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Witness [DVD] [1985] starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Jan Rubes

Publisher: Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: 2nd October, 2000
Media: DVD

Audio Formats

English (Original Language), French (Original Language), German (Original Language), Czech (Dubbed), Italian (Dubbed), Polish (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)

Subtitles

English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Danish, Hungarian, Dutch, Finnish, Croatian

Format

• Anamorphic
• Dubbed
• PAL
• Widescreen

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Editorial Review

When Samuel (Lukas Haas), a young Amish boy travelling with his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis), witnesses the murder of a police officer in a public restroom, he and his mother become the temporary wards of John Book (Harrison Ford), a detective who's been assigned to solve the crime. After suspect line-ups and mug-shot books yield nothing, Samuel, in the most memorable scene of the film, recognizes the murderer as a narcotics agent whose picture he sees in the precinct. Once Book realizes that the police chief is in on it, too, he whisks Samuel and Rachel back home to Amish country, where he himself goes into hiding as a plain Amish man. Witness' juxtaposition of the life of the Amish and the violence of inner-city police corruption work surprisingly well for the story, and Kelly McGillis as the falling in love widow gives an almost perfect performance. Directed by Peter Weir, the film is extremely successful in drawing the viewer into its world and, accordingly, is immensely entertaining. The only thing that mars its polish is the one-dimensional, almost cartoonish handling of the upper-echelon police corruption--a subtler, more realistic treatment of this aspect of the story would have rendered the film near perfect. --James McGrath, Amazon.com

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Average rating - (more reviews)

Rating: - Witnessing witness

I enjoyed this DVD very much as in some ways it was old fashioned adventure but in an unusual and interesting setting among the Amish community. I would recommend it to anyone who likes the John Buchan type adventure.

Rating: - Witness...

Harrison Ford is directed by Peter Weir in this excellent crime thriller where a big city cop has to relocate to an Amish community to protect a young Amish boy who is witness to a crime in the big city.
During the time that the Detective Captain John Book (Ford) spends with the Amish people he finds himself attracted to Rachel Lapp who is played by Kelly McGillis, under the masterful direction of Weir who paces the film so as to alternate between explosive violence and suppressed erotic tension between the Ford and McGillis characters this above average crime thriller, is a master class in modern film making.
The strong cast also includes Danny Glover and look out for a young Viggo Mortensen playing an Amish farmer.
In 1985 the film deservedly won two Oscar's one for editing and the other for the screenplay.

Rating: - Great Film

Loved this , beautifully shot, unusual content, great casting & Harrison Ford is very believable as John Book. The DVD `extras` are really worth looking at, interviews with cast and production team. A quality film. Get this, great value!

Rating: - 80's cop drama with a twist

You have to see Witness at least once before you die! It's the story of an Amish lad who witnesses a crime, and the cop (Harrison Ford) who assigns himself to protect the lad from the accused. There is a nice but obvious twist to the tale, and it gets you inside the ideals of the Amish without being too voyeuristic, making them humans who choose a different path, as opposed to wierdo's! The music is background at best, aside from the 'Raising of the Barn' which is a superb piece, with inspirational visuals to go with it. The plot is fairly obvious from the start, with few twists, but as you watch this film you find yourself drawn to some of the more peripheral characters and certainly rooting for 'Book' in the ice-cream scene!
A darn good watch, and perfect retro cop drama with a difference

Rating: - Above all, great directing

This is all about a great directing job by Peter Weir. The cop story is just the excuse to let feelings out from the main characters. Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis give outstanding performances, mainly due to the way the script is done: the say much more by the things they don't say. Silences are more important than words. The bathing scene is the best example. Peter Weir is able to convey all these feeling and still maintaining a great pace and rhythm. John Seale's cinematography and Maurice Jrre's music are both remarkable. Saw it first back in 85 (I was 11) and now again (I'm 31) and still amazes me... Such a pity that Kelly didn't get the career we thought she would have...

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