Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Brandin Lindsey Abraham Lincoln is a 1930 film based on the life of the sixteenth president of the United States of America. The story follows Lincoln from his birth, through adulthood, and into the hardships of his presidency. The film is a dramatized version of Lincoln's biography, and essentially goes through every important event in Lincoln's life.One of the best parts of the film is the uncanny resemblance between the lead actor and Abraham Lincoln. This doppelganger effect helps the actor achieve a very convincing Lincoln. Some of the humor in the film still holds up and you'll get some laughs from the dialogue. It is also nice to see such a friendly political debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. The point versus point format of the debate in the film appears more realistic and civil than what we have in reality.Unfortunately, there is much about the film that can be criticized. There are spots of bad acting throughout, such as the "I'm angry" folding of the arms and pouting bottom lip routine. There are awkward camera stares by the characters that are meant to accentuate their points, but instead are confusing and do anything but accentuate. Lincoln said three times that he wanted to preserve the Union, and then looks directly at the camera and practically yells it. Is he talking to me or is there a character directly behind the camera he is speaking to? There are corny, melodramatic moments, especially between Lincoln and his first wife. The movie moves from one event to the next at a break-neck speed, never allowing the story or characters to develop. His ascension to presidency is clumsily foreshadowed in his early years repeatedly. Far too often. Not to mention the fact that Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd, is completely insufferable.The cynicism of the Mary Todd character is not based on any historical inaccuracies, it is the fact that we are shown her vapid and selfish personality and it is never addressed or resolved. We know that she was pursuing Lincoln before she met him due to his potential wealth and power. But why does Lincoln like her? For that matter, why does Lincoln have the political feelings that he is so adamant about? The film never addresses the conflicts and thoughts of the characters. Of course, we can learn what has happened in history ourselves, but the movie itself does nothing in this regard, and honestly should have been the basis of the story. The audience knows the historical chronological events, but when the "why" of the matter is dropped, the film loses all feeling and meaning. Instead of developing the character of Lincoln, we are given a checklist of important events, which are then dramatized.I do not recommend this film to anyone. If you want to explore the personality and life of Abraham Lincoln, you're not going to get it here. If you want a civil war movie, you're not going to get that either. If your intent is to delve into the slavery debate at the time, that doesn't exist in this film. Perhaps you're simply interested in Lincoln's personal life and his familial relationships. You won't get that either. I hate to say it, but this is definitely one of the worst Abraham Lincoln films.

Bryan Kluger D.W. Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln' is one hell of a film still today as it was back in the 30s. It sure is fitting that Kino decided to release this particular film now, what with the recent election and Spielberg's big budget 'Lincoln' film still in theaters. Not too mention that since the 2012 election, we are seeing several states trying to secede from the union, a very real scenario back when Lincoln was president as well. What might set this particular film aside from the rest of the Abraham Lincoln centered films besides this one being one of the first films to be solely about the 16th president is that Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln' covers the entire life from birth to death of the legendary president.Plus, Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln' is an opposing look to his previous film 'The Birth of Nation', the latter being a very racially charged film being released in 1915. 'Abraham Lincoln' jumps around quite a bit as we have to get the full span of Lincoln's life in under 100 minutes. The film starts off on a slave ship and cuts to a log cabin where Lincoln is born and given his name. We immediately jump to a young twenty -something Lincoln (Walter Huston) having fun with some friends in a bar as he lifts a giant barrel of alcohol to drink. We also get to see a young Abraham become smitten with his first love, Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel), win a wrestling match, and being a fun loving, charming, and powerful young man. It's great to see our 16th president be a normal guy as he studies law and is always ready and willing to be intimate with his girl.However, Ann becomes ill and passes away. Abraham becomes a broken man and even resorts to lying down on top of her grave because he misses her so much. But since the film's run-time is short, we swiftly move into Lincoln meeting his wife Mary Todd (Kay Hammond) as we see Abraham dive into his early political career then onto his presidency, where we get the epic beard.As this film is more of a dialogue driven film, rather than epic battle sequences, we don't see a lot of action during the Civil War. This movie focuses more on the emotional and psychological state of Lincoln. It was great to see how the name Honest Abe became about and how frustrated and sadden Lincoln is during this war time. But when Lincoln isn't bogged down by the important serious issues, he is actually a fun and silly guy, one you might want to hang out with.This is one of Griffith's last movies he made and it is a pretty straight forward film without a lot of creative art direction. And we all know that the Gettysburg Address was one of Lincoln's biggest moments, however that whole speech was not given any screen time. I was hoping for an extra on this disc that discussed why, but unfortunately, there is none. However, there are a several key moments in the film that lead up to the murder of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth (Ian Keith).If it wasn't for Huston's performance as Lincoln, I'd say this was a pretty lackluster attempt at making a film about our 16th president. That being said, I think this is worth a look if you haven't seen it, especially on blu-ray.

