VHS The War of the Roses

"The War of the Roses" on VHS, pressed and distributed by 20th Century Fox, is a 1989 pitch-black comedy that closes out one of the sharpest trilogy runs Hollywood put together in that decade. The tape is the Millennium Collection release, arriving here still sealed in its original shrink wrap, which is the condition you want for a piece like this.

Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito made three films together across the 1980s: "Romancing the Stone" in 1984, "The Jewel of the Nile" in 1985, then "The War of the Roses" as the closing act in 1989. The tonal shift between entry two and entry three is severe. DeVito directed this one, moving the camera around a collapsing marriage the way a boxing referee circles a fight that has clearly left the sport behind. The house at the center of the plot is as much a character as either Douglas or Turner, and the production design reflects that obsession. The film earned DeVito a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy in 1990, and it grossed over 160 million dollars worldwide against a budget that was a fraction of that. It performed above every studio projection, which is notable for a film that ends the way this one does. No resolution. No warmth. Just the architecture and two people who destroyed each other over it.

This copy is sealed, meaning the shrink wrap is intact and the tape window reads unplayed. The Millennium Collection branding puts this in the late VHS retail run for the title, the wave Fox used to push catalog titles back onto shelves before the format faded entirely. The case spine and front art are the standard release layout with Douglas and Turner and the house prominently framed. Condition on sealed VHS hinges on whether the shrink stayed tight at the corners, so turn the case over and check the seam where the wrap meets the bottom edge before you commit.

OWNER VERIFY: Confirm Millennium Collection release year and whether shrink wrap seam is unbroken at all four corners.