Precious Images

Nothing reduces the impact of a great scene like splicing it with a zillion other ones. Most of the clips employed here are from American movies, which is annoying (especially when the filmmaker attempts to pad it down once he reaches the 1980s - are "Risky Business" and "Rocky IV" really on par with "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Rear Window"? Furthermore, the choice of music, while sometimes sly - going from the Clockwork Orange version of the William Tell Overture (for clips from action movies) to the original Gene Kelly version of "Singing In The Rain" (for feel-good clips from musicals) - is often unimaginative. I suppose I'm objecting more to the concept, however, than this particular product, as I've been similarly disgusted with similar shorts shown in conjunction with the AFI and Oscars etc. It just feels like a pasteurization.

I know my opinion would be vehemently refuted if read by the 'die-hard' film buffs, but let me tell you all one thing: I love films as much as you all do.

I remember how mesmerized I was by the effervescence and liveliness of 'Singin in the Rain', moved to tears by the melancholy in 'Sophie's Choice' and 'Kramer vs Kramer', moved and enchanted by the grandiose of 'Gone with the Wind', entertained by 'Beverley Hills Cop', impressed (during subsequent viewings) by 'Psycho', transfixed with amazement by Robert Deniro's performance in 'Taxi Driver', amused by the double role in 'Tootsie', excited by Harrison Ford's electric 'Indiana Jones' series, shocked by 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Carrie' and umimpressed by the overrated 'Rocky', 'Poltergeist' and 'E.T'. Also, I feel the montage shown with appropriate music in the background is a nice tribute. But it does not require an 'Oscar' to prove that its the best, it can be played on the television for everyone to remember their favorite films.

I believe that by honoring this material with an Oscar, one does not award an original film, which I feel rightfully deserves the awards as Oscars should award originality and that's the point of this montage itself. My rating of this tribute: 6/10

Classic Arts Showcase, a feed of short videos available on many cable channels played the 1996 version of this today. It's fantastic. What a dizzying quiz on all the classic films you've seen!

It's a sequence of hundreds of clips anywhere from 3 seconds down to about 1/4 second, played over a sequence of soundtrack excerpts. All clips are silent except for a few choice ones that have sound.

The subtitle page says, "Presented to the audiences of America in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Film by the Directors Guild of America and your local theatre".

There should be a page for the 19996 version, too.

Has it ever appeared on a DVD or laserdisc?

I first saw this at the Kabuki when I was working there and watching this just pulled me in. The right kind of music covered the various sections (The main title theme of "Psycho" plays over clips of horror and suspense films). Almost 5 yrs. later, I saw it again, and cried a bit on it. It was just as beautiful then as it was 5 yrs before. I wished that I could get a copy of this! This mini history of the films of Hollywood won a richly deserved Oscar. Where else can you see a short in which it gives you the history of the cinema, from the early, silent beginnings to the the color musical and classic eras to the modern (For 1986, anyway)cinema. Wonderful! If you are fortunate, you gotta catch this!

The cinema where I usually see movies has a large lobby with a screen that shows "Precious Images" regularly in addition to previews of upcoming movies. I've watched this film a dozen times and it is always fascinating.

Does anyone know if there is a list of all the movies, (preferably in order), that the clips were taken from?