Far and Away - Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

My great-grandparents came to America from their home land - which was Far and Away. They had many struggles when they arrived in the New Bedford Mass area of immigrants from their homeland. Watching this film brings into sharp view the struggles of the time. It's a love story. It's history. It's great filmmaking. Enjoy.

This movie was one of the blockbuster kinds popular in the 1980s and 1990s -- epic story, big stars, powerful scenes and music. The story is about two Irish immigrants pushed out different reasons, make it to Boston, and then to the West. The three phases of the story are distinct and bring the characters together in the relationship, even though they were on different routes before. In America, the arrive poor like most Irish, but in a plot twist, they also have very different social backgrounds. The Tom Cruise character becomes a boxer to make money and the Nicole Kidman character is a nightclub dancer. What they really want, however, is independence.Cruise and Kidman give their usual strong performances. Back then, it was kind of fun for there to be such a strong female lead. The Kidman character is the "fiery woman" type character. Looking back, this was one of those movie made for the big screen experience. The action, adventure, and romance were key for making this film over the usual 90 minutes work (other feature films of the 90s era like the Merchant Ivory dramas were at times snoozers, going towards 2 or even 2 1/2 hours).The early 1990s were a very optimistic time in the US and the world, and in Ireland, and that spirit is reflected here. Today, though, we can also see that Ireland was, in the 1800s, an example of a nation with very limited natural resources where the weak lingered and dwelt in the past and the strong became pioneers. And, while millions emigrated they also brought with them their ideals, values, and distinctive character. They journeyed from the Old World and became an eternal feature of the spirit of America. Modern America's energy, intelligence, moral compass, and optimism came into existence from the work, adventures, and family life of our ancestors. Today, we can only hope that there is a frontier for new freedom and wealth as superb as the one they knew.

Great movie... one of my favs of all time.

Love the movie

This is one of my favorite movies. It's an annual watch for me every year around St. Patrick's Day (along with many other Irish themed films).Despite Tom Cruise's and Nicole Kidman's absolutely awful accents, they are both great in this film and have perfect chemistry.And overall it really is a brilliant movie. Full of romance, comedy, adventure, and an element of danger. It has everything you want in a good movie. The storytelling, cinematography, and musical score are all excellent as well.As for the 4K transfer, it is pretty good. But if you own the movie, I'm not sure it's really worth the upgrade to 4K, especially at full price.This film naturally has pretty soft image and the color palette isn't exactly eye popping, other than a few scenes. So it's not going to take advantage of your 4K TV's capabilities.Any use of overhead audio in the Dolby Atmos track is barely noticable, so not much of an improvement over the old 5.1 audio track either.Well worth buying if you don't already own it, but maybe not worth the upgrade unless it's on sale.

We've experienced this movie before - that's why we rented it again. It was seven better this time.

Arrived on time and no problems!!

I've owned "Far and Away" on VHS, then on Laserdisc, and finally Blu-Ray which looks stunning and more clear than ever in Widescreen 2.35: 1. The soundtrack and John Williams's score both sound awesome in Dolby DTS 5.1. If you really want a good copy of this movie, Blu-Ray is the way to go.As a descendent of Irish Americans, this is a truly wonderful epic story of the early American Dream to live in freedom with the right woman on your very own land. However, every dream has both a price and hardships which must be confronted and overcome in order to attain it, and this film portrays these both dramatically and passionately.Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman both give a stunning performance. The same can be said of the wonderful supporting cast which includes Colm Meany, Barbara Babcock, and Thomas Gibson."Far and Away" is a great movie to watch on or around Saint Patrick's Day!