Product Description
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Blu-ray/DVD Combo. 50th Anniversary. The Greatest Love Story
Ever Told... In the Most Accled Musical of All Time... Is Now
on Blu-ray! Experience Every Sensational Song, Dazzling Dance
Number and Magical Movie Moment of West Side Story in Sparkling
High Definition with Pure 7.1 Digital Sound. Along with
Fascinating Special Features Created Exclusively for This 50th
Anniversary Edition! Winner of Ten Academy Awards, Including Best
Picture, This Electrifying Musical Sets the Ageless Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet Against a Backdrop of Gang Warfare in 1950s New
York. Featuring An Unforgettable Score, Exuberant Choreography
and Powerful Performances By Natalie Wood, Russ Tamblyn, Richard
Beymer, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, West Side Story Will
Forever Resonate As a True Cinematic Masterpiece.
Set Contains:
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The 50th-anniversary Blu-ray edition features a huge selection
of extras on both the main disc and a separate bonus features
disc. On the main disc, "Pow! The Dances of West Side Story
In-Movie Viewing Mode" offers in into seven of the film's
dance sequences by a variety of contemporary directors and
choreographers, as well as actors from both the film and Broadway
play. The discussion ranges from why specific moves were chosen
for individual dances to how extensively choreographed and
rehearsed most dances were and how the dances managed to
successfully integrate music, word, and dance into a powerful
expression of both plot and emotion. The "Song-Specific
Commentary by Stephen Sondheim" is an intriguing and candid
discussion by Sondheim about how he created the lyrics for 14
distinct songs, which songs he felt were most successful, the
lyrics he's most embarrassed about penning, and even an admission
that, in his opinion, he was wrong to fight for the reordering of
the songs "Officer Krupke" and "Cool." The 20-track "Music
Machine," which allows viewers to go directly to their favorite
musical numbers, is the final special feature on the main disc.
On the bonus features disc, "A Place for Us: West Side Story's
Legacy" explores how incredibly groundbreaking and innovative the
film was. Offering their musings are contemporary producers,
directors, actors, and choreographers, among them Adam Shankman
(Hairspray and Rock of Ages), Zach Woodlee (Glee), and Mikhail
Baryshnikov (White Nights and Baryshnikov on Broadway), as well
as Sondheim and assistant director Robert Relyea, and even
composer Leonard Bernstein's daughter Jamie Bernstein. What comes
through loud and clear is that West Side Story was a
revolutionary film: a project in which three men from three
separate disciplines came together to tell a story in a
completely new way and in which the traditional boundaries
between dancing, acting, and singing simply dissolved. The
feature explores the emotional impact of this then-new form of
storytelling and how it led the way for musicals, and later music
videos, to tackle serious subject matter. It also looks at the
global reach of the film, gives a nod to the many modern films
and television programs that have paid homage to the film over
the years, and explains how the musical inspired the West Side
Story Project, in which and theaters in places like
Seattle join forces to facilitate open conversation and
interaction among gang members, , and local theaters. The
56-minute "West Side Memories" features director and coproducer
Robert Wise, playwright Arthur Laurents, lyricist Sondheim,
executive producer Walter Mirisch, various other cast and crew
members, and even the voice of Jerome Robbins, thanks to a
of a 1960 interview. They expound on everything, from
the unique form of this musical to the genius of Leonard
Bernstein and his uncanny way of combining popular music with
Cuban and jazz influences, as well as aspects of classical music.
They also touch on the complex choreography of Robbins and the
intense relationship he had with the dancers, and Sondheim's
uncanny ability to tailor a song to a specific role and to
function as an extension of the author. There's discussion about
how different the characters of Maria, Anita, Tony, and Riff are
and how markedly the demands of playing each role differ, as well
as an interesting and very frank conversation about Saul
Chin's insistence on dubbing many of the singing voices. Other
special features include a storyboard-to-film comparison montage
and four trailers: original theatrical, original issue, reissue,
and animated. --Tami Horiuchi