, Ballard finds himself in an automobile crash with Helen Remington (Holly Hunter). Her husband is killed, and she stares at Ballard with cold, icy, almost aroused eyes. It is this kind of image Cronenberg is famous for, memorable yet haunting. After they are released from the hospital, they meet up and visit Vaughan (the insane Elias Koteas) who gets his kicks re-creating famous car crashes. This is the first moment in the film I was removed from it’s cold, detached nature and genuinely shocked: what the hell are they doing? One look at Vaughan’s ecstatic face only provides further confusion, but at the same time, begins our process of “understanding”. Maybe I didn’t see why it was fun, but I knew why he was doing it. It’s like drugs… or is it more? The tagline refers to “love” in the “dying” moments of the twentieth century. In terms of looking at the film symbolically, it could refer to the effect technology has had on the most natural of all things: love and sex. Of course, if one were to look at the film literally, it is even scarier. I couldn’t help but thinking “this kind of stuff really goes on in the world!” And I think that’s the approach I would take to the film, not as a definite way to approach it, but as the way I find the most artistically satisfying. One might also note the film seemingly does not take place in reality: the gang meander through a highway crash, and the car chases never draw any attention. This is an interesting touch, and I think it is just to show how egotistical the main players are. As filmmaking, Crash is near flawless. Cronenberg makes all the right choices, from the cold, blue steel atmosphere to framing of the autos. He typically gets close to them, during the highway chases, and these are the film’s most memorable images. Like the mountain in Picnic at Hanging Rock, Vaughan’s car becomes a character as alive as anyone in the film. Actually, it is probably the most memorable. Howard Shore’s skimpy yet scary as hell guitar score underlines the mood. It's a symphony of brilliance. This is the film to watch if you want to tell stories about it for years after... you won't find anything like it, or even close to it.Read full review
Everything about this movie from start to finish is stamped with David Cronenberg's directorial finesse. The cast is stellar: Holly Hunter, Rosanna Arquette, Deborah Unger Kerr and James Spader play the best leading roles. Sex, sex and more sex fill scene after scene in such style to create a sensuous atmosphere out of controversial fetishistic behavior. Who else could pull this off and even get it into mainstream cinemas with an R rating? That, in and of itself, is quite an achievement that defies Hollywood and US Governmental censorship. Considering how explicit each sex scene is and taking into account that very big name actors play the lead roles, Cronenberg created a lush masterpiece that we all can look back upon as memorably way ahead of its era. As for how we will view those actors involved in screen steaming sex scenes when they are in their 70's makes me glad that Cronenberg captured moments of their beauty on film. Hats off to him for doing so.Read full review
What's an old lady like me doing watching a sexy steamer like Crash (1996), you may ask? The fact is because the film is extremely well made and the story is the most original of its time. Like one has to do in order to appreciate Stephen King's masterpieces or Sir Alfred Hitchcock's, for that matter, it takes the same kind of consideration to find the genius of David Cronenberg's films. Genius is mastery so original that it seems like what is known because of it is way ahead of its time. Genius is not all that rare. Recognizing it is, most especially by people who have already stopped learning or who have closed their minds to what seems shocking or unusual or bizarre. Let me remind you that Galileo's findings that this planet is not the center of the universe sent the Roman Catholic hierarchy into a frenzy. Genius has the power to do that. This film is so far ahead of its time on the theme of sexualities that only the most open minded or most astute will be able to appreciate Cronenberg's genius. The likes of James Spader, Holly Hunter, Deborah Unger Kerr and Roseanna Arquette clearly knew that the film they were selected to play roles in was a real envelop pusher.Read full review
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