The Sound of Music (Five Star Collection)

Rating:
Summary: Film is 39 going on 40 and still one of my favorite things!
Review: Mini Review of one of my top 10 favorite films of all time.

My wife recently advised me that she had not been aware that "The Sound of Music" was a successful Broadway musical prior to it's film version. What was especially startling about that admission was she had seen it performed on the London stage in the early 1990's. She just figured that the producers had adapted it for the stage rather than vice versa.

I believe my wife's mistake is ultimately a tribute to one of the movie's enduring qualities: It takes a stage musical and doesn't make it look staged. The pictorial majesty of the Austrian Alps that opens the film certainly lends itself to that effect.

The Sound of music is excellent family entertainment. It has romance, comedy, and International intrigue, lavish musical numbers, cute kids and excellent chemistry between the two leads. Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews give the finest performances of their careers and play off each other extremely well. The part the children play in the movie is well balanced. The story does not get bogged down in their antics nor does it diminish their importance.

Unlike many Broadway musicals adapted for the screen, the sound of music is not too long. Weighing in at almost 3 hours it is long, but it does not feel long. No scene seems redundant or any way unnecessary. I think the fact that the film does not seem like a stage adaptation is one of the reasons why it does not drag. The Do Re Mi sequence for instance, changes locations as the song continues showing Maria and the children gallivanting through Salzburg. If the entire song took place in one setting it's length could grate on the viewer.

The Sound of Music also has done an excellent job of hiding its age. This is helped in part by the fact that the film takes place 25 years prior to it's filming, so in many senses it never felt modern or contemporary and as a result does not feel dated to the viewer.

For these reasons and many more, The Sound of Music continues to be one of my favorite things to watch.









Rating:
Summary: Ultimately Sad and Adult
Review: For all that's been written about the schmaltz, this film tackles a theme too often ignored in American movies. This is a film about losing, and no matter how much dancing and singing precedes it, everyone in the film is facing loss. The Baroness lost her dream match, Von Trapp loses his country, Leisl loses her first love, and who knows what horrors awaited Max and the nuns after the credits faded. Maybe you have to be older to sense this theme, but once you realize it is there, the film becomes more rich and compelling.

Rating:
Summary: A delight from beginning to end - an all-time classic!
Review: Is there anybody who hasn't seen this great movie at least once? It was adapted for the screen from the hit Broadway musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein. Some call it sappy, but there's no denying it's a great feel-good movie, and it remains one of the highest grossing films of all time.

Julie Andrews shines in the lead role, matched by Christopher Plummer and a first-rate supporting cast.

The many great songs have become standards. If you've never seen it, (and it's hard to believe anybody hasn't,) you owe it to yourself. It's one of the great classic films of all time.


Rating:
Summary: A classic for the whole family!!
Review: One of the only innocent movies left to see.