Tim Burton's greatest film to date...a masterpiece.

I've been a fan of Tim Burton's ever since he weaved his dark visions on the silver screen with the likes of Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. Whilst those aforementioned gems delighted with their darkly surreal undertones, this film goes just for the purely darkly, with a heavy dose of melancholy through in for good measure.

Amongst my favourite scenes are the scenes where Depp (who nails the tortured soul gig to perfection!) and the equally adept Helena Bonham Carter share screen time in missus Muffet's mislead fantasies of a strangely hyper-real fairy-tale sort of happy-ever-after love life; the post-production team adding enhancements of colour to the scenes to give them a surreal, living-portrait feel of a life that could never be.

Other great moments of cinematic genius include a duet between Alan Rickman and Johnny Depp singing the almost homo-erotic 'pretty women', juxtaposed with a sadistic montage of Todd's throat-cutting antics - bodies dropping down in to the basement in a variety of exotic and painfully graphic ways.

The ending (which I will not spoil for you, don't worry!) is a joy (or even , pain) to behold and has to rank amongst the most striking end scenes in recent memories, rivers of red dropping like tears from Depp's forsaken alter-ego. A contemporary masterpiece, and the greatest musical adaptation since West Side Story!

10/10

A happy, upbeat film for everyone.

My daughter came back from visiting her friend and was raving about how much she loved this movie she had seen. As she is just 13 I'm conscientious of allowing her to see 'teen films' with adult issues, but as this is a Disney film I bought her a copy. We watched it together and I was really surprised to find that I enjoyed it. It tells the story of a romance between two high school students Troy and Gabriella, and their efforts to perform in the school play. The music is modern upbeat pop and is really catchy. This film is not about heavy or gritty issues. It is about the innocence of first love. It is a Grease Lite for the noughties generation, and I mean this as a good compliment. Just lovely!

Excellent, but not excellence...so how come 5 stars?

[Firstly, sorry, again I couldn't stop typing.]

So much has been said and written about this movie I wasn't going to even bother writing a review... but then I couldn't help myself.

I could describe the plot to you, but that has been done. I'm mainly I'm going to explain why I selected 5 stars, when in comparison to truly great movies it...well it would hardly share the same category. I'm a believer in judging a movie or TV show by its intentions and the success of carrying them through to the end result, not neccessarily by its place in the Cannon of film. HSM2, as with HSM intended to entertain with great acting, great dancing, a good plot and of course, the Disney morals. With this in mind, it succeeded.

Clearly, the brains behind the franchise realised that the target audience of the tweenies were not the only demographic drawn [almost unwillingly] to the first movie. The sequel certainly shows this realisation and also the growth of the actors and the gentle change in styles.

Loving musicals, but only expecting to get a little fix, I bought the first and was hooked, (though it kind of stands out next to Rent, Moulin Rouge, Chorus Line, Cabaret, etc.). When the sequel arrived, I bought it without a second thought. Surprise, surprise, I loved it. It certainly has a slightly more mature and complex style in the characters' behaviour/interactions with each other, (even their tone of voice) and dialogue. It has a much more complex structure within the music and even more so in the dance, without moving to far away from the established style.

The talents of the actors are shown more clearly with greater respect. Lucas Grabeel, (Ryan) is allowed to shine through his voice and amazing dancing abilties, stepping out from Ashley Tisdale's, (Sharpay) shadow. Particularly in 'I Don't Dance' with Corbin Bleu (Chad) who also gets the same chance. This movie isn't purely the 'Troy and Gabrielle Show', which being amazed by Lucas's talents especially, was refreshing.

It's a musical, [obviously] and that genre can provide a realistic look at life. Although I don't honestly think HSM2 does this, I again go back to intent. This movie gives an impression of realism of American teenagers, close enough for the target audience to relate, but far enough away to escape and dream. As for anyone older watching this movie, I'm not so sure realism actually matters and perhaps its lack of total authenticity is what appeals to us; perhaps we only want the sunny, rosy escapism.

This movie is cheesy, yes. It doesn't stretch the imagination in it's plot or film making, (cinematography, set design, costuming, etc.) though Kenny Ortega's choreography is renowned outside his involvement in this movie and he never lets you down. It is not a work of excellence, in cinematic terms, but there is just something about this movie that has the world in a craze. Perhaps it is simply because the talent is so blatently thrown in front of you on screen. That is something I don't know how anyone can doubt. Dislike the film, fine. Hate the film, ok. But why doubt the talent or the intentions; or the successful executions of them?

This is one of those movies that 'is what it is'. Once you get that, the reason for its seemingly surprising broad appeal is not so hard to understand. It does what it does and it does it with flare.

(Though I'm still kinda embarrassed that I like it so much...or at all.)

One of the Best Musicals of All Time

Simply put, Oliver! is one of the greatest musicals of all time. It is filled with memorable songs -"Food Glorious Food","Oliver!","Consider Yourself" and"Oom-Pah-Pah" to name just a few - and equally memorable characters.

The film is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel and much like the story of Oliver Twist itself, it is a perfect family film. There are some frightening moments - the villain Bill Sykes played by Oliver Reed is scary enough on his own - but overall, the film will appeal to children of all ages as well as adults.

The story - which almost everyone is surely familiar with by now - revolves around a little orphan boy named Oliver and his life growing up in London. At first he lives in the workhouse with the rest of his fellow orphans but after daring to question Mr. Bumble, the overseer, he is sold to a family as a servant.

After a series of mishaps and close shaves, he meets the Artful Dodger - superbly played by a young Jack Wild, who gives his all in the role - and through him, the greedy Fagin (Ron Moody), who trains young boys to pick pocket treasures which he keeps for himself.

The film was shot solely in studios and on soundstages at Shepperton Film Studios but this does not translate at all to film. The sets perfectly replicate Victorian London, as do the costumes worn by the characters. A multi-Oscar winner and a massive success on its release, Oliver! is a worthy contender for the best musical all of time and will delight anyone who loves film.

Great for Children in the 1960s, Now Just Memory Lane

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has the unique position in my life as being the first movie I saw I the cinema. When I was 3 or 4 or whenever I saw it, I believed I loved it. My vague memories are wonderful. Now, watching again at age 40, in 2006, it does not carry over well.

Why?

It was probably no help to watch the much superior"Mary Poppins" just before. Dick Van Dyke is a great character actor, with a range of skills that make him the perfect clown actor. However, unlike in"Mary Poppins," he was not given the right materials.

His female co-lead is weak - Sally Ann Howes is no Julie Andrews. The children actors could not have been more bland. The plot was hard to follow, even as an adult.

There is one catchy song played too often, based on the onomonopoeticism of the sound the car made while rumbling down the road. Had there been more up tempo songs, or wittier lyrics, I think the movie would have twice the staying power. The other songs sound too close to lullabies.

So why it is so popular, and why do I still give it four stars? I'm sentimental perhaps, Dick Van Dyke is so good at doing that Dick Van Dyke thing, or I still find the idea of a car that can fly, float, and look retro-cool fascinating. James Bond would have loved the car, and, why not? Ian Fleming, Bond's creator, wrote the book upon which the movie is based.

The premise is that a well-meaning, hardworking inventor played by Van Dyke, single parents two pretty good kids who help push him forward in life. The kids, by force of accident, introduce him to candy heiress Truly Scrumptious. Although they start off awkwardly, the two quickly treat the children to a fantasy of a kingdom without children, flying buildings, international espionage, and romance.

For me, the difficulty was that the plot flowed in and out of fantasy. Knowing which was which was hard, and when the ending finally comes around, it seemed as if the worlds became one. I felt confused.

Did I like the movie? Yes. If I were shopping for a sweet children's movie, and I wanted something with more classic values, I would consider"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." It would not be the first DVD I picked up, but it would be a far better choice than the latest toy-based Saturday morning cartoon series.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

not as good as the concert from memphis

I'm a big fan of celine dion as a singer and there is no doubt when she's at her best she is the best.However the quality of her singing in this show from las vegas is not as good as it can be and nowhere near as good as her singing on the vhs recording of her live performance from Memphis Tennessee.Many of celine's fans wil tell you the Memphis concert is her best ever performance and I would agree with them - she sings lots of the songs that are featured in this las vegas show but more tunefully and with more commitment and punch ( perhaps because memphis was a one-off event and more like fun than work for her!).And the mix of songs is just right in the memphis concert with lots of good dancing,and joking around with her band and singers and the audience thrown in for good measure.This las vegas show is is visually spectacular but often not as spectacular as it was meant to be because at times the lighting on dancers is so poor it's difficult to see them.There are two discs and I think many people will be satisfied with buying them because of the large amount of bonus material.But if you want to hear celine singing at her best get hold of a copy of the concert from memphis.It's on vhs and hasn't been put on dvd yet which is astonishing considering how good it is.

Why is it listed as"Disney's"?

Why is it listed as"Disney's"? Never mind that. The question you will more likely ask, when you can tear yourself away from this internet terminal, is"why do I need to see this yet again, on DVD, when it's so often played on TV?" The answer is, because you will be making a special appointment to see a very special film, something that's almost become a part of our collective memory. Another answer is because this DVD presentation looks and sounds terrific, and yet another answer is the extras included, which build on your already personal relationship with the movie. Many thanks to all involved for putting it together, I seem to remember that you were there. And you, and you...

A Spoon full of pure delight !

This film follows the character of Mary Poppins the nanny who's practically perfect in every way. This timeless classic has magical and unforgettable songs for the whole family to enjoy. And this special 40th anniversary edition has some brilliant extras from a new short story with Julie Andrews, cut songs and a documentary of the making of the film.

My Fair lady

I am no movie buff. This film however must surely be one of the greatest films of the 20th Century. The sustained witty, melodic sumptuousness of the production, the visual delight of the DVD play and the engaging beauty of Audrey Hepburn are simply stunning and the film can be watched with renewed pleasure time after time. You will not buy a better DVD

I've Had The Time Of My Life!

Dirty Dancing is a brilliant film! Patrick Swayze is great and sexy as Johnny and Jennifer Grey is good as Baby, they work so well together! I first this for the first time when I was 12 and Patrick was my older man crush, I still love him today! This film is always going to be brilliant no matter how many times I see it! The best chick film EVER! And the ending always makes you cry! Worth the money! Buy it NOW!!!!!!!!!

Amazing

I didnt know what to expect from this dvd, as unfortunatley i have never seen the stage show, ive listened to the cd and it blew me away, so i ordered this dvd, all i can say is FANTASTIC its magical with stunning performances from all the cast and singers and the fab backing from the royal philharmonic-i would reccommend it to all LES MIS fans. It is truly awesome!!!!!

Don't watch this film.

I was really looking forward to watching this film having heard such great things about it; to say I was disappointed would be a major understatement.
I thought it was terrifically boring and the singing really did my head in - I knew it was a musical and I like musicals, but god, shut up already!
The only excitement came in the last ten minutes (having sat through almost two hours of crap) and then it ended all of a sudden and I was sat there like"what the hell?" with no clue as to what really happened!

It was god awful, and unless you would like to waste two hours of your life, don't watch this film.

Grease is OK Musical

Grease is an ok Musical Its not the Best Musical in the World it Good I will see this a Certin Time.
For Me High School Musical is the 100% better and Than Grease The Songs are Catchy but the Acting and Storyline is a bit OK but i thought it would be better

The years have changed him

Murder. Cannibalism. Death. Obsession. Revenge. Blood. Goth makeup. And lots of razors --"at last, my arm is complete again!" Sweeney Todd exults.

Somehow it doesn't come as a shock to me that Tim Burton adapted Stephen Sondheim's musical"Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -- or that he somehow spun it into something so delicious. That dark, grotesque, hilariously melodramatic story is perfectly suited to Burton's style, and Johnny Depp is absolutely stunning as the titular bloody barber.

The malignant Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) lusts after the wife of Benjamin Barker (Depp), so he convicts Barker of a crime he didn't commit, and enfolds his family into his evil hands.

But fifteen years later, the Barker returns to London and sets up a barber shop over Mrs. Lovett's ghastly meat pie store. Of course, he's enraged when he learns that his wife was raped and since poisoned herself, and that his daughter is the ward of the lecherous Judge. Enraged and maddened, Barker renames himself"Sweeney Todd" and vows revenge.

And he finds that he LOVES using his razors for a far bloodier task than shaving. With the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) -- who finds a thrifty use for those bodies -- Todd cuts a bloody swathe through all who have wronged him. And when his daughter is punished for refusing to marry the cruel Judge, Sweeney closes in to get his revenge at last.

