Starring: James Mason, Edward Fox, Dorothy Tutin, John Gielgud, Gordon Jackson Directed By: Alan Bridges Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Mono, NTSC Label: BBC Warner Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 17, 2006 Running Time: 98 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1985-09
Description: In October 1913, a group of aristocratic men and women gather for a shooting party at an estate in the heart of the English countryside. Assured and opulent, they move through the elaborate rituals of an Edwardian country house party. But times are changing, The values that have ordered their glittering world will no longer have any meaning in the new age about to dawn.
Amazon.com: At last, the British film classic The Shooting Party receives the digital restoration that does justice to its sweeping vistas and heartbreaking snapshots of an era in its death throes. Set in 1913 England, on the brink of what would be the war to end all wars, the film focuses on an assortment of upper-crust acquaintances who gather for a weekend of hunting and society niceties (billiards, cards, draping oneself in jewels the evening after stomping around all day in the muck). Presiding over the festivities is a masterful James Mason as Sir Randolph Nettleby, a sort of benevolent dictator of his breathtaking estate, as his family and friends dip in and out of the action, adhering to the strict code of class conduct for all of their affairs--sport, self-advancement, illicit love. Though the weekend is supposed to be a holiday, there is subtle, ominous foreshadowing in the very first scenes, of the men lined up in a meadow, as though troops on a battlefield, taking out ducks and hares with an almost dispassionate relish. The 2006 remastering allows full appreciation of the cinematography of Fred Tammes, the muted greens, grays and tweedy browns of the English countryside combining to make a painterly backdrop for this drama of manners. Mason as Nettleby has rarely been better--crisp, bemused, comfortable in his role but not quite in his own skin. The score by John Scott is transportative. Extras include a making-of documentary; a tour of the Knebworth House, the stately home here the film was shot; rare stills, and more. Splendid! --A.T. Hurley
The World before the Great War An melancholy look at the world of England's landed gentry a year before the war they once called the Great War, a world that will never exist again. Don't let the remarks about "digital restoration" give you the impression this is a film made in the 1930s. It was released in 1985, and thus before DVDs, hence the need to make it digital. If you watch serious BBC shows, you'll recognize a number of the actors. And unlike some, I found nothing disappointing with the film's colors.
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Privileged Life in Another Era Outstanding period drama about a weekend on a British country estate where family and friends have gathered to shoot birds. The cast is stellar, the setting gorgeous and the script spell-binding. During the visit, we get to know the characters quite well, watching them surreptiously exchange bed partners and secrets. The men in the shooting party are highly competitive, exact count is kept of how many birds are shot and by whom, a practice which ultimately leads to tragedy. By the end of the weekend, many lives are transformed forever. This is underscored by the ending which denotes who goes off to war and what happens to them.
This is a wonderful movie, so well acted. It is a gem worth watching and enjoying the life style of a generation now past.
the shooting party an elegant depiction of english country life before the high tech world. a poignant look at family interactions in the upper middle classes.
Finally on DVD. Beautiful DVD starring James Mason as an aging Lord in Edwardian England.
It includes a stellar cast with names of the caliber of John Gielgud and Gordon Jackson.
The story shows the decline of the old Aristocracy in England, at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Last movie (at least as far as I know) by veteran James Mason, before he died, he still could catch your attention and keep you interested in the way he was working.
The transfer is the best one I have seen as yet. So is also the soundtrack which is very clear and has a beautiful score by John Scott.
For those who love good old British movies, the way they were made, when this still meant high standards at a low budget.
Yummy I caught this movie on late-night TV one time, and wanted to own it. I hesitated to buy the original DVD because of the negative comments about the quality of the transfer.
I just got the new DVD and I'm watching it right now. It's like taking a bath in pure Englishness. The color is perfect English autumn - washed-out, foggy, muted, and the sound is perfect. James Mason is perfect as the tired, end-of-an-era lord, while Sir John Gielgud is perfect as the upcoming liberal society. In the two of them you see the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. All that's missing is the transition, and it's about to arrive - in the form of WWI.
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