Customer Reviews

NEW Kidman/mcgregor/broadbent - Moulin Rouge (Blu-ray)

5 star:		(726)
4 star:		(116)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(55)
1 star:		(203)

 

 

I absolutely love Moulin Rouge. I have never seen anything at all like this movie; it is nothing short of indescribable. Previews and descriptions offer only the smallest glimpse into the epic world of intense human emotion, amazing sets, and incredible music that is Moulin Rouge. The setting is Paris in 1900, where the Moulin Rouge is the place to be, a spectacularly unreal world wherein inhibitions are left at the door and beauty, truth, freedom, and love are pursued on an epic scale. Ewan McGregor plays Christian, a young, idealistic, penniless poet who has come to Paris to embrace the bohemian spirit flourishing there. He soon finds himself writing songs for a lavish production alongside a truly unforgettable cast of characters led by Toulouse Lautrec (John Leguizamo). His new friends are awestruck by the lines and lyrics he comes up with, all of which are drawn from the pop culture of our own modern day. A shot of absinthe and a vision of the Green Fairy (played by the lovely Kylie Minogue) later, he finds himself inside Moulin Rouge. Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent) leads the way for one of the most lavish musical production numbers ever created on film, topped off by the appearance of Satine (Nicole Kidman) on a huge swing above the amazingly enthusiastic audience. Despite the odds, Christian and Satine fall in love, but they must keep their love hidden because the club's wealthy patron, The Duke (Richard Roxburgh), wants Satine for himself and is willing to make her the real actress she longs to be in return for her affections. I was rather surprised to discover such a deeply emotional tale at the heart of this movie; it is a beautiful but tragic love story that outshines even the incredibly lavish production numbers for which this film is most famous.

I love musicals, but I had come to doubt the ability of modern moviemakers to make one worth seeing. What director Baz Luhrmann has done is to actually reinvent the musical as audiences know it. It sounds strange to say that the music for a movie set in 1900 consists of modern pop, opera, hip-hop, and other songs of the late twentieth century, but it really works beautifully and draws the modern viewer more deeply into the world of "real artificiality" Luhrmann succeeded in creating. If you had asked my thoughts on having two guys who look like David Spade and Rip Taylor singing Madonna's Like a Virgin in a movie, I would have laughed you out the door, yet it actually works in Moulin Rouge. Each of the terrific songs included here does serve rather than detract from the story itself. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman do actually sing their own songs, it is important to note, and I was amazed to discover that Kidman's singing voice is as beautiful as she is herself. Dialogue alone could never manufacture the power unleashed by the music of Moulin Rouge, and the great tragedy of the story is made even more poignant by songs such as the haunting Come What May. Don't think this movie uses its garish production numbers as a means of hiding a weak story because the love story of Christian and Satine is nothing short of breathtaking, heartbreaking, and somehow wondrously beautiful all at the same time.

A terrific movie deserves a terrific DVD release, and Moulin Rouge features more extras than I could even watch all at once. When you watch the movie, you will marvel at the sets and costumes and wonder how on earth this movie was made. There are features on just about every aspect of the making of Moulin Rouge included on Disc Two. I love the commentaries and interviews, but what I really love are the uncut dance sequences. The dance numbers in this movie are just beautiful and beyond amazing, but they cannot be shown uncut in the film itself because things are happening story-wise at the same time and those scenes take precedence over the dances. Here, not only can you watch each of these musical production numbers in its completeness, you can even watch each one from multiple camera angles.

I know there are some people who dismiss this movie out of hand because it is a musical or because the hedonistic themes revealed in the movie previews give the impression of gaudiness over substance. This is not a musical in the traditional sense of the word, and the sets, while opulently lavish, are actually less stunning than the plot itself. This is a love story for the ages, sprinkled with comedy but dominated by the deepest of human emotions. Even though I was interested in this movie from the time it was released, I myself did not expect story itself to be as powerful and moving as it is. Moulin Rouge is, in almost every conceivable way, one of the best motion pictures I have ever seen.

Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor embark upon a dangerous love story in "Moulin Rouge." A courtizan and penniless writer, the two must battle for their love, defying men at the nightclub, a jealous duke, and a fatal illness. Their love story is enveloped within extraordinary musical performances and tantalizing dance scenes, and the lovers' songs live on long after the movie has ended. I think the work as a whole is phenomenal!

....a chick flick in the most negative sense of the term. It uses a shallow plot (that's baby-pool-shallow, folks) as the infrastructure to carry out the murder of an array of classic rock and roll songs, songs which clash jarringly with the prewar-Paris setting of this musical. The film appears to be intended as a sensory feast, both visually and aurally. For me, the musical aspect simply does not work, although I know many people who really enjoyed the soundtrack. The visual bombardment is technically well-done, and if you like frenetic and gawdy light and color superimposed on a Paris cabaret movie set which NEVER attempts to convince you that it is anything more real than a set on a sound stage, then you may well find the movie an exciting and stimulating experience. Fans of maudlin filmmaking will enjoy the climactic tragedy of the affair between the poor young musical poet and the courtesan whose armored heart is finally breached by love, an affair that is doomed to end amidst a flood of tears gushing out from beneath the pancake makeup of the cabaret cast of the Moulin Rouge. Heck, I don't know, maybe this movie is really somewhat faithful to the Bohemian pseudo-life of Paris nightclubs back in the day. I sure did not like it much, though.

Une vraie histoire d'amour avec des chansons que j'adore et bien interpréter, surtout par Ewan McGregor. Sooo Cutee Histoire tragique = Larmes

Most people I know either love or hate MOULIN ROUGE. People who are sticklers for accuracy probably won't like this DVD because it doesn't portray either Paris or Montmarte's "Moulin Rouge" accurately. That was fine with me. I loved the fact that MOULIN ROUGE is a fantasy and a very romantic one at that.

MOULIN ROUGE is the story of Christian (Ewan McGregor), a penniless writer who dreams of penning a play that will be performed at the "Moulin Rouge." It is Toulouse-Lautrec, himself (John Leguigamo) who gets Christian an interview with Satine (Nicole Kidman), the "Moulin Rouge's" star. When Christian meets Satine, he falls in love immediately, but even though Satine returns his love, everything isn't sweetness and light for this star-crossed pair. Christian isn't the only man vying for Satine's love. A wealthy duke (Richard Roxburgh) has promised the "Moulin Rouge's" owner, Zidler (John Broadbent) that if he wins the hand of Satine, both Zidler and the "Moulin Rouge" will have nothing to worry about ever again. And, even if Satine weren't under pressure from Zidler, she's not entirely healthy.

Despite some over-the-top special effects (like Christian and Satine dancing in the clouds in the midst of stardust), the love story that forms the plot of MOULIN ROUGE is both believable and touching, due to the first-rate work of McGregor and Kidman. Both play young lovers with such a wistful romanticism that it's impossible not to love them and their singing and dancing were not so elaborate as to look "forced." Kidman, especially, shines, and I think her role as Satine has been her best to date.

It's impossible to comment on this DVD without commenting on the music (and MOULIN ROUGE is a musical). Lurhmann has incorporated "modern" songs into the film, such as "Your Song" and "Roxanne." I know people who hated this aspect of the film, but because it's a fantasy, I loved it and I thought it worked wonderfully.

Despite it's ending, which I didn't mind and, which I think, is inevitable, I think MOULIN ROUGE is a lot of fun. It's a gorgeous, stylish fantasy and yes, there are excesses, but fantasy sometimes requires excess and I think MOULIN ROUGE did. Its production numbers are infused with an energy and love for life that's missing in so many other films, most notably CHICAGO.

Nicole Kidman was so good as the tuberculosis stricken Satine, I would have loved it if she had received her "Best Actress" Oscar for this film rather than for THE HOURS, in which she was equally brilliant, but in a much smaller role.

If you love Paris, fantasy and romance, then you'll probably love MOULIN ROUGE just as I did and definitely want to own it. If, however, you like your DVDs "reality based," then MOULIN ROUGE probably won't be the DVD for you. Whether you like MOULIN ROUGE or not, it really is a brilliant, and brilliantly conceived, film.

