Rating: 
Summary: Really so much better...
Review: ...than 'The Birdcage' that if you came here looking to see if someone would tell you straight...someone just did.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film - poor DVD transfer
Review: A much funnier film than the leaden, limp American remake "The Birdcage" but the DVD can only be considered a disappointment. Some of the complaints above come from the film itself: the original film was shot through a great deal of diffusion leaving a very, very soft image and almost all the dialogue was post-dubbed, even in the original French prints. Ugo Tognazzi is evidently speaking his lines in Italian and is dubbed in French by another actor. Given that, there are problems introduced on the DVD. The sound on the French language track is awful with background noises like footsteps and door closings loud and phasing in and out. This problem is not present on the secondary choice of the English-dubbed track and forces one to choose it just to watch the film without distractions. Reel changes are also dirty and occassionaly choppy and, despite the lack of extras (only the theatrical trailer and the English track), it is not 16 X 9 enhanced. A pity as this grand and lovely farce should be seen in top condition by anyone who loves great comedy.
Rating:
Summary: The Original And Best
Review: Although The Birdcage (Robin Williams, Nathan Lane) was a likeable and entertaining movie, noting can beat the general sense of fun and style generated in the 1979 French original. Ugo Tognazzi stars as Renato Baldi, the hapless owner of the 'La Cage Aux Folles' nightclub, a dinner-theatre with Drag acts as the stars. Henpecked by the biggest star of all, the fabulous and temperemental Zsa Zsa (Michel Serrault), he attempts one of the biggest performances of his life when he hears his son Laurent is engaged to marry the daughter of Charrier, an ultra right-wing politician. He tries to create a loving, heterosexual family environment to garner the Charrier's approval, and his subsequent and spectacular failure makes for one of the funniest comedies of the 1970's.What's interesting about this movie is that even though it centres on a gay couple running a drag club, there is very little emphasis placed on the drag acts themselves... Zsa Zsa does not perform any long, unnessecary musical numbers. Instead, director Edouard Molinaro focuses on the storyline, and it's here that the movie excels. Strong performances from Tognazzi (Renato), Michel Galabru (M. Charrier), Carmen Scarpita (Charrier's long-suffering wife) and particularly Serrault as the devastatingly annoying Albin drive this movie forward, and the produciton is full of vintage 1970's touches. The score (by Ennino Morricone) is wonderful, and the dramatic strings and 70's-style synthesisers impersonationg 30's-style orchestras create a perfect comedy atmosphere. The fact that this is a french film, too, lends much to the final piece. The sibilant and rapid speech give Zsa Zsa's tantrums wonderful resonance, and Charrier's moralising takes on a whole new level of seriousness. He's more Gene Hackman than Gene Hackman himself. This is a thoroughly recommended movie, even though the DVD quality is not the best (but still fine) and the extras aren't worth mentioning. Get it!
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Funniest Movies EVER Released - SIX STARS!
Review: American audiences tend to resist foreign films for some good reasons. Sure, its tough to keep up with subtitles at times, and yes, sometimes the translations are lacking the depth the filmaker intends to convey. But this is a film that can and should be enshrined in the Movie Hall of Fame as one of the funniest, most endearing films ever released. Audiences who are willing to put up with subtitles will quickly find themselves hysterical and at last, on DVD, "La Cage Aux Folles" deserves to find a new audience, a new generation that appreciates broad humor, with a few good lessons thrown in. Americans are familiar with the story, since "La Cage" was turned into a successful Broadway show and then a huge money-making comedy "The Birdcage" featuring Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles (not to mention a young Calista Flockhart of "Ally McBeal" fame and Dan Futterman who is brilliant in "Urbania.") But "The Birdcage" as funny as it can be, fades by comparison to the original, with star making performances by Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as the leading cross dressing couple of the French Riviera. Where "The Birdcage" allows for broad humor that both confronts and appeases the typical homophobic US audience, "La Cage" offers no apologies, and rests on its own merits as a farce without limits. When Tognazzi teaches Serrault how to "walk like John Wayne" you quickly forget the language barrier, and give up on Robin William's own attempts to educate the shrill Lane in the English version. Somehow, the fact that these characters are French adds a dimension of humanity that is lacking in the "Birdcage." Even the setting on the French Riviera (versus the buff and tough South Beach in the American version) adds to the three dimensional aspects of the characters. There is a sleazy-humor at work here that has been toned down tremendously for the American version, and that can only be captured by a cast that is uniformly superb, endearing, and wonderful. Oscar nominated for its leading performer, Tognazzi, as well as its superb direction, THIS is one of the funniset movies ever made in ANY language. If you love Robin WIlliams movies, and enjoy laughing, BUY THIS FILM - you will be more than glad you did, and you'll find yourself literally hitting the pause button in order to GAWFAW your way through it. If there were SIX stars for movies, "La Cage Aux Folles" would warrant six-and-a-half!
Rating:
Summary: Great Comedy, disappointing DVD
Review: Anyone who has seen "The Bird Cage" knows the basic premise of the story. "La Cage Aux Folles" is THE original item, and to this day still remains as funny as ever. I found the similarity between the two movies very interesting. Many of the lines and gags are verbatim. Michel Serrault's facial expressions and shrieks alone will crack you up. The DVD gives the viewer several language and subtitle choices. I enjoyed watching it in the original French with English subtitles, although you can of course view it in dubbed English. I found the DVD disappointing due to a fuzzy picture, poor sound, and a lack of extras. If you can live with these shortcomings, then by all means buy this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Great Comedy, disappointing DVD
Review: Anyone who has seen "The Bird Cage" knows the basic premise of the story. "La Cage Aux Folles" is THE original item, and to this day still remains as funny as ever. I found the similarity between the two movies very interesting. Many of the lines and gags are verbatim. Michel Serrault's facial expressions and shrieks alone will crack you up. The DVD gives the viewer several language and subtitle choices. I enjoyed watching it in the original French with English subtitles, although you can of course view it in dubbed English. I found the DVD disappointing due to a fuzzy picture, poor sound, and a lack of extras. If you can live with these shortcomings, then by all means buy this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: La Cage Aux Folles
Review: Do yourself a favor - BUY THIS VERSION. AND PLEASE TREAT YOURSELF LIKE A KING - buy the La Cage Aux Folles II. The BIRDCAGE was like seeing a bad high school program. Of course if you are nuts over Robin Williams - what can I say - but he is just a minor player when it comes to the original European Cast. Nathan Lane could also use a lesson on being a gay man being a gay woman (even if he admits he is gay - he falls short). The second La Cage Aux Folles II will crack you up. I swear you will laugh until tears keep you from seeing the adventures they encounter in Italy. You have no joy in you if you don't love ZaZa's transformation as she becomes the dream of a man who falls for her hook line and sinker. Enjoy the ride with those lovely men. What a LOVE STORY!!!!
Rating:
Summary: La Cage Aux Folles
Review: Do yourself a favor - BUY THIS VERSION. AND PLEASE TREAT YOURSELF LIKE A KING - buy the La Cage Aux Folles II. The BIRDCAGE was like seeing a bad high school program. Of course if you are nuts over Robin Williams - what can I say - but he is just a minor player when it comes to the original European Cast. Nathan Lane could also use a lesson on being a gay man being a gay woman (even if he admits he is gay - he falls short). The second La Cage Aux Folles II will crack you up. I swear you will laugh until tears keep you from seeing the adventures they encounter in Italy. You have no joy in you if you don't love ZaZa's transformation as she becomes the dream of a man who falls for her hook line and sinker. Enjoy the ride with those lovely men. What a LOVE STORY!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: La Cage vs. Bird Cage
Review: For all the foreign movie snobs who hail La Cage as the the masterpiece which enabled the Robin Williams - Nathan Lane 90's knockoff --- give it a rest. As one who saw The Birdcage first - this 1978 French farse set on the Riviera and populated with foppish dandies falls flat and vapid in almost every aspect when compared with the crackling performance of Williams and Lane and the thermonuclear setting of South Beach. Indeed, the only redeaming feature of this bore is its spawning of The Birdcage.
Rating:
Summary: Happy to see La Cage now on DVD
Review: I always enjoyed seeing the VHS version of La Cage Aux Folles and am happy to see it now on DVD. The movie is great and glad to see that it was resurrected again in the 90's with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. I think the original is by far more enjoyable. My only criticism is the audio seems rather weak.
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