Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Extra Frills Edition)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie is such a riot to watch and the music is great and with it being re-processed into Blu-ray format, looks brand new. Apart from a good plot at times hilarious and at other times quite touching, it gives you a good tourist's view of the Australian outback. Well worth the money.

A fun filled Australian film, that brings back memories of my trip(s) to Australia while these characters drive from Sydney to Alice Springs, and their misadventures along the way. The sound track is also lots of fun with a variety of songs.

There was a real trend in the mid nineties with films like "The Birdcage," "Too Wong Foo," "Its my Party," and "Love! Valor! Compassion!" exploding onto the screen as America began to feel more at ease with its gay brothers and sisters. And as we watched these movies, a whole `Gay Comic Genre' was really born. Also we can't forget about the popularity of gay stand up at that same time.

"Priscilla" did indeed avail itself of this trend, and every gay humor trick in the book. It also managed to slip us some really amazing visual, comic and compassionate moments. Except for rabid, card-carrying homophobes, this Australian road-movie-with-a-difference is a charmer. The three are: aging transsexual Bernadette (Terence Stamp), youngish occasional bisexual Tick or Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and gay-all-the way Adam or Felicia (Guy Pearce), the youngest.

The trio's specialty is to appear on-stage dressed in the most outrageous, garish, feathery female outfits, undulate and sort of dance while lip-synching to 1970s disco songs, from ABBA to whatever comes close to Z. They do their lavish karaoke excellently, and the musical selections are a constant treat. Bernadette is the wisest and quietest of the three, and most serious --she hardly ever cracks a smile. Mitzi is a bit mercurial, sometimes solemn, and sometimes buoyant. Felicia, the wildest of the bunch, is full of animal spirits, a prankster who gets often on the others' nerves. But still, there is essential harmony among those divergent types.

Remarkably, their characters, with all the flamboyance, misadventures, mean hearted blokes, and desert creatures (not to mention some very musical Aborigine) kept them admirably cool, show quiet tenacity and retain their sense of humor, so that no matter what the circumstances, there is never panic or hysteria. In a peculiar way, this steadiness blends in well with the beautiful, barren landscapes which often take on a surreal look. This is an entertaining and touching movie. Recommended to anyone with a great sense of humor!

Priscilla is one my favoraite movies of all time. I saw this movie in the theaters when it came out. I still roll with laughter every time I see this movie. Whenever I discover that a friend of mine hasn't seen it I invite them over to watch. They have all loved the film also. Hugo Weaving takes is friends and "fellow" drag queens Guy Pierce and Terence Stamp, on a bus trip trough central Australia to perform in a casino owned by his lesbian wife. During the long trip through the middle of no where, they encounter bigoted miners and tolerant aborigonies as well as a mechanic with a mail order asian bride who used to be a stripper. To many Abba songs while wearing very purposefully tacky costumes. A MUST SEE!!

1994 was a big year for Aussie films. PRISCILLA and MURIEL'S WEDDING came out at the same time, and both earned a cult following because of their over-the-top themes. Also, an ABBA revival was happening at that time, and these films featured ABBA music.

PRISCILLA has many funny moments, but what makes it so special is the fantastic scenery and colours - truly showcasing Australia's beautiful outback. Overall, the film is a pleasure to watch again and again. It tells the tale of three drag queens who set out across the Australian outback in an old bus affectionally titled "Priscilla". Along the way, they become involved in many outrageous situations.

DVD SUMMARY - Originally released as an awful blotchy pan/scan DVD in Australia, the film recently received the treatment it deserved for its 10 year anniversary! Yes, it was recently in it's correct aspect ratio (2:35) and given an anamorphic transfer. While this new transfer is still not 100% pristine (white flecks here and there), it is still a huge improvement on the original DVD release. It's fantastic to see this film in all its widescreen glory after all these years. The colours and scenery will blow you away. The soundtrack has also been remixed in DTS and 5.1 surround sound. This 10 Year Anniversary also contains lots of special features, which is amazing for a film of its age.

The bad news is that the new DVD (in pink packaging) is only available in Australia. I recommend overseas buyers getting hold of this version over the current American DVD. The American DVD is only letterbox transfer (ie. not anamorphic) and doesn't include the special features.

These three hilarous (and uplifting) films should be viewed one after the other for the ultimate australian comedy experience.

My favorite two movies are ... Pricilla,queen... and Wong foo but overall this is the best of the two the excellent songs and great acting goes hand and hand the story is great I highly reccomend this movie because it is just amazing and great. note after seeing this one maybe go and see Wong foo if you enjoy the genre.

THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT is one of the best movies (and has one of the very best, funky, 1970-80's disco soundtracks) that I have ever been fortunate enough to witness. I was dumbfounded by the sheer number of unbelievably decadent costumes, the up-beat disco music, the flawless acting, and the obviously heart-felt love of the director for his story and its characters.

What impresses me most, however, are the very real portrayals of a variety of "crazy" characters, all very different outwardly, but all searching for love inwardly. Perhaps the most poigniant realtionship was that of an aging transsexual and a friendly, elderly man she met when her bus (Priscilla) broke down in the middle of nowhere. Somehow, they just "connected," despite his "bacwardness), and I believe the two fell in love by the end of the show. This was left a bit ambiguous.

