Search - West Side Story [Special Edition Collector's Set] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1961 DVD Release: 04/01/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 2 hrs 32 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Musical, Musical Drama, Musical Romance, Juvenile Delinquency Film See Also: West Side Story [Widescreen], West Side Story [Fullscreen], West Side Story [Decades Collection] [Fullscreen]

Romeo and Juliet is updated to the tenements of New York City in this Oscar-winning musical landmark. Adapted by Ernest Lehman from the Broadway production, the movie opens with an overhead shot of Manhattan, an effect that director Robert Wise would repeat over the Alps in The Sound of Music four years later. We are introduced to two rival street gangs: the Jets, second-generation American teens, and the Sharks, Puerto Rican immigrants. When the war between the Jets and Sharks reaches a fever pitch, Jets leader Riff (Russ Tamblyn) decides to challenge the Sharks to one last "winner take all" rumble. He decides to meet Sharks leader Bernardo (George Chakiris) for a war council at a gymnasium dance; to bolster his argument, Riff wants his old pal Tony (Richard Beymer), the cofounder of the Jets, to come along. But Tony has set his sights on vistas beyond the neighborhood and has fallen in love with Bernardo's sister, Maria (Natalie Wood), a love that, as in Romeo and Juliet, will eventually end in tragedy. In contrast to the usual slash-and-burn policy of Hollywood musical adaptations, all the songs written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for the original Broadway production of West Side Story were retained for the film version, although some alterations were made to appease the Hollywood censors, and the original order of two songs was reversed for stronger dramatic impact. The movie more than retains the original choreography of Jerome Robbins, which is recreated in some of the most startling and balletic dance sequences ever recorded on film. West Side Story won an almost-record ten Oscars, including Best Picture, supporting awards to Chakiris and Rita Moreno as Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita, and Best Director to Robbins and Wise. Richard Beymer's singing was dubbed by Jimmy Bryant, Natalie Wood's by Marni Nixon (who also dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady), and Rita Moreno's by Betty Wand. The film's New York tenement locations were later razed to make room for Lincoln Center. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Natalie Wood - Maria
Richard Beymer - Tony
Russ Tamblyn - Riff
Rita Moreno - Anita
George Chakiris - Bernardo

The beloved musical West Side Story gets the deluxe treatment from MGM/UA with this release. The film is presented in a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.20:1. An English soundtrack has been impressively rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while Spanish and French soundtracks have been recorded in Dolby Digital Mono. Subtitles are accessible in all three of those languages as well. Supplemental materials include a one-hour documentary, the film's original intermission music, a storyboard-to-film comparison, trailers, and a booklet that contains the film's script. This is a first-rate release. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide