The Shape of Water [DVD] [2018]

I couldn't help but root for the main character, and the villain was utterly compelling. I absolutely adored this movie from beginning to end.

I LOVE this movie. There's sci-fi, drama, intrigue, romance and action. Lots of great special effects. The creature in this movie was made so well, one could almost believe it was real. I've watched it 3X and could still watch it again. Fantastic cast & acting too!Might be a little bit too intense for any kids younger than teens or tweens.

There's a little bit of linguistics thrown into this very imperfect fairy tale which seems like it was made with the best of intentions.

I love this enchanting little movie. A fabulous cast and a brilliant director.

First off, I loved Pan's Labyrinth when it came out and I saw it. It was definitely a solid and complex story that left you wondering what exactly happened at the end (was any of the magic true or just imaginings of a lonely child?). It is magical realism at its best.I went into this movie expecting some of that magic. But this one? Not so much. It kept my attention--if only for the need to see if my hunch was right (and it was, so that made this film somewhat predictable). I guess this was hyped so much and it won awards, that I expected a lot. And didn't get it.The setting was wonderful--almost a character in itself, but the other characters seemed to fall flat of any deeper meaning. Yes, it's a strange movie--magical realism is like that. It's fantasy. Use your suspension of disbelief. But even the fantasy had some moments that made me think "Huh?".For instance, as someone else pointed out, the song and dance number seemed a little off for the story. As I was watching it, it strongly brought to my mind the scene from Young Frankenstein when Wilder and Boyle do their "Puttin' on the Ritz" number... funny and strange there, but in this movie, funny and strange of a different sort. It was out of place and pulled me out of my suspension of disbelief jarringly. It didn't belong.There were also some other dichotomies in the plot/action that just made some choices and actions later make no sense. Maybe this film was not actually edited to del Toro's actual vision. But that still doesn't explain the awards.So while I didn't absolutely hate it, I didn't love or really like it either. It really struggles to get my 3 stars.PS. Lots of sadistic violence in this too--that also doesn't go over too well with me and it was additionally off-putting. (Note: Pan's Labyrinth had that too, but I was younger then and ignored it better. ;) I'm pretty sure that movie would bother me more now too.)

Quick Story Recap: Mute woman falls in love with a fish man and must do whatever she can to protect him and their improbable love.Acting was really good from just about everyone. I liked the characters even the security guy.Overall, that was messed up and I kind of liked it for being so messed up. haha. First, I have to mention, the colors and camera shots are done in amazing fashion that director Guillermo Del Toro is known for. He created an overall color scheme and feel to that world that was intricate and nice to look at. On the film itself, The first half really moves slow with lots of hints and subplots while just getting introduced to this insane universe made it a little difficult for me to keep up. I was getting lost in all the unusual things all around and then listening to what a character was saying, It took time to process what this person was saying, said about them and their role in the story.This is an unusual story. I must say, in order to enjoy this movie you have to allow yourself to go inside the world created in the movie and live in it with the characters forgetting any rules of normal life. This story has all sorts of crazy: Russian spies and double agents, Secret U.S. Science, Fish Monster Man, Love, a song and dance number (with a fish man), a racist diner, and I can't even tell you how crazy I feel after all that. This is an art house movie thrown in a blender with a monster movie, a spy noir movie and a love story movie with little flecks of comedy thrown in.A lot can be written and discussed in this movie which has a deepness to it in the use of color, movie references, symbols, and small vignettes (see the guy at the bus stop with cake and balloons for what I mean here) to tell this story. This is the movie's greatest strength and weakness, Strength being its visually stunning, interesting to ponder, and easy to notice neat small things, Weakness in that, so much of that stuff and leaning too artsy can be difficult to relate to or some audiences may not desire to seek answers below the surface and get turned off. I think its weird, but good however will never reach a favorite movie status of mine. I gave it a four star because I liked the characters, the technical aspects, and I was very entertained.

My wife and I were looking for a date night movie. We both like sci fi, so I looked for a movie that was romantic and that had sci fi elements. And so I found this movie.We loved it. The central romance is odd but compelling, between two characters that don't quite fit in the worlds they are in. And the movie moves along smartly, with moments of gentle connection between characters and moments of frenzied action.And the ending is absolutely lovely. It left us talking about what we saw for a long time.

I loved this movie so much when I first streamed it that I bought a the DVD. Recently I bought the digital one. I can stream it anytime I like.

Acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro brings us a fantastical love affair story. Some reviews have called this a fairy tale for grown ups. If this was a book, they'd call it magical realism.Set in a slightly stylised 1960's cold war America, Elisa [Sally Hawkins] is a cleaner at a government research facility. She's also an orphan. And a mute. Thus able to communicate only by sign language, she gets by. Thanks with the help of her fellow cleaner and friend Zelda [Octavia Spencer] and her lovelorn neighbour Giles [Richard Jenkins].But her life is changed when a ruthless government agent [Michael Shannon] brings a humanoid amphibious creature from swamps in south America to the facility. He's determined to use the creature to help his country get ahead in the cold war. And yet the creature and Zelda, two beings who can't speak, find they have a bond.Is there any way they can live happily ever after?Obviously a little suspension of disbelief is required here, but if you can't do that, it is your loss and I feel very sorry. Elisa is a character who likes life. There is a moment five minutes into this when she shows that, and you can't help but love this film from then on. It's an utterly captivating and beautiful story of someone and something finding love that doesn't need words.And in addition to the great lead performance - two actually, given sterling work from Doug Jones as the creature - the supporting cast are simply amazing as well. Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer create incredible characters. And there's subtle work from Michael Sthulbarg as Bob, a man torn between duty and his scientific instincts.The film keeps you on tenterhooks as the lovers battle to be together. It does lose a little pace in the final quarter once it has to search for a resolution, but a memorable one it manages to find.Superb filmmaking on every levels. Writing, acting [it's also nice seeing American tv stalwarts like Nick Searcy and Nigel Bennett get a movie role as well] directing, some eye catching production designs, and a simply beautiful score. It does get a fifteen certificate as it is pretty graphic with adult moments and violence and some strong language. And it does obviously have some moments in subtitles that can't be turned off. [Some people don't like that so I had to mention it, ok? doesn't bother me] but if you can get past all these things and just get swept up by this film, you'll love it.Well worth five stars. And the Oscars.The dvd has the following language and subtitle options [it does say English only on the box but I have checked the disc and these are on the menu]Languages: English. Italian. Russian. Ukrainian. It's also English audio captioned.Subtitles: English. Danish. Finnish. Italian. Norwegian. Russian. Swedish. Estonian. Latvian. Ukrainian.The disc begins with an anti piracy ad and a generic blu ray one, but you can skip both with the next button on the dvd remote [which is nice as most discs won't usually do that with the former]Extras:Three cinema trailers for the film. Each run two mins. Can be watched individually or all in a row. The second and third are red band trailers, which means they do feature strong language.Then there's a fairy tale for troubled times. A four part half an hour long feature about the making of the film. It's in four sections:Love in a time of war. All about the film. five minsSummoning a water god. All about the creature. ten mins.Shape form and function. All about the design work on the film. ten mins.Aquatic melodies. All about the score. Five mins.As making of features go, these are really good. With some interesting insights into the creative process. So all well worth a watch.

