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High Hopes [VHS]

Phil Davis (Actor), Ruth Sheen (Actor), Mike Leigh (Director, Writer) Rated:
PG
Format: VHS Tape
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 147 ratings
IMDb7.4/10.0
Additional VHS Tape options Edition Discs
Price
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VHS Tape —
1
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$44.98 $55.00
VHS Tape
December 9, 1992 		—
1
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— $39.99
VHS Tape —
1
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— $63.66
Format PAL
Contributor Roger Pratt, Simon Channing Williams, Jason Watkins, Philip Jackson, Cheryl Prime, David Bamber, Heather Tobias, Ruth Sheen, Linda Beckett, Edna Doré, Judith Scott, Jon Gregory, Mike Leigh, Diane-Louise Jordan, Victor Glynn, Phil Davis, Lesley Manville See more
Runtime 1 hour and 48 minutes
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Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.32 x 4.19 x 1.12 inches; 6.13 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Mike Leigh
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 48 minutes
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ February 9, 2007
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Phil Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Doré, Philip Jackson, Heather Tobias
  • Producers ‏ : ‎ Simon Channing Williams, Victor Glynn
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000057P5U
  • Writers ‏ : ‎ Mike Leigh
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 147 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
147 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Norman Bloom
5.0 out of 5 stars Norman's High Hopes review:
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2015
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I saw this movie back when it was released. It is one of his best movies I have seen. It is a very English movie with no American overtones as I see it. I have watched it several times on different times. I got lost in the movie and put myself in place of the movie. I spent a lot of time in Britain and in that environment. I can understand the situation that the people in the movie portray. All the actors are Mikes best and have been in his other movies.
This movie is a good social movie and there is a message that Mike does try to show and in all his movies they are all all the same social comment.
That's why I like Mike Leigh's films because of this. This was a hard movie to find and Walmart and others like do not carry these type of films.
Once you watch the movie you will get lost in the film and accent to. Now this is Britain that I know. I have some other films of Mike Leigh.
Id recommend to watch the film if it ever does come on TV. That is rare to. I don't think TCM or Hollywood Suites would carry the film.
I like it and I will soon watch it again as it has been several years since I saw it. Its better to watch the movie alone with no interruption.
I am a an of British films like this and some others. Phil Davis and Ruth Sheen are matched perfectly together with Phil's mother Edna Dore.
Watch the Movie it will stick in your mind for a long time it's already stuck in my mind......
3 people found this helpful
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Bob Rousseau
5.0 out of 5 stars Long overdue to region 1 DVD!
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2009
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I've been waiting for "High Hopes" to appear as a Region 1 DVD for a long time. It's the film that introduced me to Mike Leigh's films some 20 odd years ago, and what a glorious adventure it's been! The fantastic ensemble cast includes long-time Leigh actor Philip Davis as an aging leftist motorcycle messenger trying to grapple with a mother who is heading towards probable dementia, a girlfriend who wants to have children while he himself isn't sure children should be brought into the world, and a nouveau riche sister who is all about style over substance. While it's been argued that the affluent characters in the film are presented with less dimension than the others, Leigh doesn't hesistate to portray the leftist characters as baffled about how to turn words into actions. This film is also another example of Leigh's amazing talent for chronicling family dysfunction which he continued to utilize in later films like "Secrets and Lies". This piece is well worth your time!
24 people found this helpful
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Rsoonsa
4.0 out of 5 stars FULLY DEVELOPED CREATIVE PROCESS.
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2005
HIGH HOPES provides most strengths and few weaknesses of its superb director, Mike Leigh, with the former category including his choice of footage from a typically improvisational collection of scenes; avoidance of a formulaic scenario when comparing and contrasting three widely disparate but plot-connected couples, in a Margaret Thatcher administered England; skill in controlling mood adjustment and visual constructs that generally serve to intensify viewer response; and his canny employment of technicians to implement effective staging design. Leigh's bent toward usage of politically charged economic allusions as a referent to class structure and social change leads here to role stereotypes, indeed even caricature, during scenes wherein emphasis is upon parody, as only one of the couples, former Hippies Cyril (Philip Davis) and Shirley (Ruth Sheen), is permitted to display humanity whereas Shirley's brother Martin (Philip Jackson) and his wife Valerie (Heather Tobias), along with the gentrified Booth-Braines (David Bamber and Lesley Manville) are essentially burlesque figures. In her patented persona as an old woman lapsing into dementia, Edna Doré becomes a linchpin about whom the others revolve, with Sheen taking acting honours with her finely nuanced performance as a societal rebel beginning to crave, albeit non-bourgeois, motherhood. Cinematographer Roger Pratt, along with ever inventive Leigh, use closeups to potent effect for a film that would more nearly approach greatness if a hammy lack of restraint from some talented players, although frequently highly comic, would have received closer directoral oversight.
3 people found this helpful
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Ralph H Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars i waited years to watch this again in America
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2018
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this was a great and rare DVD - region 1 as promised and fast delivery . Wonderful shape
2 people found this helpful
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me upstate
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2014
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One of Leigh's very best.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Marc Bigan
5.0 out of 5 stars Personnellement je ne vois pas ce film comme un film anti Thatcherien
Reviewed in France on July 27, 2020
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D'ailleurs qu'est ce qui a changé depuis?, les gens sont toujours aussi débiles. Je vois ce film comme une très belle histoire de personne âgée devant faire face aux agressions de sa fille et au rejet partiel de son fils, rejet mitigé à la fin grâce à Ruth Sheen. Il y a de l'humour tout le long du film, par exemple, le fils déclarant son beau frère comme : a Jerk in a Merc, celui ci est un vrai beauf qui tire des coups partout et se trimballe en grosse Mercedes. J'ai acheté ce film également pour Lesley Manville, mais sachez qu'elle a un rôle assez mineur dans le film. Pour moi les actrices top sont la personne âgée, et aussi Ruth Sheen.
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Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed
Reviewed in Australia on November 10, 2023
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I like Mike Leigh movies - Vera Drake, Secrets and Lies, Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky.
However, I was very disappointed with this earlier Mike Leigh film - I found it boring and overacted by some of the cast.
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Christoph B
5.0 out of 5 stars Ein extrem komischer Film
Reviewed in Germany on January 6, 2018
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Der Regisseur ist wahrscheinlich Soziologe, jedenfalls drehte er mehrere Sozialdramen, vielleicht sogar ausschließlich. Es geht um Klassen der Gesellschaft und man hört bereits an der Aussprache der Darsteller, zu welcher Klasse sie gehören. Alle Darsteller, egal zu welcher Klasse sie gehören, sprechen kein US-amerikanisches Englisch, sondern British-Englisch mit einem Londoner Akzent, was schon einmal angenehm erscheint. Die erzählte Geschichte spielt keine Rolle, man kann sich den Schauspielern einiges angucken, was die Kommunikation mit dem Lebenspartner angeht, z.B., was sie im gemeinsamen Bett miteinander reden, wer erst anfängt usw. (lach). Diese Ruth Sheen hätte ich sofort geheiratet trotz ihres fehlenden Kinns und des ausgeprägten Oberkiefers, oder gerade deswegen. Die Frau hat eine witzige Art, very britiish.
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I. Giles
5.0 out of 5 stars It is important that purchasers buy this successful Film4 re-mastered version as the previous version is notably inferior
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2016
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This newly-remastered issue, on a different label (Film4), is a considerable improvement on the previous BD version. The previous version was especially markedly duller in terms of colours and needs to be avoided by purchasers in favour of this one.

