Out of Africa - Collector's Edition [DVD]

Out of Africa on 4K Ultra HD delivers one of cinema’s most romantic and visually stunning experiences in absolutely pristine quality. The landscapes of Kenya have never looked more breathtaking — every sunrise, wide vista, and intimate moment is rendered with rich detail and beautiful color that makes this edition a must‑own for fans of classic films. The performances by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford are extraordinary — heartfelt, nuanced, and deeply engaging — and the chemistry between them carries the emotional core of the story. The narrative flows effortlessly, balancing romance, personal growth, and the magnificent setting with a timeless grace. This release also treats viewers to excellent sound and picture quality that elevate every scene. Whether you’re rediscovering this classic or experiencing it for the first time, Out of Africa on 4K is an unforgettable journey — cinematic magic that lives up to its reputation.

This was a well acted film about Karen Blix. I have viewed it a few times, and now own my video copy, and still have both my VHS film player, as well as my DVD player. One can view this now, online, but , it is a good idea to have a DVD copy. The heroine was a real person, from Denmark; and, I really have always enjoyed Biographies about famous people and their own accounts and adventures. The film is Meryl Streep and Robert Redford at their best. There is, a huge amount of artistic licence in this film, as well as political licence, but, it is very entertaining! A real must to follow and even can be viewed several times, without boredom! I think it is a classic . . . (the style of films, was, unfortunately, in the USA, in the 1980 's, more explicit than I would have wanted for very young people, and I am prudent, because, for my beliefs, "purity" is important in Heaven ! Jesus Christ loathes impurity . . . However, for "adult" viewers, and married people, it is a really enjoyable film !

One of the finest movies ever produced. The three main actors are top of the line. They always were, and always will be.

I saw this movie on its original theatrical release and was utterly blown away, it deserved every Oscar it won; over the years I've owned this movie in multiple formats, VHS, DVD, Bluray and now 4K. None of these formats provided the visual grandeur of the film experience until the 4K release; this transfer is absolutely spectacular! The colors are saturated, the images crystal clear and the soundtrack is perfectly mixed; this transfer truly brings the magic of the theatrical film to home theaters. Highly recommended.

Out of Africa, (1985). ”I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills.” One of the best-known, best-loved opening lines of any movie. Thus starts Sydney Pollack’s Oscar-winning epic romantic drama, beloved around the world, OUT OF AFRICA, based on the classic book by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), of the same name that opens with the same unforgettable sentence. Also other writings of Dinesen’s, and Judith Thurman’s monumental biography of the author. Dinesen’s book and movie concern Denmark native Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) , who enters into a marriage of convenience with womanizing Swedish baron Bror Blixen. Then, hoping to make a better life, the couple, in the early twentieth century, moves to Nairobi, in the British colony of Kenya, where they establish a coffee plantation that Karen eventually must run on her own. Karen is no pushover, but her life is complicated by troubles on the plantation, World War I, her insistence on schooling the natives and her catching syphilis, then often deadly, from her husband. And then she falls passionately in love with free-spirited hunter Denys Finch Hutton, well-educated handsome son of an earl, (Robert Redford) who can't be tied down. Director Pollack is also well-known for the wise comedy TOOTSIE. His lush African period drama earned seven Academy Awards, including statues for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. I haven’t the skills – who has—to do justice to this great biography/ period drama based on classic literature, and I doubt the readers need those encomiums from me, so I will content myself with a few more sentences on the film proper. To begin with, of course, the cast is outstanding: multi-Oscar winning/nominated Meryl Streep as Karen; Pollack’s lifelong friend Robert Redford as Denys; Klaus Maria Brandauer as Bror. Also some outstanding British actors: a young Michael Kitchen, Michael Gough, Suzanna Hamilton, Rachel Kempson, Graham Crowden, Leslie Philips. Some outstanding African actors: Malick Bowens, Joseph Thiaka, Stephen Kinyanjui., Mike Bugara, Iman and Job Seda. The wonderfully evocative score by John Barry that delivers the soul of the great Continent of Africa. And, of course, Africa itself, unnamed costar of the film: Pollack at one point says “If the Garden of Eden is anywhere, it is surely here.” What I can talk about is that I went to Kenya last month to see all this for myself. Saw the Masai Mera, thousands of animals, every breed. The hippo-filled rivers that once ran sparkling clear. The mountains. Learned that Nairobi, once a dusty little railroad town, now proud capital of former British colony Kenya, has an area called Karen after Blixen, another called Muithaiga, after the club the settlers went to to play golf, drink, dance and get into trouble. I saw Blixen’s house, so evocative, much as represented on screen. With old Victrola and vinyl records. And a tiny kitchen lacking electricity and running water, in which her incomparable chef prepared a feast she served the Prince of Wales: the menu still hangs in the house. And some coffee plants. The machinery used on the farm. Saw the still in existence Muthiaga Club, though only from a distance, as it is now a pricey private golf club. Managed a daytime plane ride over the Mera, still incomparably beautiful. Then and now, the population: Masai, Kikiyu, the occasionally tall beautiful Somali – like former model Iman—all speaking Swahili. Learned a word in Swahili: dawa. Medicine. I wasn’t that well. A notable Indian colony then and now. And now, more Chinese than there ever were, which is a subject for another time. If somehow you have never seen this film, you must, particularly if you’re female. Just have a box of tissues nearby.

