Search - The Great Santini on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Language, Profanity Movie Release: 1979 DVD Release: 11/23/1999 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 56 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Total Copies: 3 Genres: Drama, War Drama, Family Drama

Bull Meechum (Robert Duvall) loves fighting almost as much as he loves the Marine Corps. Profane, cocky, and arrogant, he's a great fighter pilot -- and he knows it. His boss hates his guts, but knows that if he's going to straighten out his lagging squadron, Meechum is the man to do it. The story and irony of The Great Santini is in Meechum's total intolerance of family life and fatherhood. Meechum has a lovely, supportive wife, Lillian (Blythe Danner), an earnest, likeable son, Ben (Michael O'Keefe), three smaller children, and a good home, but Meechum finds the pastoral nature of peacetime totally incompatible with his gung-ho nature. So he begins to drink. He drills his family unmercifully, like recruits. He hammers his son relentlessly until, in a basketball game, his son fights back, and the family cheers Ben's efforts. Tension builds in the household until, during one drunken night, Meechum breaks down. Based on a best-selling novel by Pat Conroy, The Great Santini earned critical raves but fared poorly at the box office. Duvall's performance as Meechum is generally regarded as one of his greatest. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide

Robert Duvall - Bull Meecham
Blythe Danner - Lillian Meechum
Michael O'Keefe - Ben Meechum
Lisa Jane Persky - Mary Anne Meechum
Julie Anne Haddock - Karen Meechum

The Great Santini, Lewis John Carlino's adaptation of a Pat Conroy novel, comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English and French subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials on this release. Warner Bros. could and should have done better with this title. The Great Santini contains one of Robert Duvall's finest performances and deserves better than this by-the-numbers release. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide