Product Description

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese teams with Academy AwardÂ(r) winners* Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro in this splashy, flashy musical spectacle celebrating the glorious days of the Big Band Era in the Big Apple! Jimmy is a joint-jumpin saxophonist on his way to stardom. Francine is a wannabe starlet who dreams of singing in the spotlight. When they meet, sparks flyand when he plays and she sings, they set New York on fire! It's the beginning of a stormy relationship, asthe two struggle to balance their passions for music and each other under the pressures of big-timeshow biz.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38963 in DVD
• Brand: MINNELLI,LIZA
• Released on: 2007-12-04
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Anamorphic
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 155 minutes

Amazon.com
Martin Scorsese took a daring turn from the mean streets that made his reputation in the early '70s with New York, New York, his homage to the big-band era. And what an homage it is: the dazzling production design by Boris Leven continues to impress over the film's nearly three-hour length. And there's no denying the anthemic appeal of Kander and Ebb's title song, belted with winning bravado by costar Liza Minnelli in a showstopping finale. But as valiantly as Minnelli and Robert De Niro try, they can't elevate the shaky plot beyond its two-dimensional construct. It purports to be a Star Is Born-like tragedy of colliding careers, but too often it feels like inadvertently eavesdropping on a marriage counselor's most truculent clients. (There are times you want someone--anyone--to slap Minnelli upside the head with a copy of Women Who Love Too Much.) For diehard Minnelli (or Scorsese) fans only. --Anne Hurley

On the DVD
The 30th anniversary edition of New York, New York contains all the extras released in the single-disc 2005 version, plus a second disc chock full of special features. The two-part "New York, New York Stories" offers almost an hour of interviews with director Martin Scorsese, cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, and editor Tom Rolf, who give viewers a sense of the urgency that permeated the film's shoot. They don't shy away from critiquing the film, highlighting some of the high and low points on screen and behind the camera. Fans of Robert De Niro may be disappointed that he doesn't appear in the "New York Stories." But Liza Minnelli fans get their fill of the actress in the 22-minute "Liza on New York, New York." A garrulous performer, she is quite charming as she relays stories of her upbringing with vignettes about her work on New York, New York. Though the film has received some criticism for its uneven plot and direction, the crisp cinematography has been applauded, and Kovacs explains how he achieved some of the climactic shots in an easygoing way that's understandable to the layman. As for the audio commentary, it's chatty but doesn't offer much insight. Scorsese talks about the musicals that inspired him to make New York, New York and film critic Carrie Rickey gives her opinion as to why particular scenes are relevant to the picture. --Jae-Ha Kim

Customer Reviews

Often Brilliant In Spite of Major Flaws
Released in 1977, Martin Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK instantly divided critical response--and, facing box office competition from no less than STAR WARS, proved a major financial failure. A significantly edited re-release followed not long afterward but proved even less well received and even less profitable. Although a double VHS release eventually brought the film to the home market, the film remained unpopular and made barely a ripple in public consciousness. In 2005, however, NEW YORK, NEW YORK received an unexpected release to DVD. At long last it may begin to reach a significant audience.

As a story, NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from a number of oddly "Noir-ish" musicals made at Warner Bros. in the late 1940s. Most particularly, according to Scorsese's commentary, it drew from MY DREAM IS YOURS, a film that not only starred Doris Day but actually reflected her life in its tale of a talented big band "girl singer" trapped in an abusive marriage with a musician. Although the film force-fed the audience a happy ending, later films would not. In the mid-1950s, Doris Day's LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME and Judy Garland's A STAR IS BORN offered stories of a gifted female vocalists locked into disastrous romances that played out to a very distinctly unhappy ending, and NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from them as well.

Scorsese not only repeats the basic stories and themes of these films, he also repeats the artificially heightened visual style typical of Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s--it is no accident that Liza Minnelli looks and sings remarkably like mother Judy Garland in this film--but he does so to an entirely unexpected end. The bravado performing style of such films is completely snatched away, and the characters are presented in an almost documentary-like realism. In theory, each aspect of the film would emphasize the other; in fact, however, this was precisely what critics and audiences disliked about the film when it debuted. They considered it extremely grating.

But perhaps the passage of time has opened our eyes on the point. I saw NEW YORK, NEW YORK in its 1977 release and, music aside, I disliked it a great deal. I expected to retain that opinion when I approached the DVD release, but I was greatly surprised. It holds up remarkably well, and most of the time the balance of artifice and reality works very well. But there are significant flaws. In a general sense, the film has a cold feel to it that occasionally becomes so downright chilly you begin to detach from it. But even more difficult is the character of Jimmy Doyle, the abusive husband of the piece.

In his commentary, Scorsese notes that both he and actor Robert De Niro sought to push the character far beyond the extremes of MY DREAM IS YOURS, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, or A STAR IS BORN. They were perhaps more successful than they expected. The result is a character you actively do not want to watch or hear, and although we are eventually allowed to see beyond his annoying qualities that moment comes much too late in the film to make him acceptable in any significant way. It makes for more than one bout of uphill viewing.

Even those who didn't like the film in 1977 agreed that it looked good and the music was great, and although it isn't entirely ideal the DVD presentation is quite fine. Scorsese's introduction and commentary are excellent; he is, however, augmented by film critic Carrie Rickey, and while her remarks are often interesting they are a shade to academic in tone for consistent interest. The film has received a director's cut that restores the edits made for the second release as well as the "Happy Ending" number cut before the debut release, so the deleted scenes hold no great treasure; even so, they are interesting to watch.

Overall, I recommend the film--but it is very much a "Hollywood Insider" film that is probably best left to those who know a great deal about film history and who can recognize the numerous antecedents from which it draws.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I don't think this is going to be the Ultimate Edition either
I'll start by rephrasing what I said about the last DVD edition

Even the non Special Edition of Boxcar Bertha from the Martin Scorsese Collection was presented in Widescreen , but alas New York, New York was only Letterboxed.

It only included the so called restored version of the film which is in reality only one of three versions released.

If any film is more deserving than The Abyss for a "watch it the way you want to" DVD release it's New York, New York.

The deleated / alternate scenes included did not represent the differences between the first and third versions of the film, nor do they include the scenes deleted from the first release to shorten the running time for the second run release.

The Laserdisc Special Edition release had more bonus material than was included on that DVD.


Guess we'll have to wait for the Ultimate Edition Boxed set for a truely special edition .

In the meantime this one will due.

Oct 2007: Pre - order pages are appearing for New York, New York: 30th Anniversary Edition, Reportedly 2 discs. Hopefully it's a vast improvement on the last one.

Details are starting to appear :
Features
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
Mono - English, Spanish
Dolby Surround 5.1 - English
Subtitled - English, French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:
Disc 1: NEW YORK NEW YORK - Feature Presentation
Alternate Scenes - 1. Alternate Takes
2. Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentaries - 1. Martin Scorsese - Director
2. Carrie Rickey - Film Critic
Introduction - Martin Scorsese - Director
Trailers - 1. Theatrical Trailer
2. Teaser Trailer
3. MGM/UA Previews
Text/Photo Galleries:
Galleries - 1. French Lobby Cards
2. Original Posters
Stills/Photos - 1. Filmmakers, Cast & Crew
2. On Set
3. Research Photos
Storyboards
Disc 2: NEW YORK NEW YORK - Supplemental Material
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentaries - Lazlo Kovacs, ASC - Cinematographer (Select Scenes)
Featurettes - 1. "The New York, New York Stories" Part One
2. "The New York, New York Stories" Part Two
3. "Liza on NEW YORK NEW YORK"


It still may not be the Ultimate Edition this film should have but in the meantime this one will due.

Sadly latest news is it's the same version ( so called director's cut)as the last release only and even the "Liza on New York New York" is abridged.
Only 5:35 minutes from a 30 minute segment done for an overseas release taped November 10th, 2003.

Shame on them.

Still waiting for "enhanced for widescreen TV" transfer
The version of the movie in this "special edition" is the same non-anamorphic transfer that was released in 2004. If you own a HD TV set you'll know what I mean. Instead of presenting the best version possible, this provides a flat letterboxed version well suited to the late 1980s.