Rain Man [DVD] [1989] [2004]

This is possibly a first. Let me explain. I have already seen the film on television in 1991. So, although I have just purchased this DVD from Amazon, and, therefore I am more than qualified to Review this DVD than would normally be the case, before I have actually watched it, which is really very ironical in the extreme, when the reader views online what I am about to tell them! But, like all good reviewers, I like to keep the reader in suspense, so I will begin with a synopsis of the plot of Rainman itself!I will keep this brief and extremely succinct, as I am sure you will agree at the last count and the existing 222 reviews this would result in a boring time for the umptienth time! So, without further ado. Brief scene of the Babbitts as boys, Charlie is evidently, from what later transpires in the plot, actually too young at the time to remember his older Autistic brother, Raymond. Fast forward several years and Charlie, an "only" child or so he thought and, by now a young man in his mid twenties(approximately-his actual age at this time in the story is not revealed). The point is, and as I promised to cut along story short, suddenly discovers, to his horror, as a result of the death of both his parents, and the procedes of their estate being left in the will, not to him as he should rightly expect, as an "only" child, but to a mysterious brother, Raymond, who he did not know he had, but worse still that he is Autistic and lives in a residential care home (Autistc children were often institutionalized in the early days, both in this country -UK and USA -where Rainman is set). For UK readers, Please feel free to contact the National Autistic Society - UK leading charity for support, particularly for children with Autism -online/or Google NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY).So, naturally as a very enraged younger brother, full of jealousy and rage and at, first not at all interested in brother Raymond, rather selfishly is "hell bent" on getting his hands on all,the money.Now this is where, as someone in a position to know something about Autism , having done some considerable research can explain the significance of this plot. Please accept my apologies for digressing at this juncture, as I did promise to keep a long story short! This is because this may be of further help to both parents of carers of children and what's more adults like Raymond, who unlike, Raymond are actually Autistic, but have been left undiagnosed and even given a wrong diagnosis of Schizophrenia. Before, I go on I am going to let you in for what, being as the irony in this story goes and my hidden connection until now, goes:- Wait for it, yes you've probably guessed it by now...... I am myself Autistic! This needs further explanation, I hope my digression has not bored you too much. Put simply, and for the future research, development and teatment of both sufferers and their parents of people, although predominantly male (yes some girls are also Autistic, although because it is generally a very "male" condition, consequently and in the main tends to affect more boys than it does girls - There has been research to prove that the main factors for this are a criteria of three factors :- It is thought that Autism, is largely an "extension" of the male brain.Secondly, girls naturally have more empathy skills, men are in general more socially enept at this one, and so can hide a diagnosis of autism and this results in generally better social skills, so "get away with it", which gives to the theory that every man has a touch of Autism and just "get away with it " are are therefore accepted as Neurotypical by society (ie non autistic and so called normal by society and therefore appear to display normal social interaction skills and even natural empathy for others and can "get on with other people", as a result of this devastating condition. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, on a general basis there are at least three factors which make the criteria bleak. 1) It is and I stress a lifelong condition. 2) Although, the future is general brighter for the more "intelligent" or able Autistic. The overall picture can still present a less stable and in someways for someone who is Neurotypical (normal population). Autism/Asperger Syndrome or now in education sometimes referred to as High Functioning Autism, which is what AS is and is preferred in education alongside Asperger Syndrome as that is precisely what it is. Therefore, to the layman it makes more sense(AS tends to continue in use for older young people/adults therefore please contact NAS for further information) There is a criteria comprising three main "deficits" or as the experts term The "Triad of Impairments." These are:- lack of interest in other people, (this can include physical contact as well).There is a pronounced general difficulty in relating to their Peer Group ( Children predominantly, but not exclusively , as Adults with AS depending on the criteria of where they are on the Asperger part of the Spectrum ( Kanner's , which is what Raymond Babbit, with few exceptions, do not generally ever gain employment as adults, although some with the right support may and in some rare cases find employment in more menial jobs, which are heavilly routine based, eg factory assembly lines or cleaning or servicing staff canteens of an organisation in an auxiliary capacity -clearing tables of cutlery(eg Tesco/Sainsbury supermarket canteens -not meant as advertising and merely as an example of types of organisations which would recruit such people and is therefore taken to apply to others such as Asda and Morrisson's etc, as well).N.B It has been illegal in the UK to discriminate against any person with any type of known/registered disability since the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and subsequent legislation has ben implemented. This means that most companies will try to accommodate people with a range of disabilities, such as blind/and or deaf/wheelchair bound, dyslexia (word blindness),epilepsy, cerebral palsy and of course Autism.LImited Social Awareness (ie often better relating older, more mature people (usually grandparents of the autistic child. NB This is also based on my own childhood experience with no diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome in the 1960s (I am nearly 58 years old and received a diagnosis in 1997 at the age of 38. In fact ironically, it was this film which led me to diagnose my own "intelligent Autism, when I saw the film for the first time in 1991, which is why I have just purchased the film on DVD and written this review. The irony is even worse, ladies and gentlemen, please have your box of tissues/ Kleenex at the ready to wipe away the tears and don't forget to save some for Raymond Babbitt when you actually watch the film. This where the irony starts to unfold. It begins one night in 1991, I was at my parents' house. To fill you in my childhood was miserable:- I suffered bullying from not only peers, particularly classmates -I hated school from day one!!! I often absconded in the infants school aged six, was generally rebelious, refusing to comply with the teacher and refused to learn, sent to the headteacher, bullied some other children, in turn being bullied by one or two older children myself. I was a "man"-not a little boy (Asperger found in Vienna that he noticed this attitude of wanting to be older, appear aloof and appeared to have dificulty relating particularly with Peers, had special interests were often gifted in specialist subjects such as Maths or other science subjects, mine happens to be music and while at schoool won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music to study piano whilst at my local Grammar School, only one other boy also secured a scholarship from the same local borough council; not for piano but for singing (voice is regarded as an "instrument" in professional music circles) (no names/ schools mentioned accepting the Music College to protect the identity of persons and places.( i was trained there to concert pianist standard- many former Junior Exhibitioners ( from various music colleges have gone on to become Concert pianists ( three who spring to mind , who happen to all be British, are:- The late John Ogdon -career launched after winning joint prize with Vladimir Ashkenazy a pianist from Russia (now also a renowned conductor, as well as a pianist- Moscow Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1962, John Lill , again Moscow competition- won first prize in 1970, but already working as a concert pianist prior to that. Appearing in Moscow 1970 -launched his career ( as solo pianists come from all nationalities and engagements require professionals to be able to travel all over the world, from New York (USA to London (UK) to Sydney Australia. This was part of the reason why strangely I didn't have this in mind as a first choice career (ie extreme pressure and a highly competitive market and it is almost impossible and has been since the 1970s to become a succesful concert pianist and sustain a career without. These competitions themselves are highly competitive- the aim is to reach the final for all competitors of which there are a great many and all extremely good pianists! just to reach the final to be able to earn a stable regular incom which one finds in the more usual everday job market. Lastly, Peter Donohoe(same competition in 1982, also started working as a professional pianist prior to this win) . It, so happens, I knew all three by 1985, I used to visit these people back stage at London venues such as Barbican/ Royal Festival Hall and on one occassion in the late 1980s , before John Ogdon's untimely death ,suddenly in August 1989 (1937-1989), I met with the late John Ogdon and his wife Brenda Lucas, also a professional pianist, I played an excerpt from Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor the famous one which by coinidence John Ogdon himself had provided the soundtrack of the same concerto recording as the real pianist in the 1970 film "The Song of Norway - Edvard Grieg- the composer's life). Upon hearing the short rendition of the Grieg Piano Concerto , Brenda Lucas simply said and I believe with all sincerity" You're good-when are