Tommy

Rating:
Summary: "Tommy!" Can you hear me?!! This is a GREAT movie!
Review: In my honest opinion this is either a love/hate movie like the movie Natural Born Killers. (i'm not comparing Tommy to NBK in a movie sense) If you love art, music, uniqueness, style, then you'll love "Tommy." Being a rock-opera it took me by surprise that there was no lyrics. But that MAKES Tommy. It makes it the best rock-opera out there and one of my all time favorite movies.
Pete Townshend of The Who's lyrics are certainly amazing. You must buy the "Tommy" album (different then the soundtrack since The Who sing on the album and various artists on the soundtrack with added songs) if you haven't already. You get sucked in "Tommy's" world and "sees" things from his point of view and others. its hard to explain but once you listen to it, you'll love it. Like Cameron Crowe wrote about the album "Tommy" for the movie "Almost Famous":

"Listen to 'Tommy' with a candle burning
and you will see your entire future..."

Roger daltrey as Tommy in the movie was brillant as the deaf, dumb blind boy. Plus the fact that he's very attractive (and he's curly hair, really makes Tommy) adds to his character. He really played a very convincing blind man. One of my all time favorite moments of the movie is when he sings "Free Me." I won't tell you why (it might give some info away) but it will really move you (hopefully). All the songs he sings are wonderful lyrically and musically, and he sings them beautifully. Highlights of Roger's include: "Welcome", and off course, "See Me, Feel Me/Listening to you."
Tina Turner off course is a marvelous singer and though her facial expressions can be "out there" at times she still is perfect as the Acid Queen (David Bowie would have been great too!)
Many people either love or really hate Ann-Margaret, Jack Nicholson and Oliver Reed sing. Ann-Margaret is a really good singer though sometimes she sings way too overpowering!! and to high! You get past that with her oscar nominated performance and overall good singing. Jack Nicholson: yes, i must admit he is not a singer. Sure he sings flat at times but its really great to see him try to sing. Its enjoyable and i believe plesant to hear him sing. Plus off course as an actor he is brillant (one of my FAVORITE scenes in "Tommy" is when Oliver reed's character offers Jack's character a cigar and Jack does the best face mouthing "no." I really like Oliver Reed's voice for some reason. I could see how you could think he was a bad singer because like Jack he can be flat (not that i'm a musican-i believe musicans should only really make a bad opinion on someone singing because they can be tech. about it)at times. But he is a great actor and he can sing (just not as well as roger lets say) but he is good and enjoyable to listen too.
My favorite scene is Elton John as the pinball wizard with very, very high shoes on! Plus he sings the best song in the movie: Pinball Wizard. The rest of the cast is also wonderful and people play there characters sooo well.
Roger daltrey, the who, tina turner, elton john, eric clapton, ann-margaret, jack nichlson....all these famous people in ONE movie-where they all sing! What's not to love?!

Rating:
Summary: The Amazing Journey
Review: Beautifully filmed, unique conception, brilliant use of symbolism, and over the top performances. The only true downside to this is the certain slumps in the story that I feel the Broadway show improved on. Primarily, the fact that the ending in the movie differs from the play same as the "You didn't Hear it, You didn't see it scene." But I refuse to make comparisons. So. What I'll say is that Ann-Margret's voice fit this musical like a glove. Oliver Reed was purely sinister and just as scary as he was in "Oliver!" Tina Turner's "Acid Queen" Is truly a milestone and Elton John was hilarious as Pinball Wizard. Daltrey had an interesting touch with the Title role. And the orchestrations were great. I just bought this one a few days ago and I've watched it 6 times already. This is definitely a good buy. Don't believe me? Then watch strictly for the sake of watching AND listening to Jack Nicholson try to sing (It's just as funny as Marlon Brando flat singing voice in Guys and Dolls.) But if you're a devoted "Who" fan, or a musical lover I recommend this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Missing the point
Review: Actually, when I first saw Tommy in the theatre (I was a bit of an Elton John freak), I didn't know what to make of it, either. I thought it was just an abstract, heavily symbolic film. Later, I learned that it was a SATIRE on the abstract, heavily symbolic films of its time. When you've got someone like Ken Russell directing it, you know it's going to be rather far-out. And that was the whole idea.
This is easily the most whacked-out movie I have ever seen. It's also one of my favorites. If you watch it with a sense of humor, it's a lot more enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: The Who's "Tommy" Rocks!
Review: Ken Russell's brilliant, kaleidoscopic screen adaptation of The Who's rock opera Tommy. Roger Daltrey is Tommy, Ann Margret plays his tortured mother, Oliver Reed as her seedy lover, Jack Nicholson (singing!) is the Doctor, Tina Turner vamps it up as The Acid Queen, Elton John (a camp) Pinball Wizard, Eric Clapton as the Preacher....what a stellar cast alone! The music is timeless, the visuals (still as powerful now as in the 70s) are mind-blowing.... especially the now classic chocolate and baked beans scene. Turn down the lights, crank up the surround sound and be pleasantly blown away by one of the great movie musicals of the 70s. Enjoy the trip!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Journey
Review: If you have any interest in this besides a casual one, please listen to the Tommy album before seeing this movie.
Seeing the movie first ruins the beauty and subtlety of the album, because Townshend was forced to work out all the details of the story and change things about when switching mediums.

Anyway, that being said, I truly loved this film. Let people say it was a sell out (which it was not) I dont care I still think Ken Russell did a brilliant job with it. People get too bogged down comparing it to the album. They aren't comparable, in my opinion, so there's no use trying.

