Rating: 
Summary: "One Singular Sensation!"
Review: The screen version of Michael Bennett's landmark Broadway musical lets the audience experience the struggle, anxiety and triumph of a group of dancers auditiong for the chorus of a Broadway show. This is a classic and not to be missed. One of the best "backstage musicals films" ever made. Michael Douglas soft-shoes 16 dancers through a grueling audition to Marvin Hamlisch's Oscar nominated music and Jeffrey [Flashdance] Hornaday's sizzling, synergistic choreography. The cast is excellent most notably, Michael [Chaplin] Blevins, who brings charming honesty to the role of 17 year old Mark, the youngest dancer on the line. Other fine performances are given by Gregg Burge, Audrey Landers, Nicole Fosse, and Terrence Mann. For such excellent dancers they all bring great credibility to their respective acting roles. Oscar winning director Richard Attenborough heads-up this dazzling three-time Academy Award nominated adaptation of Broadway's long running musical that received nine Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize. Attneborough gracefully blends big production numbers with intimate moments. This movie is so enjoyable to watch because the transition from stage to screen is smooth and entertaining. Afterall, the New York Times called the film : "A single burst of breathtaking inspiration!" -New York Times The Dance and Theatre critics raved about it: "It is the best dance film, and for that matter, the best movie musical for years!" -Clive Barnes, New York Post "...exhilarating...one of the year's best pictures..." -Jeffrey Lyons, Sneak Previews, INN This is a Great White Way phenomenon. Join the chorus of this high-stepping piece of celluloid - it is truly "One Singular Sensation"!
Rating: 
Summary: A GARISH, HARD-KNOCKS LIFE IN AN EXEMPLARY LOOKING DVD
Review: "A Chorus Line" is the film version of the Broadway smash hit about a troupe of dancers (notice I didn't say young)auditioning for their chance to hit the big time on Broadway. Boy, talk about cyclical logic: from Broadway to Hollywood to Broadway to box office bomb! Unfortunately for director, Richard Attenborough nothing is quite as thrilling as being in the live audience on opening night. However, the film does have its moments. Michael Douglas heads the cast as a wary, though compassionate, Broadway choreographer who's looking for his eight hungry hopefuls. He finds them and the truth beyond the footlights in a bittersweet story that, At the time of its release, was generally reamed by the critics for its hockum, heavy-handed direction and lack of stardust magic.
TRANSFER: There's lots to celebrate here. A near flawless transfer from MGM that sparkles with a well balanced color palette that, while dated, captures the luster of 80s Technicolor. Black and contrast levels are right on. Occasionally the picture looks a tad on the soft side but fine detail is fully realized throughout. There are no digital anomalies for a smooth picture. The audio is 5.1 and provides a very nice spread over all channels.
EXTRAS: A Marvin Hamlisch retrospective that's short but refreshing and an audio commentary.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a vintage 80s lemon that squeezes more like an orange. It's not nearly as sour as the critics of its day claimed and, since the transfer is fairly rich and stunning I have to recommend this one for your DVD library, especially if you're a musical buff.
Rating:
Summary: A great musical
Review: in high school, we did this musical. Watching this version you can really see the musical. No it wasn't just a live show recorded, it was a whole moive production. So the action is very clear, and the actions are direct. Michael Douglas is wonderful in this movie. This was about the same time as the Romancing the Stone, ect. So he was lookin' good! Cassie in the musical seems to use the fact that she slept with the main person to get her in the show. It is a story of who you are on the outside, ISNT Who you are on the outside. This is one of the greatest musicals of all time. It ran on broardway, and ran up tons of records. I really think that this is a MUST HAVE!! jess
Rating: 
Summary: good grief
Review: A Chorus Line is a truly great show, when performed onstage keeping true to the original *ahem* SONGS, but the movie kind of failed in the attempt to re-create the magic. I mean, "Music and The Mirror" is a perfect example. Did they think it was too subtle for the movie-watching American public? Did it really have to be replaced with something as blunt as "Let Me Dance For You"? Puh-leaze. And they cut out the entire montage, which really helps in exploring the character's personalities, etc. Why did Cassie seem like such an...annoyance? She did interrupt "I Can Do That". She did harass him into giving her a role. She didn't seem graceful, like in the stage version. (ie, falling while getting into the taxi) I really liked the Sheila, and I loved Terrance Mann. I also found the drag show monologue very well done. It's good, but not even close to the singular sensation it was onstage.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing can replace the broadway show, but ....
