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The King and I

The King and I

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Shall we dance?
Review: This delightful musical brings back a lot of songs from my childhood - so many in one musical that many people can easily relate to.
I purchased this because of another movie I had recently seen, "Shall we dance?" which has English subtitles in the Japanese film.
Both movies bring joy to one's life as we learn about the cultural differences, customs, dance, and music from other countries.... and as we share the same song and love of dance.
The King and I is a timeless masterpiece. The cast is perfectly placed and the viewer is magically transported to their kingdom of Siam where they believe their country is the greatest and largest (see the map they have of the world during one of the children's lessons) and then learn how they deal with the truth.....
I would highly recommend this movie and suggest purchasing it as a timeless classic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Stunning Musical
Review: I've been a fan of The King And I since I was a child. The DVD is a beautiful presentation of this classic. The only reason I don't rate this a full five stars is the "sing along" feature on the DVD is cheesy beyond all belief....and not in a good way.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: where's the pivotal scene?
Review: If this is the same video that came on the market about 2.5 years ago, it is missing the scene in which Anna tells the King off in a soliloquy (first line: "Shall I tell you what I think of you? You're spoiled!") Since that scene focuses the show's central conflict, eliminating it eviscerates the film. (If there's a different edition from the one I describe, please make it known!)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I loved it.
Review: Though this story is almost completly fictional (just BASED on facts, as many stories are), it is so beautiful. What captured me most about the movie (other than the music) was the romance. I mean, they managed to have an intimate relationship without much personal contact. That dance after the dinner, (with my favorite song from this musical, Shall We Dance) left me almost breathless. As someone said to me, it's hard to create a romance with no kissing and sex but Rodgers and Hammerstein did it. And did it well. Buy this movie today!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent beyond words, etc., etc., etc...
Review: Beautifully restored, magnificent color, sets, etc., etc., etc.

The package includes several special features of great interest: newsreel footage of openings in New York and Hollywood, footage of the 1956 Oscars and a Sing Along segment which is simply wonderful for those of us who love Rodgers and Hammerstein's marvelous score.

The enclosed information sheet includes the lyrics for "Hello, Young Lovers," "I Whistle A Happy Tune," and "Getting To Know You." So there isn't any excuse for not singing along with Deborah Kerr.

I am very impressed with this widescreen DVD version, which captures the breath and depth of the magnificent sets, dance numbers, etc., etc., etc...

Another great example of the American musical theater. Somehow young people must be introduced to this and other famous musicals.

We must be especially thankful for DVD technology, etc., etc., etc...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SENSATIONAL--ESPECIALLY IN THE WIDESCREEN DVD VERSION
Review: You don't need to read another rave review of one of the greatest movie musicals of all time.

I'm not a DVD techie but I have to say that I was blown away by the widescreen version of the movie--which adds manages to add scope of the picture in practically every scene. I saw it 35 years ago on the big screen and have always wondered why repeated videe and TV viewings never seemed as sumptuous--the widescreeen makes a huge difference.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's only flaw is that it isn't complete...
Review: A long-awaited arrival on DVD, THE KING AND I is one of the best examples of stage-to-screen adaptation, except for one glaring fault - the trimming of the score! 20th Century-Fox spent lots of effort and money to bring this Rodgers and Hammerstein hit to the very wide CinemaScope 55 screen, and the various artists who worked on the project certainly put a stunning vision of the show up on that wide screen. Production and costume design are dazzling, the orchestrations are expansive in magnetic stereo (re-engineered for Dolby 5.1), the cast is simply perfect; overall a first rate presentation of the material. But at the last minute, the studio scrapped their original idea to roadshow the picture in 55mm, and some filmed numbers were dropped to shorten the overall length. This is always detrimental, not matter what the excuses for cutting, because it means that the show becomes less than complete. But even if we could overlook the cutting of the second half of "I Whistle a Happy Tune", "Western People Funny", and maybe "My Lord and Master", the deletion of Anna's biting "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" is inexcusable, and the cutting of the score's most beautiful ballad, "I Have Dreamed", is a genuine crime. One might have been hopeful that Fox would have restored, or at least included as outtakes, the missing numbers for DVD, but no such luck! The same fate has also befallen their recent release of the 1967 DOCTOR DOLITTLE.

All of that said, this is a gorgeous transfer of a beautiful film, both visually and sonically. The deluxe laserdisc set was very pretty, but the DVD image is much sharper and clearer. Unfortunately, few of the extras on the laserdisc were transferred to DVD, thereby leaving non-laserdisc fans in the dark regarding production, deleted scenes, photos from the deleted footage, and the entertaining explanation of the whole confusion with regard to roadshow vs. non-roadshow, the overture on the soundtrack album, and the lack of such accoutrements on the first run prints (which were in 35mm, reduced from the 55mm negative). Briefly, the decision to not send the film out 55mm hard-ticket was made far enough in advance so that overture, intermission, and exit music were not created for the 1956 release. The 1956 soundtrack album has all the songs, but the overture on that recording was done especially for the album, and never was intended for the film. People who swore they saw the film with these tracks were thinking of the 1962 re-release, blown up to 70mm Grandeur with 6-track stereo, that was presented on a reserved seat basis. This special re-release had overture, entr'acte, and exit music stitched together from the underscoring of the film, but still no deleted numbers from 1956! Nonetheless, this DVD actually holds the extra roadshow tracks, something that the laserdisc (being a faithful representation of the 1956 first run) did not carry, so that's another reason to see this version. Now if Fox Video would just find those missing songs...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: buy the widescreen
Review: A word of advice: if you want to see this movie as it's meant to be, buy the widescreen edition. The King & I is filled with huge shots with tons of people in them, wide panoramas of the court, the Uncle Tom's Cabin scene, etc. Especially to get the full dramatic effect of the movie's final scene, there's no substituting for widescreen. I purchased the non-widescreen edition originally, but the mutilation of the scenes irritated me so much that I went out and bought the widescreen version to replace it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Sure Classic..
Review: When I first saw this movie I didn't like it because of it's sad ending. Then I got to the annoyance of Rogers & Hammerstein. But after catching it on TV the past few years I bought it and I love it. I don't think it is slow the costumes just make the time pass. Yul Brynner is just remarkable and I can't imagine anyone else in his place. My mother got to see him in New York on his last tour. And now I wish I was able to see him too. (I was only 4 at the time). I recently saw the 1999 version of "Anna and the King" and I thought it was good, but Chow Yun Fet can not replace Mr. Brynner. He was great, but there's no comparision. I recommend this to everyone! Enjoy! (And yes it is better than "The Sound of Music" ANYTHING is!) ;)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: incomplete movie
Review: I was extremely disappointed in this movie as it left out 3 songs from the original movie: My Lord and Master, Shall I Tell You What I think Of You?, and lastly, He is Wonderful.Two of these songs not only set a theme , but are very beautiful.


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