For many years, I loved Isak Dinesen's writings, including her several volumes of stories and her memoir "Out of Africa" and the much later "Shadows on the Grass." Unfortunately, my fascination with Dinesen had ended just before the release of this movie adaptation of "Out of Africa". I didn't even see the movie in spite of the fanfare it generated. And the many books of hers I owned, including some rare titles, are long since lost from my shelves. I have thought fondly of Dinesen over the years and took the opportunity to watch for the first time the film "Out of Africa" on Amazon Prime. Dinesen (Karen von Blixen) lived in Kenya from 1913 -- 1931 when the coffee plantation she owned went bankrupt and she returned to Denmark. Her memoir "Out of Africa" appeared in 1937. I have little memory of the details of the book, having read it long ago. I watched the film for itself. Directed by Sydney Pollack, the film won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. Meryl Streep received the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of von Blixen, and Robert Redford was the leading actor in the role of Denys Finch Hatton, a big game hunter and von Blixen's lover. The movie shows von Blixen struggling to make a life for herself in Kenya with her philandering husband, (in an Academy Award winning performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer), to manage the farm, and to better the conditions of the natives. Underlying it all in the film is the relationship between von Blixen nd Finch Hatton. There are many beautiful things in "Out of Africa", particularly the sweeping cinematography of Africa and the musical score by John Barry with frequent use of music by Mozart. The viewer sees the majesty of Africa with its plains, jungles, lions, zebras, giraffes, hippopotamuses, and much more. In a time of colonization, the film offers a highly sympathetic portrayal of native life. The life of the European colonizers and of the difficulties of von Blixen's efforts with the coffee plantation also are effectively portrayed. I loved the scenes of von Blixen improvising stories for Finch Hatton and for others. It foreshadowed the stories Dinesen would write upon her return to Denmark. With so much to love about the film in terms of the scenery, music, the story, and my memory of reading Dinesen, I wasn't completely satisfied. The film moves at a snail's pace over its two and one half hour length. It frequently failed to hold my attention and to keep me involved. With all its virtues, the film became more of a Hollywood romance than the story of Africa and of a strong-willed woman. I was still glad to have the opportunity to see this film. I have become much more interested in Africa than had been the case during the time I was reading Dinesen. And the film was lovely in its own right. The main impact of the movie was to remind me of a writer I treasured. With the passage of the years, I lost sight of Isak Dinesen. I am tempted to acquire her books again and to reread them. They doubtless would mean more to me now even that they did years ago. It was moving to become reacquainted with a treasured author, even in a different medium. Robin Friedman

