Moulin Rouge (US)

This is a great movie... with a great DVD to go with it!!! Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor are both incredible and Baz Luhrmann is a genius!!! I highly recommend this film!

When i first watched Moulin Rouge i was bewildered by it and couldn`t get into it, i knew it was a musical but didn`t expect what i was getting.
Then i decided to watch it a second time and this time i totally loved the film, knowing what it was going to be like i could except the film for what it was ...a brilliant musical.
Nicole Kidman (Satine) and Ewan Mcgregor (Christian) are just fantastic in the film, when they sing it`s their own voices.
Their acting is great and Nicole Kidman just look`s so beautiful.
It is a love story and really does grab you and make`s you want to keep watching it over and over again.
If you like musicals you will love this film, there`s also a bit of comedy in it that will make you laugh.
The dvd is a two disc set, with special features, including unseen footage, music video`s, the making of and so on.
I highly recommed this film to any music and film lover.

One of the alltime greatest movies!

As I do this as a hobby I find that life is far too short to write reviews of films that I don`t really like - but I was lent the DVD set of Moulin Rouge and asked to comment.
What can I say!

This film should down in history as the complete example of form over substance. Although interesting to watch why someone wasted 4 years of his or her life on this film is a mystery. In the documentaries on disc two and the one commentary I have listened to Baz Luhrmann keeps on about the story when of cause there isn`t one - I suppose if he says it often enough he`ll convince himself that there was. One of his collaborators (or should that be partners in crime) said that the `story` was decided by the songs that they could licence.

Nicole Kidman looks just like Cybill Sheperd from Peter Bogdanovich`s `At Long Last Love` (1975) and the `baddie` Richard Roxburgh was doing a Tim Brooke-Taylor impersonation (from the `Goodies` and Willie Wonker) Jim Broadbent looked like his Gilbert character from Mike Leigh`s `Topsy-Turvy` (1999) and the great McGregor just looked like he hadn`t a clue why he had agreed to do the film.

Upon saying that - the sets and costumes were great - but the cinematography ... who can tell - as far as I could see there wasn`t a shot longer than 20 seconds in a 2-hour film. That is even worse than that Bruce Willis thing about the asteroid. As for the F/x you be the judge. I`ve seen better on a pop video - in fact that`s what Moulin Rouge is, a 2-hour pop video.

The extra disc was interesting - as I have professional interest in the film making process, and the half dozen or so `easter egg` outtakes were ok.
I`ve listened to the first commentary which again was Ok but Baz has to keep butting in when Catherine Martin and Don McAlpine are trying to comment on something - but I could not sit through Baz and his writer friend - I may one day watch the Red Velvet Curtain Version unless the owner comes and claims the discs back.

Technically the picture was spot on - and the DTS track excellent.

It is a very rare occasion that i cannot physically watch a movie in it`s entirety (i even finished watch 51st state for gods sake!) but here is one of the only occasions. The set pieces are very well designed and indeed the begining opening shots promise much. Like has been mentioned, no single shot must last for longer than 20 seconds, and in the first musical number some of the shots are so ridiculously quickly cut that you are left feeling like you just had a head on collision with MTV. The music is a miss mash of kitchy cover versions of popular records which some may believe is a very clever postmodern interweaving, whereas i am of the belief that it is extremely unimaginative and cheap.

Baz Luhrmann`s Moulin Rouge is a rigorously accurate historical account of events that occurred during the period between 1899 and 1900 in Paris` infamous Moulin Rouge nightclub. Luhrmann`s meticulously researched motion picture uncovers several shocking truths previously unknown to historians - for example, it seems that musical luminaries like Elton John and Paul McCartney are guilty of plagiarism - songs credited to them were originally penned by a little-known songwriter named Christian and performed at the Moulin Rouge.

Moulin Rouge subjects its viewers to a sensory overload with gaudy, gloriously overproduced musical numbers that pay homage to the greats of the past while simultaneously outdoing them. When Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman are dancing on the clouds, they`re doing so with digitally-created stardust falling all around them. Splashed with garish colors that span the spectrum.
Moulin Rouge is bright, brash, and wildly entertaining. It modernizes the musical in a way that may give younger movie-lovers a sense of why this genre was once so popular. The production numbers are presented with so much energy and gusto that it`s impossible not to be sucked in - and also impossible not to feel a moment`s letdown on each occasion when one is over and it`s time to get back to moving the paper-thin narrative forward.

Despite all of the bombastic musical numbers, or perhaps because of them, the love story in Moulin Rouge works. At times, it`s even touching. Some of this has to do with the actors. Ewan McGregor plays his role with a puppydog likability and naïve romanticism. Nicole Kidman positively smolders - it`s a shame that her on-screen work here is likely to be overshadowed by her off-screen problems. One could make a compelling case that this is the best performance of her career. The love songs, which form the bulk of their interaction, serve to enhance the sense of romance, and it helps that neither of the stars is being dubbed. Their voices are strong and clear (although occasionally drowned out by the instruments).

Historical purists and those who enjoy only sedate films are likely to be infuriated by what Luhrmann has done here, but who cares? We live in an age of excess, and Lurhmann takes it to the hilt. There`s no area in which he holds back. With a widescreen picture, more edits than any film since Requiem for a Dream, and a soundtrack that demands digital playback, Luhrmann has fashioned the template for a new kind of musical. it`s fresh and lively. And, while my acclaim may not be as rapturous as that of those who enjoyed it during its Opening Night world premiere at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, I am still heartily recommending it to anyone who cherishes the thought of a modern day musical spectacle.

The most amazing thing I have ever seen. The first time I saw it I didn`t know what hit me. There are no credits, a red curtain goes up and we are thrust into a spiraling story that is relentless in the visual and musical way the tale is told. I kept expecting the Intro to be over and the credits to roll and the "real" movie to begin. Better and better upon repeated viewings, this truly simple story of boy meets girl is so imaginatively told that it will take you breath away. Don`t try to fight it, just let it weave its web.