Moulin Rouge (Two-Disc Special Edition)

The "Spectacular, Spectacular" theme of Moulin Rouge continues with the two-DVD set's dazzling array of extras, a must-watch for the Moulin Rouge fanatic. The first disc contains the film along with two commentary tracks--one with Baz Luhrmann, the production designer, and the cinematographer, the second with Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, the writers of the film. Both commentaries contain lots of interesting and fun facts about the making of the film, including back story on the characters that was eventually cut, Courtney Love's long deliberation before allowing the use of Nirvana's "Teen Spirit," and contributions to the story made by the film's stars.

The second disc contains a making-of documentary, amusing footage of McGregor and Kidman goofing around on the set, and interviews with all the major stars. Deleted scenes, extended dance numbers, the MTV music-awards performance of "Lady Marmalade," and many more extras make for a detailed look inside Moulin Rouge that's bursting with as much energy as the nightclub itself. --Mindy Ruehmann

A dazzling and yet frequently maddening bid to bring the movie musical kicking and screaming into the 21st century, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge bears no relation to the many previous films set in the famous Parisian nightclub. This may appear to be Paris in the 1890s, with can-can dancers, bohemian denizens like Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), and ribaldry at every turn, but it's really Luhrmann's pop-cultural wonderland. Everyone and everything is encouraged to shatter boundaries of time and texture, colliding and careening in a fast-cutting frenzy that thinks nothing of casting Elton John's "Your Song" 80 years before its time. Nothing is original in this kaleidoscopic, absinthe-inspired love tragedy--the words, the music, it's all been heard before. But when filtered through Luhrmann's love for pop songs and timeless showmanship, you're reminded of the cinema's power to renew itself while paying homage to its past.

Luhrmann's overall success with his third "red-curtain" extravaganza (following Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet) is wildly debatable: the scenario is simple to the point of silliness, and how can you appreciate choreography when it's been diced into hash by attention-deficit editing? Still, there's something genuine brewing between costars Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman (as, respectively, a poor writer and his unobtainable object of desire), and their vocal talents are impressive enough to match Luhrmann's orgy of extraordinary sets, costumes, and digital wizardry. The movie's novelty may wear thin, along with its shallow indulgence of a marketable soundtrack, but Luhrmann's inventiveness yields moments that border on ecstasy, when sound and vision point the way to a moribund genre's joyously welcomed revival. --Jeff Shannon

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Après son virevoltant Ballroom Dancing, incontestable apologie de la danse, et sa très surprenante et moderne adaptation de Shakespeare dans Roméo + Juliette, Baz Luhrmann revisite le mythe d'Orphée et aborde, avec l'originalité qu'on lui connaît, un nouveau registre : celui de la comédie musicale. Véritable tourbillon de couleurs, de rythmes et de sons, Moulin-Rouge séduit ou indispose mais force l'admiration par la rigueur et l'excellence de sa réalisation, notamment artistique. Des décors grandioses et kitsch (la chambre de Satine, l'éléphant !) aux costumes somptueux et flamboyants (les robes à froufrous du cancan...), la mise en scène ne laisse rien au hasard et chaque détail est étudié minutieusement pour retranscrire avec soin le strass et l'extravagance de Montmartre et des nuits parisiennes des années 1900. Au milieu de cette excentricité, le couple Nicole Kidman (la divine Satine, courtisane déchirée entre sa carrière et son amour) et Ewan McGregor (le candide Christian, poète transi foudroyé par sa passion) offre un répit salvateur et démontre, si besoin était, que lyrisme, émotion et humour s'épousent harmonieusement. Pourvu d'une magnifique bande originale qui voit Elton John, Madonna, les Beatles ou encore Queen transposés loin de leur époque, doté d'une prestigieuse édition DVD qui fourmille de bonus qui transporteront le spectateur derrière le rideau rouge du fameux cabaret à la découverte des secrets et autres anecdotes du film, Moulin-Rouge est un spectacle monumental aussi enivrant qu'un verre d'absinthe mais tellement euphorisant. --Frédéric Thorens

A spectacle beyond anything you've ever witnessed. An experience beyond everything you've ever imagined. Behind the red velvet curtain, the ultimate seduction of your senses is about to begin. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge! Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor sing, dance and scale the heights of passionate abandon in the year's most talked-about movie from visionary director Baz Luhrmann (William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom). Enter a tantalizing world that celebrates truth, beauty, freedom and above all things, love.