There's always been a gothic look to Burton's movies, and he's always dabbled in very twisted, macabre storylines. And he really tops himself with"Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -- London is painted in black, white and grey, right down to the ghoulish faces of the characters, and their bleak little dens of horror. And songs -- lots of magnificently horrible songs.

But Burton pretty obviously adores the combination of gory grotesquerie and very, very sick humour ("They don't commit sins of the flesh, so it's pretty fresh"). And he doesn't try to make Sweeney or Mrs. Lovett palatable, thankfully. While we sympathize with Sweeney's losses, and the horrors that have changed him into the Demon Barber, you just can't pass over scenes where they sing,"It's man devouring man, my dear!""Then who are we to deny it in here?"

There are some moments that relieve this gory gothic parade -- there's a sweet love story between Sweeney's daughter and a young sailor. And the plot becomes progressively darker toward the end (yes, it CAN get worse), when the plot throws us some shocking new twists, resulting in a Grecian-tragedy finale soaked in even more gore.

Oh yes, there's blood. Tons of it. It spurts like Monty Python's bloodier sketches, which ends up being more hilarious than yucky -- as is the casual introduction of cannibal meat pies. And there are some spectacularly gross moments, like a finger found in one of the pies.

Burton uses some of his favorite actors in this one, particularly Depp and Bonham-Carter. Depp is THE perfect ideal Sweeney Todd -- his creepy eyes, pallid face and still, almost seductive manner are perfect for the maddened murderous barber. He goes through the movie slashing his razors at the world, and injects a real creepiness into scenes like Sweeney cooing at his"friends."

While she's only a passable singer, Bonham-Carter is eerily wholehearted as Todd's equally amoral partner-in-crime, who is quite happy to assist him.... and make tastier pies in the process. Rickman is wonderfully loathsome as the Judge, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a small but priceless role as Pirello, a huckster acquaintance of Todd's who starts causing trouble. He really steals his scenes.

Most directors would have prettified, sanitized and defanged the grotesque"Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," but Tim Burton and Johnny Depp revel in the gore and madness. Astoundingly great.

Simply Fun

Chaps, wise up. View this as a simple fun for family viewing and enjoy it. My 5 year old has worn out the vhs so badly that I have had to purchased the dvd version. The older 8 year old has reached her saturation point.
At least Donny can sing the chords and with fun...Jason 'sings?'
Maria Freudman is just superb as a narrator. How can you call her singing operatic...it is simply musical style. I am not old enough to have experienced original version, but love the light hearted nature of the piece. 4 star because there is no SUBTITLES on the DVD for sing-a-long.

Better than Jason or Phillip life on stage.

40 years on and they're still alive with the sound of music

Maria and the Von Trapp children still sound good after all these years. There can hardly be a person on the planet who either owns a television or lives within 20 miles of a cinema and who doesn't know the story of The Sound of Music. Although I haven't been a fan of musicals until quite recently, I did watch and enjoy this film when I was a child, several decades ago. It's great fun and I can quite understand its popularity. Watching it again was lovely and very nostalgic. The restoration people have made a fine job so that the picture and sound quality are excellent. The special features are a considerable bonus and there's a long list of them as you can see from Amazon's 'Product Details' section above. The item on disc 2 that I found especially interesting was the 'Biography' programme about the real Von Trapp family. The real Maria was an astonishing character and far more complicated than the film version. It seems that she had an absolutely hellish childhood and the horror of it furnished her with a couple of darker facets to her personality than might be guessed from a familiarity with the film version of Maria - which all just adds to the fascination of the Von Trapp story.

If you haven't seen the film or haven't watched it for some years, give yourself a treat: watch it and get soppy, sentimental and uplifted ... and have a bit of a sing too.

A CLASSIC AMONG CLASSICS

This is without doubt one of the all time greats. A world class cast with an adaptation of Dickens` story that hasn`t had a total Hollywood rewrite and everybody knows the story so no need to repeat it here. Fabulous sets and backdrops make you feel that you are in Victorian London and as usual the music from Lionel Bart will leave you singing (or humming) the tunes for days after. It is a Sunday afternoon movie tucked up on the couch with the kids (if you havn`t got, borrow some)and a box of chocolates.