we going to hear you here?" I'll leave you to guess what my reply to that was!!! Suffice to say another two not so famous pianists one was a virtually unknown Norwegian concert pianist was travelling , the other not known to me that he was travelling on the same ship to Newcastle from Bergen , Norway was the well established English pianist, who started his career at the Wigmore Hall in 1948 was the late Peter Katin. I proceeded to give an impromptu recital in the ship's lounge area on an upright piano belonging to the ship (used with an occassional light music band on the outward voyage but not on the return so it was a case of Carpedeum-seize the day and give a rare concert appearance free of charge to the ship's audience! I digress, I remember what the pieces were (all played from memory because I had no copies of each score- one piece ( Grieg Notturno Opus 54 number 4, Lyric pieces. I had always confused the ending with the beginning. and therefore could not be relied upon to play it from memory without breaking down. So to overcome this, I managed to study the score by gaining permission to study a reference copy of the score of the Notturno (Nocturn)- memory loss every concert pianists nightmare to suddenly stop in the middle of a piece at somewhere like Wigmore Hall, London-also stage fright- (this may help you to guess what my reply was to Brenda Lucas + too nervous to go out there at a big venue without fesr of breking down- This happened to a young lady pianist ( to remain nameless for obvious reasons) at about that time in the eighties when playing the Schumann Piano Concerto at Salle Pleyel-Paris using music and trying to play from "memory" whilst actually reading the music-lying down on the Steinway D model 9 footer which is the standard full sized concert grand. She made a complete mess of it and no applause loads of wrong notes and other mistakes, clearly not prepared and practiced before performance enough, although this could have been a lot due to stage fright!. I also play the same concerto amongst others with a professional pre-recorded orchestra at home and yes , tongue in cheek my neighbours appear to always enjoy my playing- which is just as well as the have a resident "concert pianist" living right on the opposite wall playing a powerful Kawai CS 40 model upright, which is the nearest to a Steinway D model concert grand, which is just as well because having paid my house mortgage , a new full size D model would require me to take a new one out, because apart from the fact that my house music room is too small to accommodate a 9 foot "beast" Steinways charge the average price of a London 3 bedroom house to own one !. I have played on these D model Steinway Concert grand pianos, at small concerts and one two local music competitions which I took part in between 1978 and 1986! However, back to the ship recital;- which included Grieg Notturno Opus 54 no 4 , Wedding Day at Troldhaugen Opus 65 no 6, "Lyric Pieces" and finally as an "encore" the famous Solveig Song from Peer Gynt suite ,especially to provide an accompaniment to an unknown to me, Soprano singing Solveigs part. I found out when the veteran and now late Peter Katin (1930-2015), a pianist perhaps less known to a wider audience and more known to older generations, simply said, when I met him backstage after a recital he had given at the Wigmore Hall, approximately 10 years later, I think it was around early 1998, although I cannot recal lan exact date, off hand! "You're a better pianist than me ( he had sufferred a bad performance and some criticism from some of the other concert goers. He had said this after revealing that he had been "battling with a cold virus". I said " well of course, we all no that the recorded studio performsnce heard on CD/record can be rerecrded until it is satisfactory, so that the perfomance is near perfect and blemish free. Of course, I said -with a live performance what you hear is what you get. They think of your recordings and he said well, "they don't know that!"Oh dear, I forgot that I promised a short review, Well, I was being economical with the truth-told a white lie- a Neurotypical trick ehich some of us on the Autistic, in fact most of us have to learn. Why, because an Autistic person is by nature both naive and too honest. In short, Autistic People are not supposed to tell Lies. This proves that this is yet another little trick normally reserved for the Neurotypical world!I hear you say - Is this fellow for real/ What planet does he come from? To which I reply, yes --but remember we Autistic people think and see the world from a very different way to the so called normal person ( The professional correct name is Neurotypical,i.e, everyone else who is not on the Autistic spectrum. The crunch comes . How might you ssk that after reading all this waffle does this have any relevance to your Review of Rainman? I am also wondering whether Amazon will publish, but due to the nature, I hope they have made an exception to the rule, as I am sure if they do, given that people connected with the National Autistic Society know Rainman" as agood reference to defining Autistic Spectrum