West Side Story
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend This brilliant (The New Republic) film sets the ageless story of Romeo and Juliet against a backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and scripted by Ernest Lehman, the film combines Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's unforgettable score ( Maria, America, 'somewhere, 'tonight ) with Robbins own exuberant choreography to achieve an exhilarating work of art (Saturday Review). A love affair is fated for tragedy… Product details and pricing info |
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283 Customer Reviews Posted
- West Side Not Snorie
- West Side Story is a clasic. The theam is almost timeless, and the songs are first rate. Anyone who enjoys good music, and/or acting should make an effort to view this film.
- 2007-06-27, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Gonna Rock It Tonight!
- My goodness, after wearing out my old VHS copy, it was amazing to see this in such clarity. The one-hour documentary and production home movies and stills were fascinating!!!
- 2007-05-30, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The Movie's OK...
- "West Side Story" is an interesting film to analyze. It won Best Picture in 1961; it's #41 on The American Film Institute's Top 100; But look at the top 250 films according to the Internet Movie Database. It's nowhere to be found..."West Side Story" is not, in my opinion, a masterpiece. It's a good film, but it's overly long and none of the singers are particularly good (except Marni Nixon, who dubbed Natalie Wood's vocals), and it's also very cheesy. A modern update of Romeo & Juliet, a movie about rival gangs that sing and dance. It's almost campy.
The movie takes place in New York, where the rival gangs The Jets (whites) and The Sharks (Puerto Ricans) frequently fight for the right to certain turf. After a school dance, a Jet named Tony (Richard Beymer) falls for Maria (Wood), the Puerto Rican sister of Bernardo (George Chakiris) the leader of The Sharks. The film features such memorable tunes as "I Feel Pretty" and "Gee, Officer Krupke."
It's definitely well made, as the acting is fine, and the choreography is superb...But at 2 hours and 30 minutes, I was thinking (once it hit the 90-minute mark) "END ALREADY!" I guess I should clarify however that I'm not a very big fan of musicals and I guess if you are, you'll probably like "West Side Story" a lot more than I did. But I think this is one of the 10 or so films that appear on the A.F.I. list that I can honestly say don't deserve to be there.
GRADE: B- - 2007-05-10, 0 of 8 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- West Side Story...the Great American Movie Musical!!
- This year marks 50 years since this Broadway classic opened to enthusiastic reviews. In 1961..the movie version did the same magical thing. What a great cast, a great story and to sum up this is the musical that gets better every time you see it. It is a movie that has stood the test of time. I am a big fan of Rita Moreno not only for her role in West Side Story but for her role in The Electric Company! If you want a movie that dances, that sings, that has its dramatic and fun moments,WEST SIDE STORY is for you!
- 2007-05-06, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- My favorite musical
- I was present at the cast and crew reunion around 2002. I believe it was just about Robert Wise's last appearance. Rita Moreno was just as vibrant as she was forty years ago and it was found seeing surviving cast members tell their stories.
But I digress from the actual product itself. Great transfer, I loved this movie as a boy and worshiped Natalie Wood as Maria. I loved hearing her actual voice trying to sing those songs, with a Puerto Rican accent, no less, which the dubbed voice did not have.
But this never was a realistic protrayal of street gangs either. Real life is so much more unfair, violent and downright nasty. It was brave enough to have the race card played, three deaths, the last a cold blooded murder and an attempted rape of an Hispanic.
Bernstein and Sondheim made a great team and Jerold Robbins and Wise made a masterpiece. One of those rare moments when everything came together just right. The "America" is one of my favorite sequences but it all works for me.
Just one more brief musing. I saw "The Searchers" after I saw "West Side Story". I do remember as a boy seeing Wayne about to shoot Natalie Wood and I yelled at the screen "Oh my God, don't shoot Maria".
"I just kissed a girl named Maria...." - 2007-04-11, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
