Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
Killing Fields, The: 30th Anniversary (Blu-ray Book)
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Additional Multi-Format options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
Watch Instantly with | Rent | Buy |
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | Drama |
Format | Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen, Multiple Formats |
Contributor | Roland Joffé, Athol Fugard, Craig T. Nelson, Graham Kennedy, Bill Paterson, Julian Sands, Sam Waterston, John Malkovich, David Puttnam, Haing S. Ngor, Bruce Robinson, Spalding Gray See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours and 21 minutes |
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
- Schindler's List [Blu-ray]Liam NeesonBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
- The Last Emperor (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]CRITERION COLLECTION: LAST EMPERORBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
- Rosemary's Baby [4K UHD]Mia FarrowBlu-ray50% offLimited time dealFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
- Fury [4K UHD + Blu-ray]Brad PittBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
- We Were SoldiersKeri RussellBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
- Bram Stoker's Dracula [Blu-ray] [4K UHD]Gary OldmanBlu-rayFREE Shipping on orders over $35 shipped by AmazonGet it as soon as Tuesday, Mar 26
Product Description
Killing Fields, The: 30th Anniversary (Blu-ray Book) Nominated for seven Academy Awards and taking home three, this is one of the most critically acclaimed films of 1984. Produced by Academy Award-winner David Puttnam ("Chariots of Fire") and starring Sam Waterston ("Law & Order," "I'll Fly Away"), who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, Academy Award-nominee John Malkovich ("In the Line of Fire," "Places in the Heart"), Emmy Award-winner Craig T. Nelson ("Coach") and Dr. Haing S. Ngor, whose gripping portrayal earned him both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award. Newsweek calls this "an extraordinary movie...so compelling and convincing you can't tear your eyes away from the screen...it's not to be missed." The Los Angeles Times says "utterly, grippingly mesmerizing...a film to search out and share." People magazine advises, "If you see no more than one film a year, make it this one." More than 30 critics included this film on their lists of top ten films for 1984.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
- Item model number : WARBR436984
- Director : Roland Joffé
- Media Format : Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen, Multiple Formats
- Run time : 2 hours and 21 minutes
- Release date : January 7, 2014
- Actors : Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, Julian Sands, John Malkovich, Athol Fugard
- Subtitles: : English, French, Spanish
- Producers : David Puttnam
- Studio : WarnerBrothers
- ASIN : B00F3LC93C
- Writers : Bruce Robinson
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #29,211 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #2,695 in Drama Blu-ray Discs
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
I have seen this movie several times and watch it every few years. Each time is like it hits me all over again like the first time...
The Khmer Rouge is one of the worst regimes in the 20th century and that is saying a lot. They moved the Cambodian people from the cities and urban areas into the rural areas and forced them into agricultural production. Those that did not die at the hands of the Khmer Rouge died from diseases and malnutrition that city life had left them ill prepared for.
My only complaint about this movie and the reason I am docking it 1 star is for the political views espoused by Sydney Schanberg. America may be held accountable for many things, certainly Lyndon Johnson's personally orchestrated war (for which both he and Robert McNamara should have been tried for war crimes) in Vietnam is among them.
To blame America for the Khmer massacres is insane. The Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Soviet Governments are the villains here and take 99.9% of the blame for the atrocities committed. Yes America was involved in covert bombing campaigns in Cambodia but it did nothing to precipitate the events depicted in the Killing Fields and possibly held them off for the briefest of times. This kind of revisionist history is straight out of the lexicon of Noam Chomsky, who first denied the events occurred and then tried to place the blame on anyone else but his "idealized" government system of communism.
America and western countries do share the blame though of not educating their people enough about these events. It is a chapter of history that we would like to put behind us which makes it all the more important that we never forget it happened and that brutal regimes like the Khmer Rouge exist and will subject their own people to the worst atrocities.
