FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Star! [DVD] [1968]

Star! [DVD] [1968]
enlarge	Director: Robert Wise Actors: Julie Andrews, Richard Crenna, Michael Craig, Daniel Massey, Robert Reed Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£12.99~~ Buy New: £3.78 as of 24/11/2009 16:38 GMT details You Save: £9.21 (71%) New (10) Used (3) from £2.97 Seller: gzoop Rating: 5 reviews Sales Rank: 20080 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Parental Guidance Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 166 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5039036021531 ASIN: B0009HBN6O Theatrical Release Date: 1968 Release Date: July 4, 2005 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: A True Star! July 8, 2007 W. Strutte (England) 8 out of 8 found this review helpful Despite all the universal criticism of STAR! most of it was unjustified. It is undoubtedly one of Julie's finest roles and the supporting cast magnificent. Beautifully produced, magnificent score and Julie singing at her very best and looking great. The problem was that audiences of the day were not interested in seeing the life story of Gertrude Lawrence particularly with Julie in the lead role. Gertie had a very limited vocal range which, of course, Julie does not. They attempted to issue a shortened version called "Those were the days" but that flopped too. STAR! has now become something different and is a much admired classic.It is long and unfortunately they decided not to complete the story with Gertie's death during the original Broadway production of "The King and I". Maybe they were expecting to make a sequel. Do not miss this! A Must October 26, 2006 Flavio Marinho (Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Brazil) 7 out of 7 found this review helpful "Star!" is a must for any Julie Andrews rabid fan. Her last number - "Jenny" - is extraordinary. There are problems in the screenplay (the conflcits go thin during the picture), but Robert Wise staging is stylish and the whole production is vry beautiful. It is probably one of Julie's best performances, playing a knifer, a climber who wants desperately to succeed in the theater. She never looked so glamorous and so gorgeous. Don't mis it! Great Star Vehicle for Julie Andrews, Released on DVD with Little to No Effort in the Preparation May 31, 2008 chatvarin (England) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful I think the film is unique in its kind. It would be much better branded a film with staged musical performance than a movie musical. If you like Dame Julie Andrews you will love this: she is on-screen for like 98% of the time, in a record breaking wardrobe (100 something costumes, none reused even once) performing diverse musical numbers for the stage that showcase her talent as no other show has been able to at her most glamorous. It length may daunt some, but this is one film no review is really of any use to the viewer. br / br /On this DVD release the film is in its full, uncut roadshow version, minus the intermission (the loss of the music for which I regret). It does actually come with a hefty batch of extras, various trailers for the various issues of the film (the film has a rather grim history, if you don't know about that the extra explains it at length - so extensively that it gets tedious!), some photos, the original making-of documentary and the 25th-anniversary-reissue featurette. The problem is, even though the LP era predated me, it is quite obvious that much of these were imported directly from the Silver Anniversary Special Esition LP. Literally nothing was done presentation-wise. Also, although there are a number of photos and stills, tthey are not presented in a gallery format; rather, they are interspersed among 'plates' that are meant to relate the history of the film, from conception to eventual recognition 25 years after its initial roadshow release, in scrupulous details (we have a full production diary). I found the information fascinating, but the presentation was obviously lamely put drawn up. It hurts to read a book on-screen! If they were not going to bother to make a documentary, then it would have been better if they had issued the book - "The Saga of STAR!" - on paper. Good, but... July 26, 2005 20 out of 23 found this review helpful This is a strange film in many ways. It's basically a vehicle for Julie Andrews, and she sings about 15 songs in it.pThe film is a biopic of Gertrude Lawrence, the musical star (and hence the excuse for Julie singing lots of songs), so it's not really a "musical" as we'd think of it - all the songs are sung in the context of being on a stage etc.pThe good bits - Julie sings wonderfully, as usual, particularly on "Dear Little Boy", and "Someone to watch over me", and is downright spectacular on "My Ship". There are some great set pieces throughout the film and as the soundtrack is no longer available on CD (and was never digitally remastered anyway), this is the only place to hear the music, written by some of the best writers of the 20th century.pThe bad bits - the story is pretty boring and serves only to link together the songs (about 18 in total). Some of the acting is fairly awful (the badminton scene springs to mind) and it's all a bit superficial.pSo in conclusion, the story would get 1 and the songs 5 so I've given it a 3. Watch it once, then fast forward to the songs in future (thankfully the DVD chapters line up with the songs, so this is easy to do).pExtras - I've got the USA version which came out last year, so I don't know if the Region 2 version will have more, but there are some nice documentaries and commentary. Third rate to First rate January 13, 2008 David Turner (London UK) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful From the My Fair Lady team of Robert Wise and Saul Chaplin the majority would expect a film of similar promise - combining bredth, warmth and nostalgia. Not so in this case - or initially - not so in this case. br /The story of Gertrude Lawrence (played by Julie Andrews) was released in 1968 and virtually 'bombed'. It disappeared from cinemas after short runs with reviews running from cold to lukewarm. br / The first twenty minutes is taken up by Gertrude Lawrence (Julie Andrews) in a preview theatre watching the screening of her own life....Shown in sepia the 'film sections' within the film are crass, badly directed and slapstick to an embarrassing degree. br /The film then moves 'back in time' to full screen colour film. br /Here the movie shows what a 'gem' it is. Daniel Massey and Julie Andrews as Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence give superb performances, emanating the affection that existed between the characters in real life. br /The musical numbers are slick, the script with Massey's one liners are both hilarious and incisive. br / There was a 25 year short revival of the film in 1993. If the early section of 'STAR' had been cut to a series of mixes lasting around one or two minutes...then I'm sure the film would have received rave reviews on initial release. Cut the beginning and the film is well worth a look. br / br /David Turner (London UK) br /

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