disorders-then they will have done -if you as their customer have been able read this. So, my humble wish is that although I have the condition which is a daily battle to line with, I look to God our creator for guidance, only He knows everything about it , So in my humble opinion- even living with the condition, I still haven't got rid of those pesky L plates-in other words. I am still learning at 57 years of age!This is why it needs to be published so that everyone connected with someone who has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder/ suffers from ASD and or Autism and before you suggest any of you that"my nine year old little boy doesn't suffer" Yours , indignant Marjorie Bloggs of Southsea(fictitous of course!). Please remember one thing. This will only porove that an early intervention/diagnosis is essential for contemporary and future generations- to avoid the ignorance, bullying torment lack of understanding started in my childhood and persisted into my adult working life - I have miraculously managed to hold down a job for nearly 20 years before a diagnosis- with Asperger Syndrome in 1997.by a leading specialist in the field of Psychiatric medicine. Also, this form of Autism was misdiagnosed as Mental illness- Shizophrenia. I and my by then elderly parents, who also didn't know what was wrong with me fought to get this changed to a Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome as a continued wrong diagnosis could have left me homeless. Quite simply -at the time, my House on which a mortgage loan was in progress was nearly refused by the company (remaining nameless) could well have been repossed as it was deemed a prexisting condition, but in reality it was a new diagnisis, but because even in 1997- Asperger Syndrome was still relatively unheard of and has only just started to become more widely excepted. So that is why I have ended up telling my life story- BUT here is where Pathos ( Greek-trajedy) Irony - opposite with undertones of sarcasm- hence my final punch!So back to the film-but the only scene I can really remember, because let's face it I have done you all a favour and not fallen into the trap of the bog standard Amazon Reviewer- I've forgotten to recall everthing from start to finish , ruin the plot- and ironically "well I won't bother to buy it as that particular reviewer has given me acomplete anecdotal reall of the entire wretcrd review of the film from start to finish! So, if I recall we left Raymond Babitt the Autistic brother sitting on the entire inheritance of the brothers' late parent's estate. And hey presto! Out with the scene with Tom Cruise (Charlie) driving their car and Raymond his autistic brother after coming out with future dates 50 years hence eg today's date Question (put back sometime in tg=he year 1966 to the Autistic Savant (Savant is from the French verb Savoir to know - hence he knows and istherefore WISE a strange Paradox of the workings of the Human mind. I know that often my own memory is more reliable than a lot of computer memory fiels and is generally less prone to "crashing" the human version is called "mental block" times when we forgot names and words and "it is on the "A" drive all you have to do is reboot "the metaphoric human compueer and its rather like refreshing the page of a website -the name comes back when you are in your local supermarket picking up a litre of milk or that forgotten bag of potatoes for the meal that evening!predicted by the Savant and I have known of a real life savant who did the same back in 1976 on television and a friend at my local Further Education College who said Autistic /Artistic after seeing that programme9I used to give my friends a recital on the piano in those days even. I even got thrown out of the college main hall by non other than the Principal (his office was above the side gallery because at seventeen years of age (40 years ago, I coul not resist playing from memory the 1st Movement of the famous Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 (without an orchestra because they hadn't arrived in the hall yet !(sarcasm!) on the grand piano, which I had just learned that year (Istill play it, but with prerecorded orchestra. The Principal was furious and unlike my friends certainly angry and unimpressed at my audacity to disturb him (inappropriate behaviour due to the Asperger Syndrome had'nt been invented back in 1976! Looking back,I am glad I was only thrown out ;;because if he had had a bad day , he may very well have expelled me from college and I would not have had the chance to take a new subject in Sociology and pass the GCE Ordinary level pre GCSE and yes the old O levels were a higher standard than today's GCSE which largely involves course work, With the exception of my English Language O level all the other O levels were based on the day written exam. I also had six CSEs Certificate of Secondary Education, when I left my local secondary school, which did also have course work + exams and was therefore closer to the GCSE (the old O level was designed for the more able student He was a very bright young man and I think he may have also had Asperger Syndrome. So he was, right after all, As the old adage goes "Many a true word spoken in jest!".Now back, to the film and this folks is the punch line........ where the film uniquely relates. So, wait for it Charlie, I can't remember all the details as I saw this film on television back in 1991, hence part of the reason for purchasing it and also for personal reasons! But Charlie clearly has a different agenda to Raymond and innocently unaware that he is just about to upset Raymond's day says we are going to buy the new trousrs that you need from a different store (reason it is nearer to them than Raymond's regular one,Why should he I hear you ask? afert all that's the normal thing you do, surely. Yes, of course you are quite right or are you...yes for the run of the mill Neurotypical person. But you are quie wrong for any Autistic person > Because and it is this that led me to my self diagnosis Charlie without realizing is about to do to Raymond what every teacher , my whole peer group ' teachers, employers and even my own brother and parents because \i had an undiagnosed condition which was discovered in another country...... Overlooked one thing WE ALL LOVE ROUTINES AND WHEN RAINMAN RAYMOND DECLARES "I MIUST GET MINE FROM K -MART;;;;;; to my horror .. after Charlie replied ****Kmart You can go any F****** where. Why K-Mart ROUTNES I WAS Elated I had suddenly realized that \I must have an intelligent form of Autism because believe it or not I loved fixed routines Rainman was me albeit in a more seemingly normal sort of pattern . I could speak normally, at two years of age I had said according to my mother the word conjunctivitus.. Therefore I had an intelligent form of Autism I have Smith's (not my real name) Syndrome,because I am the only one with it! They (my employers a major transport operator- my immediate manager would say to me "What Qualifications have you got, Mr Smith?" "Well, I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Transport (slight sarcasm!). For the benefit of the reader I spent four years at University to study towards a post Graduate Diploma and a professional institute membership, carrying letters after my name! (which cannot be named for legal/identity reasons)We are from a professional family My brother is a succesful chartered Accountant and Institute of Tax Consultant in a senior Managerial position with a company which consults the Government over tax HMRC matters and rules and would therefore be unethical to reveal their identity). The irony was that the same manager who said what Qualfications deliberately blocked an application form for a Transport Consultant's position with the same company. All because I could not work with a team relate to people. I am bitter and this is an understatement. But whose fault is it really? Not my employer's, Not my parent's . Not myself... Not anybody's fault. Hang on I can blame somebody and use them as a scapegoat!!!! Tissues at the ready and remember to still save some for poor old Raymond Babbitt (Rainman)! You will have to wait another six years and deep down I am still hoping that someone will diagnose me, with Intelligent Autism, only I kind of forgot; "put things on the backburner as they say! Then out of the blue and by now finding my job increasingly stressfull as it became more difficult to work wth people and teamwork (inflexibibilty caused by my love of routines throughout my life since childhood had always cased me relationship, but for years the reason had illuded me. I was in a dream world , was a railway Buff a socalled Anorak(I am sure a lot of Railway ENTHUSIASTS ARE ACTUALLY ON THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM, ANYWAY. Then, out of blue my sister in law a qualifed teacher and special needs coordinator came up with the answer in early 1997. It was intelligent Autism after all and it was a named condition and I was suddenly renamed from my fictitious Smith's Syndrome to that of Asperger Syndrome! The sad irony is this that, after research into the condition, I discovered that the condition had been identified as early as 1944! This was by now a triple wayme for me. I am going to reveal the fact that I was born in 1959, I therefore had a right to be angry that it had taken so long to identify what was wrong with me. How dare an uncaring individual not translate Hans Asperger's original papers into English entitled "Autistic Psychopathy in Childhood"? This was submitted for his PHD Who will publish my thesis for my "PHD entitled "Advanced Ramifications of secondary effects of Autistic Psychopathy in Childhood or Bitterness and Resentment Syndrome?" What made my grade for my "Doctorate" and why "The University of Life" have decided to arrive at a conferred doctorate is this That as a committed Christian and also through other secular sources and reading various books and also books on Autism and Asperger Syndrome. That The Biggest hidden problem is not the Disability itself but the world's attitude as a whole. Firstly, Low self esteem is the route cause of an individual's anger and also the way the individual is /or has been treated. I am realizing that today's generation of