| The Boxer (Collector's Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Jim Sheridan
Actors: Daniel Day-lewis, Daragh Donnelly, Frank Coughlan, Sean Kearns, Lorraine Pilkington
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.99 (€7.89)
Buy New: $5.01 (€3.96)
You Save: $4.98 (€3.93) (50%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (36 reviews)
Sales Rank: 5395
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 113 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
DVD Layers: 2
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD20240D
ISBN: 0783227329
UPC: 025192024023
EAN: 9780783227320
ASIN: 0783227329
Release Date: July 8, 1998
Theatrical Release Date: December 31, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When danny flynn returns home after fourteen years in prison all he wants is to find peace resume his career and reclaim the woman he left behind. But as they renew their romance they realize his past stands in the way. Now in the face of danger fighting for love could cost them their lives. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/24/2004 Starring: Daniel Day-lewis Brian Cox Run time: 114 minutes Rating: R Director: Jim Sheridan
Amazon.com
Yet another potent (although critically underrated) drama from Jim Sheridan and Daniel Day-Lewis, the Irish director and British star (respectively) of My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father. The story focuses on Danny Flynn (Day-Lewis), a promising boxer who had been imprisoned at age 18 for associating with IRA terrorists. After serving a 14-year sentence, he returns to his Belfast neighborhood at a time when local IRA leader Joe Hamill (Brian Cox) is attempting to negotiate a peace treaty with the British. Despite having no further interest in IRA rivalries, Danny finds himself at the center of political and emotional turmoil when he is reunited with his former girlfriend Maggie (Emily Watson, of Breaking the Waves) who, in Danny's absence, married another IRA man who is now in prison. A strict, unwritten law forbids relationships with the wives of IRA prisoners, but as the former boxer channels his energy into reviving a neighborhood boxing gym, the attraction between Danny and Maggie proves irresistible. This gives a strategic advantage to a militant IRA rival who opposes the peace treaty, drawing Danny back into the bitter and potentially deadly struggle between warring IRA factions. Emphasizing the emotional complexities that arise between Danny and Maggie, this powerful, superbly acted drama demonstrates a sharp understanding of the deep-rooted fears and loyalties that fuel the "troubles" in Ireland, where peace seemed to finally (if tentatively) be achieved in the summer of 1998. Offering a deeper understanding of the Irish conflict, this Universal Collector's Edition DVD includes a full-length audio commentary by director Sheridan and producer Arthur Lappin; an alternate ending and deleted scenes; the original theatrical trailer; and Fighting for Peace: Inside The Boxer, a documentary featurette about the making of the film. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 dvd format May 24, 2008
dvd wouldn't work in my dvd player..dvd player screen read..will not play this format,returned to amazon..refund was prompt and without question..i thank amazon for their good customer service..tom
More Great Work From Daniel Day-Lewis May 23, 2008
The Boxer has many elements that could have made this a great film. The acting , the setting in Catholic Belfast during the Troubles, the compelling story of a man trying to find his way back into society after a 14 year prison term all of which make this really compelling viewing.
I would have rated the film higher except for one weakness. The romantic element between Day-Lewis' character and the girl he left behind (Emily Watson)when he was imprisoned while essential to the overall plot at times slows the films momentum significantly. From my perspective this could have been edited a bit and the movie would have been brilliant.
Nevertheless Daniel Day_Lewis once again provides a stunning performance in a role that would be hard to imagine any other actor doing better.
 Good But Should Have Been Better April 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not quite sure why "The Boxer" isn't better than it is, given its sterling credentials: directed and co-written by Jim Sheridan, and a cast that stars Daniel Day Lewis and Emily Watson, supported by a magnificent group of deservedly well-known character actors. This is one of those odd instances in which a work ends up being less, rather than more, than the sum of its parts.
However, "The Boxer" is most certainly still worth your time at least for one viewing, if only for the performances, my admiration for which is by no means limited to the expectedly fine ones of Day-Lewis as sometime boxer and IRA soldier, Danny Flynn, and Emily Watson as Maggie Hamill, the love of his life. See this also, among others, for the deeply affecting, sad, and powerful, if brief, performance of Scottish actor Ken Stott (perhaps more familiar to American audiences for his work on a grim BBC Crime series "The Vice") as Ike Weir, Danny's boyhood boxing trainer.
The movie takes place in the rough Catholic neighborhoods of Belfast, as Flynn is released from a 15-year prison sentence for involvement with IRA activities. During his prison term, Flynn refused to invite any leniency by revealing anything or anyone else he knew in connection with those activities, which has earned him grudging respect from his former IRA mates. However, they also know that Danny is disillusioned with the Cause and unlikely to return to the fight. He is only alive and left alone, at least at first, because of his silence while in prison.
Flynn's two primary goals after his release are to return to boxing (he is shown keeping himself in shape while in prison), and to see what has become of the girl he left behind, Maggie Hamill. Maggie feels as strongly toward Danny as he does toward her, and wanted to wait for him, but fearing she would waste her life, he released her and she married another IRA soldier and had a son with him, 12-year-old Liam. The marriage proved to be loveless, but, ironically, Maggie's husband is now also in prison, which is bad luck for Danny and Maggie, for there is no sin more grievous in this culture than to take up with a Prisoner's Wife (the film opens with a prison wedding).
Maggie's father, Joe (Brian Cox), is a high-ranking IRA leader trying to negotiate a viable peace settlement with the British. He is hampered in this by the intransigence of one of his District leaders, Harry (Gerard McSorley) who is not interested in peace with concessions, and wants to keep fighting until the British are completely out of Northern Ireland. Harry has lost his young son in "the Troubles" and his heartbroken wife, Agnes, has never really recovered.
Flynn goes back to the old neighborhood gym where he trained in his youth, virtually pulling his old trainer, Ike, out of the gutter as he does so. The two set up a boxing club that welcomes both Catholic and Protestant youth, that is enthusiastically received by the boys it serves. This does not sit well with those like Harry, who don't want peace on these terms. Inevitably, Danny's and Ike's attempt to bring some healing to the community opens up other rifts, violence ensues, and the gym is burned. To Maggie's horror, she finds out th |
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