Hello Dolly [Blu-ray]

My grandma taped this for me on VHS (some of you are asking what that is) in probably 1992 or 1993, and I watched it until it wore out. I actually had a dress up chest in which I kept a sombrero and feather boa so I could march around and sing all the songs while the movie was playing. Watching it as an adult, it's hard not to sing along and dance it out. But seeing it in HD and seeing the costumes in detail makes the movie fantastic in a new way, and now that I have it online I can't wait to share it with my children as well.

If Hello Dolly were made into a movie today Barbara Streisand would fit the role perfectly. When the movie was made it was said she seemed too young for the part. Yet she is able to make up for it with her singing. Walter Matthau truly fits the role of Horace Vandergelder but kudos to Michael Crawford as the bumbling Cornelilus Hackl. He sings and dances with what seems an ease of effort that people would come to later know him as the original Phantom in the long running musical Phantom of the Opera.His solo number "It only takes a moment" shines as he expresses his newfound love for Irene Malloy.The musical has great scenery but a few of the show numbers are either altered for Barbra or missing. Among my favorites "I put my hand in" changed to "Just leave everything to me". The song "Motherhood" is missing although you can here strains of it during the chaos at Harmonia Garderns. "Penny in my pocket", a returned number sung by Horace in Act 2 would have been nice if it had been rewritten into the movie.However, Hello Dolly wouldn't be complete without Louis Armstrong who is given an opportunity as the bandleader to sing a chorus to Dolly during the title sequence.

One of my all-time favorites, and I watched it again last night -- but this time with my 9 year old granddaughter. What an absolute delight it was to watch her experience it for the first time! She loved it every bit as much as I do, and can't wait to watch it again. The entire cast is magnificent and Barbra Streisand shines like the glittering star is and will always be; the costumes are gorgeous; the singing and dancing is fantastic; and the story is just a ton of fun. Love everything about this movie.

I started out with a beta copy in the 80's, got the DVD about 5 years ago, but as Janice from Friends would say , (OH....MY...GAWD! It's so nice! Granted some far away shots are a teeny soft, (I'm sure because of the age of the film , I don't know) but there are things like the lace on Dolly's costumes that I have never seen before!Now for the movie, I know people squawked when if first came out because they wanted to see Carol Channing in the role because she played Dolly on Broadway and many thought Barbra Streisand was too young, but who cares? Barbra is a gem in everything she does and the music is fantastic!If you love the movie, buy it!

I love all things Streisand. But this movie one of my favorites. Has a lot of star power and some historic moments. Streisand singing with Armstrong - who had a hit with the movie's theme "Hello Dolly." Streisand does a great job blending in with the dancers - many from Broadway, like Tommy Tune - and the choreography directed by Gene Kelly. Who can't love Mr. Grumpy Old Man himself, Walter Matthau. The movie set and costumes are spectacular. This movie went all out with expenses and when it first came out was in the hole. But over the years probably made most of it back. At any rate, an early showing of Streisand's talent, in a role tackled over the years by some iconic actresses of move and theater. Worth the price to see it over and over again.

This is the movie of the musical 1964 musical "Hello Dolly". Famously it stars Barbra Streisand and Walther Matthau as Dolly Levi and Horace Vandergelder. It also features Michael Crawford before hsi rolae as Frank Spencer. It's hard to know which role made him more famous... The film maintains the musical's pace and contains the vast majority of the musical pieces. The production values are high and the musical set-pieces are marvellously choreographed and sung. Seen on modern TVs the image quality isn't great but the energy of the movie is still present. The sound quality is OK. Remember that this is a film made in 1969! To modern eyes this could be considered to be a bit camp but I find it charming and wonderful reminder of the great days of Hollywood Musicals.

Two words: Barbra Streisand. Well, two more: Walter Matthau. This version of "Hello Dolly" is fully entertaining and perfectly cast, has great period costumes. The performances sweep you along to the happy ending of this delightful, family-friendly love story. This is the go-to DVD to lift your spirits.

I have always liked certain songs from "Hello Dolly" but have never had the chance to watch the musical. I was pleased to be able to see it finally. The music with Streisand is, of course, wonderful! She is a great actress as well.There were a couple of cuss words that could have been left out to make it completely family friendly but other than that....it is a funny, happy musical with a wonderful ending. The kind of movie you like to watch to just put a smile on your face at the end of a hard day :)

There is quite a lot to like about this Film. But the is quite a lot that is a load of ham. Streisland when she is singing, but at one point she sang "Look at the old gal now" when she looked anything but old. Also Crawford the other three leads was not all ways great or even good. Some of the songs are great, and others, because of who sang them was weaker because of it. But it's an old film in age and how it is. Love it or hate it, it's one of the last musicals

Hello Dolly (1969) Blu-ray released this April, is often referred to as the "last great Hollywood musical", certainly it marked the end of an era of big budget musicals. This film has always been popular with film fans, though the plot is a bit weak and perhaps overlong, but this musical is full of razzmatazz, corny humour, a large cast and plenty of glitz and colour. It was meant by the 20Th Century Fox to be another `The Sound of Music' but was neither the financial nor the critical hit that the Studio had hopped for. The film was shot in 65mm Todd-AO and this Blu-ray transfer is up there with the very best high definition transfers such as Zulu and Lawrence of Arabia. Though I am not a Barbra Streisand fan, my audience and I really enjoyed this release, made so much more enjoyable by the fantastic picture quality, I very much doubt whether a 35mm projection print versus this disc shown on my Panasonic 6000 High Definition Video projector viewed alongside on a 12ft screen, could match either the outstanding picture quality of this disc nor the price of £11! Oh and the documentary `Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered' is really interesting. A must buy, unless you hate whimsical musicals!!! Incidentally of the same period Rex Harrison's `Doctor Dolittle' (1967) is available on Blu-ray from Amazon.de, strangely an Italian release titled `Il favoloso dottor Dolittle, [Blu-ray] (strangely not available on Blu-ray in the UK or USA!!) ..It does have English, Italian and German dialogue and costs 16.49 euro plus postage. I have ordered quite a few discs from Amazon.de (it recognises your E-mail address and password) and in my experience the service and delivery is excellent; there are of course no problems with region coding or import duty!

Glad I upgraded my DVD to blu-ray the colours pop.The musical itself is cheesy but a lovely fun musical: catchy songs, humorous. Great singing from Streisand. A lavish musical, one of the last classic musicals of this full blown standard to come from Hollywood.Hello Dolly! Cheers me up, and I love that it’s been given this new lease of life.

I really enjoyed seeing the film once more,and hope to obtain the BluRay.Barbra Streisand,despite severe criticism at the time ,for being too young for the part,did play her as an older and wiser woman,and would have been the only film star at that time,(1969)who could carry the "Dolly" vehicle.And ofcourse apart from her playing,which was extreemly good, her singing was exceptional.I first saw the film at the Academy in Brighton in 1969,and often wondered in later years,what had become of Danny Lockin,who played Barnaby alongside Michael Crawford's Cornelius.On Googling Danny last Saturday,I discovered he had been brutally murdered in 1977,stabbed over one hundred times,and his killer only got four years.Danny Lockin was a superb dancer,rivalling my favourite,Grover Dale,so watch him in "Hello Dolly",and you will see what I mean.Poor,poor Danny.What a way to go.So much for Orange County justice.My only cloud on the horizon,when watching "Hello,Dolly!".

Finally the biggest, most overblown and spectacular film musical of them all hits bluray and looks better than new. The picture quality is stunning - colours are vibrant and have been re-graded more accurately so, for example, Babs' gold frock now looks properly golden without the muddy greenish hue of the dvd. The image is so sharp that the detailing in the costumes can now be properly distinguished and is more impressive than ever before. Although Babs was 20 years too young, her talent and professionalism shine through all the ranks of dancers and extras and propel this behemoth on. Jerry Herman's score has never sounded better and I only hope this persuades the studios to start reissuing more of these grandiose confections on the format that currently shows them off best. There are two short extras - a contemporary making-of shot on 16mm which has also been thoroughly restored and a new short interview with Gene Kelly's widow. There is NO comparison between this and previous releases - this is by far the best so far.