Rating: 
Summary: It's good, but not spectacular.
Review: Amadeus is one of those movies where during some scenes you might laugh a little, and other times it's a total bore. But other than that, it's still a good adaptation of Amadeus Mozart, and how he had such an attitude problem. Overall, it's OK, but I really only recommend this DVD for people looking for history or music related films.
Rating: 
Summary: My Favorite Movie of All Time
Review: Amadeus is one of those movies that touches your heart in a way that many movies don't.....through music, and the music of Mozart is one of the most perfect types of music to touch people. Although this movie is not entirely based on fact and uses quite a bit of dramatic license, two things emerge every time I watch it 1) how great a composer Mozart was and 2) how jealousy and feelings of inadequacy can haunt us all.The movie is told through the eyes of a court composer, Antonio Salieri. Salieri was one of the great composers of the time, although he has since been all but forgotten. In comparison to the music of Mozart, Salieri feels vulnerable and inferior. As a pious man, he had earnestly prayed to God to be blessed with the ability to compose music that would not only be remembered throughout all time and eternity but that would also praise the glory of God. Salieri feels slighted by God when he comes in contact with Mozart, who is portrayed as a childish, immature, and somewhat vulgar person. His jealousy begins when he hears the beautiful music that Mozart is able to create. This causes the beginning of his downfall---turning away from God and doing what he can to ruin Mozart. Throughout the entire movie, the audience is introduced with snippets of Mozart's music that are perfectly chosen for each scene. One truly gets the feeling of just how great a composer Mozart was. Also, the script (and an incredible performance by F. Murray Abrahm) make the audience sympathize and empathize with Antonio Salieri. He personifies all of our weaknesses, our feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and our jealousies of other's strengths. Amadeus is truly one of the great movies of all time. It won tons of awards which stands as a credit not only to its greatness, but the greatness of the music of Mozart and as a testament to feelings that are just as present in today's times.
Rating:
Summary: The great and the subtle....
Review: Okay, this is obviously one of the best movies that I have EVER seen. Many reviewers before me have showered praise, upon which I will decline to add, since the world over knows Mozart's genius. I would, however, like to offer a few tidbits of information for those of you who have seen the movie, or if you are just a lover of Mozart. 1) The movie is historically inaccurate (although much of the story is based on well known facts). This is not a big deal, and I fully allow Hollywood the licence for good story telling (and it is GREAT storytelling.) Kids, don't base your music history papers on it! No evidence suggests that Salieri killed Mozart, although he did go insane, and tried to confess it. Salieri did NOT commission the Requiem, although the true patron did commission it in secret and intended to pass it off as his own work. 2) Some people seem to miss the irony of the ending. The point of the story is that Salieri did NOT kill Mozart in the end. He was actually trying to help him finnish the Requiem because Salieri KNEW he was dying, but needed the work completed before he croaked (In real life, the work was finnished by Mozart's student, Sussmeyer) This is the great tragedy for Salieri because a) he didn't get the Requiem, and b) he himself did not get the pleasure of killing Mozart. He was, once again, denied by God. 3) This one is my favorite.... Why is the movie called "Amadeus?" Because Mozart had a cool sounding middle name? (Actually, he had a long list of "middle names") Mozart himself translated this name from the original "Theophilious" that his father gave him, from Greek into Latin. The English translation means "Beloved of God." Folks, the premise of this movie is a bitter jealousy over who God's "chosen one" appeared to be in the eyes of Salieri. Is that not cool, or what? It took me a few years to make that connection. This is a fantastically woven tale. To fully unravel the subtleties of the plot, I had to watch it several times over a number of years. I care not that so much of it is fiction. I like to think of it as a "Mozart Fantasy." Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Marvellous, magnificent, manical!
Review: Amadeus Score: 93/100 Man, madness, music and murder are all mixed into Amadeus, a motion picture about jealousy and beauty. The film garnered 8 Academy Awards, and deservedly so, this is a brilliant, witty and well-played period piece that is never boring and always entertaining. It's 1781 and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) is the competent court composer to Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones). When Mozart (Tom Hulce) arrives at court, Salieri is horrified to discover that the godlike musical gifts he desires for himself have been bestowed on a bawdy, impish jokester. Maddended by envy, he plots to destroy Mozart by any means he can employ. Perhaps, even murder. Did Salieri silence one of the world's true musical geniuses? The mystery - and the music remain. Amadeus is a magnificently looking, charmingly played film that does well in the technical department as well as acting, directing and writing. John Hulce is amazingly funny but stunningly dramatic and the much-liked Mozart, and F. Murray Abraham gives an effective, Oscar winning turn as the envious but somewhat puzzled Antonio. Milos Forman is amazing in his directing effort, he goes to the lengths only a marvellous director would go to, and Peter Shaffer's script, which must have been incredibly hard to write, makes over the grade and satisfies completely. The film triumphs as a gripping human drama, it's a glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that just keeps getting better. Charming, full, tender and totally magnificent, Amadeus became an instant classic in 1984 and remains amazing to this day.
