Rating: 
Summary: BEWARE!!!
Review: I love Les Miserables. When I saw this DVD at the store, I bought it, and then raced home to watch it. I have never been so desapointed in my life. The actors do not act. they stand at microphones and sing all the songs. Why would they go to the trouble to get all these great performers together, put costumes on them, and not even have a set or have them act!!! I absolutely dispise this DVD. Dont get your hopes up on this peice of junk.... Buy the complete soundtrack. It is much more worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth every penny!
Review: Wow! I am a 13-year-old Les Mis Loony, and I was in tears of joy and amazement by the end of this amazing, wonderful, powerful . . . I could go on.
~Philip Quast - I am in love with his acting, singing, character, everthing. This man is amazing, incredible. He's such a nice guy during the bows, but look at his eyes during Confrontation. Totally evil! Made me fall in love with Javert.
~Colm Wilkinson - the best Valjean ever, period.
~Ruthie Henshall - a beautiful voice, perfect Fantine, love the way she trails away during death "waaaaaaaaaake . . ."
~Micheal Ball - nearly in tears during Empty Chairs, incredible! beautiful expression during EVERY song!
~Lea Salonga - I LIKE her bitterness during On My Own. So many people dump on her, but think about the words: "Without a home, without a friend, without a face to say hello to" Sing that sweetly? Are you kidding?
~Judy Kuhn - I like her voice, I really respect her, yes, it takes a while to get used to her . . . face . . . but her singing is REALLY worth it
~Micheal Maguire - Yes, he botched two notes, but he's a GUY, and guys aren't meant to sing that high. He's the best Enjolras, folks. Give him a break.
~Alun Armstrong - just go away! I cannot stand this man! Anyone, anyone, would have been better! He's never fierce enough! He's just annoying.
~Jenny Galloway - very good! I want to be Mme. when I grow up. I really prefer her to Gay Soper's squalling and Jennifer Butt's lack of Cockney.
~Hannah Chick - amazing that a little kid could take that lighting explosion so well. Precious!
~Adam Searles - love his expression on "Nothing that you'd call up to scratch" adorable, perfect Gavroche!What else can I say? You will not regret buying this on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Chills
Review: I recently purchased this Dvd to study the role of Valjean as i hope to soon be playing it! I was extremely impressed by the whole production. It is essentially a delicate blend of a gala concert where the performers stand and sing and an actual stage performance. This has to be my favorite brodway musical scorewise. Les Miserables, to me, is America's only grand opera. I perfer it to be sung in a classical style. The voicing is as classical as you get with broadway, (I would love to see a opera company put it on!)
Colm Wilkinson is a incredibly convincing valjean. His eyes tell the story of what he is singing. Unfortunatly his voice is very worn out sounding at times. If only he would whisper a tad bit less. I am judging him by classical standards though. He is amazing save a few urksome vocal passages.
Phillip Quast is a knockout Javert! If his voice is not as rich as you might expect for a baritone, he makes up for it en-mass with pathos and characterization. His voice relly is perfectly pointy and odious for a perfect Javert.
Overall I have been excited and empowered by this musical which is all new to me! The story is one that is well known and moving in every way and the score is so motivic in nature that you would think you were listening to Wagner's characteristic character themes. Each character has a musical tag theme that will come up at various times ading to the mistique of the piece, its really quite an exciting score. As someone who perfers watching and singing Opera to Brodway this is the ultimate crossover!
Rating: 
Summary: The show and music are wonderful, but...
Review: The show and music are wonderful, but this doesn't capture the show. If I am just going to listen to the music, I prefer the "Complete Symphonic" CD. If I want to watch the play (and I have seen it about 8 times in various places) I want to watch the play and this does not deliver. Now don't get me wrong, this is good for what it is, but it is not the play. It also cuts out some of the most relevant scenes in the play in my. It is merely some of the best (or at least most famous) performers signing their parts. If you want to have another version of the play this is fine, but if you want to get a flavor of the show, but the CD (above) and wait until they release a real version on DVD (if ever).
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Performance, but with one flaw
Review: This performance of Les Miserables is simply fantastic. The words are heartbreaking. I probably would have rated this 4.8 stars, but the pull-down wouldn't let me. Javert is portrayed by Philip Quast, and just to see him act as Javert is worth the price of the movie. Lea Salonga performs Eponine with a beautiful performance of "on my own" and "a little fall of rain". Michael Ball is the perfect Marius, and his "Empty chairs" brings tears to my eyes. Ruthie Henshall plays as Fantine, who has many moods, portrayed splendidly. Adam Searles is Gavroche, the sly street urchin. I wonder why the "little people" song was cut so short... he was underused in the musical, but oh well... Colm Wilkinson was perfect in every way as the convict from the chain gang, Valjean, who turns to good as the mayor, "Monsieur Madeleine". Javert, though, finds out and sends Valjean out of the city. The thenardiers are hilarious, especially in "master of the house." they are great comic relief for this dark movie. The only one i have critisizm for is Judy Kuhn playing Cossette. Her voice is not necessarily that pretty when she sings in this version. I've heard her sing in lower keys before,and she was much better-sounding in those movies, take Disney's Pocahontas, for example. This movie is rated PG-13 for language, a TINY bit of crude humor, and strong sexual content. I would recommend this for ages 10 and up. I hope you find this review useful!
Rating:
Summary: ***APPLAUSE***
Review: I love this DVD and I am going to give you my opinion on the singers: PRISONERS: They were emotional and I liked them, although the first one who sang, "The sun is strong..." was kind of annoying to me, but that's just me. JAVERT: Oh my gosh, Quast is THE Javert. He has the perfect voice and he puts SO MUCH emotion into his songs. He outshined Wilkinson in "CONFRONTATION." I loved it when he sang "STARS" and his suicide song. VALJEAN: It's Colm...Wilkinson. What else can I say?! He actually isn't as good as he was on Broadway because he doesn't put as much emotion into his songs here. FANTINE: I love this Fantine because she has such a pretty voice and she puts lots of emotion into her songs. I loved "DREAMED A DREAM" and "COME TO ME." She sounds like she is desperate in "Lovely Ladies." THE COMPANY: they were good, except one of the women who said "and in a bed, and we're counting our blessings" in "AT THE END OF THE DAY" had a terrible voice and kind of ruined that part of the song. They cut out some of "AT THE END OF THE DAY" and that kind of annoyed me because that is my favorite song. YOUNG COSETTE was adorable, except something fell during her performance and she flinched. Poor girl! She has such a soft, innocent voice. They don't show young Eponine at all. THENARDIERS were hillarious! Perfect couple (COUGH). Madame Thenardier is hillarious in "MASTER OF THE HOUSE." GAVROCHE: I'm sorry, but I hate this Gavroche. I found him to be horrible. I like the one on the OBC best, and then CSR. COSETTE AND MARIUS: I love Michael Ball! And Cosette sang beautifully, too. It still boggles my mind that she can hit such high notes! EPONINE: It's Lea Solonga, must I say more?! Her voice is beautiful and perfect. She is the best Eponine. She puts a lot of emotion into her acting. THE STUDENTS: I loved the Enjolras and Grantaire. The Enjolras really gets into his part and shows lots of emotion that can tingle your spine. OVERALL IT WAS WONDERFUL!
Rating: 
Summary: What shouldn't happen to a Broadway show
Review: I give this DVD a 3 stars rating 2 stars for the casting and 1 for the performance.Reasons why:1) A Broadway Musical it's not to show it as a concert 'cause it loses the impact of the scenes you see in the real play.2) When you see this concert then you don't wanna see the play 'cause you already know the music with the original casting and orchestra, when they change castings some of the times what they do is mess the musical play.My comment to this DVD is:The casting rules great voices but the performance ..., it's better to buy the CD. It's good to hear not to see the concert, in other words DON'T BUY IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOUR MONEY!!!
Rating:
Summary: Lea
Review: OK, Let me just put it this way...Anyone who thinks that Lea Salonga's Eponine, was too "angry", sorry folks but you are sadly mistaken. From An acting perspective, Lea is flawless, her use of transitions and never-ending colors and emotion is uncomparable. Those of you who didn't like her voice, well you need to stop talking, again her performance vocally was flawless. Lea Salonga is quite possibly on of the greatest actresses Broadway has ever seen. Her performance in this film lacks nothing less than a Tony award. Buy this film and be honored to watch Lea.
Rating:
Summary: Joy in Alaska
Review: Last year I took several high school students from Alaska to New York. We saw the Broadway production of Les Miserables and we all thoroughly enjoyed the story and the music. I received the DVD for Christmas this year and have been watching parts of it everyday since. It is by far the best of any video or DVD I own. My 12 year old son, who pictures himself a rock star/rapper sits enthralled when I watch and he sings the songs on his own. The individual performances are outstanding. The orchestra part after the death scene at the barricade is very moving. The collective performances at the end of both acts bring a lump to the throat of this 50 year old. It is rare in life to be able to witness excellence. This performance is that. If I could only own one performance it would be this.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: You know, I first saw this video on PBS when I was about eight. I've seen it many times since then, though I still have yet to see live. (I will! Just you wait!). Anyway, after listening to the CD, and then watching this again, I remember what I felt when I first saw it.
Maybe it is because I saw it when I was so young, but to me, this is THE cast, and when I think of characters from Les Mis, I think of this cast.
Valjean- I don't know, I've only ever heard Colm do it, but I think he's fabulous. I would've loved to see him live. This actually goes for most of the cast.
Fantine- Ruthie H. is great. She has a gorgeous voice, and she looks the part. I have a really old copy of Les Mis, the book, and the illustrations of Fantine look exactly like this Fantine.
Cosette- Judy Kuhn seems to me to be the Cosette. She's got that first soprano operatic voice that fits very well. And if she's not very pretty, just remember that she comes from stage (not movies), and she doesn't have to be. She just has to be good.
Marius- Michael Ball is an excellent singer, and he brings a lot of feeling to Marius. He reminds me of a teddy bear or something. He does a magnificant job, even if he sweats more than anyone else in the cast.
Enjolras- Maguire will always be Enjolras to me. What can I say? He's got a strong powerful voice, perfect for a rebel leader.
Javert- Phillip Quast is wonderful. He brings out all of the qualities of Javert with his voice and expression. Again, he is Javert.
Young Cosette, and Gavroche- both of them are great. Young Cosette has a pretty voice, and sings Castle on A Cloud with conviction. Then again, I'm used to my friend attempting to sing that song as creepily as she can... anyway. Gavroche is cute, and a great singer. A little strange listening to him as opposed to OBC, but I like this guy better.
Eponine- Lea Salonga, what can I say? It was her performance that made me want to play the part of Eponine. I loved A Little Fall of Rain especially. This is just personal taste, but as good as Frances Rueffle is, I prefer Lea's stronger voice to Frances's higher-pitched. Maybe it's because of the way I sing...
Thenardiers - I love these guys. When I was eight, I had decided that If I couldn't be Eponine, I wanted to be Mme. Thenardier. Of course, at that time, I really didn't understand some of what she was saying... But they just look like they're having so much fun, so I don't really want to comment on performance, except that I love the Cockney.
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