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Movies / On DVD / The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives

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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

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Reviews Counted: 35

Fresh: 34

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 8.6/10

Consensus: An engrossing look at the triumphs and travails of war veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives is concerned specifically with the aftermath of World War II, but its messages speak to the overall American experience.

Runtime: 2 hrs 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Perhaps the most memorable film about the aftermath of World War II, it unfolds with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The leads all touch emotional truths: Myrna Loy seems... Perhaps the most memorable film about the aftermath of World War II, it unfolds with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The leads all touch emotional truths: Myrna Loy seems able to express longing, joy, fear and surprise--mostly with her back turned--in a particularly poignant welcome home. The movie never glosses over the reality of altered lives and the inability to communicate the experience of war on the front lines or the home front. A landmark achievement. WWII vet Harold Russell, who lost his hands in the war, is the only person to win two Oscars for the same role, Best Supporting Actor and a special Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance." [More]

Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright

Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Hoagy Carmichael, Virginia Mayo, Harold Russell, Cathy O'Donnell, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Charles Halton, Ray Collins

Director: William Wyler

Director: William Wyler
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Composer: Hugo Friedhofer

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Best Years of Our Lives

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Este belíssimo estudo sobre as seqüelas sociais e psicológicas da guerra (para não mencionar as físicas) permanece atual mais de 60 anos depois de seu lançamento, impressionando não só pelas atuações, mas também pelo virtuosismo estético.

comment Comment
04/30/09
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Like most good mass entertainments, this picture has occasional moments of knowing hokum; but unlike most sure-fire movies, it was put together with good taste, honesty, wit -- and even a strong suggestion of guts.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
02/17/09
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I found it notable mainly because its massive 172 minutes are exclusively devoted to exploring characters, rather than showing any giant-sized, dazzling "epic" scenes.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/29/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
03/08/08
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Although it contains moving passages, Best Years is not much more than a conventional drama on the problems of servicemen attempting to adjust to life in postwar America, well served by an all-star cast and Toland's ingenious deep-focus setups.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
02/19/08
Elliott Stein
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It may be corny, but you'd have to be a real cynic not to be drawn in.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
02/19/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the best pictures of our lives.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/19/08
Abel Green
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Surprisingly modern: lean, direct, honest about issues that Hollywood then studiously avoided.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/04/08
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the few films that deserved all the awards heaped on it from the Oscars.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/17/07
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
02/18/07
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

I'd call this the best American movie about returning soldiers I've ever seen -- the most moving and the most deeply felt.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/12/06
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film is very proud of itself, exuding a stifling piety at times, but it works as well as this sort of thing can, thanks to accomplished performances by Fredric March, Myrna Loy, and Dana Andrews, who keep the human element afloat.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/12/06
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A biting look at the devestation caused by war on returning soldiers.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
10/24/06
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Overlong, perhaps, but this tender and occasionally tough look at the plight of returning war veterans is one of Wyler's best films.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Post-war Hollywood drama at its heartfelt best.

comment Comment
02/03/06
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
10/06/05
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

The film captured the mood of post-WWII America so well that even harsher critics like James Agee failed to see the film's dramatic flaws, instead stressing its realism and black-and-white deep focus photography by Gregg Toland.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/22/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Wyler and Goldwyn have made a glorious 'intimate epic,' one worthy of every honor bestowed upon it.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/10/05
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

This is intelligent, admirably unsentimental and utterly involving for its full three-hour running time.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
07/07/04
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine

The Best Years Of Our Lives is a wonderful character study, and touches on points of humankind's psychiatric makeup that are so obvious they are rarely discussed in cinematic form.

Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/01/03
Matt Easterbrook
Matt's Movie Reviews
 
 
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