Product Details

• Released on: 2004-05-11
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Import
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directed this gripping, entertaining 1977 thriller that centres on graduate student Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Tootsie). Hoffman plays a sullen and cowardly loner haunted by the suicide of his father, a suspected communist. He is drawn into a murky web of international intrigue when his brother, CIA agent Doc Levy, played by Roy Scheider (Jaws, The French Connection), is murdered by a former Nazi (Laurence Olivier) who has come to the United States to reclaim a valuable stash of diamonds. Babe (Hoffman) must confront his fears of the past as he runs for his life and tries to avenge his brother's death at the same time. Featuring a classic torture sequence and a terrific cast that includes William Devane and Marthe Keller, Marathon Man written by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men) stands as a great entertainment and as one of the seminal films of the 1970s. --Robert Lane

Amazon.com Essential Video
John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) directed this gripping, entertaining 1977 thriller that centers on graduate student Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Tootsie). Hoffman plays a sullen and cowardly loner haunted by the suicide of his father, a suspected communist. He is drawn into a murky web of international intrigue when his brother, CIA agent Doc Levy, played by Roy Scheider (Jaws, The French Connection), is murdered by a former Nazi (Laurence Olivier) who has come to the United States to reclaim a valuable stash of diamonds. Babe (Hoffman) must confront his fears of the past as he runs for his life and tries to avenge his brother's death at the same time. Featuring a classic torture sequence and a terrific cast that includes William Devane and Marthe Keller, this film written by William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men) stands as a great entertainment and as one of the seminal films of the 1970s. --Robert Lane

Review
Marathon Man is probably best remembered for the scene in which the evil Laurence Olivier tortures a sweaty, helpless Dustin Hoffman by way of dental surgery. The movie was director John Schlesinger's take on two popular mid-'70s genres: it was a paranoid spy film, like Three Days of the Condor or The Parallax View, and a Nazi-on-the-loose film like The Odessa File. Written by William Goldman, the material is somewhat preposterous, but Schlesinger fills the movie with moments of tense intrigue and suspense. Olivier was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and Hoffman appeared in another classic paranoia film, All the President's Men, that same year. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

I'VE GOT A SEVERE TOOTHACHE !
What do you get when you combine top notch acting and a stellar cast? You get the 1977 action thriller "The Marathon Man" presented in it's 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The DVD transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound from Paramount Studios is excellent. The video transfer doesn't seem to contain any dust, dirt or debris and the image is very impressive, considering this film is from the 1970's. The acting is superb and the chilling performance given by Laurence Olivier as the former Nazi "Szell" is outstanding. I've always hated the sound of the dentist's drill and after seeing it in the hands of "Szell", I hate it even more. Suspense, action and intrigue, this movie has it all and after 30 years it's still highly entertaining. Only one question still remains, is it safe?

The dvd bonus features include: Theatrical Trailer, Cast & Crew interviews, Rehearsal Footage, Original "Making of Marathon Man" Featurette.

THEY DO NOT MAKE MOVIES THIS GOOD ANY MORE
The conspiracy movies included two fictional stories, "Marathon Man" and "The Parallax View", as well as the Watergate movie, "All the President's Men" (which Robert Redford produced after giving long consideration to a movie about how Kennedy stole the 1960 election...not!).
"Marathon Man" was directed by John Schlesinger, written by the great William Goldman (based on his novel), and produced by Bob Evans. Goldman, along with Towne, is considered one of the best screenwriters of all time. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1968) is an original screenplay that gets as much study as "Chinatown", and his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade" is a must-read for industry insiders. "Marathon Man" stars Dustin Hoffman as a Columbia doctoral student, obsessed with his thesis about his father, who committed suicide when he was "victimized" by McCarthyism. His brother is Roy Scheider, a super-secret agent for an organization that handles, apparently, what the FBI cannot and the CIA will not. His pal is William DeVane, and he is in league with the devil, a former Nazi dentist named Christian Zsell (played to perfection by Laurence Olivier), based on Joseph Mengele. Zsell is also known as the "White Angel". The plot revolves around millions of dollars worth of diamonds, smuggled to the U.S. by Zsell with DeVane's (and Sheider's) help. Hoffman accidentally gets involved and foils the plot. It is brilliant stuff in every way, shape and form, but coming on the heels of the Church hearings, the film plays on the public's belief that the CIA is corrupt, bent more on money and power than protecting the interests of freedom. The anti-hero is Hoffman. The backstory of his persecuted Jewish father strengthens the myth that fine liberals of conscience were the victims of the McCarthy witch-hunt. Like all films depicting McCarthyism, the victim is fictional and there are no scenes based on real events. This is because actual scenes of actual "victims," if they hold to the truth, will show actual Communists being caught in lies by public officials using perfectly normally and legal techniques of American justice.

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Suspense!
Dustin Hoffman has the incredible ability to make suspense come alive, like no other actor. This is one of his best roles.

Bravo!!