Rating: 
Summary: Hooray for Bollywood!!
Review: I bought this on dvd and I still haven't watched it. I have only seen the scenes with the songs, which take up about 30 minutes of the movie. I'm sure I will never watch the whole movie. It looks like an overblown version of the Bad News Bears, but with cricket. And I'm not into the cricket, which takes up about 4 hours of the film. The first 3 hours appear to show how they get into their predicament and how they prepare for the match. Also, the British actors were horrible. I mean, that skinny, girlish acting colonel or whatever that imposes the Lagaan - would any military in any country at any point in history ever put a little [person] like that in charge of anything? And his sister, who falls in love with Aamir Khan, uuugh! I never thought there was such a thing as a bad British actor, but here you go.But the reason I'm giving it 5 stars is because I love this stuff!! And I hadn't seen any reviewer come up with "hooray for bollywood" yet, so I thought I should put that out there.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly simple and sweet...
Review: Once upon a time in India, there was a little village under the rule of a good and fair raja, who was in turn under the rule of the English army. On one not-so-very good day, the evil colonel decided, in a fit of spite, to push double Lagaan (i.e. taxes) onto the villagers. Shocked and angry, a young and optomistic man named Bhuvan led the villagers to the colonel's residence to protest. They couldn't possibly pay the double Lagaan, there hadn't been any rain for two years!! The colonel decides to be kind, and strike a deal with young Bhuvan. If the villagers beat the English army in a game of cricket, they wouldn't have to pay Lagaan for three years. If not, they would have to pay triple Lagaan. Against the wishes of the other villagers, Bhuvan accepted.
And so begins Lagaan, a beautiful four hour epic about how Bhuvan's village comes together to take on the colonel and his team in a three day cricket game. The story is full of rich characters, and a touching story of a love triangle between Bhuvan, the village sweetheart Gauri, and Elizabeth, the colonel's sister.
Probably the best part of this movie is the life that all the characters are full of. Their expressions give amazing vitality to the movie.
The songs are amazing too, far better than those in any American musical I've ever seen. Every one tells a story; the village's want for rain, Gauri's love for Bhuvan and her jealously of Elizabeth, and the need to beat the army in their cricket game.
Although this movie is four hours long, it seems to go a lot more quickly than that. Even if you have a very short attention span (like me), you'll be able to watch the entire movie in one or two sittings. I strongly reccomend buying this movie, not renting it, because I guarentee that you won't be able to let it go!
Rating:
Summary: watch out Hollywood! Lagaan is real movie making
Review: There are few good period, epic movies made by Hollywood. Lagaan is reminiscient of the greats. The story is easy to follow, uplifting and inspiring, & the cricket match is a nail-chewer. The details and the camera work are so intricate. The acting is supurb. The musical numbers are a delight!!!
Rating:
Summary: A must see movie
Review: This movie was wonderful!!!! Although the movie is 4 hours long, the storyline keeps you on the edge of your seat. I'm usually not a fan of musicals but I truly enjoyed watching Lagaan! I highly recommend this movie!
Rating:
Summary: What else can I say...?
Review: This is a wonderfully enchanting movie. Words alone cannot express how great this movie is. With that I shall say only this: You have to see it!