The film at times can be a bit strange (Roger running wildly over various backgrounds, Ann-Margaret 'zinging' Roger with her hair and dancing, assumedly to cure his blindness) but you have to keep the time period and notoriously quirky director in mind. Try not to expect anything when going into the film, and please try not to overanalyze it or you'll miss the unique and brilliant nature of the performances and work as a whole. All involved (sans Nicholson's singing debut) do an amazing job. Daltrey does Tommy suprisingly well, he was perfect for the role, and his major songs in the film (I'm Free, See me/Feel me) are just amazing.
While I admit a blind love for anything Who-related, I still think this movie is another show of Townshend's ability to succesfully combine art and popular media. And most of all I think it's an enjoyable film.
If you aren't familiar with the brilliance of The Who, it's worth looking at just for the stellar musical performances of Turner, Clapton, and Elton John.

Rating:
Summary: more entertaining than floyds the wall
Review: Great performances by Eric Clapton {eyesight to the blind) and Tina Turner (acid queen),also watch for a lame attempt at singing by the great jack nicholson.

Rating:
Summary: Dude this movie's a riot
Review: When I first saw this movie I was really like "WTF?" This was because I had seen the movie right after I'd seen a pretty good performance of it in the Birkshires (MA). However, when I was watching parts of it a few nights ago I had never had such a good laugh. There's nothing better than watching Roger Daltrey jog in place, lip synch pretty badly to "Freedom", and be super imposed against background movies including a reacting volcano and a tidal wave!

Rating:
Summary: Good and Bad
Review: Tommy has some good and bad qualities in it.....Roger Daultry, Tina Turner, Kieth Moon, and ESPECIALLY Elton John offered wonderful musical performances. However, Ann-Margaret and Oliver Reed were so bad and have no talent. Both of those casting decisions were dreadful...The music was great. Pete Townshend's re-recording of "Amazing Journey" is fantastic. "Pinball Wizard" sung by Elton John is the highlight of the movie. You should watch this movie just to see him. He steals the movie and it would be empty without Elton. The visuals are confusing and you become even more confused trying to make sense out of it. Director Ken Russell was probably under the influence of drugs during the entire production. I give the movie 3 stars ONE for Elton John and ONE for Roger Daultry and ONE for the soundtrack...You have to be a cult follower of Tommy to give it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: A bizarre and wonderful film
Review: Tommy is easily the most disturbing movie I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of disturbing movies. It chronicles Tommy's life from birth to the death of his father to his traumatic adolescence and spirtual entry into adulthood. The scene where Tommy endures sexual abuse (at the hands of Keith Moon, no less) is a particularly unsettling one. While the cause of him being "deaf, dumb, and blind" is never really explained, along with other unanswered questions, Tommy is definitely a work of art.

The cameos by Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson are brilliantly done. Ann-Margaret, whom I had previously dismissed as just another singing piece of eye candy, shows incredible acting skill as Tommy's mother. The only flaws in the film (besides Tommy's miraculous change from a brown-eyed boy to blue-eyed Roger Daltrey) are the ambiguity between symbolism and reality, which can make the story hard to follow, and the last quarter of the movie, in which Tommy becomes a Christ-like figure of worship. The movie really should have ended with Tommy's final realization of himself, at least in my opinion. However, a child rock star in this sequence eerily resembles Marilyn Manson circa 1996, which should entertain music fans.

Keep in mind, though, that just because this movie is rated PG does not mean it is suitable for children.

Rating:
Summary: Well, it wasn't horrible.
Review: Having seen this movie a long time ago and remembering how weird it was, I have since familiarized myself with the Who's original album, the Broadway cast recording, and the Who's performance of the rock opera on the CD "Live at Leeds." The material is brilliant, but this isn't the best presentation.

The movie is structured like a 2-hour music video, which seems to be a good enough way to present the film, considering there shouldn't be any dialogue and the plot is presented well enough in this structure. The Acid Queen scene in itself is perhaps one of the most unique scenes I've yet seen in film, with the queen and her two blonde assistants taking Tommy captive in a large robot-like contraption with many needles sticking into it.Perhaps the worst scene in the movie is a song called "Champagne" in which Ann-Margaret basically rolls around in a white room in a fur coat amongst baked beans, mud, and broken glass.

The acting and singing is also mixed. I've heard many complaints about Oliver Reed as "The Lover" and I must say, he can't sing at all and it puzzles me why they would choose him for the role. Ann-Margaret, on the other hand, has a really nice voice. Roger Daltrey and Elton John also do well in their roles, as does Tina Turner. Some of the worst performances came from Eric Clapton as the Preacher, who, besides playing mean guitar has no voice to speak of, and from Jack Nicholson, who doesn't even offer up any acting chops.

The music is generally good besides the parts where the actors are messing it up, and the dubbing is only so-so, as the actors sometimes aren't quite in synch with the recordings.

For me, the best feature of this movie is the fact that it gives the material Tommy a visualization where symbols can be reinforced and plotlines can be at least partially clarified. Also puzzling, however, is the fact that, in ths movie, it is the Lover who lives after the standoff when, in every other version of Tommy, it is Tommy's father. This provides much less emotional development on the part of Tommy's parents.

Really, I'd recommend you get the Who's original concept album first and familiarize yourself with it first. If you're thinking "Oh! Tommy...it's a rock opera and I want to try it," I wouldn't or else this will ruin your perception forever. This film doesn't do the album justice, though it does manage to mildly entertain. The best part is the end of the movie, when the Who take the forefront singing more narrative songs and the newly enlightened Tommy gets his share of film time. When the Who take the forefront, the film is lifted out of the baked beans.