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Movies / On DVD / Vertigo
Vertigo

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Vertigo (1958)

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Reviews Counted:51

Fresh:50

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.6/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: VERTIGO is Alfred Hitchcock's haunting tale of deception, madness, and death--a masterful exploration of fantasy and anxiety. The film ranks with REAR WINDOW as one of the director's most closely... VERTIGO is Alfred Hitchcock's haunting tale of deception, madness, and death--a masterful exploration of fantasy and anxiety. The film ranks with REAR WINDOW as one of the director's most closely studied films for its psychological complexity, while the obsession of its protagonist--John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart)--can also be seen to parallel that of Hitchcock's own fascination with the icy-blonde leading lady he re-created at the center of so many of his films. Ferguson is a retired detective, his career ended by the onset of a paralyzing fear of heights. An old friend, the wealthy Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), hires Ferguson to follow his wife (Kim Novak), whom, he explains, has grown obsessed with an ancestor of hers. The assignment, however, draws Ferguson out of his comfortable role as observer and into a complex web of intrigue, mingled with the detective's own fantasies and fears. Stewart gives an exceptional performance as the disintegrating detective, while Novak, who was left largely undirected by Hitchcock, conveys a subtle and powerful psychological journey. Another star of the film is its San Francisco setting. VERTIGO is considered one of Hitchcock's most complex, finest films. [More]

Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore

Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones, Raymond Bailey, Ellen Corby, Konstantin Shayne, Lee Patrick, Paul Bryar, Roland Got, Jack Richardson

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Alec Coppel, Samuel W. Taylor
Story: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 3, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Vertigo

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Vertigo is a kind of consummate illusion--tantalizing for being so often out of reach (DVDs don't match the reel deal), fulfilling only for bringing us as close as possible to Hitchcock's head and heart in Frisco circa '58. Or...

Full Review Source: minnpost.com | comment Comment
08/24/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
minnpost.com

a disturbing and darkly revealing psychological thriller

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment Comment
08/08/09
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Cinemania

The old master, now a slave to television, has turned out another Hitchcock-and-bull story in which the mystery is not so much who done it as who cares.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment 10 Comments
04/20/09
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the landmarks--not merely of the movies, but of 20th-century art.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/20/09
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

After it, Psycho and the rest of the '60s are only a bitter précis of this thesis of sexual disassociation and identity politics.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
12/11/08
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Why is this movie Hitchcock's masterpiece? Because no movie plunges us more deeply into the dizzying heart of erotic obsession.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
08/18/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The "Vertigo" shot created for this film was so powerful and unique that everytime I see it used today, I get teary eyed.

comment Comment
08/02/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
BDK Reviews

Vertigo is an acknowledged masterpiece, one of those narrative films in which a bracing and unpredictable story has been distilled into a form that is at once classic and inventive.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
05/30/08
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

Hitchcock was elsewhere an entertainer, often a great one, but Vertigo finds him working as an artist...

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
11/05/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Alfred Hitchcock at his most disturbing.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/14/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A rich, resonant meditation of male romantic obsession ... Not only does Hitchcock demonstrate a total mastery of cinematic point-of-view, but he turns what might have been mere melodrama into film poetry. Perhaps his greatest film.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
02/03/06
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Slow but totally compelling.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Hitchcock's twisty, suspenseful tale is far more involving and memorable than most recent Hollywood thrillers.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
09/11/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

What can one say? Exquisitely controlled, framed, scored, acted, and edited. A peerless triumph.

comment Comment
08/16/03
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks

No review available.

comment Comment
03/13/03
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Often imitated, never duplicated.

comment Comment
02/02/03
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

Justifying Vertigo's poor initial performance, it is a film that requires distance, as well as the completion of Hitchcock’s career. It is a moment of acknowledgment in the final, retrospective establishment of the director’s frequent themes.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
01/28/03
Rumsey Taylor
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

No review available.

comment Comment
12/12/02
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

No review available.

comment Comment
10/24/02
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

This is one of the single most masterful pictures ever made.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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