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The Ice Storm | 
| Director: Ang Lee
Actors: Joan Allen, Michael Cumpsty, Henry Czerny, Adam Hann-byrd, Kevin Kline
Studio: Criterion
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 44.99
Buy New: CDN$ 35.96
You Save: CDN$ 9.03 (20%)
New (13) Used (3) from CDN$ 33.37
Rating:  103 reviews
Sales Rank: 22548
Format: Dolby, Ntsc, Restored, Special Edition, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: IMEDCC1743D
UPC: 715515028424
EAN: 0715515028424
ASIN: B0011U3OAQ
Theatrical Release Date: 1997
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.co.uk
Asian American director Ang Lee sums up America in the early 1970s by focusing on the arrival of the sexual revolution in the 'burbs. Isolationism within a family, consumerism, and selfishness are personified by a cast that captures the self-obsession within two New England families. As the children struggle awkwardly with adolescence, their parents stumble through sexual experimentation. In the days of Watergate and Vietnam, society is breaking boundaries and ignoring convention. Following suit, these families are eschewing polite barriers and social taboos, with disastrous results. The iIce Storm/i of the title refers not only to a natural phenomenon but is a (rather heavy-handed) metaphor for a pervasive emotional temperament. The entire cast delivers textured, finely nuanced performances. This movie lingers in the psyche not only for the scope of the tragedy at its conclusion, but for Lee's often humorous and stingingly accurate assessment of pop culture. Based on Rick Moody's novel, this won the best-screenplay award at Cannes in 1997. i--Rochelle O'Gorman/i
Amazon.com Essential Video
Asian American director Ang Lee sums up America in the early 1970s by focusing on the arrival of the sexual revolution in the 'burbs. Isolationism within a family, consumerism, and selfishness are personified by a cast that captures the self-obsession within two New England families. As the children struggle awkwardly with adolescence, their parents stumble through sexual experimentation. In the days of Watergate and Vietnam, society is breaking boundaries and ignoring convention. Following suit, these families are eschewing polite barriers and social taboos, with disastrous results. The "ice storm" of the title refers not only to a natural phenomenon but is a (rather heavy-handed) metaphor for a pervasive emotional temperament. The entire cast delivers textured, finely nuanced performances. This movie lingers in the psyche not only for the scope of the tragedy at its conclusion, but for Lee's often humorous and stingingly accurate assessment of pop culture. Based on Rick Moody's novel, this won the best-screenplay award at Cannes in 1997. i--Rochelle O'Gorman/i
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| Customer Reviews: Read 98 more reviews...
 Behind closed doors October 17, 2008
Kona (Emerald City)
Two neighboring families experience a long and ultimately life-changing Thanksgiving weekend. The story moves from one house to the other where the adults are all bored with their spouses (but not with their neighbor's spouse) and the kids are restless and curious about sex. Everyone feels misunderstood and a big ice storm is coming. br / br /This adult drama is full of outstanding performances: Kevin Kline and a luminously lovely Joan Allen play husband and wife who are both filled with pain and longing. Sigourney Weaver is great as the self-absorbed and callous neighbor wife who hooks up with Kline's character. The kids include a young, sensitive Tobey Maguire who lusts after classmate Katie Holmes, while younger siblings Christina Ricci and Elijah Woods suffer the pangs of adolescence. It's played very low-key with no sentimentality to show what self-indulgent and disconnected lives they lead. They're all miserable and the warnings about the coming ice storm intensify the feeling of impending doom. br / br /This sobering look at middle-class woes is definitely not a feel-good movie, but it's very well-made. Recommended.