Review: Nothing can replace the broadway show, but this cast does a wonderful job! If you can look at it without comparing it to the broadway show, you find an excellent show!
Rating:
Summary: A GARISH, HARD-KNOCKS LIFE IN AN EXEMPLARY LOOKING DVD
Review: "A Chorus Line" is the film version of the Broadway smash hit about a troupe of dancers (notice I didn't say young)auditioning for their chance to hit the big time on Broadway. Boy, talk about cyclical logic: from Broadway to Hollywood to Broadway to box office bomb! Unfortunately for director, Richard Attenborough nothing is quite as thrilling as being in the live audience on opening night. However, the film does have its moments. Michael Douglas heads the cast as a wary, though compassionate, Broadway choreographer who's looking for his eight hungry hopefuls. He finds them and the truth beyond the footlights in a bittersweet story that, At the time of its release, was generally reamed by the critics for its hockum, heavy-handed direction and lack of stardust magic.
TRANSFER: There's lots to celebrate here. A near flawless transfer from MGM that sparkles with a well balanced color palette that, while dated, captures the luster of 80s Technicolor. Black and contrast levels are right on. Occasionally the picture looks a tad on the soft side but fine detail is fully realized throughout. There are no digital anomalies for a smooth picture. The audio is 5.1 and provides a very nice spread over all channels.
EXTRAS: A Marvin Hamlisch retrospective that's short but refreshing and an audio commentary.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a vintage 80s lemon that squeezes more like an orange. It's not nearly as sour as the critics of its day claimed and, since the transfer is fairly rich and stunning I have to recommend this one for your DVD library, especially if you're a musical buff.
Rating:
Summary: "A CHORUS LACKING..." (VS) THE BROADWAY SHOW:>(
Review: ITS ALMOST A TRAGEDY THAT SUCH A WONDERFUL BROADWAY EXPERIENCE (WHILE IN NYC), DOES NOT TRANSLATE TO THE SCREEN---ADDING INSULT TO INJURY MGM DOES A LESS THEN GOOD TECHNICAL TRANSFER FROM MOVIE TO DVD?? I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT MARVIN HAMLISCH HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THIS FILM + MICHAEL DOUGLAS JR. AS ONE OTHER REVIEWER PUT IT, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO (TRY AND GET A FEEL) FOR WHAT WAS "THE ULTIMATE BROADWAY SHOW OF SHOWS" IN ITS ERA. IT RAN AND RAN AND RAN....BECAUSE IT WAS BRIGHT LIGHTS, COLOR + DAZZLE AND DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!!!
THE GOLD COSTUMES & CHOREOGRAPHY AND SONG "ONE" IN THE THE FINALE BEAR REMEMBERING! "A CHORUS LINE" BROUGHT JOY AND LIFE TO DUSTY BROADWAY, ALONG WITH "EVITA" POPULAR AT THE TIME---ALONG WITH "DANCIN" "A CHORUS LINE" WAS *CHOUREOGRAPHIC* ON STAGE! YOUTH AND EXUBERANCE, SWEATING BODIES--- SO ACTIVE AND FESTIVE WERE THE NYC DANCERS--- I CAN STILL SEE THE SWEAT FLYING OFF INTO THE STAGE/FOOT LIGHTS!
(I WAS FRONT ROW AND WAS GLISTENED) BY THE FLYING SWEAT----IT WAS SENSUOUS & A LITTLE EROTIC TO NOT ONLY SEE, BUT "FEEL" THE SWEAT OF THE SHOW. IN ANOTHER LIFE MOST LIKELY I WOULD HAVE ENJOYED BEING A DANCER, GYMNAST OR OLYMPIC SWIMMER. IN LIEU OF THE REAL BROADWAY THEATRE EXPERIENCE YOU MUST> GET THE ORIG BROADWAY CD< IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THE SONG: "WHAT I DID FOR LOVE"
THINK OF WHAT WE HAVE ALL DONE FOR LOVE, FOR OUR FAMILIES, OUR CAREERS, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR "SIGNIFICANT OTHERS"!!! "WHAT I DID FOR LOVE" REALLY SPOKE TO GAY PEOPLE (BEFORE IT WAS CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE) MUCH LIKE "FAME" THE MOVIE DID (WHICH BY THE WAY) "FAME" IS NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD AND "FAME" IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT THE ORIG SOUNDTRACK CD (IN MY OPINION). I HAVE SEEN APPROX 400 SHOWS OVER TWENTY YEARS AND OFTEN DONT KNOW WHO ALL THE WONDERFUL PERFORMERS ARE WHO GIVE US ALL SO MUCH EVEN IN THIS (C+) DVD WE SHOULD GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE THAT HAVE STRUGGLED TO GIVE THE REST OF US A ZEST FOR THEATRE AND LIFE!
