Product Description
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A young American soldier (Timothy Bottoms) is wounded by a
mortar shell on the last day of World War I. He lies in a
hospital bed as a quadruple amputee who has lost his arms, legs,
eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. He remains conscious and able to
think, thereby reliving his life through strange dreams,
memories, and conversations with Jesus (Donald Sutherland),
unable to distinguish whether he is awake or dreaming. Dalton
Trumbo, author of the famous 1930s antiwar book of the same name
wrote and directed this film adaptation. Director Dalton Trumbo
Starring Donald Sutherland, Timothy Bottoms, Jason Robards, Eric
Christmas, Special Features: Full Frame - 1.33 Screen Format
Note: Widescreen 16:9 Audio: Dolby Digital - English Additional
Release Material: Behind the Scenes: Rare Behind the Scenes w/
Timothy Bottoms, Actor; Jules Brenner, Director of Photography;
Commentary Documentary: Rebel in Hollywood - 2006.
.com
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Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo directed just one film in
his career, but it was a doozy: Johnny Got His , Trumbo’s 1971
adaptation of his 1939 novel and a work that has long been
considered one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever
produced. Ironically, though, there’s very little war in it, and
nothing in the way of blood and guts. Instead, what we get is the
tortured tale of one Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms), a callow
18-year-old who goes off to World War I because he believes that
fighting for his country is the right thing to do. But when an
officer orders some men to leave their trench and bury a dead
enemy soldier, Joe is hit by a mortar shell and left without
arms, legs, or a face (he can’t see, hear, or speak). Doctors
assume that his cognitive brain function is gone as well, but in
fact he can still think, reason, and feel (figuratively and
literally); as a result, he has been consigned to a life far
worse than death. The film intermingles scenes of Joe in an Army
hospital as he gradually comes to understand his circumstances
(we never actually see him, as he’s covered by a and sheets)
with the various flashbacks, memories, and hallucinations he
experiences during that process. The former, during which Bottoms
supplies Joe’s thoughts in voice-over, are in black & white; the
latter, which range from childhood memories (Joe’s her is
played by Jason Robards) to bizarre fantasies like playing cards
with Jesus Christ (Donald Sutherland), are in color, bathed in a
kind of dreamy glow that’s countered by a heavy and persistent
sense of dread. To be sure, Johnny Got His has its
heavy-handed, pretentious moments. But this is a smart,
disturbing, and somber film that stands out in a genre (i.e., war
movies) that unfortunately is never irrelevant. An excellent
batch of bonus features includes an hour-long profile of Trumbo
(who was jailed for contempt of Congress during the Communist
witch hunts of the ‘40s and ‘50s, then blacklisted by Hollywood),
a new interview with Bottoms, a 1940 radio adaptation of the
story (featuring James Cagney as Joe), and even the Metallica
music video “One,” which features extensive footage from the
film. --Sam Graham
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Review
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Johnny Got His is one of the most emotionally devastating
films you're likely to see. You won't soon forget it, and that's
either going to spur you on to some useful introspection or drive
you a little mad. That's the sign of masterful writing, and
Trumbo's singular achievement. --DVD Talk, April 17th 2009
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