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Amazon.co.uk Review
Modern Times marks the last proper appearance of Charles Chaplin's iconic Little Tramp, and finds our hero struggling to make ends meet in the Depression of the 1930s. Along the way he takes up with a juvenile delinquent (actually 24-year-old Paulette Goddard) and plays a prison incident with "nose powder" for drug-induced laughs--both plot elements seeming quite innocent here, though both would provoke controversy today. Modern Times' most famous sequences portray the dehumanisation of factory labour to fine comic effect, balancing satire with slapstick to perfection in several superbly executed set-pieces.

While the film has sound-effects and musical score, speech is only presented through mechanical means, via a gramophone, or through wall-sized TVs far more futuristic than in those in HG Wells' Things to Come (also 1936)--it's an interesting footnote that the comic and the SF visionary were friends. Chaplin famously not being a fan of sound cinema acknowledges the need to move with the times, yet hilariously spoofs the exploitation of man and machine while doing so. Amid some great laughs, the political message comes though clearly: the boss is making a fortune while doing jigsaw puzzles in his luxury office, the workers are toiling ever harder on the production line for their pittance.

On the DVD: Modern Times is offered in the original 4:3 black and white with good mono sound evidencing just a little distortion and a very clean, clear picture with minimal grain to give away its age. Also included are French and Italian dubbed versions and a pointless and ineffective English Dolby Digital 5.1 version of the soundtrack. The disc features multiple subtitle options, including English for hard of hearing.

Disc Two begins with a six-minute introduction by David Robinson. Next comes a very worthwhile 26-minute documentary by Philippe Truffault, Chaplin Today, centred around a perceptive subtitled discussion between French filmmakers Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne. There are three trailers, beautifully reproduced posters, an eight-part photo gallery and one entertaining deleted scene, as well as Chaplin's "nonsense song" from the film in isolated form and in a "Karaoke" version. The Documents section begins with a silent 42-minute 1931 documentary/propaganda film, In the Machine Age made by the US Dept of Labor. Along similar but more entertaining lines is Symphony in F a 1940 colour film combining music, manufacturing footage and animation celebrating the Ford motor company, while also included is a sequence from the Liberace Show (1956) with the star performing the vocal version of "Smile", the theme from Modern Times. Demonstrating the truly universal appeal of Chaplin is a 1967 short For the First Time, documenting what happens when the people of the remote Baracoa mountains in Cuba see their first ever movie, Modern Times. This is a remarkable collection which does a great film justice. --Gary S Dalkin

DVD Description
One of the happiest and most light-hearted of the Chaplin pictures. Man vs. machine! And the winner is every comedy fan when Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp confronts assembly line woes in this classic chosen in 1998 as one of the American Film Institute’s Top-100 American Films.

The Little Tramp punches in and wigs out inside a factory where gizmos like an employee feeding machine may someday make the lunch hour last just 15 minutes. Bounced into the ranks of the unemployed, he teams with a street waif (Pauline Goddard) to pursue bliss and a paycheck, finding misadventures as a roller-skating night watchman, a singing waiter whose hilarious song is gibberish, a jailbird and more. In the end, as tramp and waif walk arm in arm into an insecure future we know they’ve found neither bliss nor a paycheck but, more importantly, each other. The times and satire remain timeless in Modern Times.

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4 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review (4 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: Chaplin's Modern Times speaks to us today, 21 Jan 2006 By  "harry-man" - See all my reviews Chaplin's observations on the dehumanising effect of mass production and technology without a human face are just as pertinent today as in 1936. Dial the telephone service line for your computer, and you feel like Charlie on his assembly line, having food pushed down his mouth by a robot. No-one has done it better.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: First Class, 14 Nov 2006 By  Stanley Park "Steve" (Yorkshire) - See all my reviews As a child growing up I had always dismissed Chaplin as being a division below other Black and White legends such as 'Laurel and Hardy' or 'Buster Keaton'. Somehow Chaplin never quite caught my imagination until one Saturday evening the BBC showed 'Modern Times' and I had the cobwebs of ignorance blown away in one fell swoop. I went on to watch the rest of the BBC's screenings over the following weeks and came to realise what a true genius Charlie was. Modern Times is visually brilliant, from the opening hilarity of the automatic food dispensing machine going wrong to other highlights such as his wrongful arrest and imprisonment (and accidentally taking cocaine) plus attempting to take a dip outside his little dream house, the comic timing is perfection. Over the years I've shown this film to a number of friends and I've yet to hear a negative remark. This is a masterclass in visual comedy, you will not be disappointed.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   3 of 5 people found the following review helpful: One of Chaplin's masterpiece, 27 Feb 2004 By A Customer In this movie Chaplin plays a young man that starts to work with machines, set in the "Modern Times", and how this methodic job makes him go crazy. It's a movie that makes you laugh all the way through it! In other words it's a definate must have!  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 4 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews Farewell to the Tramp For the last time Charlie Chaplin was the Tramp. Not for the last time, fortunately, he made a great movie. Read more Published 4 months ago by Jay Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 4 customer reviews...