Lincoln (2012)

Price:  $14.99
 
Capturing the danger and excitement of political intrigue, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln chronicles the final four months in the life of the man regarded as America's greatest President. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, the untold story focuses on a defining moment in Abraham Lincoln's life - as commander-in-chief of a country in chaos; as a husband and father afraid of losing his own son to the war; and as a man guided by his conscience to end slavery. With the Civil War nearing conclusion, President Lincoln fights to convince a fractious Congress to pass a Constitutional amendment that will change the course of history. Facing fierce opposition, he wages a battle of strategy, persuasion, and political muscle to build a coalition out of his team of rivals.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews:

 I saw the film when it played in the theater last year and was riveted to my seat. Even nature calling me to visit the rest room had to wait. It was Daniel Day Lewis's presence, Tony Kushner's words and , Steven Spielberg's direction that kept me there for nearly 2 ½ hours. This film is - in my opinion - a masterpiece and, like Spielberg's earlier film "Schindler's List", this film will serve for years (even generations) in teaching student about an important moment in history. But there are already 155 reviews of the film posted here (and I don't want to repeat what others have said.) I'll concentrate on the DVD and Bluray releases of the film.
Amazon has a general policy of grouping ALL the reviews of a film together and displaying them under all the formats. Reviews start when a fil plays in theaters and then often goes to the Amazon Instant (streaming version). So I often recommend - when posting my reviews - that you sort by "most recent" first and then look to see which version the reviewer is discussing. This is a review of the 4-disc Blu-ray+ DVD+Digital Copy, but it should guide you in your purchase, I hope.
Disney (the distributor of the home video) is issuing it in three different "formats". The single DVD contains the film and 9-minute "featurette" titled "The Journey to Lincoln" with the major "players". The 2-Disc Blueray+DVD just adds another (4-minute) featurette - this one on how they filmed in Richmond Virginia. The only advantage to this version is that you will get higher resolution image. The FOUR-disc version adds a digital copy but - more importantly - adds a "Bonus Disc) with four more featurettes which add still another 53 minutes of background to the film. The longest (at 27 minutes) is "Living With Lincoln" where we follow the filming from beginning to end with interviews from every one of the major actors plus the producer and Spielberg. "Crafting The Past" (10 minutes) covers production design and makeup) while "In Lincoln's Footsteps" (!6 minutes) all too-briefly covers the score but have a great section on how the sound designer located just the right pocket watch to record for the sound of the ticking in the film (I won't spoil the surprise by revealing the answer. These featurettes tend to overlap, slightly, and - though each plays as a separate "feature" - as a whole they provide lots of great info after you have seen the film. And I highly suggest that after watching them on the separate Bonus Disc, you click on the last "option" called "Credits". You see the credits but the visuals on the screen are a nice extra bonus.
So, If you just want to see DDL's Academy Award-winning performance, you can just get the single-disc DVD but if you want to delve deeper into the film, you'll want the 4 Disc "Combo Pack Super Set" (Disney's words; not mine).

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful!
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"