Home :: DVD :: Musicals & Performing Arts :: General  

Ballet & Dance
Biography
Broadway
Classical
Documentary
General

Instructional
Jazz
Musicals
Opera
World Music
Man of La Mancha

Man of La Mancha

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.21
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: a stinker
Review: One of the worst adaptations of a musical ever.All I can say is : Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It was good at the parts that were funny
Review: I saw this in class. I really liked the part when he fought the windmill, but he thought it was a giant, he was so funny. The movie would be better if the old man had more fights, he was so funny.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best
Review: As has been said, if you've seen the movie, no other soundtrack will do. I found nothing wrong with the singing. I absolutely loved the music. My only regret is not buying it here (or cdnow.com) instead of Coconuts, where I spent more. One of my favorite cd's to listen to over and over again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The greatest madness of all is to see the world as it is
Review: While I understand the spanish gentleman who wrote the first reviews comment about the film not being accurate I must say I find this musical one of the best I have ever watched. The essence of the film is best expressed in the words "The greatest madness of all is to see the world as it is and not as it should be". Thus the film illustrates that Don Quixote is the only sane man in a mad world. He alone sees the beautiful, noble, and serene qualities in everything. He is the last chivalrous and truly good man in a world that no longer has any place for nobility and chivalrous ideals. In this sense it is not important if the film is entirely accurate as Peter O'Toole is brilliant in portraying the haunted blue eyes of a man who will always be a knight in his soul. One has to be a romantic to appreciate this perhaps, but it is a great film. The reason for the story about Don Cervantes being arrested by the inqusition is in my opinion that the Author of the musical who must himself have felt kinship with Don Quixote would like to illustrate that Don Cervantes must have felt that kinship himself and probably possesed many of the same qualities. Regardless if one still wants to fight for what is true, good, and beautiful, this is a superb film about a man, whom if he had existed, I would have been hounoured to call my friend.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Inspiring, intriguing, great music
Review: I liked this movie a lot. I think the people who made it had a strong feeling about it, although maybe not the same take on the story that the author of the original, Cervantes, would have intended. The actors playing Don Quixote, Sancho, and Aldonza have great, expressive faces. The music alone makes the movie worth seeing. There were a few seemingly pointless digressions, like the song "Little Bird". Part of the ending (not all) seemed a little contrived. The attitude of the movie is hopelessly and unashamedly sentimental, idealistic, quixotic - but that's the charm of the movie, not its weakness. I can't fathom the review that called it plodding and abysmal.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible, horrible... MOST HORRIBLE!
Review: Reading the reviews below, it is painfully obvious to me that none of you guys have ever read Don Quijote De La Mancha or else you wouldn't be praising this turd. But, if it's any consolation to you all, neither did the guys who wrote the musical, or so it seems.

Just for the record: Cervantes was no wandering actor, he was never tried by the Spanish Inquisition, the only dungeon he entered was a muslim one, in Algiers, as a prisoner of war. Dulcinea, or Aldonza for that matter, never appears in the book, she's only talked about since she is but an illusion. In fact, she IS the true impossible dream!

And yes, you may say this movie is not meant to be the book but the Broadway musical. Yet... would you be praising 'West Side Story' or 'Kiss Me Kate' if their plot not only strayed from the Shakespeare originals (which they do, both of them) but totally distorted their actual meaning? Would you accept a musical version of, say, Macbeth in which Shakespeare is shown about to be beheaded by Queen Elizabeth? I should think not, because that never happened and to show it did only denies the man's life, his work, his beliefs, his times and his country.

And last but not least: Not even the musical is handled properly. Several songs are sorryly butchered, if not missing altogether! If I were you, I'd read the book instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful and inspirational story and musical
Review: This musical captures the essence of the original story very well, even though it is abridged somewhat. It is inspirational and uplifting, full of spirit and hope; very contagious! The only gripe was that it did leave out some musical bits from the original broadway version. This does not affect the story any. I have read the original book and can honestly say this video does Cervantes' "Don Quixote" justice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Beautiful Musical
Review: "Man of la Mancha" contains as much of the Don Quixote legend as could be expected in a reasonable-length movie. And it is wonderfully acted. Having taught Theatre Arts for twenty years, I do not understand why people complain that every non-operatic voice isn't looped by Carreras or Brightman. "Man of la Mancha"s actors are just that -- actors. Actors who happen to sing with the appropriate emotion. I'd much rather listen to Peter O'Toole sing "Impossible Dream" with all his passion, than to hear an unemotional operatic version. "Man of la Mancha" is the best possible musical that could have been made from Cervantes' classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Peter O'Toole The Man of La Mancha
Review: I laughed, I cried, I loved it! Peter O'Toole is wonderful as Don Quixote de La Mancha. I first saw this movie in my last year of high school, when I was full of high teenage idealism. The ending affected me so much I had to leave the room. This movie should be required viewing for all highschool students.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must have for your video library
Review: A beautiful story within a story of man and his passion's. You see the fine line between sanity and madness.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates