People are voting emotionally.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie is just plain awful! Sure it moves from scene to scene seamlessly, but there's a crap load of what seems like unnecessary information stuffing it to the gills. Most of the last hour or so of the movie is the characters screaming at each other until Willy starts hallucinating, sending his life downhill and further out of control until he takes his car and kills himself.It was a chore to watch this movie, and it was very disappointing. The only things that lighten it up are John Malkovich's acting and the occasional funny scene. Other than that, it's just a bunch of yelling, fighting, and general dementia. Don't waste your time watching this movie

Death of a Salesman is one of those plays that some people love and consider it a classic and others hate because it isn't entirely accurate with history and doesn't seem to quite work. I honestly don't mind the play BUT the movie... that's a different story.The movie decides to be a little too accurate to the play... and by a little too accurate I mean it is almost word for word exactly the same as the play and virtually scene for scene the same. I actually watched it with the script of the play in front of me and found only a few minor things altered. Now Romeo+Juliet did it and that movie didn't turn out half bad, but what do I find so annoying about the way this movie does it? Maybe it is because the movie is literally on stage-set...I'm not even joking, when the characters look at the ceiling there is NO CEILING! Just an opening of the set! There aren't even walls to the house, they are just movable pieces so there are huge gaps in them. While some people might find this "unique" that a movie decided to make a stage adaptation and make into a film, I can only say this: Why in the world would you make it into a movie with this format? I mean seriously, I watch a movie to watch a movie and to break the realm of a play. A movie is simply a play with more freedom and more opportunity to tell a story. But this movie restricts the freedom that is given to a movie and tries to limit the power of the story and make it just a play. I still have no idea why someone thought that was a good idea! Plays are plays and movies are movies. You might as well go on youtube and just watch a video of someone recording the actual play. There is no reason for this movie to pretend that it is a play.Now how is the acting? Well... pretty darn good. Dustin Hoffman gives a solid performance and all of the actors do pretty well. All of the acting is done well and I think everything the play was trying to portray was portrayed in the "movie". If there was one problem I had with the play and with this film is that the son is too much of a coward to tell his mom why his father and him are arguing. Pretty much every problem that occurs in this movie could be easily resolved if everyone was just a tad bit smarter. It makes me mad when there is a conflict only for the sake of conflict. I find it a bit unrealistic that the conflict didn't get resolved, because it is evident that if everyone knew the truth then everyone would be at equal grounds and a resolution would take place. But alas, that is not how the story goes.Overall, the Death of a Salesman isn't a terrible movie, but it isn't really a movie. It is a play. That is why I don't really consider this a good movie because it isn't a movie. In all honesty, if someone were to film the play A Death of A Salesman and release it in theaters I bet it would get extremely low reviews because it isn't a movie. I feel like if this "movie" would've attempted to transfer the play into a movie format I would've been able to enjoy it a bit more, but all of the glaring mistakes of a play are still obvious in this movie. I'm sure it was a cute "joke" when this movie was made, and at first it was kind of funny that there was no ceiling, or no walls, but it quickly wears away at the movie once you realize the movie is just being cheap.

