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105 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seeing CLEAR DAY Forever, March 1, 2005
This review is from: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (DVD)
Paramount's new DVD of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER is probably the best "version" of the film Streisand fans have seen in years. I can finally ditch my old VHS tape.
For those of us who weren't old enough to see it in movie theaters, it is finally available for us in WIDESCREEN, too! Paramount did the widescreen television owners a favor by releasing the DVD in ANAMORPHIIC format, too -- thank you!
The depressing fact that there are no bonus items is tempered by the gratitude of simply, finally having it available on DVD. [Although it wouldn't have killed Paramount to include the two featurettes (The "Reincarnation Ball" and the behind-the-scenes featurette) that still exist...]
The DVD itself does look good. This discerning eye, though, felt that the colors are a bit off -- dark, too. The greens aren't quite green enough. And that orange Scaasi dress at the end of the movie is kind of muddy. I'm sure Paramount did the best job possible. What CLEAR DAY really needs is a makeover from the negative up! (i.e. a restoration). The colors aren't as brilliant as the HELLO DOLLY! restoration, which really *pops* off the screen.
The sound .... oy. Paramount has created a 5.1 mix that, for the most part, sounds good. Most of the musical numbers really open up and have good fidelity. Some, though, sound "processed", especially "Go To Sleep".
Finally, I've given up on the cut scenes. It's doubtful they still exist. Film studios simply didn't keep that stuff back then. The "deleted scenes" phenomenon is fairly new, due to the development of the DVD format. We didn't have that back in 1970. Unless Streisand herself or the Minnelli estate have the scenes, I doubt they exist any more. Recently in a home video forum, someone who worked for a laser disk company in the 90's said that they worked with Paramount on the laser disk version of CLEAR DAY and they could not find any of the cut scenes.
As most of the CLEAR DAY fans out there know, the film was cut from a "road show" version (with intermission and more songs and scenes) to what we have today. Excised were a duet with Larry Blyden (WAIT TILL WE'RE 65), a Jack Nicholson song (WHO IS THERE AMONG US WHO KNOWS?), a Yves Montand reprise (SHE ISN'T YOU) and many acting subplots, including more Nicholson scenes, more flashback scenes with Robert Tentrees, and a bit more. I just discovered that the other long-lost song, E.S.P., was sung by Yves Montand, not Streisand. It's questionable whether E.S.P. was ever filmed, though. You can read more about the "lost" CLEAR DAY cut at my Streisand fan site barbra-archives dot com.
So .... it's nice to have CLEAR DAY on DVD finally! Now ... if only Warners & MGM would get in step and release A STAR IS BORN and YENTL!
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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Greatly Under-Rated Charmer, August 13, 2005
This review is from: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (DVD)
Based on the marginally successful 1965 Broadway musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Learner and a solid score by Burton Lane, the 1970 ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER was no box office disaster--but it was a disappointment, failing to draw a broad audience and performing much more poorly than any one had imagined. This is a pity, for although it cannot be classed among the truly great movie musicals it is nonetheless a very good one, imaginatively filmed and beautifully performed.
The story concerns a scatter-brained young woman named Daisy Gamble (Barbra Streisand) who is desperate to quit smoking and who lays siege to a noted hypnotist Dr. Charbot (Yves Montand.) But it happens that Daisy, for all her goofiness, is unexpectedly gifted: she can find lost items, she knows when the telephone will ring--and once under hypnosis she stuns Charbot by transforming into Melinda, a woman who lived, loved, and died more than a century before.
The cast is superior. Streisand is memorably fresh in the role of Daisy and performs her numbers with remarkable youthful zeal and a flawless artistry; she is a tremendous amount of fun to watch and an endless pleasure to hear. Although it seems many Americans fail to see the appeal of the great French singer and actor Yves Montand, he handles his songs with the same world-weary style that first brought him to the attention of the legendary Edith Piaf--and it proves a remarkably effective foil for Streisand, setting off her expansive performance to perfection. The remaining cast, which includes a very young Jack Nicholson and Bob Newhart, is equally fine.
This was the last musical for Vincent Minnelli, perhaps the greatest director of golden age musicals and creator of such films as MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and he endows the film with his very elegant eye; the "past life" sequences, in which designer Cecil Beaton had a hand, are particularly beautiful. Add in such beautifully orchestrated and performed songs as "It's Lovely Up Here," "Come Back To Me," and the title piece--and when all is said and done ON A CLEAR DAY is a very enjoyable film indeed.
The film was originally intended to be released in a three hour version--but in the wake of several box office disasters for large scale musicals both Minnelli and the studio thought better of it and cut the film significantly. It would seem these scenes are gone forever, and more's the pity. Still, this no-frills DVD release offers a best-possible print in terms of both sound and picture, and both long-time fans and newcomers will adore it. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally in Stereo Surround, February 23, 2005
This review is from: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (DVD)
This is one of my favorite musicals. The color, music, and production numbers are all sumptuous. It is not quite what the original stage show was, what with much of the original songs changed to suit Ms. Streisand, and Yves Montand's fractured singing. That aside, it's a pleasure in itself, and I only wish that Paramount had dug through the vaults to try and restore this film to the full length that it never had a chance to be seen in. Hopefully one day we can hope to see a revival of it in that form.
This DVD release is quite nice visually, with a clean anamorphic transfer. Certainly better then the bleached out, cropped VHS releases of the past. There are no extras at all (not even the trailer, which exists), but the best part of all, is that the soundtrack has been remastered for 5.1 Surround, and it is WONDERFUL, with many audible nuances that were lost in the previous mono mixes. Not even the earlier laserdisc release accorded such a nice stereo mix.
This is definitely a movie for the musical and/or Streisand fan. I still think it's her best film.
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