Rating: 
Summary: It must be served better when seen in widescreen.
Review: Before I begin, I just would like to correct a minor error on the part of the Amazon.com reviewer if I may. Juanita Hall actually did not sing in this movie. THough she starred and sang in the original Broadway show, she was dubbed in the movie by Muriel Smith, who played Bloody Mary in London. The dubbing, alas, in painfully obvious, since Hall's rather low speaking voice and Smith's high singing voice don't jive at all. (Everyone except for Mitzi Gaynor was dubbed, but more convincingly) And I agree that, yes, the performances and script, while pretty adequate, weren't quite as good as they could have been. But in spite of this, I don't think this film deserves the beating it's taken for years. The fact that I saw the widescreen edition of it may affect my opinion.Despite the film's flaws, should we really care or even notice them when we have that gorgeous, wonderfully orchestrated Rodgers and Hammerstein score to more than make up for every single one of them? The songs are the real stars here, and they are performed magnificently. The lush scenery of Hawaii also helps a great deal. I wasn't even bothered very much by the infamous colored filters. They caused my eyes to water a little bit at first, but I quickly got used to them and did not mind them at all. This film looks and sounds gorgeous, and that makes it okay in my book. I didn't even think about the film's flaws until near the end. Perhaps this is best served on widescreen. I'm sure it was great on Broadway, (The OBC recording grew on me after a couple of listens; at first, I didn't like it too much) but the film is fine, too, even in glorious Multicolor!
Rating: 
Summary: A Terrific Adaptation of the Broadway Classic
Review: I first saw South Pacific when it was released in 1958 at the age of 10, and remember being totally overwhelmed by the orchestrations, performances and photography. Over the years I have regularly heard the film trashed by critics and many members of the public, so I was curious to see how I would respond to it now when I recently bought the video. Well, maybe it's just me, but I found the film as thrilling and beautiful as I did forty years ago. I agree with everyone else that it was a mistake to use those colored filters in many of the sequences, but the film still packs a heck of an emotional whallop, and I think along with The King and I stands out as the most successful of the Rogers and Hammerstein shows put on film. The weakest of the cast is John Kerr, who is somewhat wooden; however, Juanita Hall is magnificent as Bloody Mary (she will never be surpassed in the role she createwd on Braodway), Rossano Brazzi is thoroghly convincing as Emille DeBeque (even if he was dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi), and Mitzi Gaynor gives an unforgettable performance as Nelly Forbrush. Of all of the criticism one hears of South Pacific, to me the most puzzling is the bashing of Mitzi Gaynor, who to me is not only excellent but perfection in the role. I realize a lot of this probably stems from anger that Mary Martin didn't get the role and is basically sour grapes, but the fact is Ms. Martin was too old to be convincing in 1958. The scenes in which Ms. Gaynor struggles with her small-town prejudices are moving and very real, and when Bloody Mary brings Liat to her to find Lieutenant Cable, who has been killed, it breaks one's heart. Anyway, the movie still knocks me out, even if that makes me, as Nelly Forbrush calls herself, a "knucklehead." The incredible photography, gorgeous music, and theme of the need to triumph over bigotry which is still so relevant even today, makes this film a 5-star winner in my book. As trite as it sounds, "They don't make 'em like that anymore!"
Rating:
Summary: It's sad, but excellently played by the actors and actresses
Review: It's a sad film.But a good plot line. It climbs the climax dazzingly. It's a romantic film. A great movie to watch at night with your family.
Rating:
Summary: More than a love story. And the music is great!
Review: With the world a little shaky now, it's a real pleasure to be able to put on a DVD and take a trip down memory lane to 1958 when South Pacific was released in movie theaters. The Rogers and Hammerstein score sets the tone for this musical adaptation of the Broadway show that was based on Tales of the South Pacific" by James Mitchener. The story is set on an island in the South Pacific during WW2. The Japanese are entrenched in a nearby island and are bombing American forces that go near, but life is sweet for the G.I.s at the naval base. Mitzi Gaynor, cast as a nurse, is beginning a romance with an older distinguished French planter played by Rossano Brazzi. John Kerr is a young lieutenant who comes to the island to convince the planter to risk his life to spy for the Americans. And Juanita hall is the older native woman who pushes her daughter, the lovely France Nuyen, at John Kerr. The music is excellent and the words of the songs really do move the story along. The theme however, is more than a love story. It deals with racism and the tragedy of war too. And these themes are what held it all together for me. It's a great human statement surrounded by wonderful familiar melodies that I'm still humming this morning. I loved it. And I didn't even care that, with the exception of Rossano Brazzi and Ray Walston, whose role as a sailor who always has a scheme and adds some really funny comic relief to this tale of love and war, the acting in general was mediocre. Everyone else gave rather stilted performances, and Mitzi Gaynor might be pretty, but she can't quite show a wide range of emotion. Also, the songs were all dubbed and obviously so. But that was the way Hollywood did things in those days. It's also interesting to note what the standard for beauty was in 1958. With the exception of the dancers, it was youth alone and not workouts in the gym that shaped the actors' bodies. Narrow waists were in style for the women, but hips were allowed to flare naturally. I loved South Pacific in spite of its few faults. It was great entertainment even though it didn't make me forget the prospect of war. If you've never seen this film, don't miss it. And if you've seen it before, it's certainly worth a revisit. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: It's simply the best...
Review: What a classic, wow! Don't believe one negative word you hear about this film. Everyone knows that the songs are the best Rogers & Hammerstein produced for one show. The singing in the film and the renditions are fabulous. The first time I saw this film I was 10 years old and, yes, it was in 1958 in an old, classic of a movie theater where the ushers were wearing suits. I was totally entranced by this great film at that time and still am today. Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi were excellent selections-- I don't think Mary Martin would have been any better. John Kerr looked exactly like a young Marine lieutenant circa 1942. Sure, ladies, it could have been someone who was known for having knockout looks, but they would not have been as effective. And France Nuyen captures the essence of a native girl like no one else and that was good casting opposite Kerr. To me, the greatest achievement of this film is that Joshua Logan absolutely captured everything about the early 1940s in that cast of characters. Mitzi Gaynor has a 1940s face and style, and looked exactly like a Navy nurse. The same is true for the other characters but especially so for Kerr. If you look at war footage from the Pacific theater, you'll see hundreds of Marines with frames exactly like Kerr's. No one lifted weights back then so no one had the "body cuts" of a weight lifter. He looked just like a Marine Lt from WWII should have looked-- tall, very lean, serious but a kid at the same time. He was intense in the combat scene and very light during the scenes with Nuyen. And Juanita Hall couldn't have been better; she will always be everyone's vision of Bloody Mary. Logan manages to take you back to that time over and over again even though it was filmed 15 years later. When I watch it today I know that the smells were different, the mindset was different, the clothes were different, the cultures were different, the people were different, and life was different; perhaps simpler. Logan capture all of that for us to see over and over again. Plus, he did it in a way that makes the racial point but does it without being vulgar. South Pacific captures the World War II era in the same way that Gone with the Wind captures the Civil War era. We can never go back to those times, but Logan helps make time stand still. Best of all was his casting. This version of South Pacific is one of my all time favorite films and no classic film library should be without it. Buy it. Watch it. Love it!
Rating:
Summary: Probably the Most Famous Score Ever
Review: Most musicals are lucky if there's one hit song, but Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" has more deservedly well-known songs than almost any other show I can think of: Some Enchanted Evening, I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy, Younger than Springtime, Bali Hai, I Gotta Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, You've Got to be Taught, This Nearly Was Mine, Honey Bun, There is Nothing Like a Dame, Happy Talk. I suppose only Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun" can come close on that point. I like this movie very much, in spite of two big flaws, and I must admit those are pretty big flaws, and keep my rating down from the five stars it otherwise would have gotten. Flaw #1: This movie was filmed on location in Hawaii, which of course offers beautiful landscape and views. Why then were so many shots overlaid with these dreadful filters which turn everything bizarre colors? This was like gilding a lily--who can improve upon Hawaii? The ONLY time it makes sense to use surreal color changes is in "Bali Hai", because it is a siren song about the promise of fulfilling fantastical longings, so the pinks and oranges underscore magic and passion. That makes sense. But why is "Some Enchanted Evening" yellow? Romance is not yellow for me--is it for you? Flaw #2: Actor John Kerr has the important tenor role of the young lieutenant caught up in an interracial romance and sings the sweeping romantic piece "Younger than Springtime". This should be played by a hunk, a man every woman wishes would make love to her. But this guy Kerr isn't it at all. He's scrawny and has zero screen presence. His eyes have no apparant color and actually seem reptilian--cold blooded for sure. Any one of the CBs hanging out on the beach would have been a better choice. All that aside, Rosanno Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor do a marvelous job. Both performers are appealing and bring enthusiasm and joy to their roles. I especially like to see Brazzi do "Some Enchanted Evening" because of the passion he conveys in his lip synching--the part was being sung by another, but Brazzi delivers a creditable enough impression to make you think it's his voice. The parts of the island commander and his assistant are very well done, and Ray Walston as Luther Billis is highly entertaining in his penny ante schemes. I look at "South Pacific" at least once a month--it's that good a romance, in spite of Kerr and Color. Treat yourself to an enchanted evening or afternoon with this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Restoration from original TODD-AO Negative
Review: Hallelujah! Finally, Fox has retired the CinemaScope print versions previously used in its two video incarnations and gone back to the TODD-AO 65 mm negative to bring us the definitive edition of SOUTH PACIFIC. The THX digitally restored film (available in both pan and scan and widescreen) is impeccably beautiful. The colors are all true and rich and deep. No more grain or bleed as we had in the Scope versions, especially in the controversial color filter sequences, which now render powerful and true as they were intended (and which netted cinematographer Leon Shamroy an Oscar nom). The widescreen version is the one to get, however - the sweep and beauty of the scenery and composition of the players meld into a perfect whole. I've seen this dozens of times but was mesmerized with this print as if seeing it for the first time. Most of the controversy over the film's casting and acting and direction stem from the small screen pan and scan - you NEED the widescreen lush backgrounds to understand the story, why the natives are attracted to it and why it holds the naive Americans in its seductive sway. RUN to get a print of this while they last - a great musical (remember it ran in its TODD-AO versions for over a year in the major city roadshow releases - audiences of the day LOVED it, despite the critics' lukewarm responses). This is a true WINNER! For the record this also contains the original Overture (Some Enchanted Evening, A Wonderful Guy, Nothin Like A Dame, Younger Than Springtime); the Entr'acte (Younger Than Springtime, Gonna Wash That Man, Bloody Mary, Bali H'ai); and Exit Music (Younger Than Springtime, A Wonderful Guy, Some Enchanted Evening, Bali Ha'i) all set against travelogue vista outtakes and title card backgrounds.
Rating:
Summary: It's simply the best...
Review: What a classic, wow! Don't believe one negative word you hear about this film. Everyone knows that the songs are the best Rogers & Hammerstein produced for one show. The singing in the film and the renditions are fabulous. The first time I saw this film I was 10 years old and, yes, it was in 1958 in an old, classic of a movie theater where the ushers were wearing suits. I was totally entranced by this great film at that time and still am today. Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi were excellent selections-- I don't think Mary Martin would have been any better. John Kerr looked exactly like a young Marine lieutenant circa 1942. Sure, ladies, it could have been someone who was known for having knockout looks, but they would not have been as effective. And France Nuyen captures the essence of a native girl like no one else and that was good casting opposite Kerr. To me, the greatest achievement of this film is that Joshua Logan absolutely captured everything about the early 1940s in that cast of characters. Mitzi Gaynor has a 1940s face and style, and looked exactly like a Navy nurse. The same is true for the other characters but especially so for Kerr. If you look at war footage from the Pacific theater, you'll see hundreds of Marines with frames exactly like Kerr's. No one lifted weights back then so no one had the "body cuts" of a weight lifter. He looked just like a Marine Lt from WWII should have looked-- tall, very lean, serious but a kid at the same time. He was intense in the combat scene and very light during the scenes with Nuyen. And Juanita Hall couldn't have been better; she will always be everyone's vision of Bloody Mary. Logan manages to take you back to that time over and over again even though it was filmed 15 years later. When I watch it today I know that the smells were different, the mindset was different, the clothes were different, the cultures were different, the people were different, and life was different; perhaps simpler. Logan capture all of that for us to see over and over again. Plus, he did it in a way that makes the racial point but does it without being vulgar. South Pacific captures the World War II era in the same way that Gone with the Wind captures the Civil War era. We can never go back to those times, but Logan helps make time stand still. Best of all was his casting. This version of South Pacific is one of my all time favorite films and no classic film library should be without it. Buy it. Watch it. Love it!
Rating:
Summary: Great, but maybe not good
Review: After viewing the full screen version of "South Pacific" on a projector screen as well as my own home, I feel that the movie was filmed beautifully!!! The use of color tints carries the audience away. Mizti Gaynor has a fabulous singing voice, even if she is "as corny as Kansas in August." The characters overcome the racial prejudices, showing the world that mixed couples are acceptable. The only thing that I found lacking was the plot line. If it weren't for the musical interludes, the movie may have been a flop.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the movie version one would have hoped for
Review: Take a great Broadway musical with a great story and ingenious music and lyrics by Oscar and Hammerstein and make a big budget screen version. The result, you might think, would be a classic motion picture. You would be wrong. That's not to say a wonderful movie couldn't be made from the source material. That's to say that the 1958 version isn't that movie. The precise reasons for its failure are largely unknown to me, but I do have a few clues. Transferring a Broadway musical to the screen has always been harder than it seems. It's a matter of 'opening up' a stage production to the vaster needs of cinema. [Just three years after "South Pacific", the movie version of "West Side Story" proved that this could be done. It remains not only one of the great musicals, but also one of the great American movies.] And if you think about it, most of the great Hollywood musicals were originals which were done just for this specific medium - "Singin in the Rain", "Easter Parade", "Meet me in St. Louis", etc.] The thing that 'saves' "South Pacific" is the rich, melodious music. "Blood Mary", "Bali Hai", "Some Enchanted Evening", etc. all come through in rich, sumptuous renditions. For the musical numbers alone, the movie is well worth watching. It's apparent that every attempt the filmmakers could come up with was used in trying to open up "South Pacific", but it still remains conspicuously stagy. Also, perhaps to take advantage of the Todd-AO filming process, which was very innovative at the time, there is the jarring use of color filters - some scenes are yellow, others blue and orange. Perhaps on the Cinemascope screens back then, this was effective. On a TV screen, it's merely irritating. I suspect there were several creative giants battling behind the scenes during the making of "South Pacific". While it will probably never happen, this is one musical deserving of a big screen remake.
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