Great Santini [VHS]

Great Santini [VHS]
by Lewis John Carlino

Great Santini [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Blythe Danner, Julie Anne Haddock, Lisa Jane Persky, Michael O'Keefe, Robert Duvall
Director: Lewis John Carlino
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 116 minutes
Release Date: 1994-04-27
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video

VHS Movie Reviews of Great Santini [VHS]

Movie Review: Now that's a movie!
Summary: 4 Stars

Somehow (I think!) we missed this one back when it first came out in '79. Too busy with little kids or something. Anyway, we watched it for the first time tonight and were very impressed. Not surprised, because anything with Robert Duvall is bound to be A-1...but how well acted and "true-to-life" the story was by all the cast...at least the family. As a couple other reviewers mentioned, it has lots of raw emotion and if you come from a family with either an alcoholic, domineering, and/or military father (usually they have all those traits!) you may have a hard time with this. It's just sad how hard it is for some people to just be NICE...and normal and enjoy life...they want to, but they screw it up and then feel bad and then act out...a vicious circle. My father wasn't like Bull Meechum, but I have uncles who are. They're men with love in their hearts but a perverse way of showing it and no boundaries on anger.
A great movie! I highly recommend it. I guess my only complaint would be that god-awful 70's music!

Movie Review: " The Great Hero"
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a unique movie in that it combines several elements that separate it from many, many others.This is a military movie but not a war movie. It is set in the early sixties but it has themes that are timeless including: family, coming of age, racisim, honor and true character and courage.
Robert DuVall is Bull Meecham the hard charging Marine fighter pilot that expresses his love for family by barking orders and discipline in true spirit of the "Corps" fashion. Blythe Danner in my favorite role as his wife is the epitome of a strong yet subdued woman of great conviction and faith.
I identified with this movie on several levels. I grew up in a town near a Naval Air Station and my neighborhood had many Marine and Navy pilot families in it. I used to go to the base with them and spend lots of time with them and I knew many men that Bull Meecham reminded me of. There is a special comradery that DuVall captured pefectly.
Blythe Danner's chatacter reminded me of my mother as she had a very strong Catholic faith and we were expected to behave in a certain way at all times. As I lost my father at an early age I was always looking for strong male role models and all those guys were a good influence on me.
I guess I will just say that I think we could use a few more Bull Meechams today as they are a vanishing breed. The ultimate test of a hero is when they sacrifice themself for the greater good and this movie sends a powerfull message. All teenage boys should have this as mandatory viewing with their father for a coming of age lesson. GREAT MOVIE!!

Movie Review: great classic
Summary: 5 Stars

I love this movie. I've seen it a hundred times since I was a kid and it never gets old. If you were in the Marines or know someone who was you know Robert Duvall's acting is awesome! His character is played perfectly!

Movie Review: Enjoyed it because it resembles my own life to some degree!
Summary: 4 Stars

The story revolves around the family of Marine Lt Col. Meechum who has been base hopping for a long while and now they're stationed in their final place before LTC Meechum's retirement somewhere in the segregated south circa 1962-63. It's a beautiful family story of a patriotic, traditional family. I really enjoyed it. I think Robert Duvall (LTC Meechum) is magnificent and it was like he has been a Marine for all his life. Great movie. And I related a lot to the story since I also come from the same type of family and some of the scenes were pretty much like what I have experienced in my life (even though in a different country but military families go through the same) and therefore the movie really caught my attention. I just don't know why they had to plant that poor black man in the story because it really didn't have much to do with the core of the scenario. 30 yrs after its release this is still a successful and great movie. 4/5

Movie Review: Classic Across the Board
Summary: 5 Stars

I saw this movie almost 30 years ago in the theater. I lost recollection of the specifics, but I recalled that it was a life-altering movie. I basically only remembered the ending, which I won't disclose.

Watching it tonight brought back immediate recall as to why I liked it. As another reviewer notes: some movies don't hold up all that well over time, and some do. It is always interesting to see which way the verdict will fall. This one holds up perfectly. The cast is simply superb, and the story epic. This is a true drama...you'll go through a wide variety of emotions and reactions.

I also now recall why I went through a years-long phase where I referred to various family and friends as "sports fans." I think I'll start that up again, it somehow works. Hopefully I'll avoid the temptation to use the other favored name: "hogs,"--although The Great Santini's affection was revealed even there, as he tried to make Jr. Marines of his family.

Robert Duvall, as we all know, is a National Treasure, on the level of Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Robert Deniro, Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Michael Caine and a handful of other actors who have simply combined extreme talent with decades of work and left behind tremendous legacies. I suggest to you that this is Duvall's crowning achievment. Why this movie has only moderate acclaim is completely beyond me. My entire family was enraptured by this film, and I suspect it has had the same effect on my kids tonight as it had of me all those years ago.

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Summary of Great Santini [VHS]

Robert Duvall gives one of his most memorable performances in the title role of this 1979 drama about a hardcore Marine lieutenant named Bull Meechum (Duvall), a fighter ace who calls himself "The Great Santini" and compensates for peacetime inactivity by waging war on his intimidated children. His wife (Blythe Danner) lovingly tolerates his behavior, but his 18-year-old son (Michael O'Keefe) is working up the courage to defy the domineering patriarch, whose need for competition borders on maniacal. When push comes to shove (and shove they certainly do), the son earns his father's begrudging respect, and as it turns out, just in time. Military brats may recognize their own experience in this comedic drama, but anyone can relate to the Meechum family's patriarchal dysfunction. Writer-director Lewis John Carlino (adapting the novel by Pat Conroy) does a fine job of balancing humor with the kind of stressful anxiety that can either strengthen a family or tear it apart. Both Duvall and O'Keefe were deservedly nominated for Academy Awards. --Jeff Shannon

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