High Noon is, so I'm told, the most screened movie in the White House. It seems that every president loves it. Bill Clinton once said it was his favorite movie. I suppose presidents love High Noon because of its "one man against all the bad guys"...
- 09.October.2009
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- by: Ethan Clapham
- Ethan Clapham rated this movie
 0/10
High Noon is, so I'm told, the most screened movie in the White House. It seems that every president loves it. Bill Clinton once said it was his favorite movie. I suppose presidents love High Noon because of its "one man against all the bad guys" kind of theme. It's also rated number 33 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list. I'm not really sure I see the attraction. Sure, High Noon was good, but I wouldn't rate it that highly.
One thing I enjoyed very much was how the movie played out in real time. Many scenes showed clocks, or at least had them in the background, and the hands crept towards noon minute by real minute. That added an element of tension that might have been lost otherwise. The harsh black and white cinematography also added to the tension. I've read that the grimace constantly seen on Gary Cooper's face was actually due to a bleeding ulcer, but it fit the role perfectly.
High Noon was a western unlike any other I've seen. The entire movie was a buildup to the arrival of the noon train, which carried along with it the promise of a street-clearing showdown. The pacing leading up to this showdown was superb and was handled masterfully. The let down came with the end of the film. The finale just didn't live up to my expectations. By today's standards, the shootout was quite lame. Was this a good western, yes. But was it the best ever? Certainly not.
The DVD looked fairly decent, all things considered. The audio was "restored" and sounded very average. Having been restored from what was no doubt a mono master, everything is clear with no evident hissing or popping. The video looked good but not great. For the most part the print was clean, although a few lines, bits of dirt, and instances of shimmering were noticeable. The contrast was consistent and acceptable.
- 09.October.2009
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- by: Ethan Clapham
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I concur with the ratings in that this really is an excellent movie. I had not seen this before and am going through classic movies - and this really stands out. The entire movie increases the tension as a man looking for ANY help from his town...
- 30.March.2009
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- by: Parker in MN
- Parker in MN rated this movie
 10/10Must See
I concur with the ratings in that this really is an excellent movie. I had not seen this before and am going through classic movies - and this really stands out. The entire movie increases the tension as a man looking for ANY help from his town finds none. He slowly realizes he's going to be the only person to meet fate and you feel it as an audience member. There's no overacting, as is usually done in other classics, and there's no explosions or unnecessary subplots as you would expect from today's movies. Furthermore, the acting, film and editing all around is pretty superb. If you love westerns or excellent classic movies then you really deserve to watch this.
- 30.March.2009
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- by: Parker in MN
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the strong silent type
This is the movie that made Gary Cooper and Fred Zinnemann. Cooper's character, the marshall Will Kane asks for help from the townspeople - very unusual for a western hero. This movie is special in quite a few aspects - the movie is exactly an hour...
- 09.August.2008
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- by: fletcher.munson
- fletcher.munson rated this movie8/10Great
the strong silent type
This is the movie that made Gary Cooper and Fred Zinnemann. Cooper's character, the marshall Will Kane asks for help from the townspeople - very unusual for a western hero. This movie is special in quite a few aspects - the movie is exactly an hour and a half long and the plot starts at 10:30 and ends at 12:00. One of the greatest westerns ever.
- 09.August.2008
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- by: fletcher.munson
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