6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Step right up and enjoy the universally loved show that has entertained audiences for over 40 years! THE FANTASTICKS is as fresh and dazzling as ever in this screen adaptation from the original creative team of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Michael Ritchie orchestrates the musical talents of Oscar winner Joel Grey (CABARET), Tony Award winner Barnard Hughes (DA), Jean Louisa Kelly (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS) and (Joe McIntyre (New Kids on the Block) in a magical, mystical love story inspired by ROMEO AND JULIET. Two teenagers on neighboring farms steal glances and hide their romance from their feuding fathers. Little do these love-birds know, however, that their fathers are actually good friends who've hatched a plan — with the help of a mystical roving side-show and its equally mysterious ringmaster — to get these lovers down the aisle! But be careful what you wish for. Because to bring these families together...they must first be torn apart!
Starring: Joel Grey, Barnard Hughes, Jean Louisa Kelly, Joey McIntyre, Jonathon MorrisMusical | 100% |
Romance | 62% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.44:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The theatrical songwriting team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones (not that one) may not have entered the public lexicon in the same way that, say, Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Loewe have, but for me personally, they are one of my earliest and frankly fondest listening memories. One of the sweeter family traditions my parents fostered was springing for a deluxe trip to the Big Apple to stay with my father’s brothers and live the high life as a celebration for having graduated high school. My eldest sister returned from her trip eastward with the Original Cast Recording of a musical entitled 110 in the Shade, which she had gotten to see on the Great White Way, preferring it to a somewhat better known show that was running at the same time, a little thing called Funny Girl. 110 in the Shade was a musicalization of The Rainmaker, and it featured the first big Broadway score by the team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, a pair who had become New York legends due to the Energizer Bunny like success of their off-Broadway outing The Fantasticks. That cast recording my sister brought back from Manhattan was my personal introduction to Schmidt and Jones' extremely appealing songcraft, and it provided hours of rapt listening pleasure to me when I was a very young boy. If 110 in the Shade saw Schmidt and Jones indulging in a bit of Rodgers and Hammerstein-esque Americana in fairly traditional if undeniably lush and beautiful form, The Fantasticks was a somewhat more intimate, and maybe even revolutionary, approach to crafting a musical. The original off-Broadway show ran for a stupendous 42 years and an astounding 17,162 performances, despite being deliberately small scaled and at times decidedly on the twee side. Ostensibly based on French dramatist Edmond Rostand’s Les Romanesques, The Fantasticks from a plot perspective exploits fairly hoary tropes of a girl and boy from squabbling families (or so it would seem—more about that in a moment) who find true love with each other (think Romeo and Juliet set to music, though a bit more sentimentally and less astringently than in West Side Story). From a presentation perspective, though, the stage version of The Fantasticks is a different beast altogether, one that employs techniques like a pseudo-narrator and a patently artificial ambience that indulges in the very theatricality that its small scale demeanor would seem to argue against. These elements perhaps spelled doom for a film version of the venerable property from the get go, though curmudgeons may lay the blame for The Fantasticks’ supposed “failure” more directly at questionable decisions like deciding not to start the film with the musical’s defining song “Try to Remember,” an anthem which has entered the Great American Songbook as one of the most enduring paeans to nostalgia ever written.
The Fantasticks is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.44:1. Whatever one may think of the changes wrought for the film version, there's no denying what a sumptuously beautiful visual experience this is, courtesy of Ritchie's widescreen framings and the luscious cinematography of Fred Murphy. The unbelievably picturesque countryside where the two families live pops magnificently in this high definition presentation, with a gorgeously suffused palette and oftentimes exceptional fine detail that offers precise views of everything from waving wheat to Joel Grey's crow's feet. Detail and shadow detail are both excellent as well, even in scenes like the sweet interaction between Matt and Luisa in a darkened "movie theater" where a silent film version of Romeo and Juliet plays. The elements are in generally superior shape, though there are some very occasional and minor instances of dirt. This has a beautifully filmic appearance which shows no signs of artificial digital intrusion.
The Fantasticks features both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. Both of these tracks support the film's dialogue and singing exceptionally well, though the 5.1 track really opens up Jonathan Tunick's expressive and well wrought orchestrations. Prioritization is fine even in some of the more manic moments once El Gallo's "plan" starts coming to fruition. Fidelity is top notch and there are no problems of any kind to warrant concern.
While the "Additional Footage" from the Special Edition DVD is missing on this Blu-ray, this release offers Michael Ritchie's original version (albeit in standard definition).
- Michael Ritchie offers his thoughts on adapting this iconic property.
- Jean Louisa Kelly is hosted by Bruce Kimmel, who himself has a long history with Schmidt and Jones.
- Chris Willman, a journalist who has written extensively about The Fantasticks, is hosted by Twilight Time's Nick Redman.
I recently music directed a cabaret where the singers performed one of my all time favorite Schmidt and Jones tunes, the acerbically hilarious "Not My Problem" from Celebration. It offers a bit more astringent content than much of the admittedly sugary sentiments in The Fantasticks, but offering a snippet of the laugh out loud lyric by Tom Jones may whet the appetite of some who may not be familiar with this great songwriting team and help to indicate why they've been such a favorite of mine for so long:
God is deadThe Fantasticks doesn't offer that kind of "philosophizing," but it has an undeniable charm and well of emotionalism that makes it a deeply affecting experience, at least for those whose cynicism hasn't completely eclipsed their humanity. The film version may well be flawed, but taken on its own terms it has its own distinctive pleasures. This Blu-ray has top notch technical merits and some very appealing supplements, and comes Highly recommended.
That's what they said
Done in by Darwin, Marx and Freud
Free are we from Deity
Of course it sort of leaves a little void.
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