Another excellent performance was that of "Mitzie," a gay man who, in the distant past got married to a lesbian and had a son with her. This painful, yet somehow inspiring, emotional (and unusual) relationship between a gay drag queen and his wife and son (who actually loves him to death despite the
queen's" worries!) is oddly freeing to all of those who consider themselves "freaks".

The story begins as the group sets out into the Austrailian outback, on their way to a drag show they will be performing in Alice Springs (the Las Vegas of the outback, thinking that all they want is to get out of their crappy little town, where they feel unappreciated and misunderstood. People in bars through beer bottles at them, etc. By the end of the flick, however, all but one of the characters just wanted to go home. They had all changed so deeply, and while "Bernie," the transsexual chose to stay on with her new love, Bob, the rest returned to drag shows and the perfroming that they adored. And they were happy with that.

There are many other brilliantly portrayed relationships in the film: that of "Mitzie" and his son (who adores him), "Bernie" and "Felicia," an obnoxious very young ABBA fan who has no compassion for anyone (but whom Bernie saves from inevitable rape and/or death) and the weird relationship between Bob and his young Asian "wife" who tricked him into marriage by getting him drunk and having him sign papers to get her into the country.

There is so much good to be said of this movie and its directors and producers, etc., that I will just have to stop here and urge you to experience it for yourself. It's a feel good movie, a good first date movie and a poigniant, somehow sad cinematic experience that leaves one singing disco and wishing they owned a tiara!

Do not miss this film. The costumes and music alone make it worth thr price of the rental.

This outrageous movie gets an A in every category: acting, directing, costumes and music too. Three girls leave The Imperial Hotel, a real drag bar in Sydney with the worst drag show I have ever seen to do a gig in Alice Springs, deep in the Australian outback. We have two drag queens, Hugo Weaving, who has reproduced himself, Guy Pearce-- I didn't recognize him in L.A. Confidential after seeing him in this one-- and a transgendered "real" woman played by Terrence Stamp. Supposedly Stamp who wasn't allowed to see any of the movie footage before
the film was released thought he really made a beautiful woman. Poor baby. He looks for all the world like a tired, older butcher cousin of Judy Collins. Perhaps it's those beautiful blue eyes. He's a long way from FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD here.

This trio christen a tour bus "Priscilla" and begin their trip across Australia. Much of the movie is predictable, some of the lines shamelessly designed for easy laughs. But that's okay. The good girls eventually win as they should in every comedy.

If only Mel Gibson could have had a cameo role as one of the many roustabouts the girls encounter on their journey, roustabouts determined to harm these gentle creatures. Mr. Gibson could have played himself if we are to believe the negative comments about gay people attributed to him over the years.

Devotees of traditional, high-heel wearin', long-wig totin', padded -bra pointin' Female Impersonators will be disappointed by this uncannily perceptive assault on the eyeballs, but the rest of us will just laugh, over and over again.

To start, Priscilla is not a movie about the traditional Drag Queen. No Joan Rivers or MwahMwah Stweisan' lookalikes here. Instead, we find two very unconventional drag queens (one married, one gym-bunny) and a transsexual (played by a near-unrecognisable Terence Stamp) journeying across the desert to perform at a resort hotel. Along the way, they suffer sunburn, bus breakdown, homophobic attacks, and romance, but all will end well, if only they can get to 'bloody Alice' (Springs).

Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) and Guy Pearce (LA Confidential, Memento) do an excellent job in their respective roles - a once-married estranged father-of-one, desperately seeking his son's approval, and an outrageously unashamed Muscle-Mary along for the ride - but it's Terence Stamp's surprisingly sensitive performance as the recently-bereaved transsexual Bernice that makes the ensemble cast work so well. She is the perfect foil for the insecurities of Weaving, and the perfect mother to the childish Pearce. The ubiquitous Bill Hunter (Muriel's Wedding, Strictly Ballroom) gives a similarly heartwarming, out-of-character performance as Bob, an ordinary man, only too eager to separate from his uncouth wife, who falls in love with Bernice. The one-liners are, by now, legendary (Stamp, in particular, has some memorable quips) and the dialogue sparkles with no-holds-barred cattiness and barely disguised venom.

Surprisingly, the scriptwriters have also added a very successful sensitive slant to the script. Weaving's portrayal of an unorthodox father wrestling with his conscience is excellent, as is the group's reaction to various forms of homophobia they encounter on their journey. In a movie of this nature, it would have been easier to opt for the superficial, lighter-than-air slant (To Wong Foo, Wigstock) but the excellent cast and fantastic direction by Stephan Elliot ensure that this is not the case.

Visually, Priscilla has no equal, and very few movies from a later date can compare to it - Moulin Rouge is the only picture that springs to mind. In terms of colour, originality and sheer invention alone, Priscilla outshines all the competition, and creates a shocking contrast between the barren Australian Simpson Desert, and the neon sparkliness of the Drag Queens. It's also full of slightly more unusual songs - gone are the techno-pop bland ditties of contemporary gay-interest movies, replaced instead by such marvels as 'Shake Your Groove thing', 'I've Never Been To Me' and CeCe Peniston's 'Finally'. The performances are wry and hilarious, and the whole package reeks of Professionalism.

Simply the best drag movie to date, and one of the best road movies ever, 'The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' comes very highly recommended.