1/4  Doesn't Deserve It's Aclaime
Ok, ok, ok. Awesome story line to this film. I loved what it was getting at, but... Oh God... The books probably awesome. I just HATED the film. I am probably the only person in the world that does... I know it won best picture and best di... (read full)

3/4  good and gritty
A very good and unique film, with no music and only twenty minutes of character dialogue throughout. But surprisingly, this does nothing to diminish the strong realistic nature of the film, with unexpected plot twists which are always good... (read full)

3.5/4  No Country for Old Men
Another in a long line of great Coen Brothers suspense films (Blood Simple, Fargo). When they set their minds to it, they are the closest thing to Hitchcock in this genre: deliberate direction, dark humor, and edge of your seat suspense.... (read full)

3.5/4  No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men is an Intense and Brutal film that packs a wallop. The Coen Brothers have done it again, making a film that is unique to the core. It's very well made and performed by the entire cast. Wonderful direction and screenp... (read full)

4/4  No Country for Old Men starts Top 20 countdown....
Adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, No Country for Old Men was brought to the screen masterfully by the Coen brothers and is one of the grittiest and well made films of the last quarter century. Set in the dusty mounta... (read full)

4/4  Call it!! Heads or tails!
What can I say about this movie.... Great screenplay.... Wonderful direction by Coen..... Great storyline..... Suspenseful from start to finsh.... Was on the edge of my seat during the whole movie!! Josh Brolin's best performance. And even... (read full)

2.5/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
It really just wasn't as good as the hype around it.

3.5/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
Outstanding performance from Javier Bardem.Is it true he is the same person who played in Vicky Christina Barcelona?The movie move forward with the simple purpose....show me the money.But the end of story was too flat.

4/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
Not like the other Coen movies but good just the same. Did anyone notice that there isn't any music during the movie? lol. Javier Bardem plays a great role in this one. He is freakin unstoppable! A great movie!

4/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
A slightly simple plot yet perfect and powerfully told and acted. Bardem is absoultely amazing

3.5/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
It's hard to classify exactly what genre this falls in, but I know that I liked No Country for Old Men. A great villain, good cat-and-mouse chase, great scenery and spectacular violence. The ending is abrupt, but didn't ruin it for me.

3/4  No Country for Old Men Quick Review
At the end I really didn't know exactly what this movie was about, but I enjoyed it and the story was good, it just seemed to end without really resolving what needed to be resolved. You can tell it was a book first.

5/5 'To this we've come'
  by Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
Cormac McCarthy's novel NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN has been successfully transformed into a film in the skilled hands of Ethan and Joel Coen. The story is intact, the characters are given the dialog so uniquely McCarthy's invention, and the horror of the message of the book - that we have come to a point in time when crime, especially random murder, surrounds our lives - is, if anything, even more pungent than on the pages of the book. It is an amazing, and a highly disturbing movie, and while this viewer is one of the few who does not believe it deserved the Oscar for Best Picture, there is little doubt that it is a brilliant piece of cinema.

The story is fairly simple: on the raw plains of Texas a slaughter of men and dogs engaged in a drug deal is discovered by a simple guy Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin). Moss observes the mayhem, sees the drugs, finds the 2 million dollar payoff money, takes the money, and embarks on an escape, leaving his wife Carla (Kelly Macdonald) to escape the pursuit of a mad killer Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who in turn is being pursued by the local sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and a hired hitman (Woody Harrelson). The satchel of money contains a tracking device and Chigurh has the instrument necessary to follow the trail the device leads. The remainder of the film is the pursuit both in Texas and in Mexico, accompanied by countless brutal murders of all sorts by the crazed Chigurh, until a surprise ending.

But the toughest part of this violent film is more in the discussion of shared philosophies between the sheriff and his old cronies: they reflect on the sad state of universal crime that is so different and more malevolent than in the 'old days'. The conversations, in the superb dialog of these old men, bring our attention to some realities we would rather not confront, and those realities are even more disturbing than the repeated images of bloated bodies and senseless murders that fill the screen. Jones, Brolin, and Bardem are indeed superb in their roles, but the small cameos of the townsfolk of Texas are little gems of acting and direction. This is a difficult film to watch because of all of the violence, but the message is one we must heed. We may be allowing the creation of 'no country for any men'. Grady Harp, March 08

5/5 The 2-Disc Collector's Edition on Blu-ray is the definitive version to own!
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
Violent, dark, gripping and an off-humor tone that is like no other. `NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN' is indeed a Coen Brothers masterpiece!

The film is possibly the most ambitious film from the Award winning filmmakers, Joel and Ethan Coen ("Fargo", "The Big Lebowski", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "Raising Arizona") based on the 2005 novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy. "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four which include "Best Achievement in Directing", "Best Motion Picture of the Year", "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role" and "Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published".

"NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" makes its re-appearance on Blu-ray with a new audio track, five hours of bonus footage and a digital copy.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" is featured in 1080p High Definition with an aspect ratio of (2:35:1). One thing you will notice is how the colors of the rugged outdoors really pops. The earth tones and its vibrancy during the day, to the dark black and blues during the night. I saw no major artifacting or high grain during the low light conditions.

Also, when you see the characters in High Definition, you see the wrinkles, the pores...very detailed picture quality. Even the people who were shot and killed, good amount of detail in the bullet wounds and showcasing how much detail the crew went into making sure the these wounds look realistic. There is no denying that the picture quality for "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" is amazing and right up there with the top tier titles. The backgrounds of Southwest Texas, the multiple colors that showcase the vibrancy of the film, to the dark scenes that exhibit no problems and of course the overall details that you just never think of, are seen quite clearly on this title.

Director of Photography Roger Deakins ("A Beautiful Mind", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "The Big Lebowski", "Fargo", "The Shawshank Redemption") continues to be one of the top DP's in the industry and was definitey deserving of an Academy Award nomination for his awesome cinematography.

As for audio, this is where "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" takes a big step up to perfection. Buena Vista Home Entertainment made sure the new soundtrack for this second version release utilized an English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-bit) track over the PCM version. And boy, does it make a difference. If you thought the gun shots as the bullets hiss, the rifle shots, a dogs being shot, vehicles moving, those action scenes alone sound clearer and punchier than the previous PCM track. The dialogue is clear and there is just a sense of more clearer sound than the PCM track. Quite frankly, this is the best audio treatment of the film and the last one was magnificent but for this 2-Disc Collector's Edition, audio is excellent!

And again, the film was definitely deserving for its Academy Award nominations for its achievements in Sound and Sound Editing. The crew did a wonderful job!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

This second version Blu-ray release of "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" is packed with special features. From December 2007 to February 2008, television, live, online and radio interviews are presented on disc. So, the hardcore filmmaker or the fans of the film definitely have plenty of content to watch and listen to. As mentioned earlier in the review, this 2-Disc Collector's Edition comes with a new audio track, a digital copy of the film and five hours of special features. Included are:

* The Making Of No Country For Old Men - (24:29) A behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to create a Coen Brothers' movie. Featuring interviews with the Coen Brothers, cast and crew. Included on the last Blu-ray but nevertheless, very informative and entertaining to watch. Also, how certain cast members were selected. Surprising especially when you find out that Kelly Macdonald (Carla Jean) is from Scotland and has a strong, thick accent but played the character of a girl with a Southern drawl quite well!
* Working with the Coens - (8:07) The cast and crew of No Country for Old Men talk about working with the legendary duo. It's great to hear the cast and crew talk about working with the brothers and talk about how they want a certain scene a certain way. Fun featurette that was included on the last Blu-ray.
* The Diary of A Country Sheriff - (6 min.) A look at the relationship between Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh and Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss through the eyes of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). A good explanation of how this proud Sheriff who is about to retire notices that he probably is in no league to take on the crimes of today and the types of killers out there. The days of being a sheriff with no weapons are a thing of the past.
* Josh Brolin Unauthorized - (9 min.) An interesting perspective of "behind-the-scenes" as Josh Brolin interviews certain cast members and the crew. A dramatic "behind-the-scenes" featuring the cast members with some sort of an edge. A very interesting featurette.
* Press Timeline - A treasure trove of in-depth interviews and conversations with the Coen Brothers, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem--never before available on disc--offering viewers the most comprehensive look ever at the making of No Country for Old Men. This is where the bulk of the special features are featured and what's so cool is that some of these are online interviews, live with audience interviews, radio interviews, etc.

1. Lunch with David Polan (10/25/07) - 26:21 interview with both Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem.
2. L.A. WGAW - (11/06/07) - 24:13 Q&A Panel featuring the Coen Brothers, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Kelly Macdonald.
3. Variety Q&A - (11/06/07) - 3:08 Feat. interviews hosted by Brian Lowry with Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Kelly Macdonald
4. ew.com - Just A Minute - (11/08/07) - 12:55 Feat. interview with Javier Bardem
5. Creative Screen Writing Magazine - (11/09/07) - 21:24 podcast interview with the Coen Brothers.
6. NPR's All Things Considered with Michelle Norris - (11/09/07) - 4:42 - Radio interview
7. ABC Popcorn with Peter Travers - (11/14/07) - 14:51 Interview with Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Kelly Macdonald
8. In-Store Appearance (11/20/07) - 40:30 Interviews with Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem
9. Charlie Rose (11/21/07) 22:33 interview with the Coen Brothers
10. WBC Reel Talk with Lyon & Bailes - (12/1/07) 10:00 - A fun interview with Josh Brolin
11. Channel 4 News - (12/16) - 3:45 Preview of the film and brief interviews
12. KCRW - The Treatment with Elvis Mitchell - (12/19) 28:29 Radio interview with the Coen Brothers
13. NPR's Day to Day (1/17) 6:35 Radio interview with Javier Bardem
14. Spike Jonze Q&A (1/27) 1:00:45 Live audience interview with Spike onze with the Coen Brothers, Director of Photography Roger Deakins, Sound Production and Design Production teams
15. NPR's All Things Considered (2/7) 7:44 Radio interview with Executive Producer Scott Rudin
16. NPR's Weekend Addition feat. Scott Simon (2/9) 5:32 Radio interview with the Coen Brothers

