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| Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition) |
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List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $7.99 (40%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $6.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 233 reviews)
Sales Rank: 97
Category: DVD
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Label: Warner Home Video
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 93 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 012569736788
EAN: 0012569736788
ASIN: B000E1NXJ0
Release Date: March 14, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: October 14, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Without force-feeding its timely message, Good Night, and Good Luck illuminates history to enlighten our present, when the need for a free and independent press is more important than ever. In 90 breathtaking minutes of efficient and intricate storytelling, writer-director George Clooney and cowriter Grant Heslov pay honorable tribute to the journalistic integrity of legendary CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow,
Director George Clooney
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who confronted the virulent and overzealous anti-Communist witch-hunting of Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy in 1953-54, and emerged as a triumphant truth-seeker against the abuses of corporate and governmental power.
David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow
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As played by David Strathairn, Murrow is a dogged realist, keenly aware of the smear tactics that will be employed against him; Clooney provides crucial backup as Murrow's "See It Now" producer and closest confidante Fred Friendly, forming a fierce but not entirely fearless triumvirate of broadcasting bravery with CBS chief William Paley (Frank Langella), who anxiously champions Murrow's cause under constant threat of reprisals. While using crisp black-and-white cinematography (by Robert Elswit) to vividly recreate the electrifying atmosphere of the CBS newsroom and the early years of television, Clooney (son of long-time Cincinnati newsman Nick Clooney) proves his directorial skill by juggling big themes and an esteemed ensemble cast, never stooping to simplification of ethically complex material. Good Night, and Good Luck is an instant classic, destined for all the accolades it so richly deserves. --Jeff Shannon
Learn More About Edward R. Murrow and Broadcast Journalism
George Clooney's Recommended Reading |
George Clooney's Recommended Movies |
The Edward R. Murrow Collection
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Description
"Good Night, And, Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on and their tenacity will prove historic and monumental.
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:with George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Documentary:Good Night, and Good Luck companion piece
Theatrical Trailer
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Customer Reviews: Read 228 more reviews...
 Clooney Sends McCarthy to the ER July 7, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of the best political movies that depicts the mood of the nation durring the prime of the Cold War. A time when rightly choosing to join any organization associated with the communist party, either in the present of the 1950s or twenty years in the past when the US and USSR were stuanch allies, was a treasonous offense condemned by McCarthy's regime of the House of Un-American Activities Committee without trial and without evidence. This movie does a very good job in how the politicians of tyranny exploit the fear that the average American may sometimes exhibit. Good Night and Good Luck goes further to expose the slavery of censorship that the United States government, broadcasting corporations, and simple reporters are many times subject to.
Not only that, but the directing is phenomenal. Never thought Clooney had it in him. The most important scenes are highlighted by an intense errie silence at times. The black and white filming is simply classic. And the old cigarette commercials are simply hilarious. Simply put, this film is smart, historically accurate, and breath-takingly hypnotic.
A Re-Creation of Another Time and a Comment on Our Own Time July 5, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Good Night and Good Luck tells the story of Edward R. Murrow and his famous (or infamous) confrontation with Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his red-hunting crusade in the 1950s. Edward R. Murrow, a CBS newsman already famous at the time for his radio broadcasts in World War II, has a weekly documentary series on television and uses that forum to examine the tactics of Joseph McCarthy. The plot is completely predictable to anyone familiar with the events of the time, but it was still a pleasure to see it dramatized so effectively.
I enjoyed the movie very much for both its story and the dramatic tension evoked in a plot I was familiar with, but even more so for its wonderful re-creation of a different time, when a married couple was forbidden to work together and everyone smoked all the time, and the clothing was fabulous. The use of black and white photography necessitated by the incorporation of archival footage added to the atmosphere (especially with all that cigarette smoke swirling through every frame). And in a time when movies like Old School celebrate adults acting like children, it's nice to see a movie that focuses on the pleasures and problems of being a grown up and being responsible not only for one's own actions but for how one acts in the world.
And of course, it's impossible not to see the movie through the lens of current day affairs and feel the lack, which appears to be George Clooney's main goal in making this movie at this time. He accomplishes this quite well by the simple contrast of a journalist who took his profession seriously rather than acting merely as a mouthpiece for powers that be. It's difficult to turn on any news program from the local news to CNN immediately after watching this movie and not feel a sense of anger and frustration at what a powerful medium has been reduced to.
I wonder, would I have liked this movie so much if it wasn't for the current day context? We have a similar situation of a fear-driven government running roughshod over the Constitution and people's rights in the name of fighting an abstract ideology, and a different one of a spineless media sucking up to the powers that be rather than confronting them. It's impossible to separate the movie from the context I viewed it in, but at this time the craft and ability of Edward R. Murrow is something worth remembering and commemorating.
A masterpiece! July 5, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an amazing film that draws some frightening parallels between McCarthyism and what's happening in our government today. I urge anyone who hasn't already done so to see it.
A Timely Lesson In American History July 5, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The movie is absolutely brilliant. Like most of Clooney's projects these days, it has something to say and says it very well. The film's focal point is Edward R. Murrow and focuses on his handling of Joseph McCarthy and the damage he was doing to the nation at that time. Without giving anything away, this movie is a reminder that history does repeat itself. It is provocative enough to keep my attention despite it's slower pacing and the fact that it is in black and white. I find the medium disconcerting because I am not used to it, but it was a brilliant choice in that it matched (with major improvements) the way films were made during the period the film discusses and that allowed for the film makers to seamlessly insert actual footage from that time. I loved it.
Maybe you had to be there July 4, 2006
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was a young boy and man during those days. We saw the programs live on TV because the "cable" had arrived in Seattle, Washington. There wasn't much else to see.
Clooney's film brought back into my mind stunning TV images, all live. There is no live TV today. Everything is edited for content before it is aired. It was not like that in "those" days. The Army/McCarthy hearings were high drama. "Good Night and Good Luck" brought the whole era of witch hunts and Communism hysteria into clear focus. I was reminded of captured W.W.I.I. films showing mock trials of people accused of being involved in the Hitler assassination attempt. High drama indeed. Innocent people died in both cases.
I believe that Clooney's film is very topical. America is wrapped up in an insane war trying to force democracy down the thoats of Iraq's citizens while suppressing it at home. It's deja vu all over again. We all know why that war is being fought. It has nothing at all to do with democracy.
Clooney should have won the Academy Award. Was Hollywood too frightened of political lashback? I wonder. Or perhaps Hollywood felt that America has had too much "reality" lately.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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