VHS : It's A Wonderful Life [1946]

Rating: - An original twist on A Xmas Carol suggesting there SHOULD be more to life than money (but in the end there isn't)
Yes, it is a great life affirming movie with its heart firmly in the right place...BUT...personally I would have prefered not such a happy ending, or a very different kind of happy ending - I just feel that the miraculous turnaround of George's fortunes at the end, while rightly suggesting that all good deeds may be remembered, and returned in kind, missed a real chance to state that happiness didn't have to depend on material wealth at all - After all, when he was given his old life back, George's euphoric happiness was based soley upon his family and friends, regardless of his dire financial state! This was a real chance to bang the point home about the real dangers of capitalism, but it was totally spurned. Indeed, this ending almost suggested, after roundly attacking corporate greed and rampant materialism for much of the film, that our happiness really DOES depend on material wealth after all, and I was a tad confused, and quite disappointed. This movie so nearly did what hardly any movie has dared to do, certainly before Michael Moore and co. and that is attack the American model of corporate based, free market capitalism, the most dangerous and destructive and corrupting of all economic systems, and it did have a go against banks run by those without a shred of a social conscience for the humans who ARE their customers and shareholders, as many critics believe we have become mere units of commerce in the overall run of things now, so impersonal is our rampantly capitalist culture. It's just a real shame it didn't follow through, and went instead with the expected Hollywood ending.

Now would be very apt time to remake the movie with a much more natural ending than this one dared to have. It would make a far stronger point about what real happiness is, and put another shot across the bows of greedy corporate businesses and banks, and even free market obsessed, business led governments (the crazy and unfair boom and bust economies of the US and UK in particular). That movie will never be made in Hollywood though.

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Rating: - Beware - this is not the colour version
Absolutely brilliant .... but it says 'colour' on the description of this film. I used to have a VHS 'colorized' version of this which was superb.
I suspect the DVD in colour has yet to be released.

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Rating: - amazing film
I just want to say to anyone considering buying 'It's a wonderful life ' , do it now , its brilliant . Christmas wouldnt be the same for me if i didnt watch this film every year , i love it . My husband aged 43 watched it last christmas for the first time and loved it too , in fact he had tears in his eyes when it finished .

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Rating: - Don't buy this version
I have no idea why people are giving this excellent reviews, it's an awful quality version of the film, you can hear static on the soundtrack throughout and the picture is dreadful. Try to find a remastered version which will have cleaned up audio and video, as this is just unwatchable.
An excellent film though.

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Rating: - A real "feel good film" with tears.
One of my favourite films even though it is a rael tear jerker. A film to watch when its cold outside and you are feeling sorry for yourself.