City of Angels

Snap Case

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz, Colm Feore

Warner Home Video, 1998, DVD

Product Description

Seth, an angel watching over Los Angeles, begins finding his job difficult as he falls in love with Maggie, a beautiful heart surgeon.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 14-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD

Some critics complained that City of Angels could never compare to Wim Wenders's exquisite German film Wings of Desire, which served as the later film's primary inspiration. The better argument to make is that any such comparisons are beside the point, because Wings of Desire was a much more deeply poetic, artfully contemplative film, whereas City of Angels is an enchanting product of mainstream Hollywood. Meg Ryan stars as Dr. Maggie Rice, a heart surgeon who is grieving over a lost patient when an angel named Seth (Nicolas Cage) appears to comfort her. She can see him despite the "rule" that angels are invisible, and Seth's love for Maggie forces him to choose between angelic immortality and a normal human existence on earth with her. Featuring heavenly roles for TV veterans Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz, the film liberally borrows imagery from Wings of Desire, but it also creates its own charming identity. Cage and Ryan give fine performances as lovers convinced they are soul mates, and although the plot relies on a last-minute twist that doesn't quite work, this earnest love story struck a chord with audiences and proved to be one of the surprise hits of 1998. — Jeff Shannon

Product Details

Title: City of Angels (Snap Case)
Sales Rank: 3024 in DVD
Actor: Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz, Colm Feore
Director: Brad Silberling
Studio: Warner Home Video, 1998-09-29, Theatrical Release: 1998-04-10
Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 2.35:1
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 114 minutes
Item Dimensions: 0.25 pounds
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches, 0.15 pounds

Customer Reviews

A Classic!: This beautiful classic speaks for itself. This movie is so many things and speaks in so many ways to life itself and the value and significance of our mortality.… More reviews

Pale imitation: This movie is a pale, watered-down imitation of Wim Wenders classic "Wings of Desire". See "Wings" instead. … More reviews

City of Angels: An angel comes to earth and falls in love with the woman he's assigned to watch over. The actors deserve a lot of the credit. As an angel experiencing human sensation for the first time, Nicolas Cage's power of concentration is such that he can convince an audience it's witnessing his first touch, his first kiss. There's no doubting his tenderness, his elation… More reviews

amazing: This movie is one of a kind. It has such a heartfelt meaning. I don't think anyone can watch this movie and say anything derogitory about it. More reviews

Cage is great, this story is the worst, really: I really like Cage's acting. He is great in "Next" and all the National Treasure movies (I am hoping there are many of them). But I have "City of Angels" listed as the worst movie ever made. Now, why would I say that? It glamorizes the "real very first sin" and that is an angel disobeying God by rejecting the place God placed them in (the… More reviews