* Digital Copy Download

EASTER EGG: Not necessarily a major Easter Egg but on Press Time line, you can select the coin which has the words "Call It Friend O" and the coin will randomly pick an interview.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" is definitely not a film for the weak hearted. The film has its many layers but I think that Javier Bardem's excellent portrayal of the psychopath Anton Chigurh is going to ruffle some feathers because of his overall look, his demeanor and his eyes of the thrill of a kill, you can't help but think how twisted this character is and for certain characters, who encounter Chigurh, you are at the edge of your seat as he wants to determine the fate if they live or die. It's twisted and his means of killing and the barrage of violence is not going to make the squeamish any happier.

This is possible the Coen Brothers darkest film. Granted "Fargo" was a dark film but "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" is well-written, well-acted, well-filmed...it's the Coen Brothers masterpiece extravaganza. Dark humor, violence galore but a well-told plot and characters that you want to watch.

For me, the violence was excessive but it was needed. It was very important to show Chigurh as this psychopath and the level of detail that went into showing those bloody scenes was well done by the crew.

As the Coen Brothers and Javier Bardem did a wonderful job, you also have to give the thumbs up to the other talent.

Josh Brolin being denied an Academy Award nomination was a bit of a shock. Where many people have not been fortunate to get away from Chigurh, the character of Llewelyn Moss was a constant challenge but you actually felt yourself rooting for Moss for a little while.

Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Bell was portrayed very well. A World War II Vet and proud Sheriff who is now having to deal with drug deals and mafia style killings, he's not prepared to take on these type of people. This is not the same country he lived in before, it's become dangerous and hence the title "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN".

I will have to say the shining star was Kelly MacDonald as Carla Jean. At first, you think that the woman is the token broad at the beginning of the film but her final scenes perhaps is a scene that has left many people wondering what happened to her character. It's because her character was able to do something that many of the other characters have not and thus, comes away being someone special. And I also have to say that I was shocked to find out that Macdonald was Scottish and had this thick accent and to hear hear playing a woman with this Southern drawl was amazing. Well done!

Many people who purchased the first Blu-ray disc may be asking themselves, is this second collector's edition worth it? Absolutely yes! The new DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is just amazing. Combine that with already the perfect video, video and audio are just perfect. The special features also gets a 5 with five hours of interview footage and in depth knowledge behind what the Coen Brothers wanted to accomplish in the film, to hear the talents (with the exception of Tommy Lee Jones) really show their passion towards this film and just very good insight of the making of the film.

So, as much as I hate re-releases especially if they are not long after the previous was released, in this case, I have to say that the release of "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN" was warranted. For such an incredible and magnificent film, it deserved special treatment and now it does.

"NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - 2-DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION" receives an A+ and is highly recommended!

5/5 a near-masterpiece
  by Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
In the stylish new Coen Brothers' movie, "No Country for Old Men," the violence is both graphic and coy, both in-your-face and strangely demur in the way it is portrayed. Bit players are frequently blown away in full view of the audience, while key characters often meet their ends off screen, away from the spotlight of the prying camera. For this is the theme of the movie, that violence is arbitrary, capricious and unpredictable, and that things are only going to get worse in a culture that has grown increasingly coarse and indifferent to human suffering over the years.

The "old man" of the title is Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), a small town Texas sheriff who, right on the verge of retirement, has seen a depressing spike in violent crime thanks to the recent proliferation of drug-running from Mexico (the movie takes place in 1980). For this is a "new time" in America, one in which an all-out criminal "war" is being fought, as much on the open plains as in the crowded cities. It is the "old men" like Bell, the last in a long line of old style Texas lawmen, who can no longer recognize their country and who are left to recede into the background bewildered and frustrated by their inability to do anything about it.

As the story opens, a group of men lie dead in a windswept field, victims of a drug deal gone terribly awry. The perpetrator is a psychopath by the name of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who is now wandering the countryside on a random killing spree, dispatching human victims as casually as the rest of us would a mosquito or fly. Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a "retired" welder who stumbles upon not only the carnage-strewn scene but a suitcase filled with millions of dollars in unmarked bills. When Moss makes the fatal mistake of taking the loot, he becomes the prime target of Chigurh, who will stop at nothing to get what is rightfully his.

Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy, "No Country For Old Men" is less notable for its story and characters than for its cinematic naturalism and impressionistic style. Despite having made some truly exceptional films in the past, Joel and Ethan Coen have never been as thoroughly in control of their medium or as supremely confident in their filmmaking as they are here. The first hour, in particular, is such a flawless masterpiece of composition and tone that it will probably be studied as a model in film school courses for years to come. Not since the films of Terrance Malick has landscape been used to more brilliant effect than in the opening section of this work. The setting - so brilliantly captured in Roger Deakins' incisive cinematography and Craig Berkey`s stunning sound design - becomes a palpable presence in its own right and a key player in the drama. The Coens have done their own editing on the film, which explains why the pacing feels like an exquisitely honed piece of music, built on finely calibrated beats and rests, meter and rhythm. The hypnotic, dreamlike quality of the filmmaking carries the story into the realm of archetype and myth which matches perfectly the surrealistic nature of the piece.

Bardem provides a bone-chilling portrait of a human killing-machine whose sole purpose in life is to destroy that which gets in his way (not that he doesn't enjoy killing just for the sheer pleasure of it as well). In Bardem's hands, Chigurh becomes the true incarnation of evil in its darkest form. Jones brings a world-weary gravity to the role of the sheriff, while Brolin, who gets the majority of the screen time in the film, does some of the best work of his career as the man desperate to keep one step ahead of his pursuer.

Perhaps predictably, the movie is not able to sustain the same level of greatness all the way through its running time and there are moments when the filmmakers seem to lose their way somewhat (particularly when Woody Harrelson shows up as a comic-relief bounty hunter). The unresolved ending may frustrate those who don't like any loose ends hanging around at the end of a story, but the inconclusiveness of the conclusion actually adds to the verisimilitude of the movie quite a bit.

Still, even if the movie falters a bit towards the end, there's no denying that "No Country For Old Men" is one of the outstanding films of recent times. In fact, that first hour or so is about as close to perfection as filmmaking is ever likely to get.


3/5 "No Country for Old Men" is very uneven, but interesting.
  by Steven Hedge (Somewhere "East of Eden")
I'm sorry, but I just don't get all the hype about these directors/writers and their films, especially this one.

I found this film to be very uneven. The cast is excellent and compelling to watch from start to finish, but the story is all over the place. The first half is outstandingly well-paced and delivered, but the second half seems to be directed/written by others as it is noticeably different. It pales in comparison to the first half. I wish I could express better HOW this is so, but that is hard. I just simply found myself no caring about the storyline much and a good thing since the ending is a complete clunker.

I have to say that I was very disappointed with the extreme unevenness of this film, but it is good overall. Nowhere near all the hype, but generally good.

4/5 No Movie For Young Men
  by M. Griffin

I can see why some people would have a problem with this movie. It is a violent, brooding movie with an ending that will have you saying, "That's it"? Plus several scenes end without showing what happened to the characters, leaving the audience guessing to what may or may not have occurred. I think it is important to remember that this is an adapted screenplay from a Cormac McCarthy novel. I read the book shortly after seeing this film and feel that the Coen brothers did a very good job. Except for excluding a couple of chapters from the book, the film follows the book almost exactly. So, if you feel that this movie is entirely the Coen brother's fault you better think again. Some blame has to go to the source material.

Personally I love movies like this. Movies where everything is not tied together nicely, where the good guy doesn't always succeed, and where the traditional rules of Hollywood are broken. If you expect a movie where the good guy vanquishes the bad guy in a gun-battling, car-chasing climax then you better rent something else. If you want a happy ending, you may want to watch the movie `Enchanted' instead as another reviewer suggested. Nothing works out for any of the characters, as you would expect in a mainstream movie. This includes the main bad guy Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem. What should be a simple job of retrieving 2 million dollars in missing drug money from a local good ole' boy turns into a really big headache for him. He then goes on a huge murder spree just because he was so inconvenienced. That is what makes this character really scary. He'll do anything to finish the job, and he'll dish out triple the amount of pain that is bestowed upon him.

As for the ending, you must keep the title of the movie in mind. No Country For Old Men applies to the young drug runners who are often gunned down early in their careers. Few of them will see old age. As for Tommy Lee Jones' character, he is an old man struggling to understand the viciousness of today's criminals. He finds himself unable to adapt, hence feeling that there is no place for him anymore in his own country (which happens to be Texas). His dialogues at the end of the movie further this point while also showing his hope that everything that occurred was just a bad dream he'll wake up from. That he could be that lawman of old times and still be able to do his job in modern times.

This movie has great characters, wonderful settings, dramatic directing and a good adapted screenplay. If you enjoy movies that do not fit the standard Hollywood mold than you will like No Country For Old Men.