Rating: 
Summary: stupid dvd
Review: the whole point in buying dvd's is to get a higher quality video experience than traditional vhs formats. so why does time warner continue to sell dvd's like this one where you have to flip the dvd in order to watch the entire movie. makes no sense why they can't fit the whole film on one side. i strongly recommend no one buy this and the many other dvd's this company offers until they come out with a version with the entire film on one side. the fact they they fail to note this massive flaw on the package continues to frustrate all customers. just plain stupid.
Rating:
Summary: Deus Ex machina
Review: "Amadeus" appears to tell the story of child prodigy Mozart(Tom Hulce)really has more to do with the villainous Salieri (Best Actor Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham) who outwardly befriends Mozart but actually undermines him in every way. Though setting up house in Vienna during the reign of the Musical Emperor Frans Joseph (Jeffrey Jones), and recognized for his talent, Mozart soon burns bridges with his uncompromising attitudes towards music. Strangely, only Salieri can recognize the sheer genius in his work. Though pledging his soul to god in return for the gift of unsurpassed talent, Salieri's exposure to Mozart's music painfully shows the Italian composer how badly god shortchanged him. One read of a Mozart rough draft is enough to get Salieri to consign every crucifix in his house to the fireplace. Despite Salieri's knowledge, Mozart is underappreciated at every quarter, and Salieri's conspiracies prove redundant to hurting Mozart's career. And Salieri himself isn't the evil sort either - he's not after popularity (in that he surpassed Mozart while they lived) or cash (Ditto). All Salieri wanted was to make beautiful music - and in that he was the only one who recognized his own mediocrity. Amadeus comes off less appealing here - he was dedicated to his music but expended little effort in achieving it. Course, vulgar and conceited, he not only surpassed others, but seemed to do without much trouble. When first meeting Salieri at the emperor's court, the younger prodigy virtually dissects a Salieri work, then puts his own spin on it and produces a clearly superior piece of music. Outside of Salieri's presence, Mozart is openly disdainful of him. Only on the death of Mozart's father does Salieri see the younger composer's weaker side and a path towards both undoing him once and for all and for attaining glory for himself as well. "Amadeus" is a glorious work in itself. Sumptuous music, scenes and costuming are brilliantly matched with nuanced and honest performances. Director Milos Foreman crowns this by having his cast - done up as they are in period costume and setting - speak their lines without accent, something that would add pretension where none was needed (and an idea that is woefully underexpoloited). The story, essentially a confession from a dying Salieri, is the painful elegy of the mediocre, and in this, Salieri creates a masterwork to rival Mozart's.
Rating:
Summary: Man versus God
Review: The movie Amadeus mainly pictures the fight of Antonio Salieri against God. Right from the begining of the movie, the audience sees Salieri complaining to God. He complains why God made Mozart a musical prodigy instead of him. He also complains why he became the son of a father who never encouraged or allowed him to play or learn music. Mozart was very lucky in this respect as his father found the ability in him, right from very young age and made use of his son for live-li-hood by making him sing for the court royalties. Mozart played the piano blind-folded to the surprise of royalties. Salieri had to wait till his father's death to achieve his ambition to be a composer. His hardwork, love and passion for the music enabled him to attain a position of a court composer. At no point does Salieri realises that his struggle and his success as a court composer involved the help of God. There are times in the movie that Emperor Joseph praises Salieri's work. Salieri regards the emperor's compliment but his inner mind was always obsessed with Mozart's genious work which made him unhappy all the time. He knew that his composition was no match to Mozart's as Mozart's music depicted the brilliance, beauty and the grace though people never really enjoyed or understood all his compostions. Salieri's hatred towards Mozart deepens when Salieri finds his lady love was attracted towards Mozart. He asks God why Mozart got all the luxuries of life and not him which almost took his lady love. God does not give everthing to man. W. A. Mozart had the musical genius in him but his irregular and extravagant life style took the life out of him. He had huge debts and his alcholism supposedly killed him at the age of thirty five. On the other hand Antonio Salieri had a decent, regular life. But his obsession and enviousness towards Mozart ended him up in mental asylum. So better be happy with our God given gifts. Do try to improvise and succeed but never go to the extent of greediness.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTE
Review: This is an absolute great film. The music of Mozart is among the best classical music in history. This is a movie about obsestity to the extream. Salieri is obsested with Mozart to the point of wanting him dead. He geniusly befriends Mozart and the mind games begin. Pretending to be Mozart's dead father, Salieri slowly drives Mozart insane. With his mind games and people constant pounding at Mozart's door wanting their finished music, the life in Mozart is slowly ebbed out of him until he can no longer survive. He dies, overworked, with no money, and burried in an unmarked grave. A tragic end to one of the world's best and beloved composers.
Rating:
Summary: An Engrossing Classic
Review: I fell in love with this movie when I first experienced it in the fifth grade. Now an adult, I can appreciate it all the more. A powerful depiction of one of history's most fascinating characters, Amadeus is a film you'll return to over and over again. The cast is well chosen, although you may find the hit and miss accents bothersome if you're a stickler for authenticity. (However I find that most people are drawn so deeply into the drama that they find it easy to engage in suspension of disbelief as far as things such as this are concerned). Portrayals of Emperor Joseph and his court sidekicks are entertaining, if a bit superficial (though I don't think it detracts from the story). F. Murray Abraham's Salieri is superb; I have yet to see him equal this performance in any of his subsequent roles. Tom Hulce's Mozart elicits disgust, wonder, pity- much the same as we might have endured had we known the man himself. If you've studied what is known of his life, you are aware of the fact that Mozart was the possessor of pure genius coupled with an anything but pure propensity toward the foul and obscene. His dirty riddles revile but his musical compositions astound- precisely the picture painted of him in Amadeus. In this sense, the film is accurate indeed. Yet it is important to remember that this is a fictional, theoretical story, not a biography. Although they were contemporaries and competitors professionally, it is difficult to substantiate further details about the relationship between Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Mozart. If you go searching, you'll find conflicting information: that Salieri did claim, during his latter days in an asylum, to have killed Mozart, that Mozart accused Salieri of trying to poison him, that the two were mutually appreciative of each other's talent and bore no ill-will toward one another. Most modern scholars seem to have adopted the latter view. However I have read that the intriguing circumstances surrounding the anonymous commission of Mozart's unfinished Requiem are authentic. Historic accuracy issues aside, this is an all time great film. It will engross you and leave you exhausted. Excellent renditions of Mozart's music are skillfully and seamlessly woven into the plot and heighten the drama. The climactic Salieri-assisted Requiem composition scene is a powerful and unforgettable classic of cinematic brilliance. I cannot recommend Amadeus nearly enough. In fact, just writing this review has given me the desire to watch it yet again...
Rating: 
Summary: A Movie by Salieris
Review: High-spirited and nearly irresistible, "Amadeus" flatters viewers into thinking "I would never be stupid enough to prefer Salieri to Mozart." The film is a wonderful bit of 20-20 pandering hindsight produced on an epic scale and crafted with the care and expense that only Hollywood can afford. The film is also EXACTLY equivalent to the lead-bottomed productions the film associates with Salieri. Salieri was an immensely successful composer honored by his patron the Emperor. "Amadeus" made lots of money and won a flock of Academy Awards. Salieri re-worked musical formulas to please a tone-deaf public. Milos Forman and his crew use standard cinematic devices to please audiences uninterested in innovative filmmaking. Salieri's operas (at least as shown in the film; I don't claim to be an expert) were spectacular, over-produced and loud. "Amadeus" is spectacular, over-produced and loud. We all chortle along knowingly with every setback Mozart suffers at the hands of his enemies, smugly aware that history has proven him superior. (One wonders if he wouldn't have preferred the cash.) I'd like to be able to test viewers to see how many could really tell the difference between an unknown work by Mozart or Salieri or any other of their contemporaries. The fact that modern viewers prefer films like "Amadeus" to anything of ambition, perception or daring doesn't make me too confident. Quite the contrary, the continued success of mediocrities like Salieri and "Amadeus" prove that flattering an audience remains perpetually profitable while challenging them a constant risk. "Amadeus" is saved from being completely obnoxious by F. Murray Abraham's wonderful performance and implausibly lush production design. High marks too to Miroslav Ondricek's cinematography, which gives the whole movie the chilly, smooth sheen of Dresden porcelain. The editing is certainly professional and sharp--perhaps a bit too much so. Forman and his editors repeatedly cut on the beat, giving the footage the rhythms and timings of Mozart's music. As a result, the movie is something like a three-hour rock (classical?) video. The editing simply further expresses the tendency of both direction and script to grab for the obvious. Shaffer and Forman manage to make every point, with sledgehammer subtlety, but undeniable effect. The whole thing is pushy, obvious, and crass, but also entertaining as long as you don't expect too much from it. Besides, it has all those great tunes.
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