The film itself, from 1988, is a typical Mike Leigh presentation featuring family life within a dysfunctional situation. The main couple, Cyril and Shirley, are essentially kind and well-meaning but have problems of their own relating to political viewpoints and the place of children in the modern world. Into their situation comes a sub-plot visitor from outside London who is clearly unable to cope. Cyril's sister, Valerie, who can only be described as somewhat unhinged, is in a love-less marriage with her boorish husband. She decides to host a 70th birthday event for her mum. This does not work out well. Also in the mix are the mum's neighbours called upon to help the locked-out mum from her home having misplaced her keys. They are extreme examples of yuppie social climbers.

To find out how all of this works out, those interested in this well-crafted, well-acted and frequently amusing film will have to purchase a copy. This would be the one to consider. Further details are withheld to avoid spoiling this mesmerising example of a Mike Leigh observational drama revolving around extreme situations.

However, this review is not intended to discuss the actual film as by now it will have both its supporters and detractors. Entering into those conflicts is not the purpose of the review which is aimed squarely at the many supporters of this film.

Essentially, for all of those who are keen supporters of this film and who have bought the previous DVD version of this disc, the only issue of vital importance will be whether the Blu-ray offers an improvement technically sufficient to justify the additional expense.

For this reviewer the answer is a clear affirmative. This re-mastered Film4 upgrade offers a clear advance over the DVD and the previous BD in both image and audio quality with the imaging being a marked improvement. The colours are firmer and there is an increase to the perceived depth of the imaging. The whole film simply becomes more 'real.' The film, which is so concerned with close characterisation, benefits considerably from this enhancement of reality.

The degree of improvement experienced from this BD will also inevitably depend on the replay equipment used. The following technical information is intended to be a guide to aid in assessment.

The screen used for this review is only of moderate dimensions being a 40 inch television screen. However, the television is a high performing 4K unit which delivers a compensating positive effect. The moderate screen size lacks the impact of larger screens but is less critical of film faults.

However, the contributing player is, unusually, able to separate the audio and visual HDMI signals before they leave separately to the television and pre-amp. That feature enhances both the visual and audio elements of the output. The audio, not so critical in the case, delivers an unusually wide-ranging and revealing performance. Its precision is equally revealing of film scores.

Readers with alternative equipment will have to interpret this review bearing in mind their own equipment and its comparative advantages and disadvantages.

The disc offers purchasers with suitable replay equipment a substantial improvement over the previous DVD.

In summary this remastered Film4 BD is a transfer from good quality 1988 film stock and has responded well to the upgrade and well worth considering. It is important that purchasers to ensure that they buy this successful Film4 re-mastered version as the previous version is notably inferior.
14 people found this helpful
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Gillian Asher
5.0 out of 5 stars High Hopes
Reviewed in Canada on May 7, 2013
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A brilliant depiction of life in London during the Thatcher regime. I will certainly watch this gem again.
True reality and comedy at its best.
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