THE UNIVERSAL THEME OF MOST SHOWS IS GOOD CONQUERS BAD AND LOVE OVER NO LOVE---YEA!! ...MOST OF US DONT HAVE A CLUE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT ON BROADWAY OR IN FILM?? UNTIL THEY REVIVE "A CHORUS LINE" ON BROADWAY AND CAPTURE WITH MULTI CAMERA CAPABILITY, I SUGGEST THIS DVD AS A REMINDER OF WHAT REALLY SPARKLED!! ... ...)
REMINDER!! GET THE CD, SING THE SONGS (DANCE IF YOU DANCE)--- YOU WILL FEEL BETTER FOR THE EXPERIENCE BY SINGING "ONE"& "WHAT I DID FOR LOVE"
Rating: 
Summary: Oy Vey
Review: Good Lord, where do I start? I've held out seeing this "film" because I've seen the Broadway production, as well as a worn-out black and white beta-video version of the original cast, and I'm afraid little was left of the original in this "screen version". I also have a story in my head told to me by an acting teacher who saw the original production at The Public in NY before it moved to Broadway. He told me he'd seen it with a friend and both walked around the Village, down to the Financial District and then home to 46th Street in silence because they'd been so moved by what they saw. The film version is a good example of what too much success can do to something. As other people have suggested - it might have been better to film the stage version, or better yet make a documentary about the ground breaking "work-shopping" the show went through in development. It revolutionzed the way plays and musicals were conceived. I don't mean to diminish the talent of any cast member, (well... I could have done without Judy Landers - too obvious a choice, and a little too clumsy a performance, as well as Mr. Boring-Hollywood himself, Michael Douglas) as they all, of course, excellent dancers and singers - I think some were pulled from the Broadway cast. I liked the actress who plays Cassie very much, but I didn't like Michael Douglas, and I really hated the fact that they chose to focus on the "Love Story" of Zach & Cassie. Get over it! It was an unbalanced relationship! They probably would be at each others throats during the rehearsals for the show Zach is directing, and when the show ends I imagine Cassie saying to Sheila (her new best friend) "Thank God THAT'S over! I mean... ZACH! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!" Other reviews have captured a lot of things I could say. If you like this film - more power to you, but know if you watch it that it is SO not what the original was. The stage show came at a time when Broadway was in a slump, and some of the themes; homosexuality, sexual experimentation, plastic surgery, etc. were topics that existed but were still were very taboo, and capable of shocking a 70's audience. It had more relevance back then, because it seemed that the dancers' predicament was a metaphor for "Broadway" itself... what do you do when this is all over? There was still some romance in being a "Broadway Dancer". Currently Broadway seems to be nothing but revivals and corporate sponsored "machine musicals" that will make money no matter what. Try to see a touring version, or get the play and read in conjuntion with the original cast recording.
Rating: 
Summary: different than the play
Review: If you have seen A Chorus Line the play, and are looking for its equal this is not for you. This movie is a little like the play, with the plot and all but it adds songs and dances and it takes out songs. I personally was very dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Newly re-released Anamorphic WideScreen DVD!
Review: Finally a remastered Anamorphic WideScreen (Automatically adjust to any size tv set) also enhanced for 16:9 HDTV's (Home Theatre). Outstanding presentation!!! Now this fantastic broadway/film can be enjoyed completely. What a grand musical!!!! The Music of 3 time Oscar winner Marvin Hamlisch's (The Way We Were & The Sting) with this his first Broadway Musical is awesome. Summary: Almost 2 hours of "Chorus Line" rehearsals. The dedication & talent of these dancers is amazing. You must see this outstanding movie. I guarantee you'll buy this movie to watch over & over. This new re-released DVD is what movies are all about. Extra Featrures unclude: Marvin's Hamlisch: Broadway to Hollywood Featurette (very inspirational & informative) and Original Theatrical Trailer. Enjoy.
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