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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Blue Velvet
EMAILPRINTDeLaurentis Entertainment Group

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 57 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Mystery
Written by: David Lynch
Directed by: David Lynch
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 19, 1986
DVD: April 25, 2000
Running Time: 120 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R
Starring Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, and Dean Stockwell
Set in a small American town, Blue Velvet is a dark, sensuous mystery involving the intertwining lives of four very different individuals. The film's painful realism reminds us that we are not immune to the disturbing events which transpire in Blue Velvet's sleepy community. There is a darker side of life waiting for us all. (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Inc.)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Inland Empire Lost Highway Lynch Mulholland Drive The Straight Story Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Wild at Heart
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database David Lynch Fan Site LynchNet The Guardian 100 Greatest Movies: #55
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
As fascinating as it is freakish. It confirms Mr. Lynch's stature as an innovator, a superb technician, and someone best not encountered in a dak alley. [19 September 1986]
Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
The most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life. [19 September 1986, Calendar, p.6-1]
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Blue Velvet is David Lynch in peak form, and represents (to date) his most accomplished motion picture. It is a work of fascinating scope and power that rivals any of the most subversive films to reach the screens during the '80s.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Guy Maddin
The last real earthquake to hit cinema was David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" -- I'm sure directors throughout the film world felt the earth move beneath their feet and couldn't sleep the night of their first encounter with it back in 1986. (Review of 20th Anniversary Re-Release)
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
What dazzles still about David Lynch's Blue Velvet is its total authority: Not a single false gesture. No shock delivered solely for its own sake.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel
One powerful, mesmerizing thriller, a masterful exercise in controlling an audience's attention. [19 September 1986, Friday, p.A]
Variety Staff (Not credited)
Hopper creates a flabbergasting portrait of unrepentent, irredeemable evil.
Read Full Review >Film.com John Hartl
An exhilarating piece of popular entertainment.
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
You either think it's dementedly wild at heart or a lost highway to nowhere.
Time Richard Corliss
Lynch and his film will surely be reviled, but as an experiment in expanding cinema's dramatic and technical vocabulary, Blue Velvet demands respect. [Sept. 22, 1986]
Chicago Reader Pat Graham
It's mostly fascinating, though the unconverted may be in for a rough two hours.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Gerald Nachman
Dark, menacing and sexual, with satanic overtones, like a Black Sabbath song, with many moments of genuine fright and harsh eroticism. [19 September 1986, Daily Notebook, p.76]
Washington Post Paul Attanasio
Doesn't progress or deepen, it just gets weirder, and to no good end.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
So strong, so shocking and yet so audacious that people walk out shaking their heads; they don't know quite what to make of it.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 57 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
DJ Hobby gave it a0:
Public Service Announcement: David Lynch Sucks I'm watching Blue Velvet right now and I want to know how did this movie garner any accolades. Congress should pass a law declaring that if David Lynch ever tries to make another movie he should be drawn and quartered. I decided to watch this movie after seeing that it was one of the American Film Institutes top 100 movies of all time. AFI even said it was even one of the top 10 mystery films of all times. The big mystery is who supports this crap. I'll give you the play by play of this movie as I watch it. It has the worst sound track of any "serious" movie ever made. Some of the songs are good songs, I love Roy Orbison etc.. But they are all out of place. The acting in this movie is horrible. The dork main character chews up the scenery. And then there is Dennis Hopper. Hopper is the worst actor of all time. He ruins ever movie he has ever made. Think about it. Apocalypse Now was awesome until Hopper shows up. Hoosiers might have been a good movie if he had not been cast. This movie is definitely no exception. It has one of the worst/weirdest scene ever in any movie. Dennis Hopper (have I told you how much I hate this asshole?) starts sniffing something, (oxygen?, glue?, his underwear?) and rapes Isabella Rossellini while he yells for his mommy. Damn, I need a shower. This movie is just full of unnecessary sexual violence. Why does that damn curtain keep flapping? And what is with the 25 times the actors say or drink a Heineken? "Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!" That is a line delivered ham fisted, straight from the movie. This ranks right down there with Muhalland Drive, another David Lynch movie, that is the worst movie ever made. Is that guy dancing with a snake? More underwear sniffing, and then Hopper puts on lipstick? Man this movie is bad? Roy Orbison's estate should sue for slander. To quote an Orbison song played during this movie, "I can't help it if I cry," at how bad this movie is. Oh shit, the man in the yellow coat is a cop! I didn't see that coming. Also, what year did this take place? Most of the cars are from the late 50's, and a few from the 60's. The main dork dresses like it's 1982, but everyone else dresses like it's 1962. The dork sure does heal well. First he's stabbed in the face, (and that appears and reappears trough out) and then he is nearly beaten to death and then the next day he is fully healed. WTF? I didn't see that coming. David Lynch convinced Isabella to get naked and beat up one more time. Wouldn't you just take her to the hospital, not to your girlfriends house? What the hell?!? Now the guy with the yellow coat is standing there, and he's dead, standing? What in the world is Dennis Hopper sniffing? Sorry about the long rant but I can't say enough about how bad this movie is. Don't just take my word for it. From wikipedia: Roger Ebert, noted film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, supports my view, although he praised Isabella Rossellini's performance as being "convincing and courageous". Ebert criticized how she was depicted in the film, even accusing David Lynch of misogyny: "degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera. And when you ask an actress to endure those experiences, you should keep your side of the bargain by putting her in an important film" David Lynch you put your disease in me.
Rick M. gave it a10:
Excellent, well-constructed movie. People who say this film lacks depth are completely wrong. There is so much symbolism in this film its almost exhausting.
Daniel R. gave it a10:
David Lynch's magnum opus, a masterpiece not to be missed!
Jason M gave it a10:
One of the few American films to make a difference in the medium, and one of the greatest. Its an undeniably brilliant movie.
Kate G. gave it a9:
Brilliant movie, and extremely well-done by one of the greatest directors in America. We are lured into this false sense of security, and then eventually presented with dark, depraved and extremely disturbing underworld.
Michael P. gave it a9:
Dark, menacing, sexual, beautiful, and hauntingly dreamlike. David Lynch, your a genius!
Kate O gave it a6:
Bizarre movie...would've been more enjoyable if the sex and violence wasn't as pretentious as it seemed. Dennis Hopper was great, though.