Baby it's cold outside December 29, 2007
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
br /I, personally, was not alive in 1973 -- it was a decade too early for me and my closest friends br / br /But Ang Lee gave us some glimpses into the landscape of 1970s suburbia, in the wake of the sexual revolution. "The Ice Storm" is a chilly, bitterly lonely little drama, with moments of biting humour and poignant alienation between these people. They pass each other, but never touch. br / br /The Carvers and Hood live in the same affluent suburban neighborhood, and on the surface all seems well. But self-absorbed Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) is having an affair with the icy Janie Carver (Sigourney Weaver), and his daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) is experimenting with Janey's son Mikey (Elijah Wood. And Elena Hood (Joan Allen) is experiencing an identity crisis as a woman. br / br /Things start crumbling over Thanksgiving weekend, when Ben finds Wendy and Mikey in a compromising position (which involves a Nixon mask), and Elena figures out the truth about her husband's affair. As an ice storm sweeps over New Canaan, the parents set out to a "key party," all their relationships will reach boiling point -- and a tragedy will strike. br / br /The neighborhood of "The Ice Storm" is not one you'd want to live in -- people talk but rarely speak, have sex but no intimacy, and can't communicate with their own children and spouses. So it's a credit to Ang Lee's directorial skill that he can actually draw you into this story. br / br /And Lee does a really brilliant job of not only illustrating these intertwined, painfully distant relationships, but tying them into the 1970s world. It's like a bunch of beautifully filmed moments strung together -- the kiss in the swimming pool, wintry trysts, biking through the woods, and the awkward Thanksgiving dinner where Wendy goes into a political rant "prayer" at grace. br / br /Lee seems a bit overfond of ice metaphors and dead leaves, to the point of close-ups of ice-cube trays. Really, enough. But his direction is pitch-perfect -- he paints a delicate, lonely, chilly beauty into every corner of the movie. This is especially true in the second half, when we see the spacey Mikey sliding and running in an icy wonderland. br / br /Though it's rather bleak, there are plenty of darkly humorous moments ("Mikey have you heard the explosions coming from the back yard?" "I dunno"). But as the story winds on, dialogue becomes much less important -- there are long silences that tell us much more than words. Sorrow, resentment, pain, anger and indifference are all hinted at without a word. br / br /And the acting is practically perfect all around. Tobey Maguire serves an important function -- he is the "normal" one, an ordinary boy who is hoping to score with a girl. Christina Ricci is excellent as a political nymphet. And Elijah Wood is glorious as Mikey, an endearingly ethereal boy who is obsessed with molecules and squares. br / br /As for the adults, Kevin Kline is amazing as the detached Ben, who discovers the hard way what his selfishness has caused. Weaver and Allen are similarly great as two icy women with warm feelings swimming deep inside, but very different ways of dealing with their unhappy marriages. br / br /The Criterion Edition is partly making up for the bare-bones treatment "Ice Storm" got before. This time, it has new video interviews with author Rich Moody as well as many of the actors -- Allen, Wood, Kline and Ricci. Production designs, deleted scenes and more are also included. br / br /The world of "Ice Storm" is a cold, barren one, and I'm not just talking about the late-autumn weather. But Ang Lee gives it a cold, poignant brilliance.
Dark,compelling story set amid social changes in the 1970s May 25, 2004
Linda Linguvic (New York City)
This fim is moody and morose, just like the book which I read a few years ago. It now has a talented director (Ang Lee) and some well-known actors (Kevin Kline, Signorey Weaver). The Ice Storm is a metaphor, of course, and the scenes takes place over a Thanksgiving weekend in New Canaan, CT in the early seventies. The parents are experimenting with the sexual revolution. The teenage children and smoking pot and feeling the anti-war movement. The sudden social changes are confusing everybody.pThe story is dark and compelling and the children come across as more real than the parents. It is a hard film to watch, given its subject. Thought it was was excellent athough I wasn't smiling when the film ended. I was thinking.
Take that 1970's! May 25, 2004
B. Slooten (Los Angeles, CA)
The Ice Storm is one of the all time great films in the past 25 years if not 50. Ang Lee, who is gifted beyond fathomable belief, directs another deeply moving drama. Lee is one of the finest directors who can get the most of out of his actors. This film teases you and then slaps you upside down by it's stirring climax. This film is a treat; you're cheating only yourself if you don't see it.
one of the best suburban comedy-dramas EVER February 11, 2004
moongrenadine (high point, NC)
while one could easily consider ice storm a companion piece to the great american beauty, the genius film-maker ang lee actually made this film several prior to american beauty this was unfortunately highly overlooked in 1997 1998 sad to say. with the elements of comedy drama, we get a view of what life could've been like during the seventies right around the holidays. the world outside was going through some great changes, people were searching for their own identities, family were losing touch with one another. this holiday season, 2 families will be put to the test in terms of loyalty, commitment, will discover just how they mena to one another. ice storm features some excellent performances from kevin klein, joan sigourney weaver in addition to some stellar performances from lesser-known actors/actresses around that time such as christina ricci, tobey maguire, elijah wood. ang lee has crafted a funny, often touching look at a cold world in which we've inhabited based upon the great novel by rick moody. the best scene in my opinion is the scene where kevin klein carries his daughter(played wonderfully by christina ricci) on his back walking through the woods as the snow begins to fall. beautiful heartwarming scene indeed. another great moment is the thanksgiving dinner where christina ricci's character leads the family into prayer this is a complete riot. at such an affordable cost on vhs dvd, why shouldn't you own this little known masterpiece in your library?
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