Customer Reviews
One of Altman's Great Films! 
2008-09-20
This film is an amazing classic done in the classic Altman style. A hodge podge of singers and performers crowd the movie to provide a feeling of what Nashville may be like, the country western capital of the world. The little dramas of its many characters bring together threads culminating in an assassination. Of course, in the music business fame is fleeting. Another rises to take their place. An amazing film that would never get made today.
Amazing Film, Decent DVD 
2008-05-28
Nashville is by far one of the best films ever made. It's a difficult, funny and inventive look at the country music scene in the 70s (from an outsider's perspective, which makes it all the more engrossing). This bare bones DVD could've been better. Why Short cuts has a criterion edition and this doesn't, one will never know.
I agree with the good and bad reviews 2008-03-30
All criticisms I've read about Nashville on this site and others seem to be right. And I doubt you can find many people around these days who would give this film the time of day.
But as a 20 year old I find this film fascinatingly weird, I try to view it through a 1970s audience members eyes and I can see how this would be engaging at the time seeing how nothing like this was ever made before. Also see how it could be enraging because I have grown up around hardcore country music fans who know their stuff and have also played in Nashville during the 70s who would view this as the silliest s#!t they've ever seen. I can sympathize! However, this movie is just weird to me, everyone seems like a cartoon character. Its like Altman's Nashville exists in the realm of his Popeye movie, this is one of the most seriously crazy implausible feverish nightmare of a movie I think I've ever seen and the distance of the camera from the actors, only a few select closeups, drama not being shoved in your face but melting in with the rest of society. I have to say in this age of extreme closeups and almost pornographic display of "realism" and "emotions" I found this a refreshing change of pace. I can't say I think its great but I enjoyed the fact that its completely different than anything out now. And with every director in a race to be quirky, weird & touching at the same time this movie seemed to master it on the first try. I also enjoyed Ronne Blakely's singing more than any real life woman country singer oddly enough, well not as good as Patsy Cline but I can't think of many past her that don't creep me out.
If you're like me, read about this movie alot but haven't gotten around to it, well get around to it, I mean, really when I think about it, I liked it, didn't think it was great, but it is what it is. After seeing such in your face modern stuff like The Badge, your pick of any smash "indie" director of the past decade and a half & anything by Wes Anderson and the guy that did Magnolia this movie charged me full of life and actually reminded me that being so self centered and obsessive over feelings and small intensified details is a useless waste of time, so I can't say this movie wasted mine.
A great movie 
2008-02-07
At last, I've seen the classic Robert Altman film from 1975. As always, flawless in direction, acting, vision. I suppose some viewers might say it's slow getting started, but in fact he's painting a portrait of a time and place. There's a reason this guy won so much acclaim, all the awards and nominations, and the freedom to basically just do whatever he wanted.
Gift 2007-12-16
I purchased this as a gift for my dad. He enjoys the movie. It arrived quickly and in good condition.
Nice movie to spend an evening 
2007-12-10
The drama and comedy of the lives of twenty-four major stars as seen in the five days they are in the country music capital of the world.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 2-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVD
One Of Altman's Best & Riskiest 2007-10-08
The original trailers of this film dubbed it "the damndest thing you've ever seen". How right was that?
One of the most amazing things about this movie is how it walks the edge between success & failure. It took guts for Altman to really go for it with this one. You watch this movie with a cautious eye. Here is a film that is all over the place. Most films of this kind would be considered messy, but not Nashville. You may start out watching it thinking it's going to be a colossal failure that may fall apart any minute, but it never does. Nashville always defies that expectation, and it excels to near genius.
Along with MASH, Short Cuts, Brewster McCloud, The Player, and (his absolute masterpiece) McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nashville only adds to the list of why Robert Altman should always be remembered in film history. We should only be so lucky if someone were to follow his example.
A Classic Revisited 2007-10-01
Robert Altman's 1975 classic "Nashville" stands the test of time and along with "Mash," has to be one of the best films he ever directed. In an interview that accompanies the DVD, Mr. Altman says that there is a total of 24 characters whom he follows throughout this fine movie that looks at the connection between conservative politics and country music. Hal Philip Walker is running for president as a candidate of the Replacement Party. He would take away subsidies for farmers, change the National Anthem, tax churches and remove lawyers from Congress. His campaign personnel are planning a huge rally in downtown Nashville where country singing star Barbara Jean (Ronee Blakley) --is she based on Loretta Lynn?-- will sing for him. This patchwork quilt of a movie is held together in part by the character Opal from the BBC (Geraldine Page) who has come to Nashville to observe the local fauna up close and is sillier than anyone she interviews as she flits from one country singer to another. Yellow school-buses, for instance, remind her of yellow dragons, etc., etc., etc. Lily Tomlin plays a housewife who sings in an African American church choir, is married to Ned Beatty and has a one night affair with Keith Carradine, a rock singer and womanizer who sleeps with every woman in sight. Karen Black plays a character not unlike the one she played in "Five Easy Pieces." Elliott Gould and Julie Christie make cameo appearances playing themselves. According to Altman, they were just passing through Nashville so he put them in movie, a little like making gumbo I suppose. Surely the character Tommy Brown is based on Country Charlie Pride.
Altman usually does an ensemble piece well; this one is no exception as there are no bad performances here although Lily Tomlin, Ronee Blakley, Shelly Duvall, Geraldine Page, Henry Gibson, Karen Black and Keith Carradine are outstanding. That this film was and still is topical goes without saying. Nashville has often been in bed with conservative politicians. I remember seeing Loretta Lynn on the Larry King Show supporting the current president just before the 2000 election. And I suspect that more Americans can name more Grand Ole Opry stars than those of the Metropolitan Opera.
The characters in "Nashville" apparently wrote most of the music they sing in the movie; and it is very, very good. Some of the songs are much better than what comes out of Nashville.
I do not know if this film made the Amerian Film Institute's best 100 list, but it certainly makes mine.
Interesting Take on the Human Culture 2007-09-29
Robert Altman's (M*A*S*H (Widescreen Edition), The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)) ensemble piece Nashville is an intelligent, scatterbrain, interesting take on the human culture. Although Nashville, Tennessee is the setting it could have been told anywhere. It moves through, telling us about characters rather than a story. One everyone should see.
This DVD edition features a commentary by Altman and an Interview with him.
Highly recommended.
Great Film Old DVD Criterion edition? 2007-08-01
This was produced at the end of the 90's as an early generation DVD and is pretty good quality for the time, anamorphic transfer, and full length Altman commentary... Maybe it could be revisited by Criterion but for present it's the only edition of Altman's landmark 1970's ensemble drama, a satire on American politics, C&W music, and virtually everything else... 24 characters feature, and director handles their ballet with a matchless grace and ease, reminding just what a great filmmaker he was... A career best!...
