Rating: 
Summary: So Many are Missing the Point!
Review: I first saw the play Man of La Mancha at a small college in central Texas. It was nicely done, considering it was performed by rank amateur students on a shoestring budget. In spite of the obvious lack of polish, I was hooked. The story spoke to my very soul. Later that evening, I learned that there had been a movie version of the Broadway play, and sought to rent it at the local video stores. It took several days to find a copy, and I was not disappointed at all when I finally watched it - as a first time viewer 26 years after it was released in theaters. The movie spoke to my soul just as powerfully as the play had.Sure, I could rip apart the college play for its' lack of refinement compared to the Broadway version, as could I pick away at the movies' shortcomings compared to the classic cinematic musicals. I could even lament about the lack of historical accuracy of the theatrical and cinematic renditions of Cervantes and his life. But why??? To watch Man of La Mancha as a movie critic is to miss what makes this film so beautiful. It is the story... the MESSAGE that is so moving and vitally important. It more than makes up for the flaws made in delivering it! The play and movie were never meant to be faithful renditions of the real Cervantes and the fictional madman in his book Don Quixote. It is a new story, with a fictional Cervantes giving hope to his retched fellow inmates, imprisoned during one of the most brutal periods of human history, by telling his story of a daft knight who's chivalry and moral convictions are truths that transcend time. My advice: Watch the movie with your heart, not your mind. You'll get a lot more out of it. Hopefully, this wonderful tale will be immortalized on DVD soon. It is certainly more worthy than the majority of titles being released these days.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a review, this is a requirement for Amazon staff
Review: I have been waiting for the DVD release of this movie for a very long time (too much months). What is the indicator to release it? Coul you implemente any other way to make profitable the DVD release of this movie? I think it is rude to ask us to add aour email to a list which will not give the result we all are expecting into a reasonable time.
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Summary: inspiring, romantic, my wife and I love this movie!
Review: In today's world so many people have settled for less than what they are capable of or feel that they can not change the world for the better. Well here's a movie to inspire you to reach for greater heights, to go against the grain, to stand up for what you believe in and to go forward trying to make your dream a reality. Superbly acted, this movie has a little for everyone - humor, romance, action. It's a fairly clean movie that would probably be rated G except for a scene where a gang of low life men attack the lady dulcenea and presumably rape her. Although nothing explicit is shown. I would recommend this to anybody who wants to watch a great story and hear some great music too. I always feel uplifted after watching this movie. I can't say that for most of the movies out today.
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Summary: A Reverent Live-Action El Greco Painting
Review: This rather somber musical has a dark and musty look to it, rightfully so since most of it takes place in a prison cell.
Peter O' Toole as the Knight of the Woeful Countenance, Don Quixote de La Mancha has the lean look seen in many of the portraits painted by El Greco, as does Sofia Loren as the lady of his favor, Dulcinea.
The score has an appropriately lively Spanish flavor to it, although it is a disappointment that the two leads didn't do their own singing. James Coco was a somber and frumpish Sancho Panza,russet haired Julie Gregg and dour Rosalie Crutchley provided interesting contrasts as the two other women in the production.
It was interesting to hear at least most of the score of the musical from which came the inspiring standard, " The Impossible Dream". Its producers and directors have managed to pick up with a camera where El Greco left off with his brushes.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything Falls Short
Review: I'm fond of Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren. Both have talent. My opinion of the stage musical "Man of La Mancha" could not be higher. However, this film version lurches rather than flows. O'Toole definitely doesn't fit his role. Loren comes closer, but the entire production fits together out of kilter. This is extremely disappointing for me because I'd love to have a great DVD version of this musical. Such a possibility is probably going to have to wait until some future time.
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Summary: Well, I agree with some of the reviewers...
Review: I see Simon Gilbert being given credit for having dubbed Peter O'Toole's singing, in the leaflet it specifically mentions O'Toole working 3 hours a day with a vocal coach to do the singing. Its tough to tell, sometimes it sounds like O'Toole, sometimes it sounds decidedly unlike O'toole. As for Quixote's songs (The Quest; I, Don Quixote) I agree that the Broadway version is better. However, I strongly disagree with the opinion that Sophia Loren's singing is terrible, but I do see how one could arrive at that opinion. My friend, who is also a big musical buff, winced the first time he heard 'Aldonza', she is off key at times, and her voice breaks occasionally as well. The passion in her voice more than makes up for that, and puts it in context if you will. I'll take a Aldonza/Dulcinea with passion whose voice has an accent and breaks when she is spitting words at Quixote over a perfectly in tune singer who conveys no passion. In short, when listening to Loren singing, I *believe* she is a trollop with no hope for anything better than where she is at, with the Broadway version I don't get that at all.
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Summary: Only in the Movies
Review: I've been a sucker for Peter O'Toole since the 1st time I saw Lawrence of Arabia. I never thought that I'd hear him sing! I just recently saw this movie and fell in love with his acting again. All the major characters in this movie are well-cast; Sophia Loren as the corrupted Dulcinea is a revelation. Matlin can take his review and stuff it up his Rosinante--this movie is worth seeing, again.
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Summary: Great story, shame about the casting
Review: Having seen Man of La Mancha on stage in an amateur production, and loving the music, I was very keen to see what I expected to be a very good movie, given the cast. Unfortunately, the cast and direction fail to support what could have been. The stage version allows for some claustrophobia, with constant references back to the fact that it is being produced in jail. In the movie, this is lost. Worse, much worse, is to come. Sophia Loren is expected to sing! Put simply, while she may be able to act she cannot sing, and should not have been cast in a musical. Peter O'Toole makes a slightly better effort, but why not cast singers in parts which require this ability? This movie was a great disappointment.
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Summary: Don't take it so literally!
Review: Way too much negative talk about this film.
I like this film because it is optimistic. I don't care if it is good
or bad compared to the "La Mancha" Broadway performance or the book "Don Quioxte". This film is made from the palette of "La Mancha". In the style of "La Mancha". It is the theme - not the story. The bad reviews help to establish the reason for and purpose of this film - live your dream regardless of what others think. Let the stiffs wither in their terminal negitivity.
If you turn out to be one of them it's not too late to change
Rating:
Summary: How to screw up a wonderful musical w/o really trying.
Review: Man of La Mancha was one of the most exciting stage experiences of the sixties masterfully performed by Richard Kiley and Joan Diener and Joey Faye. But recast with non singers like Sophia Loren and Peter O Toole and you are asking for a disaster. This has got to be one of the worst screen transformations of a Bway musical ever! Avoid this and see a high school version or road company. It would have to be better!
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