Writing on VL Online, Mike D'Angelo said of The Ice Storm: "Detailing the emotional and sexual confusion and frustration of two upper-class Connecticut families in the winter of 1973, Ang Lee's adaptation of Rick Moody's celebrated novel benefits from a superb cast (Christina Ricci and Tobey Maguire in particular, but everyone is terrific), a beautifully ethereal score by Atom Egoyan regular Mychael Danna, and a surprisingly frank--for an American film, anyway--an exploration of teenage sexuality." On DVD, the anamorphic widescreen transfer looks a wee bit grainy (though not distractingly so) and the Dolby Digital 5.0 sound is adequate. Also including a brief promotional featurette, The Ice Storm is a solid addition, especially with current interest in director Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (reviewed in this issue). Recommended. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—Mar. 18, 2008—Criterion, 2 discs, 113 min., R, $39.95—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1997's The Ice Storm boasts a great transfer and Dolby Digital surround sound. DVD extras include audio commentary with director Ang Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus, a “Weathering the Storm” making-of featurette with costars Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Sigourney Weaver, and Elijah Wood (36 min.), “The Look of The Ice Storm” production featurettes on cinematography, production design, and costume design (36 min. total), footage from an event honoring Lee and Schamus at New York's Museum of the Moving Image (32 min.), an interview with novelist Rick Moody (21 min.), deleted scenes with optional commentary (7 min.), an essay by film critic Bill Krohn, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid drama.]
The Ice Storm
Fox, 114 min., R, $24.98 Vol. 16, Issue 3
The Ice Storm
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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