Rating: 
Summary: Birdie Num Num
Review: I am a "Bye Bye Birdie" convert. I never thought I'd watch this movie. I figured it was campy schlock, something I couldn't possibly enjoy. My boyfriend loves "Bye Bye Birdie," though, so I bought this DVD for him and *gasp* agreed to watch it with him one afternoon. I was bracing myself for a cheesy, white, Christian, Republican, Lawrence Welk house of horrors, but 10 minutes into it, I discovered that I was completely wrong. It's a hilarious time capsule of 1960's middle-class America. The story is adorable, as is Ann-Margret. The songs are fun and extremely catchy. The entire cast is excellent, the score is great, and the dance numbers rock. I only wish the DVD had more extras, hence the subtraction of a star. Despite the lack of extra goodies, I'll be watching this one a lot with my boyfriend and anyone else I can convince to watch it.
Rating: 
Summary: Satire, Sex, The Cold War...And Rock & Roll!
Review: This movie is an excellent time-capsule for the end of the late '50's/early'60's rock n' roll era. (It came out in 1963, just a few months before the Beatles hit our shores & changed everything forever.) It's got everything: An Elvis-like rock n' roll sex-machine on a motorcycle, check! Cold War political satire, check! A spoof of middle-class American values, check! Young, gorgeous Ann-Marget, check & check again! I was born too late to experience this time period & I haven't actually seen the Broadway original from 1960 with Chita Rivera in the Janet Leigh role. But this movie is a fast-paced, witty musical-comedy. I know the 1995 version sticks closer to the original story, but I think that version plays too much into the whole "nostalgia"-thing....an element that was NOT a part of any show actually made back then. That version was also slow & not very funny. This version is great! A lot has been said about the music, but the comedy hasn't got much attention. The humor manages to be suggestive without being vulgar. It's kind of like reading an old issue of MAD Magazine, but this is acted out! If you want laughs every second, great songs & great dancing, as well as a humorous glimpse as to what American attitudes were like back then, then this 1963 version is for you! It's "Honestly Sincere!"
Rating: 
Summary: good movie but...
Review: the movie bye bye birdie is a good movie let me just say that . it is funny and charming and all that the big problem i have(juding from the reviews i read im not alone) is thta it is not very fathfull to the oriningal play. for example the play has albert as an english teacher in the movie they made him a bio chemist? and wheres one of the best songs fine upstandi8ng americian boy?, ed sullivan not in the show but in te movie there he is i can go on and on but im recomeding the movie because it is good light fun but oif you want to see the diffrence get the jason alexander-vanessa williams version that version is almost fathfull to a fault
Rating:
Summary: this is my favorite movie
Review: this is my favorite movie of all time. i love the music. even the intro and ending with ann margret are awsome!!! the movie is so funny, the overly ed sullivan obsessive family has a sex idol staying at their house. then theres the perfect blue collar boyfriend with a bad hair cut i must say, that is soo jelous of conrad because he thinks kim likes conrad more then him. of course she doesn't its a movie but a boy can dream can't he? alberts mother is hilarious, no one could have been more perfect for the part same goes for kim's father.
i refuse to see the new version because i think the old one is so great that it would totally ruin the movie altogether. i think everyone should go out and rent it.
Rating:
Summary: Even my kids love it!
Review: I originally bought this movie because our school was going to put on the musical production of "Bye Bye Birdie".
As it turns out the play and the movie are quite different but each ever so enjoyable in their own way. We saw the movie first than the play and it all tied together so well whereas if you have just seen the play it seems to leave questions unanswered and doesn't seem to be "complete".
My family absolutely loves the movie! This movie is honestly my 5 year old little girl's favorite and she knows all of the words to the songs. On the other hand my mother thought it was a blah movie with lame acting--which I did as well when I first saw it.
I think that what changed my mind and why I now truly enjoy the movie now is the songs. There are songs in this movie I have heard all my life such as "Put on a Happy Face" but had no idea where they originated and they do compliment the movie perfectly. I do enjoy the acting of Ann Margaret, Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh and the rest of the actors as there are some true greats in this movie which make it worth watching just on that merit alone.
The entire movie is filled with humor, great songs, and well it is just plain wholesome fun! I love the movies from the 50's and 60's and "Bye Bye Birdie" is the epitome of what the era was reminiscent of.
It's definately worth seeing-maybe you'll love it or maybe you'll hate it but you'll never know if you don't try!
Rating: 
Summary: Why Mess With Success?
Review: BYE, BYE BIRDIE is, flat out, one of the funniest musicals to ever appear on Broadway. The script, by Michael Stewart, is a bright farce with plenty of amusing pokes at Elvis Presley, child/parent relations, and the omnipresence of Ed Sullivan. Most of that goes down the drain in this muddled film adaptation. Fortunately, the film retains two members of the original Broadway cast, Dick Van Dyke and Paul Lynde, and at least some of the songs. But where are Chita Rivera and Dick Gautier, where are such songs as "Healthy, Normal American Boy?" Who thought of that awful gag involving the Russian ballet dancers on speed? And why didn't anyone realize the extraordinary opportunities for split-screen effects offered by "The Telephone Hour?" (Gower Champion did, and he was directing it on stage!) Still, the movie has Ann-Margaret as Kim McAfee, and anyone who has suffered through Susan Watson's singing on the original cast album realizes that, at least in this, the film audience was luckier . . .
Rating:
Summary: Frothy Musical Fun from a Simpler America
Review: Bye Bye Birdie is a delicious slice of musical Americana from a seemingly far less complicated era - the early 1960's. Based on a hit Broadway musical, the story concerns the national upheaval occasioned by the drafting into the army of an Elvis-Presley type rock and roll star, Conrad Birdie. The film is a good-natured parody of rock and roll, publicity gimmicks, live television, the generation gap, and the teenage culture of the 1950's. This is the movie that made Ann Margret a star, and it does so quite brilliantly. The stage show was completely rewritten to showcase her in the comely role of Kim McAfee, the lucky Ohio teenager who gets to bestow a symbolic farewell kiss on Conrad Birdie as he departs for the service. Paul Lynde, (later familiar to TV audiences from his long, humorous reign in the Center Square on The Hollywood Squares) repeats his Broadway role as Kim's exasperated father and gets to immortalize his lament in the hilarious song "Kids"! Dick Van Dyke also reprises his Broadway role, charmingly paired with the versatile, often underrated, Janet Leigh. The film is colorful and cinematically innovative, the tuneful score well delivered by an able cast including teenie bopper idol Bobby Rydell. All in all, fun for the whole family, and viewed today, an enjoyable "period piece". (Incidentally, Conrad Birdie, for all his resemblance to Elvis Presley, seems to have been more closely modeled on the one-time rock and roller Conway Twitty, who later became a popular Country star). They don't make 'em like this anymore! No-strings cinematic fun! END
Rating:
Summary: Pretty lame
Review: I notice that most people did not find the review from "moviesmusic" to be helpful, but in retrospect -- it was the most useful review there (had I only read it BEFORE purchasing this DVD). I love a good musical but I really found this one to be lame. Other than "Put on a Happy Face" and maybe "Kids" -- the songs were nothing special (or worse). I was amazed to see moviemusic's version of the Conrad Birdie song about being sincere because I too found that to be one of the most shockingly awful parts of the movie -- and "moviemusic" reviewer is not lying about the lyrics! It's not the worst movie I ever saw and obviously some people like it but there are so many far better musicals out there and I found this one to be bad enough that I consider it a waste of money and time. I admit that I think my 4-year old girl might like it -- but she would probably like anything with music and colors -- however lame. My 13-year old son enjoyed watching the "I'm sincere" song with me and we (along with my husband) had a good laugh about how AWFUL it was! So, in that respect, the movie delivered some laughs. If you love Ann-Margret I say get "Viva Las Vegas" instead and don't watch an "Elvis-like" character -- watch the real thing. The energy between Margret and Presley and their dance numbers in that movie are great -- and while that movie is a little corny too, I thoroughly enjoyed it (unlike Bye Bye Birdie). Just to help you know my taste in musicals so you can see whether we are on the same page and whether you should heed my review -- Some musicals I have liked: The King and I; Camelot; Oklahoma; Tammy and the Bachelor; Sound of Music; Mary Poppins; Singin' in the Rain; White Christmas; An American in Paris; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Some Like it Hot; Jail House Rock (and several other Elvis musicals); My Fair Lady; All that Jazz; and more recently "Chicago." I did not particularly like "Damn Yankees" but didn't dislike it as much as Bye Bye Birdie. OK, well maybe you won't find this review useful either but at least I will have offered support to my apparent soulmate!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty boring
Review: I bought this movie because I generally like Dick van Dyke & I like the song "Put On A Happy Face"--but what a waste of money! Outside of that song, this musical has some of the most inane songs I've ever heard. With lyrics something like, "I'm sincere, so sincere, sincerely sincere. You know I'm sincere, and by the way I'm sincere..." (Seriously! Although I didn't quote the song exactly, that's pretty much the just of it.) And the music is just as incompetent. Granted, it was partially to satirize the whole "teen idol" insanity of the time, but it just wasn't funny. This movie is a pretty mind-numbing experience that requires no thought & no taste in music.
Rating:
Summary: How could you not like this movie!?!
Review: "Bye Bye Birdie" is a classic and refreshing fun movie for all ages. I am only a 14 year old male, but I have amazing respect and love for this movie. Most of you knocking the movie are probally teens also, and probally have just seen the movie recently. I was in LOVE with this movie when i was about 5 years old all the way untill now! The movie was my absolute favorite when I was very young, I can't remember how was introduced to the movie, but I was crazy over it, and my parent's bought me the laserdisk, and just this Christmas they got me the DVD! The movie is such a fabolous fun movie. I remember how much I loved the intro to this movie, with Ann-Margret singing the amazing title track "Bye Bye Birdie". I was always amazed with her Intro and Outro of this movie. I understand the movie is different from the play, and I know thats why most of you don't like the movie. I am also very big into drama and theather, but I have yet to be in a production or seen a production of "Bye Bye Birdie". A local High School around here is doing "Bye Bye Birdie" this spring, which I will love to see. My High school is putting on "The King And I" this spring, which is going to be fabolous, I will be in it. But back to "Bye Bye Birdie"....I feel this movie is just so refreshing, when I am in a bad mood, this movie can definetly make me feel better, the songs are fun and happy, the acting is also great. Ann-Margret's performance was just absolutely outstanding, and Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, and Maureen Stapleton were also fabolous. If I ever have a chance to be in a production of "Bye Bye Birdie", my dream role would be Albert, Dick Van Dyke's part, I would love to play that part. So, I just wanted to say, I am sick of seeing so many people knock this wonderful movie, and I know some of you are probally around my age, and just recently saw it. Like I said before, I have so much respect for this movie, because I've loved it since i was so young, And I know some of you might be shocked, because I am so young, and was not even alive in 1963, and I love this movie so much. The DVD is great, and has some great features, So I suggest you check it out!
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