What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
79 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
It was better live...
9 Oct 2005
Format:DVD
If you were ever in New York around Christmas time from 1994 to it's tenth and final year in 2003 the number one show to see would have been Madison Square Garden's A CHRISTMAS CAROL presented first in 1994 with Walter Charles as Scrooge and in later years F. Murray Abraham and even Tim Curry! The stage adaptation was the most elaborate spectacle you could ever wish to see on-stage with magical sets, fantastic costumes and even an indoor snowfall! Realistically, there was no way to transfer this magic to the screen, but it was attempted anyway, and what we are left with is the charm of the material. Any musical based on a Charles Dickens novel is heading in the right direction from the start. Add to the equation the beautiful music of Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas and even Little Shop of Horrors!) and the perfectly poignant lyrics by Lyn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical, Once on this Island and A Man of No Importance) and the material is sure to stand up... and it does. However, that was in 1995.
In later years the authors continued to make rather bizarre changes to the score that, essentially were exceedingly inferior to their counterpart songs. The best example would be replacing the beautifully dark opening song "The Years are Passing By" from the original stage version with the totally lame "Jolly Good Time". This was apparently done in an effort to make the show less daunting for kids, but this is Charles Dickens and therefor in doing so you are destroying the very foundation of your source material. Some of the revisions, however, are very nice indeed like the inclusion of the new song "You Mean More to Me" which is just pure heaven. Unfortunately the script presented for this television version was the revised script from the later versions of the show and not the one from 1995. So the material does not hold up quite as strong. Thankfully, we have an all-star cast to pull the focus away from that and they succeed. Kelsey Grammer is a serviceable Scrooge and the ensemble of Broadway veterans lead us through a nightmare tale that will ultimately put you in the Christmas spirit, and that, if anything, could have been Dicken's intentions all along. If you can find it, definitely pick up the 1995 original cast recording of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, but for the visuals, this DVD will do just fine.
In later years the authors continued to make rather bizarre changes to the score that, essentially were exceedingly inferior to their counterpart songs. The best example would be replacing the beautifully dark opening song "The Years are Passing By" from the original stage version with the totally lame "Jolly Good Time". This was apparently done in an effort to make the show less daunting for kids, but this is Charles Dickens and therefor in doing so you are destroying the very foundation of your source material. Some of the revisions, however, are very nice indeed like the inclusion of the new song "You Mean More to Me" which is just pure heaven. Unfortunately the script presented for this television version was the revised script from the later versions of the show and not the one from 1995. So the material does not hold up quite as strong. Thankfully, we have an all-star cast to pull the focus away from that and they succeed. Kelsey Grammer is a serviceable Scrooge and the ensemble of Broadway veterans lead us through a nightmare tale that will ultimately put you in the Christmas spirit, and that, if anything, could have been Dicken's intentions all along. If you can find it, definitely pick up the 1995 original cast recording of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, but for the visuals, this DVD will do just fine.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Good... But has flaws
24 Sep 2006
Format:DVD
I saw this on TV when it first aired, even then I was already in a show of A Christmas Carol as Young Man Scrooge, read the book, saw many movie verisions, and loved it. When I saw this I loved it, not for Kelsey Grammar, no not for Jason Alexander, I loved it for Ruthie Henshall, Jane Krakowski, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jesse L. Martin. Their acting and singing shine in this production. With great choreography, music, acting, pretty good directing, what got me down on this dvd was the sloppy editing. The editing is terrible! Usually it dosen't bother me all that much, but on this it is so bad, I couldn't stand it. But with great music with a cd available of it, I still love this story and this movie, but it does have flaws as all movies do, but still a good product. I like that it has commentary and just a little benhind the scenes look. I give this a tree for the editing and Kelsey's performance, but great music, choreography, singing, and acting.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
If you are a Christmas Carol purist, you may not like this. BUT
27 Nov 2011
Format:DVD
I really did. Although the story did not follow the Dickens version to the letter, the story was told in enough similarity that you picked it up. Jason Alexander as Marley was great, and Jane Krakowski was as beautiful as ever. This was well done, and if you are looking for a lighter version of A Christmas Carol, get this. My favorite serious version is still George C. Scott.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