Very Disappointing

I saw the trailer for this film at the cinema and thought"wow that looks great, I must see it". I just have and it isn't. It could have been good maybe, in another time when films were different, warm, analogue, real. But in this digital age, the film just didn't make it.
Some of the versions of the songs were OK, but most weren't. The worst part about them was, for some reason known only to them, the music producers chose to put so incredibly much auto-tune on the actors vocals they sound like robots. Cher eat your heart out........ I have no idea why they have done this as it is obvious that the singers already have decent enough voices. It is just another digital link in the chain around the neck of this film.
Of course many people will love it, the same people that buy Dido records and that 'Cuban' CD with Coldplay on it.
I can't put my finger on it. Unusually, there was a fairly nice plot, the script was fine, the acting on the whole decent. There was just something missing. It was like a 'sugar free' mentos.
Digital cameras are convenient but film looks better. Palm pilots keep all your addresses but an address book doesn't run out of batteries. "Across the universe" was OK, but give me"Mary Poppins" and"The White Album" anyday.

hommage to a diminuished sort of pedagogical ethos ...

The"Hot Lunch Jam" with piano-player Bruno and singer Coco in the cafeteria (1), the title song"FAME" immortalized in the streets of NYC, danced on top of taxi cabs in Times Square, stopping the traffic (2), and then (3) the angst- and romance-ballad"(C) Is it / (G) O.K., if I call you / (Bb) mine / (A) just for a time? Dm, Dm7j, Dm7, Dm6" - these lyrics and guitar-chords are starting an impressive scene of loneliness performed by"Montgomery" (Paul McCrane), visualized by a meagre illuminated window in a Manhattan skyscraper's nightly front, free of any orchestral noise, guitar pure. This movie (1980) of Alan Parker constructed little aesthetic units, which gave influence to advertising concepts and maybe later TV-channels like MTV. The straightness of his short, topic-centered scene-ideas indeed is remarkable - and gave food for many following 7 a.m.-TV-soap-operas, adding the musical-theatre-version"FAME" and movie-hits alike"Flashdance","Footlose" and so on."Like when I hear your name, or see a place that you've been, or see a picture of your grin, or pass a house that you've been in..." - if hetero-, bi- or homo-sexual - everybody, who lives, will remember pictures of his past looking at the screen of his inner eye, listening to lyrics like these. In this manner the script of Alan Parker clever mixes up spectators own experiences of friendship and fear, love and hope with projections upon the movie-characters: The shy, domineered-by-mother Doris (Maureen Teefy) gives an existentialistic advice to the juvenile audience, not to stick too long at mom's apron. The dare-devil girls like Coco (Irene Cara) are admonished not to follow guys, who say, they would be film-directors - it all ends up in tiny suspicious rooms (but I don't think, parents should forbid their children to consume this DVD, putting this one-second-nudity-sequence on an moral index). The ingenious single-minded private workers (Bruno, played by Lee Curreri), sitting in front of a mountain of synthezisers, are taught not to forget team-spirit. Analyzing the pedagogical pathos (Anne Meara), floating over"the body" Leroy (Gene Anthony Ray), this genuflexion-pedagogic vassal-style, making petitions to the knife-armed and nearly illiterate Leroy to join the school, though he sometimes likes to demolate the glass-cupboards in the floor - this enthusiastic pedagogic pathos maybe in the past 25 years has diminished - confrontated with amuck-runs, violence and vandalism, confrontated with extending seperated, not integrated neighborhoods, lately overtrumped by shooting- or bomb-attacks. In the year of 1980 pedagogical hope has been high and not been disillusioned. They nearly all believed in schools as important instruments of social evolution [take a look at this agreeable piano-teacher Mr. Shorofski (Albert Hague)]. Today maybe it's only a nostalgic reminiscence, but one, that soothes the vulnerable daily television-news-experience: A young generation loving brutal street demonstrations or even kamikaze bomb-attempts isn't really able to subordinate to a 4-year-school-discipline of a school. Times are a-changing. Director Alan Parker, by the way, before he made this hommage to the Manhattan"School of Performing Arts", - before that he directed the movie"Midnight Express", giving an insight view to a Turkish Prison. Maybe he badly needed a compensating factor - and so FAME was born as a counterpoint.