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Amazon.co.uk Review
The story is paper-thin, but that's hardly the point. Nicole Kidman's courtesan Satine falls for poor poet Ewan McGregor while pledged to a psychotic English Duke. The show goes on, of course, and we know it will end in tragedy--because that's the sort of story this is, and the only thing that makes it bearable is the knowledge that it's all just brilliant artifice. The third of Luhrman's "Red Curtain" trilogy (after Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet), Moulin Rouge reinvents musical cinema, acknowledging its debt to past masters like Vincente Minnelli (Gigi) and Michael Powell (The Red Shoes), but taking in the best of rock video along the way. The incessant MTV-style editing might seem like a distraction, but in the end a film insane enough to include Jim Broadbent's cover of "Like a Virgin" defines its own genre rules.
On the DVD: this double-disc package sets new standards of presentation while also having an ideally appropriate light-heartedness. The extra features are as inventive in their use of the format as the film itself. Highlights include not one but two commentaries--one by Luhrmann, his designer and his cinematographer, the other with Lurhmann and his fellow scriptwriter Craig Pearce. We get two videos of "Lady Marmalade" and there are also uncut dance numbers, for example the fabulously dark Tango sequence in all its detail, which come with alternate camera angles so that you can edit your own version. There are whole segments on the glittery costumes, the three-dimensional model of Paris and the transformation of Kylie Minogue into the Green Fairy of absinthe. The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen (formatted for 16:9 TVs) with a visual aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and has lush, velvety Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 sound options. --Roz Kaveney
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unmissable,
By
This review is from: Moulin Rouge [2001] [DVD] (DVD)
If you dismiss the premise behind Moulin Rouge (a love story set in Bohemian Paris, told largely through song with scant regard for the restraints of reality) as improbable and almost absurd, you may miss one of the best films of recent years. Only in the skilled hands of Baz Luhrman could such a feat be pulled off: it IS pulled off, and spectacularly so. The film flickers from the hilarious to the dark and tragic, and despite the unashamed flamboyance and craziness of the world of the Moulin Rouge, no character (except possibly the naïve Christian - Ewan McGregor) is at all simplified. Behind the scenes and beyond the façade of garish physical pleasure that makes up the Moulin Rouge, we see the human face of the buffoon-like Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), the secret hopes and dreams of Satine (Nicole Kidman), the giggling courtesan, and the dark and dangerous core of jealousy behind the apparently absurd and utterly ridiculous Duke (Richard Roxburgh.)The story itself is extremely powerful, and the use of some of the most famous songs of the last thirty years simply gives it wings. The hilarious take on Madonna's Like a Virgin provides one of the funniest moments of the film, and the declaration of love through Elton John's Song, and the following famous love medley (set in and on a giant jewel encrusted elephant, no less, in which the two lovers dance around a miniature Paris to the crooning of a singing moon) must be one of the most romantic declarations of love in any film, ever. This most powerful scene, however, must go to the 'Roxanne' tango number: the kind of stuff that gives you goosebumps up the back of your neck. McGregor and Kidman actually singing always threatened to be a weak link, but they get away with it, and their acting is solid throughout. While Broadbent gives an excellent comic performance two of the best showings are from Caroline O'Connor, as Nini, and John Leguizamo, as Henri Toulouse-Latrec. The fact that neither of these two are in starring roles demonstrates the depth and consistency of talent that make up the fabric of the film. Most of all, Moulin Rouge is special because of its cinematography: totally lavish colours and lights make up a surreal kaleidoscope of wealth and depravity. At its heart, yes: it's a story about love, overcoming all obstacles. But it's the storytelling itself that makes this among the most memorable films of recent years.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular Spectacular it isnt,
By
This review is from: Moulin Rouge [Blu-ray] [2001] (Blu-ray)
First off let me say that I think this is a great film, I like it so much that I have now purchased the BluRay and it is the disc I am reviewing not the movie.
Blu Rays are the best way to make the most of your expensive HD TV but most Blu Rays tend to be a waste of the format - they just seem to port the DVD copy over to the Blu Ray disc so I always try to buy films that make the most of the format. For Moulin Rouge I saw that the film had been "redone with the approval of Baz" so I thought - yes this would be good, the amazing colours and extraordinary scenes of this film will really make a great viewing experience. In my opinion it is a bit hit and miss; some of the scenes have been done in HD while others are left looking very grainy and the colours are much less vibrant All of the BluRay mini documentaries have all been shot in standard definition and to make this appear less obvious all of these are played within a small window which lets about half your screen go to waste. The sound quality and various dolby options are fantastic - it is almost worth upgrading purely for the improved sound quality over the DVD. All in all not the most amazing blu ray but one well worth having if you do not own the DVD, otherwise if you are thinking of getting this be sure you have a decent surround system.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unmissable,
By
This review is from: Moulin Rouge [VHS] [2001] (VHS Tape)
If you dismiss the premise behind Moulin Rouge (a love story set in Bohemian Paris, told largely through song with scant regard for the restraints of reality) as improbable and almost absurd, you may miss one of the best films of recent years. Only in the skilled hands of Baz Luhrman could such a feat be pulled off: it IS pulled off, and spectacularly so. The film flickers from the hilarious to the dark and tragic, and despite the unashamed flamboyance and craziness of the world of the Moulin Rouge, no character (except possibly the naïve Christian - Ewan McGregor) is at all simplified. Behind the scenes and beyond the façade of garish physical pleasure that makes up the Moulin Rouge, we see the human face of the buffoon-like Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), the secret hopes and dreams of Satine (Nicole Kidman), the giggling courtesan, and the dark and dangerous core of jealousy behind the apparently absurd and utterly ridiculous Duke (Richard Roxburgh.)The story itself is extremely powerful, and the use of some of the most famous songs of the last thirty years simply gives it wings. The hilarious take on Madonna's Like a Virgin provides one of the funniest moments of the film, and the declaration of love through Elton John's Song, and the following famous love medley (set in and on a giant jewel encrusted elephant, no less, in which the two lovers dance around a miniature Paris to the crooning of a singing moon) must be one of the most romantic declarations of love in any film, ever. This most powerful scene, however, must go to the 'Roxanne' tango number: the kind of stuff that gives you goosebumps up the back of your neck. McGregor and Kidman actually singing always threatened to be a weak link, but they get away with it, and their acting is solid throughout. While Broadbent gives an excellent comic performance two of the best showings are from Caroline O'Connor, as Nini, and John Leguizamo, as Henri Toulouse-Latrec. The fact that neither of these two are in starring roles demonstrates the depth and consistency of talent that make up the fabric of the film. Most of all, Moulin Rouge is special because of its cinematography: totally lavish colours and lights make up a surreal kaleidoscope of wealth and depravity. At its heart, yes: it's a story about love, overcoming all obstacles. But it's the storytelling itself that makes this among the most memorable films of recent years.
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