Und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind...so enden ja viele Märchen und daher kann man Guillermo del Toros oscarpreisgekrönter Film "Shape of Water - Das Flüstern des Wassers" auch in diese Kategorie einordnen. Doch die Fantasy Romance bietet auch Horrorelemente an - denn es geht um einen Verwandten des Monsters aus der schwarzen Lagune. "Der Schrecken vom Amazonas", ein 3D B-Picture von Jack Arnold 1954 inszeniert, stand sicherlich Pate für del Toros moderne Hommage. Der Film war damals ein guter Kassenschlager und hatte auch Gemeinsamkeiten mit anderen Horrorfilm-Erfolgen wie "King Kong" oder "La Belle et la Bete".Somit erweist der mexikanische Regisseur genauso wie bei seinem Vorgänger "Crimson Tide" den alten Klassikern seine Ehre. In "Crimson Peak" konnte man eine Neuauflage der alten Hammer-Filme sehen und so steckt auch "Shape of Water" voller liebgewonnener Versatzstücke aus den schon genannten Vorbildern.Er hat auch einen Sinn für die wichtigen kleinsten Details - so schaut Elisa Espositos Nachbar Giles im Fernsehen Filme von Alice Faye oder Carmen Miranda an. Die Story selbst spielt Anfang der 60er Jahre und die Ausstattung und das Szenenbild ist den Machern einfach perfekt gelungen. Kameramann Dan Laustsen (Nightwatch, Pakt der Wölfe, Salomon Kane) hat für seine bisher beste Leistung zu Recht eine der 13 Oscarnominierungen erhalten. Gewonnen hat der Film in den Kategorien Bester Film, beste Regie, beste Filmmusik Alexandre Desplat und bestes Szenenbild. In den Kategorien beste Darstellerin Sally Hawkins, bester Nebendarsteller Richard Jenkins, beste Nebendarstellerin Ocatvia Spencer, bestes Originaldrehbuch, Bester Ton, bester Tonschnitt, bester Schnitt, beste Kamera und bestes Kostümdesign ging "Shape of Water" leer aus.Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) ist stumm und kommuniziert mit ihrer Umwelt durch Gebärdensprache. Sie lebt alleine in einer Wohnung über einem Kino, das B-Filme zeigt. Mit ihrem Nachbar Giles (Richard Jenkins), einem Katzennarr, ist sie befreundet. Giles ist Plakatkünstler, jedoch ohne feste Anstellung und hofft wieder bei seinem alten Arbeitgeber einsteigen zu können. Elisa arbeitet als Reinigungskraft in einem geheimen Regierungslabor in Baltimore, Maryland - es ist gerade der Höhepunkt des Kalten Krieges angebrochen. Ihre Putzkollegin Zelda (Octavia Spencer) ist ihr eine echte Stütze, weil sie die Gebärdensprache beherrscht und bei der Arbeit übersetzen kann.Eines Tages erhält dieses Institut eine seltsame Lieferung. Am Amazonas hat man eine seltsame Kreatur entdeckt, die im Wasser lebt und nun will man dieses Monster wissenschaftlich untersuchen. Das Wesen, halb Amphibie, halb Mensch, wurde von den Eingeborenen im Dschungel wie ein Gott verehrt. Nun ist dieses arme Geschöpf in einem Wassertank gefangen und muss Experimente über sich ergehen lassen. Der Wissenschaftler Dr. Robert Hoffstetter (Michael Stuhlbarg) geht menschlich mit der Kreatur um, doch der brutale Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) setzt auf ganz andere, sehr sadistische Methoden. Eines Tages werden ihm von der Kreatur zwei Finger abgebissen. Elisa und Zelda sollen die Blutlache im Experimentierraum säubern. Dies gibt Gelegenheit, dass Elisa das Monster im Tank beobachten kann. Sie hat Mitleid mit dem Geschöpf und versucht Kontakt herzustellen. Was beim zweiten Mal schon besser gelingt. Sie bringt Eier mit und die Kreatur scheint Hunger zu haben. Langsam aber sicher freundet sich Elisa mit dem Wesen an. Doch dann beschließen die Verantwortlichen den Tod ihres Gefangenen. Elisa setzt alle Hebel in Bewegung dies zu verhindern, denn sie fühlt für den Amphibienmenschen so etwas wie Liebe...Eine scheinbar unmögliche Liason, aber im Märchen ist alles möglich und so setzt "Shape of Water" auf die Herzkarte, gepaart mit vielen phantastischen Elementen. Man kann es vielleicht zeitgemäß deuten in Richtung "Selbst die unmöglichste Liebe hat ihre Berechtigung" - also in einem liberalen Kontext stehend - aber für mich ist "Shape of Water" eindeutig eine Hinwendung zurück zum klassischen Horrorkino. Die Geschichte selbst wurde perfekt fürs Kino veredelt - umwerfende Farbnuancen und prächtige Bilder gibt es in Hülle und Fülle. Dennoch vergisst del Toro bei aller Perfektion für die Form auch den Inhalt nicht. Als Monster zurechtgemacht darf auch Darsteller Doug Jones nicht unerwähnt bleiben - seine hervorragende Optik zeigt einmal mehr das große Potential der Motion Capture Technik. Bei Produktionskosten von 19,5 Millionen Dollar konnten bislang fast 200 Millionen Dollar Einnahmen an der Kinokasse erzielt werden.

A Perfect Bluray release by Excel. Picture & Sound quality is just Awesome (English DTS-HD Master 5.1 n Hindi Dolby Digital 5.1 wid other foreign languages).It's an Adult content so, definitely not suitable for family viewing. Glad that, Excel didn't Edit anything from original film length.Got a Free Bluray of "Buffy - A Vampire Slayer" as a pre booking Gift.

Ich schreib nur schlichtweg, man sollte der Typ für solche Filme sein. Super Film, wahre Handwerkskunst!!!

I thought that this film was very good and interesting, sadly reminding us of how poorly we treated certain races of people back in the 1960’s. The story was excellent and also sad. It is a must see in my opinion.