I had my “African period” once, when it was so near. Five years, 1979-84, and save for a month in Morocco (which some might say does not count) in 1990, I have not been back…save by books. More recently I’ve read books by Africans themselves, like Moses Isegawa and Alain Mabanckou. In the “African period” I read mainly books by those of European descent. There were those by males, Alan Paton, Ryszard Kapuscinski and Ernest Hemingway. It was three women however who helped put the “awe” into my appreciation for Africa. Each got some dirt under their fingernails – they were farmers. Each inspired visits with words of their experiences. Olive Schreiner wrote “The Story of an African Farm.” Elspeth Huxley wrote “The Flame Trees of Thika.” And Karen Blixen, under the pen name, Isak Dinesen, wrote “Out of Africa,” which was first published in 1937 and commenced with the subject line. Sidney Pollack directed the movie, which was released in 1985. Two big-named Hollywood stars, Meryl Streep, who played Baroness Blixen and Robert Redford, with his perpetually perplexed expression, played the independent English hunter, Denys Finch Hatton, who would eventually become the paramour of Blixen. Klaus Maria Brandauer, played Blixen’s philandering husband, who gifted her with some syphilis, back in the pre-antibiotic days when the poison, mercury, was the treatment, which worked in Blixen’s case. The two were eventually divorced. And Africa, well, it played itself and Pollack has his camerapersons reinforce the “awe.” Can watching a movie that sorta glorified the colonial period be “politically correct” nowadays? Well, at one level, I don’t care, but I think that Pollack did a good job of showing a lot of the warts, shorn of the glory. Blixen, for example, is not allowed into the men’s only club. And as she must have done in real life, she did go to considerable lengths to ensure that the natives were given a better deal, on land that was once theirs, as she dramatically states on her knees. I liked watching the interactions between Streep and Redford, depicting relationships from the days when, as Bob Dylan once sung, in “Tom Thumb’s Blues”: “And you try not to go to her too soon.” Best to make sure you wait at least an hour, sometimes a metaphorical one. And I loved the scene of confrontation between Blixen’s husband and Denys when the former said: “You might have asked, Denys.” Redford comes back with: “I did, and she said Yes.” Furthering the realism, shorn of the glory, as Marguerite Duras attested, in far off Indochine, many colonists were far from wealthy and lead rather hardscrabble existences. The one off-note in the film was the impressive stone home the Blixens lived in, almost certainly much better than the initial homes built before 1913. As Huxley says of her experience: we built a house of grass and ate off a damask cloth spread between packing cases. As for Blixen, assorted disasters on the farm eventually forced her to return to Denmark, in 1931, destitute. A good movie that evoked a bit of nostalgia for my own experiences of four decades ago, and a yearning to return to the continent. Algeria might be a good start, even though some might say that doesn’t count either. 5-stars for Africa, the awe, and a couple very good actors.

It's the Covid pandemic of 2020- 2021 and like most people I hunkered down at my comfy home and decided to re-watch Out of Africa, a movie on my list of top ten favorite movies. For me this cinematic masterpiece has survived the test of time. How can a tragic love story against a backdrop of gorgeous African landscapes with a lush sweeping score by the great John Barry be a disappointment?! Meryl Streep is absolutely luminous as Karen Blixen and Robert Redford as Denys Finch-Hatton, ruggedly handsome but still golden with his locks, both elicited antagonizing chemistry if that makes any sense. Apparently there are two definitions of love and the different lifestyles that is incurred. Karen possessive, clingy, headstrong, righteous and always seeking constancy in life whereas Denys, free spirited, adventurous, wanting no accountability attached to another person, even Karen. To love and to hold on for Karen versus loving enough to let go and be free for Denys. Hmmmm......most of us may pick the former. It would've been a happier life for Karen if the man she loved were around to help her with the coffee farm and experience trials and errors with her. Alas, both her husband Bror and Denys did not fit the bill. I just had to analyze this theme. Otherwise, Out of Africa still mesmerizing from the opening credits to the flight across the African plains and water to the romantic notion of a lion and lioness lounging on top of his gravesite turns me into a useless weak-kneed lump of gelatin!! Hurray to director Sydney Pollack for bringing an exquisite and timeless romance drama to our screens. This movie is well deserving of its seven Academy Awards. I highly recommend this movie and would give it 6 Stars if I could.

Excelente película!!! Es una buena historia con grandes actuaciones, con una hermosa banda sonora y paisajes increíbles. Es sin duda una buena compra. Solo hay un detalle, el código para descargar una copia digital y llevar la película en un iPad por ejemplo, solo es válido en Estados Unidos o Canadá. Fuera de eso, el producto cumple y vale mucho la pena.

Great movie

Excellent!

Beautiful film. I paid for it, i never got it.

Ein toller Film, den ich schon gesucht habe