Steffi_P It is sometimes presumed that, because DW Griffith retired from the business in 1931 after making just two sound pictures, it was the talkies that killed off the legendary pioneer of cinema. However, this great man's downfall was in truth more gradual, and he had been plagued by bad reviews and pushed around by the studios since the early 1920s. What is more, his biopic of another great man proves that even at this late stage Griffith had the capacity to create something exceptional.Griffith's film of Abraham Lincoln reverses the romantic notion that the directors of the early years, no matter how wondrous their silent pictures were, could not handle the transition to talkies. Not only has Griffith adapted to the new medium without any loss in the grace or dignity of his images, it is clear he really understands what sound can do. The opening scene, ironically now missing its sound reel, according to the subtitle reconstruction featured a stirring use of song, with the refrain "Go down Moses" accompanying the shot of dead slaves being thrown overboard. Later, a scene opens on a close-up of a peg being hammered in, while offscreen we hear Una Merkel reciting from a book of law. We then pull out to reveal what is going on, but Griffith has already cleverly linked the two topics of the scene – work and law – from the first shot in a way that grabs and engages us.There are plenty of other examples of Griffith's still-thriving mastery of technique on display in Abraham Lincoln for the dedicated viewer to spot, but what of the director's Victorian sensibilities when it came to narrative and characterisation, which sometimes seemed outdated even in the 1910s? Well, even though the picture was written by a couple of youngsters (an odd but fruitful pairing of producer John Considine and poet Stephen Vincent Benet), the imagery does occasionally betray Griffith's old-fashioned outlook. In the final shot, he appears to literally be attempting to deify the deceased president. And yet Griffith's respectful treatment of his subject is often subtle and tenderly meaningful. In scenes shortly after Lincoln's inauguration, Griffith photographs him once in silhouette, and later introduces him with his shadow appearing in a doorway. The outline of a tall man in stovepipe hat and jutting beard is instantly recognisable. When he does this, Griffith is not trying to be arty, he is acknowledging that Lincoln has now become the iconic figure that has become lodged in the consciousness of future generations.And there is another side to this laudatory biopic. Considine and Benet's screenplay may be short for such a grand subject, but it condenses the life of the president in such a way as to bring out the humanity of the man, giving just as much weight to his loves and personal demons as to his political achievements. A lot of the credit here should also go to lead man Walter Huston, one of the greatest assets to be snapped up by the film industry with the coming of sound. Huston not only physically resembles Lincoln, but he is the right kind of performer for such a weighty role. He can act the inspirational orator, but also displays a very likable naturalism in the scenes of Lincoln's private life. Huston actually adds depth to the character, portraying the young Abraham as a resourceful but slightly awkward individual. He comes across as acutely self-conscious of his height, and is constantly stooping so as not appear imposing towards others. Huston gives the older Lincoln world-weariness, and above all a calm yet commanding presence, that of a man trying to change the world by gently changing the things around him.Huston was a newcomer to cinema, hired by the industry after the coming of sound, as was Una Merkel who is also outstanding in her small but memorable performance as Ann Rutledge. By and large though the rest of the cast were veterans of the silent era, many of whom have here more interest value than displays of talent, including Lucille LaVerne, who later voiced the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White, Frank Campeau, one of the eponymous 3 Bad Men from the 1926 picture, and former director Oscar Apfel. At times the picture almost looks like a museum of Griffith's heyday, especially when Hobart Bosworth and Henry B. Walthall turn up at the end as Confederate officers. And yet Bosworth and Walthall are no waxworks, the former in giving a very moving turn as the defeated Lee. Like Griffith himself, these people may have been getting old, but they were by no means done for.

Michael_Elliott Abraham Lincoln (1930) ** 1/2 (out of 4) D.W. Griffith's film about Abraham Lincoln (Walter Huston) who we see from his early days through the hearbreak of Ann Rutledge (Una Merkel) and his rise to be the President of the United States.It's surprising to watch ABRAHAM LINCOLN today and know that back in the day most of the major critics called it a great film with many of them including it as one of the year's best films. It was hailed by critics as Griffith's major comeback but it didn't result in box office numbers and the legendary director would only make one more film. It's interesting to note that some of the Lincoln story-line was used in the director's THE BIRTH OF A NATION and that film was re-released in a sound version the same year this here was released. You have to wonder if more people went to that over this new film.The biggest problem that I had with this film was the story itself and the way it was told. I'm not going to bash the fake parts of the story too much as these bio films are often full of re-written history. The problem with me is that the narrative was all over the place and there really wasn't a good flow to any of it. It seems like bits and pieces were just picked from the story, filmed and then thrown together without Griffith trying to make a complete story or any type of flow to the material.It's really too bad that the story is all over the place because we do get some nice performances including Huston in the lead role. It's funny and rather uncanny how much he looks like Lincoln here and for the most part I thought he did a respectable job in the role. Another problem with the film is the fact that Griffith certainly didn't update his "style" from what you'd see from his early days. He certainly didn't want to go with the times and the film really looks and feel like something from the 1910s and not from 1930.With that said, ABRAHAM LINCOLN does work as a minor film. The performances are good enough to save it and the ending with the assassination is quite good even if it falls well short of what we saw in THE BIRTH OF A NATION.