Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 0024543420811
Format: Color
Item Dimensions: Array
Label: 20th Century Fox
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
MPN: FOXD2242082D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-08-21
Running Time: 188
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Discover the first films of famous directors. Selected from the archives of one of the world's most prestigious film schools, this collection of short films reveals the emerging genius of Hollywood legends George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, Shawn Levy, Stephen Sommers, Jon Turteltaub, James Foley, Kevin Reynolds, Richard Kelly and Richard Bare.
If you've ever wondered if your favorite filmmakers were geniuses (or mere hacks) back in their youth, Reel Talent: First Films by Legendary Directors will help clue you in. A compilation of 12 short films by directors who would go on to make Star Wars (George Lucas), Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis), and Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly), Reel Talent is an eclectic collection of work that shares one thing in common: all nine of the directors attended film school at the University of Southern California. Though Lucas gets the most play with 3 shorts--including the exhilarating A Man and His Car--it's Zemeckis' work that shines. He exhibits subtle nuances and a keen eye for storytelling with The Lift, which hints at both sci-fi and the supernatural with its tale of an old elevator that seems to operate on its own whim. And with Field of Honor--which won the Student Academy Award in 1975--he balances humor with chaos as he tells the bittersweet story of a Vietnam vet who is released from a mental institution. Though parts of the short are played for laughs, the film also invokes a feeling of panic as it makes the viewer realize just how challenging it can be for any former soldier to fit back into civilian life. Another standout production is Richard L. Bare's sparse The Oval Portrait. Shot in black and white, the silent film is based on an Edgar Allen Poe story and tells the sad tale of an artist who is so obsessed with painting a perfect portrait that he allows life to pass him by. It gets off to a slow start, but picks up as the film flashes back to the painter's vibrant younger days. Bare, who would later make his name with The Twilight Zone, shows maturity and patience as he tells his epic story in just under 19 minutes. While legendary is a subjective word that befits a household name such as Lucas, it seems over the top in its use to describe all of the directors included here. Yes, the filmmakers are inarguably talented, if not all legendary. Still, the collection is a must-see for film buffs curious about seeing some of their favorite directors' earliest works. --Jae-Ha Kim

Customer Rating:
Summary: 12 USC Student Films, for the George Lucas Completist and the Curious
Comment: Here is what's included:


Disc One
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1. The Oval Portrait (1934), directed by Richard L. Bare (18 minutes, 29 seconds)
Bare, who went on to direct episodes of "The Twilight Zone," "Green Acres," "Alias Smith and Jones" and "Petticoat Junction," here adapts an Edgar Allan Poe short story about an obsessed artist. Silent, with orchestral accompaniment.

2. 1:42.08 - A Man and His Car (1966), directed by George Lucas (Seven minutes, 20 seconds)
Lucas, of whom you may have heard, has three short films included. This one wordlessly shows a man testing out a race car.

3. Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967), directed by George Lucas (15 minutes, eight seconds)
This future-shock short was a dry run for Lucas's feature debut.

4. Freiheit (1966), directed by George Lucas (Two minutes, 48 seconds)
This brief short stars Lucas's college roommate, future director Randal Kleiser, as a young man mysteriously gunned down in a field.

5. The Lift (1972), directed by Robert Zemeckis (Seven minutes, 21 seconds)
In this surrealistic short, an apartment elevator takes on a mind of its own.

6. A Field of Honor (1973), directed by Robert Zemeckis (14 minutes, 15 seconds)
Winner of a Student Academy Award, this absurdist comedy follows a recently discharged Vietnam Vet as he leaves a mental institution only to find himself overwhelmed by combat-crazed civilians.

7. Silent Night (year unknown), directed by James Foley, Jr. (21 minutes, one second)
Two mental hospital attendants spend Christmas Eve caring for a group of patients and arguing with each other. Foley went on to direct David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross... and nothing else nearly of that caliber.

8. Proof (1980), directed by Kevin Reynolds (23 minutes, 46 seconds)
This short led to Reynolds' 1984 feature debut, Fandango. Proof follows a group of buddies on a road trip, as one of the more timid souls is tricked into going skydiving.

9. Perfect Alibi (1989), directed by Steve Sommers (20 minutes, 17 seconds)
The arty story of a failed pickpocket trapped in a time loop (a la Groundhog Day) until he can successfully pull off a complicated burglary.


Disc Two
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10. Whatever It Takes (1988), directed by Jon Turteltaub (20 minutes, 16 seconds)
A quirkily ambitious mixture of romantic comedy, drama and musical, Whatever It Takes focuses on a couple who move to Los Angeles in order to make it in the music business.

11. Broken Record (year unknown), directed by Shawn Levy (28 minutes, 50 seconds)
Overlong comedy about two teenagers determined to get into the Guinness Book of World Records.

12. The Goodbye Place (1996), directed by Richard Kelly (Eight minutes, 47 seconds)
This spooky black-and-white short by Richard ("Donnie Darko") Kelly rounds out the set in a most unsettling way. An abused child is offered escape by a clutch of mysterious strangers who may or may not know where missing children truly disappear to.

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