Product Description

Neeson is an opportunistic German industrialist who saves hundreds of Jews from the death camps during World War II by giving them jobs in his factory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #747 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2004-03-09
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 195 minutes

Amazon.com
Steven Spielberg had a banner year in 1993. He scored one of his biggest commercial hits that summer with the mega-hit Jurassic Park, but it was the artistic and critical triumph of Schindler's List that Spielberg called "the most satisfying experience of my career." Adapted from the best-selling book by Thomas Keneally and filmed in Poland with an emphasis on absolute authenticity, Spielberg's masterpiece ranks among the greatest films ever made about the Holocaust during World War II. It's a film about heroism with an unlikely hero at its center--Catholic war profiteer Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), who risked his life and went bankrupt to save more than 1,000 Jews from certain death in concentration camps.

By employing Jews in his crockery factory manufacturing goods for the German army, Schindler ensures their survival against terrifying odds. At the same time, he must remain solvent with the help of a Jewish accountant (Ben Kingsley) and negotiate business with a vicious, obstinate Nazi commandant (Ralph Fiennes) who enjoys shooting Jews as target practice from the balcony of his villa overlooking a prison camp. Schindler's List gains much of its power not by trying to explain Schindler's motivations, but by dramatizing the delicate diplomacy and determination with which he carried out his generous deeds.

As a drinker and womanizer who thought nothing of associating with Nazis, Schindler was hardly a model of decency; the film is largely about his transformation in response to the horror around him. Spielberg doesn't flinch from that horror, and the result is a film that combines remarkable humanity with abhorrent inhumanity--a film that functions as a powerful history lesson and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the context of a living nightmare. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
The DVD debut of the Oscar-winning film delivers an outstanding image and sound experience (both 5.1 and DTS tracks are provided), although the single disc needs to be flipped to see the entire film. The centerpiece of the extra features is the new 70-minute "Voices from the List," in which the men and women saved by Oskar Schindler talking about their experiences and memories. The film does an excellent job of complementing the film without overshadowing it in any way. It came out of the Shoah Foundation, which Steven Spielberg started after the film to record first-hand experiences of the Holocaust. A 10-minute featurette updates the foundation's efforts. Unfortunately, there is no insight on the making of the film except a few liner notes. Perhaps the film has such a revered status, deconstructing it might be something Spielberg doesn't want to do, but it's frustrating not to hear from the cast and crew who helped put together one of the 1990s' most distinguished and well-crafted films. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker
The story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a dashing and resourceful German Catholic businessman who saved more than a thousand Polish Jews from almost certain annihilation by the Nazis, is extraordinary even by the standards of Holocaust literature. Steven Spielberg's film, adapted by Steven Zaillian from the 1982 book by Thomas Keneally, runs better than three hours and doesn't seem a minute too long. Spielberg respects the essential mystery of the protagonist's heroism, and uses his prodigious skills with an intensity that he hasn't shown in a long time: he captures images of experiences that most of us thought we would never see represented adequately on the screen. This is by far the finest, fullest dramatic (i.e. nondocumentary) film ever made about the Holocaust. And few American movies since the silent era have had anything approaching this picture's narrative boldness, visual audacity, and emotional directness. Along with Neeson, who is brilliant, the standouts in the large cast are Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, and Embeth Davidtz. The wonderfully expressive black-and-white cinematography is by Janusz Kaminski. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker