Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps The Most Catchy Songs Ever
Review: I just love the songs in this movie. The cast did a wonderful job belting out the tunes. We watched this movie in drama class once and the next day everybody was still humming the songs. They are very hard to get out of your head! The acting was pretty good. Some of it is undeniably corny however. Also, Natalie Wood isn't too pleasing to look at in this movie. On the bright side, this a classic musical captured on film. A fun one for the whole family. You won't be able to stop thinking about it!
Rating: 
Summary: Another classic to add to your collection...
Review: Whether you like musicals or not, this is an amazing DVD to add to your collection. The picture and sound quality seems really good, and watching the dance scenes in letterbox really add to the film as a whole. Personally the dancing fight scenes are kind of cheesey, but that's why I like it... This movie is guaranteed to put a smile on your face (because you're either loving the music, studying the imagery and visual metaphors, or laughing at the cheesey gang members frolicking around each other in very tight pants).
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: I first saw this movie in my English class after we finished reading "Romeo and Juliet". My first thought was "Oh, great, this is gonna be so stupid!" But after the first scene, it completely captured me. Natalie Wood was definitely the best choice for Maria. Her performance in "I Feel Pretty" is stunning. Richard Beymer's performance as Tony is truely heartbreaking, especially in his dying scene. The music is far better than any other musical movie. My favorite songs are "Maria", "Tonight", and "Somewhere". I was on the verge of bursting into tears in the last scene where Maria sings part of "Somewhere" as Tony dies in her arms. This movie is truly a masterpiece that will last for generations to come. "West Side Story" will definitely capture your heart as it did mine.
Rating:
Summary: Broadway's only musical tragedy hits the screen
Review: We all remember from our high school Shakespeare lessons that The Bard's work was divided into two categories--comedy and tragedy. The closest the stage has ever come to dealing with tragedy is certain operas. But when it comes to Broadway, everything's comedy except this one. Gotta keep it light, right? The noir stuff's for the artsy-fartsy types, don'tcha know? The fact that it made it to the screen is a testament to the fact that the only time "musical tragedy" was ever done, it was done right. All of Bernstein's superb sound made the trip intact--Gershwin: The Next Generation. The hypnotic 12/8 Latin rhythms of the sardonic "America". The...well, cool jazz sound...of "Cool" (even though that number appears here after Riff's death in the gang rumble, instead of sung by Riff as a pep talk before the dance at the gym the way it appeared in the stage production). The grief-stricken duet of "A Boy Like That/ I Have a Love". The social commentary of "Gee Officer Krupke", a "distant early warning" of the effect the social work/ psychotherapeutic approach to criminal justice was later to have on the whole apparatus of law and order. One thing I find ironic, though--the way the social mores of the mid-20th century dictated a change in the lyrics of Anita's section of "Quintet". The stage version had this couplet; "He'll come in hot and tired, so what? Don't matter if he's tired, as long as he's hot" absolutely haa-aa-ad to be redone: "He'll come in hot and tired, poor dear. Don't matter if he's tired, as long as he's here". Not to mention Schrank's threat to "beat the crud" out of the Jets. In the stage version, the original threat was "beat the crap". Otherwise this flick might have copped an R rating. Or did they have those in the early-1960s--I forget. Anyway, the year this film hit the Oscars, it copped just about everything. But most of all, it even had influence on other entertainment--a year or so later, the short-lived "Danny Kaye Show" variety series had a sketch called "Horse Hide Story". This sketch choreographed hitting and fielding activity in the manner of this film's "Prologue" scene, to the tune of "Take Me Out To the Ballgame", that number played like it would sound if Bernstein had written it. At one point, a runner is called out at the plate by the umpire, who lifts his mask--it's Kaye. So the runner's teammates shout; "Kill the umpire!", and that bench clears as they advance on Kaye, finger-snapping in rhythm, one pulling a switchblade on him. Although only viewers of Kaye's series saw this sketch, it was more of a statement of this film's audience appeal than its Oscars sweep ever was. Nowadays there would probably have been a Mitsubishi commercial with the Jets and Sharks dancing around a Montero. That's one way you know you've made a smash hit--when it overlaps onto everything in sight.
Rating:
Summary: A True Classic
Review: West Side Story is probably one of the greatest musicals of all time. And as far as musicals-turned-movies go, this is one of the best examples of it. The choreography is amazing--and even though the idea of a dancing street gang is normally completely unbelieveable, we believe it in the musical setting. Bernstein's music and Sondheim's lyrics created a masterpiece in West Side Story.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie is Great
Review: This movie is so great. It really shows how bad recism is. The music is great, and so are the dances. Even though its really sad you can't help loving it. Usually love stories can get boring, but not this. In the end you'll never expect what happens. It catches you by complete surprise. If your the kind person who loves music and dance you'll love this. Natalie Wood,George Chakiris, Rita Moreno,the person who plays Tony (Anton), and the person who plays Riff are GREAT. Everyone else is great too!This movie is one of the best ever!!!!! I give it 2 thumbs up!!!
Rating:
Summary: American Classic, Jazz Opera
Review: My sister, Carol, listened to the LP so often in the early 60's that I thought I could get through my entire life without ever hearing it again. But Bernstein riffs have POWER, and West Side Story captured the American experience. The presentation on film (now on video and DVD) is in a category of it's own. There is nothing else quite like it. I just bought an Apex 1500 DVD from Amazon (they came through like champs, and delivered it short order) It surprises as I go through the choices of all of film history to view on my new hi-tech gizmo. So far, the Blues Brothers 2000 (another American Classic) and now "West Side Story".... fantastic. What a solid piece of entertainment. Very much like an opera. But and AMERICAN opera. Captures the 50's 60's feeling very very well.
Enjoy it, if I could guarantee it I would... but chances are if you lived through the entire sixties you will identify with this classic piece of art history. Thanks Carol, thanks for the memories that reconnect me to my Pennsylvania roots and time gone by. Bernstein's brilliance is so obvious in West Side Story. See it, and hear it again you won't regret it. And just
in case your up for a double feature, you can't go wrong with "Blues Brothers 2000" it's no opera, it's pure R&B fun.
Rating:
Summary: Tonight, tonight, the world is full of light...
Review: This was a great movie! Though some old musicals are just not for me, West Side Story hooked me from the very beginning. I loved the music, and the sight of "tough" gang members ballet dancing nearly did me in, it was so funny. And maybe it's just because I've read "Romeo and Juliet" one too many times, but I loved Tony and Maria's relationship. My favorite scene is their conversation in the wedding shop...so sweet! And last but not least, this movie really did have a message about different cultures and walks of life. This ranks right up there with "Fiddler on the Roof" for portraying social consciousness in the world. One of my favorite musicals of all time!
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: This is a case of the whole being less than the sum of the parts. This movie has great music and is visually stunning, but this cannot detract from the flaws in this movie. From a story standpoint, this is Romeo and Juliet of course, but this is not the classic that the Shakespearean original was. The prinicipal characters, Tony and Maria, are actually in less than half the movie, and the remaining characters are pretty weak. As nice as the movie looks, there is a certain silliness in the dance numbers considering the tragic storyline. This gives the movie an artificial quality. I enjoy a good musical and can see why something like "Sound of Music" can win best picture. On the other hand, for this movie to win (and for Rita Moreno to win with her limited role as Anita) shows that this must have come out in a weak year for movies.
Rating:
Summary: Beware reviewers of films who spell "role" with two L's
Review: There are few films, musicals or otherwise, which make me actually hold my breath with excitement. But the incredible coreography and stunningly sharp music here (American classics, by the way) simply make me feel joy. There are flaws with every film, to be sure, but "West Side Story", should one lose themselves in the piece entire, pleases from start to aching finish. The finely crafted songs, a whispering effort by Natalie Wood, the unique cinematography (for its age) - there are many highlights that pass unnoticed that I always seem to pick up on each time I see it again. As for the whole "dated for its time" critique, I have seldom seen a more morose and irrelevant attempt at deconstruction of American cinema by mere amateurs than the one or two cranks that can't make it through a film without stacking it up against more modern eyesores of "real musical drama". I mean, we're talking about a movie that was out before the Beatles, back in a time when Gene Pitney was crooning and Brando was still crawling underground, between beat poets and the end of Brylcreem, that fantastic early 1960's era before the dam broke, before every shred of American life had been irreversibly changed. And if you ask me, it's that mysterious freedom, that fleeting feeling of endless youth that so affects me about this movie. A true classic.
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