List Price: $19.98You Pay Only: $9.99 You Save: $9.99 (50%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783227375
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 078322737X
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 16, 1998
Running Time: 112 minutes
Sales Rank: 615
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: August 11, 1973
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: '[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant.' The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com:
Here's how critic Roger Ebert described the unique and lasting value of George Lucas's 1973 box-office hit, American Graffiti: '[It's] not only a great movie but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant.' The time to which Ebert and the film refers is the summer of 1962, and American Graffiti captures the look, feel, and sound of that era by chronicling one memorable night in the lives of several young Californians on the cusp of adulthood. (In essence, Lucas was making a semiautobiographical tribute to his own days as a hot-rod cruiser, and the film's phenomenal success paved the way for Star Wars.) The action is propelled by the music of Wolfman Jack's rock & roll radio show--a soundtrack of pop hits that would become as popular as the film itself. As Lucas develops several character subplots, American Graffiti becomes a flawless time capsule of meticulously re-created memory, as authentic as a documentary and vividly realized through innovative use of cinematography and sound. The once-in-a-lifetime ensemble cast members inhabit their roles so fully that they don't seem like actors at all, comprising a who's who of performers--some of whom went on to stellar careers--including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, and Paul Le Mat. A true American classic, the film ranks No. 77 on the American Film Institute's list of all-time greatest American movies. Befitting that reputation, the collector's edition DVD includes a full-length commentary by Lucas, a behind-the-scenes featurette about the film's production, a photo gallery, and extensive production notes. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The wonderful 60's
My favorite movie of all time - after Titanic.
I grew up in the 60's, and relate to this wonderful movie. I love everyone in it, and sometimes play it just to have the music playing while I'm doing housework. Great plot, great acting, and love Modesto for the small town set.
Great, great movie!!
Rating: - Happy Days
American Graffitti, released in 1974, takes place near Modesto California where George Lucas (the films director and co-writer) spent his high school years. One of Lucas's stated purposes in making this film was to document the practice of "cruising." For those of us that didn't grow up in that era cruising basically consists of driving around town all night looking for something to do. A practice unthinkable for most of us now thanks to gas prices. The whole town seems to revolve around doing everything in a car. The drive in movies, the diner that you eat in your car at (Sonic is the modern equivalent), and the secluded outdoor area where everyone goes to "park." One of the films funniest plots revolves around Terry (Charles Martin Smith) who is usually carless being lent a car by a friend and jumping into a world that he is wholly unprepared for.
The entire film takes place in the space of one night, the night before Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are supposed to leave for college. The movie takes pains to show us what a solitary figure Curt is. He is shown at the school dance walking in a dark hall by himself, he is sitting alone on a car watching storefront television, he is the only main character to sit in the back seat of a car (usually by himself). Curt has relationships and interactions but they are very brief in nature. Throughout the course of the film the characters are defined by their relationships. Steve is trying to figure out what to do with ... Read More
Rating: - Graffiti Means the Writing on the Wall
What a glorious, nostalgic, and ultimately melancholy movie this is. It ranks in my top five, maybe top three films of all time. I saw this meditation on early '60s California again the other night on the big screen, and realized from the other men in the audience, and from my wife's ho-hum reaction, that American Graffiti appeals mostly to and is about men.
The hot rod cars are the first tip-off of course, and "cruising the strip" as street rodder Milner calls it (we used to call it "cruising Broadway") while answering drag challenges and scoping out girls are the main night activities. It's a heady and uncertain time, this one night the movie concentrates on. Curt and Steve (Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard)are due to leave town for college the next morning, and Curt's getting cold feet. You can't help but feel the exciting tug of the unknown in one direction and yet understand the comfort of the routine and the familiar in wanting to stay home. Anyone who left home for the big world as a teenager will understand very well what's going on in these guys' minds.
John Milner is supposedly content to remain hot rod king of the hill, but he seems defensive about Curt moving on. Curt gets into and out of trouble with the local toughs the "Pharaohs," while the characters of the outstanding ensemble cast go through their own little triumphs and failures in the night. In a piece of inspired casting Wolfman Jack is a running background theme throughout the movie, except for the ... Read More
Rating:  - Love the movie, not the DVD
The movie is of course a classic and always fun to watch. What I was disapointed with was this recording. For this being remastered, the sound was awful. I was constantly turning it up and straining to hear. It was reallly awful.
Rating: - American Graffiti
Seen the movie several times loved it and now my son wanted to see it so I passed along to him and he loved it too.
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