Slaughterhouse Five | 
 enlarge | Director: George Roy Hill
Actors: Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Valerie Perrine
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $22.82
New (1) Used (11) from $22.82
Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 99681
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 104
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 6305077592
UPC: 014381422726
EAN: 9786305077596
ASIN: 6305077592
Theatrical Release Date: March 15, 1972
Release Date: March 18, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) has a problem with time: he keeps jumping about in his own life, principally between three key scenes. The "present" is a kind of glowing suburban bliss involving a dutiful wife, large house, and presidency of the local Lions; the "past" is being a prisoner of World War II and experiencing the firebombing of Dresden from the wrong side; the "future" takes place in a glass dome on the planet Tralfamadore, to which Billy has been mysteriously spirited along with the woman of his fantasies (Montana Wildhack, played by Valerie Perrine). It isn't meant to make too much sense, since the point is to represent a man (and a century) that has witnessed things too unbearable for a wholly sane person to make sense of. In fact author Kurt Vonnegut's anguished cry on the insanity of war is one of those completely unfilmable books, so director George Roy Hill gets points even for trying. The whole package is thought provoking in a wholly Vonnegutian way. All this, and Glenn Gould playing Bach as well. --Richard Farr
Description
No one will believe Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) when he says he has come "unstuck in time," reliving in aimless order all the events in his life. Living in seclusion in llium, New York, the timid widower is typing out a letter to the local paper about his time treks when suddenly, he is trapped behind German lines in wintry World War II Belgium. Next he is in his wedding bed with his wealthy weighty bride Valencia (Sharon Gans). Interspersed with his leapfrog adventures in time, Billy also finds himself being transported to and from the distant planet Tralfamadore, whose invisible inhabitants enclose him in a glass dome furnished with Sears Roebuck furniture and a kittenish Hollywood starlet (Valerie Perrine), to whom Billy is expected to make love. This big-budget production of Kurt Vonnegut's best-selling, semi-autographical novel, was shot in Czechoslovakia, Minnesota, and the Universial Studios sound stages, under a shroud of secrecy, with no publicist and little information provided to the press. The devout "Vonnegut cult" of college students feared that the complex, highly-stylizwd 1969 novel would defy screen adaptation. Critics differed on the bizarre, dreamlike film, but none could argue with the movie's message that the world is a collection of moments, "and if we're going to survive, it's up to us to concentrate on the good moments and ignore the bad."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
 Space / Time Drifter... October 12, 2008
First off, I've never read the book. That said, I must say that what I find most intriguing about the Billy Pilgrim character (Michael Sacks) in SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is how much of a true pilgrim he is. He is unhitched from time, while simultaneously, due to his own pleasant personality and ever-calm demeanor, Billy is also a traveler through space. He drifts through life as a disengaged observer, like a cork floating down a stream. Billy is a warm, innocent human being who is utterly removed from his own existence! He watches / feels things unfold like a character in a play. He reminds me of Peter Sellars' Chauncy Gardener in BEING THERE. Adrift in a universe that simply takes him wherever it will. The main segments of Billy's life are presented from his own disengaged viewpoint. We get to go along with him on his bizarre journey. It's like following a leaf blowing in a hurricane! The very fabric of time / space / existence is unravelled, and tied into a knot of events all happening in no particular order. Billy is happy throughout! He has the perfect temperament to deal w/ the chaos of such shifting events. Personally, I'd go nuts! For Billy there is peace within the non-sensical trip to nowhere. He simply enjoys the ride. Even tragic events can't flatten him. Billy's nature is that of an ancient bhuddist monk, even when in a youthful body (during WWII). His attitude is infectious! The story is as mind-boggling as it is hysterically funny. The life of Billy Pilgrim is quite a trip! Special mention must be made of Ron Liebman's Lazzaro character, as well as Valerie Perrine's Montana Wildhack! The fact that Ms. Perrine spends much of her screen-time naked doesn't hurt! Highest recommendation...
 Life in the Slaughterhouse October 5, 2008
Film adaptions of novels (from Madame Bovary to Catch 22) have proved how easy failure transcends effort. However, The film version of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five proves the exception: graceful, smartly directed and beautifully acted. Rediscover a real treasure and see this film.
Dresden POW and the Heart of Space July 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie is about the battle of the Bulge, POW life in Dresden during its firebombing, wealthy life in New England, and then eternity on a fictional planet. It is a bit Dadaesque. There are a few flashbacks and flash forwards. The tone of the film is nihilistic and irreverent, which is the style of Vonnegut's fiction. As a veteran, I liked the fact that none of the soldiers were put on a pedestal and they were far more human than stock of the trade.
Classis movie, classic story May 21, 2008
One of my favorites since my teens. a forty year love-affair with a great movie!
Better than the book... February 26, 2008
I love Kurt Vonnegut, and own nearly everything the man has written, mostly dog earned and yellowed after far too many readings. I was at first skeptical, however after viewing this film I can say that never before have I seen a piece of prose transformed into a work of like this. The cinematography is wonderful and the transitions, when Pilgrim leaps from time to time are masterful. The acting is superb, my favorite character being Paul Lazzaro; entirely quotable in every way. This film is well worth the money you spend on it, Vonnegut fans, and film fanatics alike will fall in love with it.
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