I won't be reviewing the movie much except to say that I enjoyed it tremendously. The music, the choreography and the sets were wonderful.

I will just say a few things about the DVD edition. For one thing, it is given in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and not cut to 1.85:1 as stated in Amazon's website. It is an anamorphic transfer (enhanced for 16x9 widescreen TVs), although there is no mention of this on the box cover, or anywhere inside for that matter.

The casing unfortunately is a flimsy cardboard affair which cracked at the edges when I opened it.

The print used for the transfer is practically flawless and the picture quality is generally quite good. There is however quite a bit of edge enhancement seen in various scenes, especially the darker ones.

The sound is sumptuous and comes in both 5.1 Dolby Surround and 5.1 DTS.

The DVD had a tendency to default to displaying the subtitles when played on my RealMagic Hollywood Plus player but this wasn't a problem on other DVD players.

The extras make up the second of this 2 disc set and they alone are worth the price of the DVD. Unfortunately none of the material here has been enhanced for 16x9 TVs. There's a half hour documentary on the making of Moulin Rouge. There are separate interviews with all the main stars. There are full rehearsal sequences for all the major dance numbers. There are also sequences in the choregraphy section, of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman rehearsing their dance routines and clowning around. There are extended sequences for all the major dance numbers and there are multiple camera angle shots for all these numbers. This allows you to view the dances from whatever position you like. Fascinating. Unfortunately the camera angle thingie works in a small window and not full screen.

The deleted scenes segment contains alternate sequences for several scenes. The "Come What May" sequence includes scenes of the lovers rowing on a lake and of the them in a hot air balloon a la "Around the World In Eighty Days". The "Dance Across The Sky" sequence is longer with heavier use of animation. There is also an extended Can Can Sequence and an alternate Green Fairy Sequence.

There is also a mini documentary showing Kylie Minogue rehearsing for her role as the Green Fairy. This is tucked away under the "Design" section in a sub-section under that titled "Smoke and Mirrors".

There are numerous other short documentaries on the special effects, costumes, artwork etc used to create the show and tonnes of photographs.

The music videos section includes a glorious full screen version of the Lady Marmalade music video which has razor sharp images compared to some of the other material here. There is also a live performance of Lady Marmalade taken from the MTV Awards which looks soft and almost blurry by comparison. After that there is a letterbox version of the "Come What May" video, the one featuring the insistent underlying thumping rhythm. For those who don't like this version, you can go to the Japanese Movie Trailer (it's in english) which features "Come What May" with a standard orchestral accompaniment.

This DVD release is fully packed and aside from the edge enhancement problem would be fully worthy of five stars.

Okay, so the first ten minutes werent exactly the most thrilling, I hate a movie that gives away the ending at the very beginning, but the songs were beautifully sung, amazing that the actors themselves sang it. Especially "Your Song" sung by Ewan Mcgregor, I never would have believed his voice could sound so beautiful, and he hit the tunes perfectly. The plot wasnt corrupted by the songs and dances, but actually blended in giving it a wonderful depth into the movie.

The actor I was most amazed by was Ewan Mcgregor. I had seen him in Star Wars and thought him to be quite cute, but Moulin Rouge literally got me hooked on him. A definite must for fans of Ewan. :)

Finally, I just like to say for a movie I couldnt bare to watch the first ten minutes of, I now beg my parents to buy it for me. Give it a chance, its a beautiful story with wonderful actors.

It was very difficult fir me to actually watch this movie the entire way through. I saw this and ahted it, but when Chicago came out i thought it was one of the best musicals of the time. Here the acting was fairly weak and the plot was just boring. If you want to see a musical, go get Chicago, not this trash.

No matter how many times I watch this movie I'm still moved by it. It is absolutely fantastic!

I love this movie. It's not because the actors are beautiful, which they are. It's not because the special effects are breath-taking, however great they seem to me. It's not because the music is exhilarating, which of course it must be. It is because of the story and the acting and the beauty of this film. There will always be those who say this movie is not good, but that is THEIR opinion. This is mine. Even if you don't think it looks appealing, give it a chance. There's always the hope of falling in love. And, so says Ewan Macgregor several times, the greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return.