Product Description

A triumph on every level this magnificent achievement set a standard for modern movie musicals that remains unsurpassed to this day. Featuring an unforgettable score ("Maria" "America" "Somewhere" "Tonight") and groundbreaking choreography the film sets the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of gang warfare in 1950s New York. Starring Natalie Wood Richard Beymer Russ Tamblyn Rita Moreno and George Chakiris West Side Story is "a stunning piece of visual entertainment" (Boxoffice) and "the best film musical ever made" (The New Republic)!System Requirements:Starring: Natalie Wood Richard Beymer Russ Tamblyn Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. Directed By: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Running Time: 152 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2003 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: NR UPC: 027616884343 Manufacturer No: 1004353

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2059 in DVD
• Brand: WEST SIDE STORY DVD COLLECTOR'S SET (DVD MOVI
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.20:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, Box set, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.15 pounds
• Running time: 152 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
The winner of 10 Academy Awards, this 1961 musical by choreographer Jerome Robbins and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) remains irresistible. Based on a smash Broadway play updating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the 1950s era of juvenile delinquency, the film stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers from different neighborhoods--and ethnicities. The film's real selling points, however, are the highly charged and inventive song-and-dance numbers, the passionate ballads, the moody sets, colorful support from Rita Moreno, and the sheer accomplishment of Hollywood talent and technology producing a film so stirring. Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim wrote the score. --Tom Keogh

DVD features
West Side Story, considered by many the greatest movie musical ever, is beautifully packaged in its collector's edition set. The film itself has a new transfer and 5.1 sound mix (though the picture and 5.1 sound of the original DVD release were also excellent), and adds 90 seconds of intermission music, which is an instrumental version of "I Feel Pretty" before the film resumes with that song. The opening menu allows viewers to select whether they want to hear the intermission music (it's not separately tracked). The second disc offers numerous features, such as storyboards, international advertising, and, of chief interest, a 56-minute 2003 documentary that interviews key contributors such as director-coproducer Robert Wise, playwright Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim (who says that even when the show was on stage he wanted "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "Cool" switched to the order they appear in the film). Most interesting are the discussions about the extensive dubbing. It's common knowledge that Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer were dubbed (you can hear her original "I Feel Pretty," which is adequate, and her part in the "Tonight" quintet, which is not), but Russ Tamblyn says that associate producer Saul Chaplin insisted on dubbing everyone, and Rita Moreno expresses her dissatisfaction with the character of her dubbed voice. The package is rounded out by a lovely and thick (if somewhat small-sized) booklet that reproduces the original screenplay and lobby brochure, supplemented by a new letter from screenwriter Ernest Lehman and other goodies. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

You Could Die Dancing
A lot of young men will see this film and think that problems are solved through dancing. Pity the young man that takes the film's message to heart. He might join Blackwater as a mercenary in Iraq protecting American dignitaries. What would happen if insurgents open fire with mortars and AK-47s? The soldiers might start dancing in the casbah to some Clash music. That wouldn't stop people from taking back their own country. They'd capture the Green Zone and thereby effectively end the American occupation. In order to focefully jam democracy down the throats of others, we need brute force applied without mercy not gracious dancing.

Scorpio,Oak Bluffs
Fantastic!!!! It's one of my favorite movies. The music is so memorable and the dancing even better!!Love it, Love it Love it!!!

Natalie Wood shines!
West Side Story is beloved musical but I could never get in to this classic. The Romeo & Juliet angle doesn't work in a musical style setting, it comes off corny and superficial. Natalie Wood is the bright point in this film, even though she didn't actually sing the songs, her performance is riveting, she was a special actress back then. Rita Moreno over acts, what's so great about her? West Side Story is good but not spectacular, decide for yourself on this one.