children are receiving an early intervention /diagnosis which makes it less likely to end up with a big chip on their shoulder, like I have (Remember I have both a manager's transport qualification . SO why wasn't I promoted. Well, I tell you.. the condition was just a scapegoat, both my colleagues and the manager's were jealous of my education and qualifications, Simple as that! No sour grapes intended. So at this point, through my local church and later also a primary school where I had the chance to work with three boys with Asperger Syndrome diagnosed. I discovered that I was able to make something positive come about from my sad, lonely and often frightening existence as a young child. The irony is that I have been a Crusader Leader. i even had a boy with suspected Asperger Syndrome in the group that he was a member where I was in leadership (specific group and identity not revealed for legal reasons. I learnt above all and God revealed this to me, He was patient with me, I applied that to how I handled these boys, and it worked but that was spanned over a period of time between 1998 and 2006, Ten years ago. Still relatively little was known about the condition and so children were only getting limitted help in the nineties, but it was still better than the nothing I had in the 1960s and yes Corporal Punishment was all the fashion in my day< Most adults have always said it did me no harm. Before I get accused of being a trendy anti-smacking politically correct person, I am not. I am actually in support of corporal punishment. It has its place and certainly in a parental context. In some ways maybe it was a good thing to be abolidshed in schools. Some people think it should be brought back, But I believe in use as a last resort and not a first. Some teachers who had the authority in my day were cane happy sadists and that was where corporal punishment went wrong and why it in a large part was eventually totally abolished, For me, corporal punishment is fine with strict, loving judicial guidelines on a nuerotypical child. Yes, it also has a place on an Autistic child, but then only if it is genuine bad behaviour and not as a result of bad behaviour which is caused due to the child's lack of understanding of both social situations and the world around them. This is why many Autistic children develope a world of their own as I did. We only get a glimpse of Raymond Babbitt's life in the film, but if you are not careful, it would and can if you let it paint a rosy picture, the only clue was that nearly all classic Autistics Leo Kanner's Autism- that Most if not all Autistics were institutionalized. We had a cousin on my maternal grandmother's side of the family, who was difficult and we think was Autistic. The local primary school could not cope, he was expelled and ended up, you have guessed it-a Mental Asylum. ( Amazon even if some of this material would appear to breach your guidelines i would ask you to consider graciously making an exception, Because my lifestory in summary form-a book woukd be required to cover everything is designed ti assit and educate all parties concerned with the condition. So it really does need to go on line to assist others, The only exceptions where names have been revealed is the musicians and professional pianists that have been involved in my musical education, but where possible and deemed unnecessary, i have in some cases omited, Please show your understanding to make more of the public aware of what is for not only a sufferer and parents, but also indirectly a huge burden on what makes it worse at the more able end -Asperger Syndrome-it is a wide spectrum disorder which has only been realized gradually in the lasy 20 years.So, please for the sake of humanity and the sufferers and their carers spread the word- because apart from Kanner's Autism (Rainman). Asperger/High Functioning Autism by its very nature is harder to asses/diagose and lastly treat and manage. I can give personal testimony that it makes life extremely hard in a world that even Neurotypiical person can struggle to cope with at the best of times, Frankly, it is only myChristian faith that has brought me safely through it I need to forgive all those people who have hurtmeand byGod's graceand muchprayerandpersiverance I will.There is still little help for A/S adults.

Have seen this film before, but so wanted to see it again. It's brilliant and so needed to feel the gap in humanity nowadays

A classic! Dustin Hoffman is superb as an autistic savant 😁

Great movie

Its a quality dvd from a great seller

Great family entertainment

Superb service and quality item,would definitely recommend.

Brilliant film

Un frère vole son frère parce qu'il est furieux que son père lui ait tout laisser. Il apprendra à l'aimer et à prendre un bon choix pour lui.

Pour la première fois à l'époque de la sortie de ce film, on décrivait une personne différente entre guillemets.Dustin Hoffman et Tom Cruise forme un duo d'acteurs extraordinaires qui donne à ce film, ce qu'il est devenu un must.

Value for money

the kind of movie that you dont see in today streaming new releases,

Thoroughly enjoyed the movie