Rating: 
Summary: What do you expect? It's The Muppets!
Review: The first big screen appearance of The Muppets is probably the greatest. Kermit on a bicycle, Fozzie driving his uncle's Studebaker with Kermit playing navigator, Piggy winning the 'Miss Bogen County' beauty pageant, Animal taking an "insta-grow pill" with hilarious consiquences and the fact that everyone around them accepts them in their ultimately human society.The DVD release of this movie (only on American-region 1 format) was inevitable but I also hoped there would have been more in the way of "special features". Although, I have to admit, 'Jim Frawley's camera test' was worth the money alone. This was footage that was taken to show what the Muppet's would look like out in the open. Until the release of 'The Muppet Movie' they had only been seen in the Muppet theatre and Jim Henson wanted to show that they could look as convincing in the "real world". The main feature hasn't had much of a clean-up but is presented in wide-screen. Who needs a digitally remastered version of the film when the original wide-screen version is availale? Although the picture is a little drab (don't forget the movie was shot in 1978) the sound has been remastered into Dolby Digital. The "Muppetisms" are a little strange but fun. They remind me of the greetings cards you used to be able to buy. All in all, it would have been nice to see some extra Muppet features from the seventies instead of new Muppetisms and trailers from the newer releases from Jim Henson Home Entertainment. How about the original featurette of the movie as included on the 'Labyrinth' DVD release? There must have been one made. Either way, it is The Muppets we're talking about and if, at a later date, they decide to re-rerelease this movie with extra special features I'm sure the millions of fans out there will oblige and re-purchase 'The Muppet Movie'. I know I would!
Rating:
Summary: Life's like a movie, write your own ending . . . . .
Review: The Muppet Movie, even by todays standards, rocks my socks off. I can't get enough of Gonzo and his foul girlfriend Camilla. He should have received "best supporting actor". When I was younger I remember knowing that the funny puppets were not real but I just couldn't get over the genuineness of Kermit and Fozzie's relationship with eachother. Their warm and hilarious dialogue is convincing to me even now as a 23 year old. Henson and Oz were truly jedi masters of their trade. It's disappointing that the recent Muppet releases are lacking the magic that the first three movies had. I can't wait to share this film with my daughter. I like the fact that it is a fun family movie but it still manages to reveal real profound contemplations on life and relationships and dreams without overkill. I will never tire of this film. It leaves me happy and warm and fuzzy all over. tee hee
Rating: 
Summary: Fuzzy Fun, but dissapointing supplements
Review: I could literally go on for hours and hours (or pages and pages) about how simply wonderful the original Muppet Movie is. Dialogue from this film has seeped its way into my wife's and my daily conversations. When giving directions the term "Bear Right" is always immediately followed by "Right Frog.". When trying to get the other to lend a hand a monotone "Help. Help. This is a serious cry for help" will get the other up and to their side faster than anything else. Princess Bride is the only flick that has permeated itself more into our wedded subconscious. The songs are immensely humable. The soundtrack has existed in our home on vinyl, cassette tape and is now sitting in our CD Jukebox in constant rotation. Movin' Right Along is the first thing to escape our lips on long car trips and I Hope That Something Better Comes Along was played at our wedding. I won't even go into the cameos because they are a cacography of the time the film was made. Everyone wanted to be seen with the Muppets. This is one of my favorite films of all times. That's what makes this review so hard to write. These chunks of emotion and inspiration wrapped up in felt and fur deserve better than this. The bonus features on all the recently released disks are sparse at best. All come with "Muppetisms", very short commercials that I assume ran on TV at some point. They are at most 30 seconds long and, while amusing, really only whet the appetite. The Muppets Take Manhattan comes with an interview done with Jim Henson, but it is spliced and diced up so that between each question the viewer is returned to a menu and forced to prompt the disk to play the next segment. At the minimum a Play All option should have been added. There are literally tons of additional supplements that could have been added. Skits done on Saturday Night Live, Rowlf's appearances on the Jimmy Dean Variety show and Kermit hosting the Tonight Show would have been great. A feature length commentary with Frank Oz would have gotten me to turn handsprings. Toss in a DVD Muppet encyclopedia or a copy of the PC game that came out a few years ago and my head would have just exploded with a burst of confetti! I can't not recommend this movie just because of the lack of supplements, but I don't have to be happy about it either. I am sure that somewhere down the line there will be super-duper, ultra-collectors versions of these films and I can't wait for that day to come. Princess Bride was originally released in a similar version with no supplements and I was just happy to get it on disk and in Widescreen. There is now a two-disk collectors edition in the works coming out in September of this year. (2001). I guess they just saw me coming.
Rating:
Summary: childhood memories
Review: this is one of the movies i watch on daily bases it is just quality entertanment wow fun for the whole family
Rating:
Summary: A Great Masterpeace
Review: Jim Henson's first Muppet movie (The Muppet Movie) became one of the greatest movies ever made . A Great movie for the hole family . Starring "Jim Henson's Muppets" . A great Comedy film.
Rating: 
Summary: Phenomenal quality movie that DVD quality fails to capture
Review: This movie was truly the work of the Genius that Jim Henson and Frank Oz created along with the many Muppet Performers and Writers of this film. However, Columbia/Tri-Star has made a terrible mistake in not giving this DVD the clean up or detail that it truly deserves. I bought this and Tootsie on the same day, and Tootsie looks and sounds beautiful. This film looks like I pulled out an old video. What happened to the art of remastering? There was virtually no audio or video cleanup, and I was truly disappointed. Such a brilliant film deserves more. Yes, I too would like bonuses, but want a cleanup more than anything else. The DVD version was a waste. Movie = 5 Stars! DVD = 1 Star Film Test = 5 stars, but so little in the bonus area. Aren't there more bonuses out there? I sincerely hope the folks at the DVD company will work with the Folks at Jim Henson Productions on getting a quality product out there, with bonuses it deserves. Here's some: Clean the movie (remaster audio and video) Outtakes? Early short films? Audio commentary by Frank Oz and other Muppet performers? Documentary? Muppet Show episode? Muppets 30th Anniversary TV special (CBS) Muppets Tribute To Jim Henson (NBC - Disney) So many possibilities... Hey JH Productions, let's get the complete Muppet Show DVD collection out there!
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the film, 3 for the DVD
Review: Simply put this is the finest Muppet film of them all and easily one of the best family films of all time. There are quiet little messages of hope and humanity hidden beneath the hijynx of the characters that is somehow missing in subsequent films (especially Muppets From Space). From the Muppets interacting in the "real" world to the famous 'Kermit riding a bicycle' scene, everything presented here was fresh and new when it came out and suprisingly, retains that feeling today. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find this film charming, funny, uplifting and just all out entertaining. It's just too bad it received such a mediocre DVD release. On the plus side, the film is presented in both it's widescreen (anamorphic!) and formatted versions with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Plus there is a very funny, though hard to hear at times, screen test showing Kermit and Fozzie in different real world locations. It must've been to see how believeable the Muppets could be in our world, but unfortunately no context is given on the DVD. There are a few trailers you can choose to see as well as an odd feature called "Muppetisms". They're simply 30 second to a minute long segments featuring a muppet or two being wild and crazy. What they're from or supposed to be about is beyond me, but they are fun to watch - once. The biggest problem with this DVD is the picture quality. Not only is it grainy, but the colors seem to bleed into each other through out the film. Worse the color tends to lean towards the red end of the color spectrum. Why more care wasn't taken in transfering this film is beyond me as it's a classic and one of Jim Hensons landmarks. Don't let these failings and oddities sway you from owning this masterpiece though if you don't already own it on video. A film as sublime as this with so many levels of enjoyment for all ages shouldn't be missed. It should be (and is) treasured.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Magic!
Review: The Muppet Movie is just pouring with emotion. The plot is simple and finds Kermit looking for his dreams in Hollywood. I have always been drawn to this film even in my adult years due to the fact that it covers all bases at times the script is a hoot for kids and adults alike and is easily the best "KID'S" flick ever made! But what really tugs at my heart is the vision of Kermit alone with his banjo in a pond singing "The Rainbow Connection"! The lyrics and melody is simply mind blowing and will always have a special place in my heart for it's meaning! The song is so deep that it the best song ever written for a film or anything else it's a true gem of pop culture and well worth the price of the dvd! But it's the whole package that is so sweeping and henson himslf is so solidly positioned in every childs memory why not have this bliss in your adult life! It's the body that grows older not the meomories! A magicial film!
Rating:
Summary: The 5 Stars are considering the Time Period...
Review: I'm a BIG Muppet fan, remembering my childhood years of getting up at 6 every morning to catch the show. I watched the Muppet babies and I LOVE the 4D show at Disney Studios in Florida. On my bed I keep stuffed animals of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Rizzo, and I'm a 26 year old, straight, guy! I do have to say one thing though, like the Muppet Show, this movie is DATED. I mean, many of its jokes depend strongly on the time of the movie's release, which I believe was still the 70's? The Muppet Show when watched today has the same problem, but the movie I believe may be a bit worse. Still, considering this, it's still deserving of 5 stars, and as for today's audience, I would probably only take it down to 4, though others may disagree. I read one reviewer commenting that it is far superior to Muppets From Space. On this I'd have to disagree! Muppets Take Manhatten was my favorite until Muppets From Space Came Out! It is definitely the best of all the Muppet movies! I do have to complain about Kermit's voice lately though. I do a better Kermit than the new guy! I mean, it hardly seems like he's trying! Ya know, before Muppets From Space I was worried about the future of the Muppets without Henson. I mean, they were pretty shaky there for a while with Treasure Island and Christmas Carol. Don't get me wrong, I loved both of those but I wondered if they would ever come out with their own original story again. Luckily they blew me away with the WONDERFUL Muppets From Space! Anyway, this review is about the original Muppet Movie, so let me get back to that. The first three Muppet Movies are being released on DVD now, and this was the first one I bought. It was hard to choose, especially since it's my least favorite of the three, but in the end I decided I'd start with the original and get the next two later. The story is about Kermit on a road trip to Hollywood to become a star. Along the way he meets the other muppets for the first time, is pursued by an evil Frog Leg Baron, and encounters a large number of 70's star cameos. The movie is as much a tribute to the Wizard of Oz as it is anything. I have to say though, I was as disappointed with the DVD release as the other reviewers here were. The sound was bad, and there seemed to be hardly any extras, and lame ones at that. With the exception of the very interesting screen test, which was gladly longer than I expected but cut off at the funniest part! The Muppetisms were terrible because they were like, ten second ads! The trailers included were not theatrical trailers and did not include one of the actual movie itself! And I agree with one of the other reviewers that there were so many things they could have given us! Like episodes of the Muppet Show or Muppets Tonight, or any of the other Jim Henson shows. I would really love to see The Muppets Go to Walt Disney World released someday! That was a really great episode of Magical World of Disney! It could have been an extra here! At least there could have been documentaries, or interviews, or something! Still, what can I say, I got it for less than 20 bucks so that was good....I agree with one of the other reviewers though, that I'm going to be really mad if some deluxe edition dvd of this comes out like, next month! They did that to me too with a little movie called the Mummy! I ended up having to buy it all over again! By the way, as a side note, if you are interested in some of Jim Henson's work without Kermit, check out The Witches! That's a cool movie! And hey, people in charge, give us a DVD version of ALL of Henson's stuff! I'm talking also about stuff like the great Big Bird in China and Big Bird in Japan! What a great double feature DVD that would be! And Muppet Family Christmas with the entire muppet baby sequence that was edited for the VHS edition! I remember seeing much more on television! Not to mention the Christmas Toy, and all of Henson's other great work! There are enough of us fans out here! Please give us what we need! And do it right!
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Movie...Below Average DVD
Review: The original classic Muppet Movie has finally arrived on DVD. Unfortunately, it did not get the treatment it deserves. The only special feature of note is "Jim Frawley's camera test" (which I found pretty entertaining). The so-called "Muppetisms" are just a couple of very brief jokes from Kermit and Miss Piggy. The picture, for whatever reason, is very grainy most of the time...but at least the colors are bright and vivid. The sound is low when the characters are talking and louder during musical numbers, requiring frequent volume adjustments. The disc contains the preferred widescreen version of the film on one side, and a completely unnecessary pan-and-scan version on the other. Folks, I ask you, wouldn't you rather have a plethora of special features on that second side? How about 2 or 3 episodes of The Muppet Show? Why not some sort of a commentary on the film? Perhaps a biography of Jim Henson? The Muppets (and Jim Henson) deserve a Special Edition, and this disc is far from it.
| 