Because of its complex nature, its many morals, its non-linear flashbacks, and its over-the-top characters, I express extreme doubts when believing that Arthur Miller's renowned Death of a Salesman was meant to be read. The iconic play has won several awards, was performed in the 1940's over seven-hundred times resulting in four revivals on Broadway, and has continued to be translated and performed in countries other than the United States, where it originated. For a play, the story of Willy Loman's dysfunctional family has had unprecedented success. As a film, it has had its share of setbacks.To my knowledge, never has a theatrical production of the film been made, which is depressing to note, seeing as directors like Roman Polanski have proved that they can transition a play to a screen-production with little to no constraints. What we were fortunate to get were not only several low-budget, TV renditions of the story Death of a Salesman, but we are grateful to get a telling of the story on film, written by the original author, Arthur Miller, made for the CBS network in September 1985. The story is kept the same, albeit some metaphorical and symbolical changes, as it revolves around Willy Loman, a naive, broken man who has failed at the game of life and business and has halted his family's growth because they are so committed to either boosting their leader's confidence or keeping him from sinking.Willy's long suffering wife is Linda, played by Kate Reid, a miserable, shell of a woman so determined to help her husband through uncertain times she's forgotten how to help and better herself. Their two sons are two equally broken men living at home well into their thirties. They are Biff (John Malkovich, a gifted actor, who gave a terrific performance as Lenny in another acclaimed novel, Of Mice in Men in 1992), a football star brought down by the weight of his failure of a father, and Happy (Stephen Lang), a cocky ladies man replicating who Willy the characteristics Willy once gleefully held; brashness, confidence, and the ability to strike a deal.The main problem with Willy is his naivety towards the business world and to himself; he continues to convince himself that the only thing necessary to succeed in business is a firm handshake and a high likability factor. By doing this, he convinces himself that by possessing those very important traits he can do anything, and yet he hasn't. He is roadblocked by not only that, but by his falsifying sense of optimism, telling himself and everyone around him that he is "not a dime a dozen" but Willy Loman, a unique individual. He is only more upset when he sees how his best friend Charley (Charles Durning) and brother Ben (Louis Zorich) have gone on to lead happy, successful lives with limitless wealth and opportunities, and he is confined to his cramped apartment, told to be himself which does nothing but let everyone down.Willy is portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, a character actor with a barrage of films under his belt. Hoffman's performance of Willy is definitely admirable, but it isn't as layered as one would hope. He is written efficiently as a character victim by his own delusions, but several times does Hoffman seem like he is teetering on the lines of self-parody rather than seriousness, almost the equivalent to a Woody Allen archetype. Nonetheless, he is completely capable in this role, and when he hits the right notes, specifically in Charlie's office and during Willy's final monologue with the family (more commonly known as his "dime a dozen" speech), he truly shows what power and strength he brings to the table.But perhaps the film can be known for not just taking a complex, theme-driven play and creating it into a very, very intriguing film, but also for bringing more style to a made-for-TV movie than anyone ever expected. The replication of the inherent seamy, humidity-soaked New York atmosphere is stunningly portrayed, with Willy Loman's listless agenda to only heighten the gloomy setting. The other aspect is the way the filmmakers constructed the environment. I've read that the set of Death of a Salesman is mainly composed of an old play setting, most likely from a version of the play, meaning several buildings don't have roofs, several backdrops are artificial, and several background buildings are one-dimensional cutouts designed to only give the look of the environment. This isn't as disconcerting as it sounds, but it livens the film to a new height, making it closer to the feeling of an actual play rather than abandoning the stage-feel to favor a more polished cinematic feel.Schlöndorff's directorial efforts to make Death of a Salesman a functioning film and playwright Arthur Miller taking his personal material into his own hands to give fans and newcomers the version he wants on screen have both worked wonderfully. This is a complex picture, doing different things for different people and showing each person a different theme or meaning. Whether it be a commentary on the business world, a tragic story of a once-successful businessman who was never "once-successful," a picture showing an American's tragic existence, a failed American Dream, an insight into the tragic hero, or how one man can collectively bring down his entire family by his own delusional self, this is a gripping story made into a surprisingly efficient film with performances of impact and style to laud.Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, John Malkovich, Stephen Lang, Charles Durning, and Louis Zorich. Directed by: Volker Schlöndorff.

Whether Lee J Cobb & Dunnock , or George C Scott, or in this case Hoffman , Reid, & Co., Arthur Miller's timeless classic, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, is the greatest literary work in American History...with Fitzgerald's Gatsby a close second despite similar themes. Miller's classics: All My Sons, The Price, Ride down Mt. Morgan, Incident at Vichy, After the Fall and the Crucible remain universal classics. Only Shakespeare was greater. In this production of Death of a Salesman, the cast shines including Malkovich & Reid - in a sad but powerful and poignant tale of broken hopes and dreams, values, priorities, and yes, even the illusion of the so-called "American Dream". Hoffman as Willy Loman is electrifying , passionate and right on! "Attention must be paid" to this production of Miller's classic.