Rating:
Summary: I just can't describe it
Review: I'll tell ya... I LOVE this movie. I saw a review of it in a magazine and thoguht "Hey why not." so I bought it with out even really knowing what it was about. I'm very glad I did though. This is now like my favorite movie of all time. There is nothing that I didn't like about Laggan. I loved the costumes, the music the great actors and acctress's. Aamir Khan is the man! :)
Rating:
Summary: A lession in history
Review: I waited for quite some time to watch this. I thought that it would be one of those movies-all hype and no substance. I was wrong. The pace of the movie is deceptively slow, yet almost four hours pass without any tedium. What starts off as a tale of a quaint if somewhat impoverished village, slowly metamorphosed into a hot bed of revolution. Only the revolution is silent, bloodless. The fact that the English 'rulers' were ruthless and cruel is no secret. We have seen that in Mel Gibson's PATRIOT. But what is new is that the way, peaceful demonstartion of collective will of people turns the tide and beats the British in their own game. The lonely, idealistic, somewhat naive figure of Bhuban does not make much of an impression in the beginning and indeed I wondered at his naivette secretly, but that boy had what no one else seemed to have at that time- a Conviction and a will to Win, and to be free. Through his youthful eyes, which sometime glint in hopeless anguish we see how hope grows and how it infects the whole village. The introduction of Eliza (the evil captain's sister) is just a catalyst for the bomb that was waiting to go off. The quiet and unspoken chemistry between the two of them (Bhuban and Eliza)smoulders like fire under a heap of ash. Bhuban can not have failed to notice because everyone else has. But Eliza redeems herself by keeping her honor even when it makes her suffer inconsolably. The interplay of prejudice, of caste system, religious bigotry, all unfold before us like a rich tapestry which feels as contemporary as if it is happening today, yet over a hundred years have passed. Free of the British, India has not yet been able to break free from it's many demons as recent events show. In the end it was just like any Bollywood movie- a make believe world where everything works out in the end. This must be the singular fault of the movie yet you forget that in the four hours that passes so quickly. It must be the shortest four hour movie. Oh, and one more thing- the audacity of putting Cricket as the center piece of this epic, even though half of the world does not understand it was refreshing. It was not about Cricket-Cricket was just a prop. The film was about the courage to want to make a difference.
Rating:
Summary: An old-fashioned film with timeless themes
Review: As other reviews have said, the core plot of Lagaan revolves around the desperation of Indian villagers under callous British oppression. Years of drought have made it impossible for the locals to pay the tax that is used to maintain the British presence in their midst. Their attempt to get the tax postponed or forgiven fails, and their angry, frustrated young unofficial spokesman impulsively stakes the villagers' future on a cricket match against the British team. Do the Indians know how to play? No. Do they have even the beginnings of a team? No. But it doesn't matter -- they have to win this match or face starvation. It's an old-style movie with all of the predictable bits and a few that could happen only in India -- good versus evil, bold youth versus cautious old age, preserving one's culture and identity versus going with changing times, untouchables versus the other castes, locals versus invaders, a few good people among the villains and a few bad ones among the lowly good guys. Love relationships are played out in parallel to an ancient Indian folk tale told through an Indian holiday celebration. Song and dance -- amateurishly lip-synched and energetically performed -- occur at the expected moments. This is a film that must be taken seriously for the sincerety and universality of its message and, at the same time, a bit lightly for the unsophisticated way in which it has been made. I loved it, and -- the next time I have four hours to spare -- will watch it again, even though I will know how it ends. Actually, I knew how it was going to end while I was watching it the first time. So will you, and it won't matter a bit. It's a lot of what it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Bit too long, but Hooray for the underdog!!
Review: It is a feel-good movie for your whole family and very funny. I could enjoy more if they made it shorter by cutting some songs and dances. The songs and dances routines are really corny and strangely choreographed. The main character Bhuvan played by Armir Khan looks too handsome and princely for the role. But still I could not help cheering for those poor farmers, a bunch of very funny characters.
Rating:
Summary: Out-Hollywoods Hollywood -- great fun!
Review: Yes, it's 15 minutes shy of four hours, and yes, it's mostly subtitled -- and yes, it's absolutely perfect. I saw the film at a cinema in Pasadena, Calif., in May 2002, and loved every second of it. It's the kind of joyful, emotional, honest, straightforward musical that Hollywood used to make (but hasn't made in a million years). There's also more to it than simple fun. The characters and acting are deeper than expected and the story of colonialism and caste systems is intriguing and relevant today. I plan to purchase the DVD because this is a fantastic movie.
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