As for the using of the song "Imagine" I am not sure that John Lennon would have liked the irony in the lyrics. The communist Khmer Rouge tried to strip the normally religious Khmer people from their faith. As religious faith tends to get in the way of Communism. "A brotherhood of man" Pol Pot referred to himself as "Brother Number One" and also operated a "Big Brother" type regime. "No need for greed or hunger" strip them of their possessions and make everyone engage in food production and see how quickly everyone starves to death. "No hell below us" why have it below them when the Khmer's can endure living hell on Earth? "Imagine all the people Living for today..." They have to live for today because the "people's government" will take it from them indiscriminately tomorrow. Sorry John, I have seen and read all I need to on your "ideal" government of Communism. You may be a "dreamer" but everyone that has seen your "dream" felt like they were living in a nightmare.
The beautiful landscape of Cambodia is portrayed with lush, green mountains, and families living in small, peaceful villages. This is immediately clashed with the brutality and endless violence of the civil war. Yet, it is portrayed exactly as it must have happened, and at times “The Killing Fields” plays almost like a documentary. This is in no small part due to the expert cinematography, which will sometimes jump from a landscape view to a close-up of tragedy, such as an injured boy covered in blood. It is hard to watch this film and not feel simultaneously horrified and sympathetic for the millions of lives that were needlessly lost.
As mentioned, the main subjects of the film are American journalist Sydney Schanberg, portrayed by Sam Waterston, and Cambodian journalist Dath Pran, portrayed by Haing S. Ngor, although John Malkovich also gets his moments as Al Rockoff. Sam Waterston, who people may know as Jack McCoy from Law & Order, gives a strong, commanding performance of a man that is clearly more concerned about telling a story than of his own personal safety. He also forms a strong bond with Dath Pran, who, as a Cambodian nationalist, is able to pull them out of a few tight spots along the way. Without the other, it is clear that the two would not have made it through the war. Haing S. Ngor, who was himself a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, had never acted in a movie before. Yet, you wouldn’t know it after seeing his presence on screen. It is likely that living through the actual event enabled him to get more of an emotional range, and others must have thought so as well, since Ngor was presented with an Oscar for the performance. He remains one of the only nonprofessional actors to win the award.
The Cambodian genocide is an event that people have likely heard of, although they may know nothing more about it, such as the approximate number of people killed. Some estimates put the total number of deaths at more than 3 million, from the causes of starvation, disease, and murder. Although “The Killing Fields” shows the stories of only a few journalists, it also shows just how senseless and ugly the war was through their experiences. It is a moving tribute to one of the worst genocides in history.
Top reviews from other countries
Im Zentrum des Films steht Sydney Schanberg, Auslandskorrespondent der New York Times, der Anfang der 70er Jahre vom Bürgerkrieg in Kambodscha berichtet. Unterstützt wird er vom kambodschanischen Journalisten und Dolmetscher Dith Pran, der sich nach einigen Jahren mit Schanberg angefreundet hat. Als 1975 die amerikanischen Streitkräfte das Land verlassen und die Hauptstadt Pnomh Penh von der kommunistischen Partei Rote Khmer eingenommen wird, steht für die Beteiligten plötzlich ihr Leben auf dem Spiel. Die lokalen Botschaften werden nach und nach evakuiert, ebenso wie Prans Familie. Pran entscheidet sich, weiterhin mit Schanberg Bericht zu erstatten, ohne zu ahnen, dass ihm und seinen Landsleuten unvorstellbarer Horror bevorsteht:
Die Rote Khmer unter der Führung des fanatischen Pol Pot sieht vor, das Land in einen mittelalterlichen, kommunistisch geführten Agrarstaat umzuwandeln. Hierfür will er die gesamte intellektuelle Elite beseitigen; Professoren, Lehrer, Ärzte und andere Gebildete wurden schlichtweg beseitigt und als überflüssig erklärt. Unschuldige Menschen wurden auf grausamste Weise gefoltert und getötet, darunter auch Kinder und Babys. Tausende Menschen verhungerten einfach. Es wird geschätzt, dass nicht weniger als 21 % der kambodschanischen Bevölkerung dem Regime der Roten Khmer zum Opfer fiel.
Schanberg kann mit seinen Kollegen zurück nach New York fliehen, doch Pran verschwindet. In der zweiten Hälfte des Films folgen wir ihm, der mittlerweile auf dem Land in einem der vielen Konzentrationslagern der Roten Khmer interniert ist. Er wartet auf seine Gelgenheit, die Flucht zu ergreifen, jede Sekunde der Gefahr ausgeliefert, getötet zu werden. Viele Passagen des Films kommen am Ende ohne Dialoge aus, sie sind geprägt von einem nüchternen dokumentarischen Inszenierungsstil.
Parallel dazu gibt Schanberg währenddessen die Hoffnung nie auf, dass sein Freund noch am Leben ist und schreibt hunderte Briefe an diverse Hilfsorganisationen.
"The Killing Fields" ist ein bemerkenswerter Film, der tief unter die Haut geht und einen lange nicht loslässt. Er behandelt ein schockierendes Thema, das immer noch verhältnismäßig vernachlässigt wird. Ähnlich wie bei dem Genozid in Ruanda 1994, bei dem ca. 1.000.000 Menschen den Tod fanden, bekam die westliche Zivilisation nur am Rande mit, welche unvorstellbaren Gräueltaten in Kambodscha verübt wurden. Auch heute wissen viele nicht einmal von der Existenz dieses Genozids, der in seinem Ausmaß durchaus mit dem Holocaust zu vergleichen ist. "The Killing Fields" ist jedoch ein außergewöhnlich humanitäres Zeitdokument, das eindringlich daran erinnert und zum Standardprogramm in Schulen zählen sollte.
Der Brite Roland Joffé, der für seine Arbeit eine Oscar-Nominierung als bester Regisseur erhielt, inszeniert unaufdringlich und mit präzisem dokumentarischem Auge. Er lässt die Geschichte für sich sprechen, versucht nicht zu verklären und sensationslüstern vorzugehen. Viel mehr steht die Geschichte der außergewöhnlichen Freundschaft zwischen Schanberg und Pran im Vordergrund, die enorm ans Herz geht. Die humanitäre Botschaft des Films lässt niemanden kalt, nach dem Film sieht man mit Sicherheit die Welt in einem etwas anderen Licht.
Besonders bemrkenswert sind auch die beiden Hauptdarsteller Sam Waterston und Haing S. Ngor. Waterston portraitiert Schanberg als abgebrühten und weltgewandten Journalisten, wütend über die Umstände, die er dokumentiert. Haing S. Ngor stand für diesen Film zum ersten Mal vor einer Kamera und lieferte eine der eindringlichsten Darstellungen der 80er. Ngor, der selbst Kambodschaner ist, hatte ein ähnliches Schicksal wie der von ihm portraitierte Pran hinter sich: Als ehemaliger Arzt wurde er von der Roten Khmer inhaftiert und gefoltert. Er verlor seine Frau und emigrierte später in die Vereinigten Staaten. Seine Darstellung im Film ist wenig überraschend zutiefst bewegend und von Herzen kommend, in der Filmgeschichte sicherlich einzigartig. Dafür erhielt er als zweiter Asiate überhaupt einen Oscar (nach Miyoshi Umeki für "Sayonara" 1957). Er spielte noch in einigen anderen Filmen mit, die nicht annähernd an die Qualität von "The Killing Fields" heranreichten. Allerdings engagierte er sich unermüdlich bei karitativen Einrichtungen für sein Heimatland. Er starb 1996 auf tragische Weise bei einem Raubüberfall vor seinem eigenen Haus in Los Angeles.
"The Killing Fields - Schreiendes Land" ist ein enormes filmisches Testament sowohl für großartige Menschlichkeit, als auch für unvorstellbare Unmenschlichkeit. Er zählt ohne Zweifel zu den wichtigsten Filmen der letzten 30 Jahre, vergleichbar mit "Schindlers Liste", wenn auch filmisch nicht ganz so sensationell. Nennenswert ist auch der Einsatz von Mike Oldfields teilweise experimentell anmutender Musik, deren dissonanter Charakter das Geschehen oft auf interessante Weise unterstreicht.