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Death Becomes Her [1992]
from Universal Pictures UK
starring Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy
directed by Robert Zemeckis

Features:

• Dubbed
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

If Robert Zemeckis's mega-hit Forrest Gump was too sweet for your taste, you may enjoy the undiluted bitterness of his previous movie, a cynical black comedy that was ahead of its time. Death Becomes Her, an outlandish parable about America's obsession with youth and vanity, exposes the corrosive side of Zemeckis's comic sensibility, the sort of scathing satirical edge he gleefully flourished in his overlooked 1980 Used Cars, which has developed a cult following.

Meryl Streep has a ball as the deliciously vicious Madeline Ashton, a flamboyantly mannered actress who makes Bette Davis's formidable Margo Channing in All About Eve look like a wallflower. Goldie Hawn is also in razor-sharp comedic form as Madeline's long-time "best friend," Helen. Sensing a bargain she just can't resist, Madeline steals Helen's meek, plastic-surgeon husband Ernest (Bruce Willis) for her own convenience, and the two women become sworn enemies. But the real complications arise when the two are introduced to a secret anti-aging formula by a mysterious and exotic woman (Isabella Rossellini, delightfully ridiculous) that not only smoothes away wrinkles but actually guarantees immortality. As their undying bodies are twisted and mutilated by violent attacks on each other, both women grow increasingly dependent on Ernest for cosmetic repair. The pioneering digital effects inflicted on Streep and Hawn are as grotesque as they are imaginative and hilarious. Like James Cameron (The Abyss, Titanic), Zemeckis loves a technical challenge, and the new visual tools developed for this movie made his later work (in Forrest Gump and Contact) possible. The digital video disc includes a short feature on the movie's production. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Excellent film but a disappointing DVD
  This is one of my favourite films. The cast are obviously enjoying being in it as well which makes it nice to watch. There's some wonderful barbed dialogue and the performances are (while maybe a little broad at times) excellent. The reason this gets 4 stars and not 5 is the DVD itself.
  It's only a bare bones release. There are a lot of deleted scenes from the film (including an entire subplot featuring Tracey Ullmann) that were cut out! In fact if you look up the trailer (youtube etc) for the film... more info

• "I can see right through you!"
  Rivalry between two women (Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn) over a doctor/undertaker (Bruce Willis) leads to extreme measures. They take an elixir that maintains beauty forever with some minor side effects (and a belated warning by scantily clad Isabella Rossellini).
  One woman becomes very twisted, the other holier than thou.
  Who will he choose?
  The great acting and good special effects will hold your attention. One must be prepared to suspend reality.
  

• Morbid Comedy
  Death becomes her has a really good idea: what would it be like to live forever, stay young and beautiful? I don't consider this movie gives an answer to that, but it represents one over-exaggerated view - a particularly well-carried out view. Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep make an unique performance and fit perfectly to their roles. Interesting was also to see Bruce Willis in so different kind of movie I have used to see him. The plot was a little bit too easy to guess beforehand, but I didn't mind. Just... more info

• "I can see right through you!"
  Rivalry between two women (Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn) over a doctor/undertaker (Bruce Willis) leads to extreme measures. They take an elixir that maintains beauty forever with some minor side effects (and a belated warning by scantily clad Isabella Rossellini).
  One woman becomes very twisted, the other holier than thou.
  Who will he choose?
  The great acting and good special effects will hold your attention. One must be prepared to suspend reality.
  

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