Chicago [DVD] [2003] | ![Chicago [DVD] [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CCNQRTF0L._SL160_.jpg)
| Director: Rob Marshall
Actors: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs, Cliff Saunders
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
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Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 7993
Format: PAL
Languages: English (Original Language), Hungarian (Original Language), English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Subtitled)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5017188888196
ASIN: B00007KGC2
Theatrical Release Date: January 24, 2003
Release Date: August 4, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Adapted from the long-running stage version, this big-screen IChicago/I is a non-stop singing and dancing extravaganza that may well herald the welcome revival of the film musical. When the part-time lover of wannabe star Roxie (Renee Zellweger) is murdered, she is banged up with Chicago's most famous singing murderess, Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones). They compete for the attention of the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere). Drawn to the special angle of Roxie's case (the sweetest killer to hit Chicago), Flynn offers her a taste of stardom and her daydreams of singing on stage are juxtaposed with the action. p IChicago/I has transferred well to film, seamlessly merging Dennis Potter-esque dream sequences with the action. Though the stage show uses sets sparingly, here the look has been heavily influenced by the only successful musical of recent times, IMoulin Rouge/I, with heavy velvets and drapery offering a rich feel to the murky underworld of 1920s Chicago clubs. The hot question is: can the movie stars cut it as performers? Surprisingly, it is Zellweger who looks most comfortable in the part, regardless of her awkward dancing. Zeta-Jones is just that little bit too butch to be believable as a flapper girl, despite her stage school roots, and lacks a certain panache. But one thing is in her favour: she's believable as the ultimate starlet bitch. Gere does not fare much better, with his tap-dancing sequence littered with cutaways (mercifully his dancing and singing is kept to a minimum). The real show-stealer is Queen Latifah, whose matron of the cells is perfect and her singing spot-on. More than anything else, though, this film will whet your appetite to see the original on the West End stage. --INikki Disney/Ip BOn the DVD:/B IChicago/I on DVD demonstrates that the producers of Rob Marshall's Oscar-winning film obviously took to heart the lyrics "Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle", as the widescreen 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer is rich with the lush colours, vibrant tones and sparkling audio that wowed audiences in the cinema. If only the extras had been given the same treatment. There's nothing like the plethora of special features that greeted fans of IMoulin Rouge/I here; there is a grand total of three: a passable director's commentary, a deleted song, "Class", which is so dull you don't question why it didn't make the final cut, and a making-of feature, which is entertaining but nothing new. All in all, there's a very disappointing and unimaginative selection. --IKristen Bowditch/I
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 61
 Enough raw energy to blow off the doors of your house February 23, 2006
Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Not since ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) have I seen a film musical with as much raw energy as CHICAGO. This is fitting since the former is about the life of the brilliant director-choreographer-composer Bob Fosse, and the latter is an adaptation from his stage musical of the same name. As a matter of fact, the opening number in CHICAGO is "All That Jazz".br brCHICAGO has, of course, enough of a rudimentary plot to cement together the dance numbers, which are the film#x27;s raison d#x27;#234;tre. Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) is a wannabe dancer in 1930s Chicago, who idolizes Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones). However, both are arrested for murder, Roxie having gunned down a duplicitous lover after he reneges on a promise to introduce her to a friend who can get her into the Biz, and Velma for having whacked her husband and her sister when she caught the two in bed together. Thrown into Cook County Jail, both fall under the control of the jolly and corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah), and both retain the services of Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), a flamboyant lawyer who specializes in defending women accused of homicide, and who#x27;s never lost a case.pThere aren#x27;t enough superlatives to describe CHICAGO, and I fear my review won#x27;t do it justice. Jones, a former dancer before she turned actress, struts her magnificent stuff beginning with the opening number ("All That Jazz"). Zellweger and Gere, neither hoofers by training, are seemingly miscast - but it works magnificently. All three sing and dance their way through the film in visually stunning choreographed numbers that had the audience clapping after each.pAs Roxie and Velma worked their way through the criminal and judicial systems, the creators of CHICAGO were astoundingly clever in superimposing a musical version of each step in the process on the "real" one, for examples, the on-site police investigation of Roxie#x27;s crime ("Funny Honey"), Matron Morton#x27;s introductory speech to her new charges ("When You#x27;re Good to Mama"), Flynn#x27;s entrance ("All I Care About"), and Roxie#x27;s defense ("We Both Reached for the Gun"). My favorite comes during Roxie#x27;s trial when Flynn, more showman than counselor, displays his philosophy on defense strategy with the glitzy "Razzle Dazzle". pCHICAGO is loud, colorful, in-your-face, exuberant entertainment. I#x27;d give it 10 stars if I could. And if you didn#x27;t take the opportunity to see it while it#x27;s on the Big Screen at the beginning of 2003, then you#x27;ve done yourself a huge injustice. I beg you to see this film!
IT WILL RAZZLE-DAZZLE YOU... September 28, 2003
Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
This is a fantastic musical. From the beautifully designed sets, to the period costumes, to the show-stopping song and dance numbers, it will simply razzle-dazzle the viewer. The director and his singing and dancing troupe of stars simply pull out all the stops in this brilliantly executed musical.br brThe film, which provides a cynical and satirical look at fame and fortune, centers in nineteen twenties Chicago around two murderesses, Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger). Velma, who together with her sister, was a dance hall success, killed her husband and her sister when she caught them together en flagrante delicto. True to the maxim, however, that the show must go on, she goes on stage immediately after dispatching the two lovers, where she is promptly arrested.pRoxie Hart, an admirer of Velma Kelly, is married to Amos Hart (John C. Reilly), a good-hearted, regular Joe, but she longs for tabloid fame and fortune. She begins to have an affair with a man who promises that he could get her a stage gig only to find that he lied just to get her in bed. So, she ends up killing him. Her long suffering husband stands by his little woman as she is trundled off to jail to await trial. There she meets her idol, Velma Kelly, who finds her hero-worship annoying. pIn the jail, Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah) reigns supreme over the inmates, accepting bribes for favors. Velma Kelly, represented by star defense attorney Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), is in tabloid heaven. Roxie Hart, longing to be in tabloid heaven as well, gets her husband to retain Billy Flynn on her behalf. Before she knows it, she, too, is in tabloid heaven, playing the media like a violin.pThe legal profession also gets a cynical slap in the guise of the slimy, fast talking Billy Flynn, who looks for the best selling point rather than for the truth. He understands the thirst of the media for the perfect sound-bite and he gives it to them. Guilty or not guilty, it doesn't matter. What matters to him, as a hired mouthpiece, is the media mileage he can get for his client, as well as for himself. To that end, he is the ventriloquist, and his client is no more than his dummy.pThe razzle-dazzle musical numbers move the story along. Catherine Zeta-Jones is terrific, looking impossibly beautiful and showing off her musical theatre background to great advantage with "All That Jazz" and "Cell Block Tango". Queen Latifah is outstanding as the sly and voracious Mama Morton, who goes whichever way the wind is blowing. She also has a show-stopping musical number, "When You're Good To Mama" that is simply memorable. Renee Zellweger, though not a professional singer or dancer, shows that she can sing and dance with the best of them.pThe men also shine in this musical. John C. Reilly, as Roxie's long-suffering husband, also has a terrific number, "Mister Cellophane", that is truly heart rending and poignant, as well as metaphoric. Richard Gere gamely rises to the occasion in his first musical, making the slick Billy Flynn character an integral part of the film with his "Razzle Dazzle" number and his tap dancing. pI love this top notch, clever film, finding it hugely entertaining. It deserves every one of its six Academy Awards, including that for "Best Picture". Director Rob Marshall deserves kudos for this brilliantly directed, seamlessly edited, musical masterpiece. While it is a fairly faithful screen adaptation of Bob Fosse's Broadway musical, it has Rob Marshall's contemporary imprimatur on it. It is a film of which he can be justly proud. Bravo!
Amazing January 24, 2003
Emma Harding
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
I have to say that this film absolutely blew me away. From the opening credits you could tell that it was going to be superb and what followed certainly lived up to all expectations.brComparisons to Moulin Rouge will definitely be made but for me Chicago was much much better, it was livelier and sexier.brWatching the film you could easily see how close to the stage production it was and my enthusiasm has been fired to go and see it on stage now too.brThe songs are catchy and at times very funny and the dancing was oh so sexy, Catherine Zeta Jones really shone in the dance routines and even Richard Gere wasn't a bad mover.brThe film tugged at heart strings and I found my sympathy changing from one charachter to another particularly between Amos and Roxie. Over all a very well written, produced and performed film, not so different I imagine from the stage production.
Foot Tapping Musical Hits The Big Screen !! March 28, 2003
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Never having seen the stage production but a great fan of musicals I went to see Chicago with an open mind!! I was hooked from the beginning the film was amazing!! The stars all performed well above my expectations and i just loved the whole feel of the film. The mixing of real time with fantasy sequences was inspired. It well deserved its Oscar success!!
Wow January 19, 2003
taking a rest
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
As I write, "Chicago", is still 5 days away from opening in wide release nationally. I would guess this is a calculated bet that the film will score several awards tonight at The Golden Globe show, and based on the film I saw, it is a safe bet. If this film is honored it will have accomplished a feat not done since the 1960's if it can win best picture at the Oscar Award show next month, for that was the last time the Oscar was handed out to a musical. As, "Chicago", was a very successful stage show prior to being a film, and is probably appealing to a wider audience than, "Moulin Rouge", it probably has a good chance.pIt is almost unfair to list the main stars of this film as there are so many names that were unknown to me that were equally talented. To give a single example, there is a tango sequence that involves a series of actresses that you may never have heard of that is outstanding. Going to this film is much like going to Broadway, everyone on stage is loaded with the ability to sing, dance and act, and right behind them are the understudies that can take over on a moments notice, and then all the other shows populated by great talent as well.pThe players that headline this film are without exception excellent, and two that you may have heard less about, but are every bit of deserving of your attentions are, Queen Latifah as Matron Mama Morton, and a performance I was totally amazed by, that showcased John C Reilly as Amos Hart. When he solos as Mr. Cellophane Man he is remarkable. The film's opening by Catherine Zeta Jones will pin you to your seat, and if the last time you saw Renee Zellweger was in, "Bridget Jones's Diary", as I had, she will leave you stunned, and I never knew Richard Gere could pull off a song and dance performance as he does here.pI hope, "Chicago", prods Hollywood in to putting more musicals back in the theaters. I hope they do it selectively and keep the caliber of the product high. In an industry that rushes in with 10 versions of the flavor of the moment I imagine this is too much too hope for, but the musical belongs on the screen as well as the stage, and now that two films have demonstrated that the public wants musicals as part of their theater experience, I hope Hollywood listens.pThis is a great way to spend 1 hour and 40 minutes viewing pure entertainment.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 61
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