Product Details

• Actors: Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Leslie Caron, Olympia Dukakis, Cleo Laine
• Directors: Gillies MacKinnon
• Writers: Alan Plater
• Producers: Analisa Barreto, Deirdre Keir, Frank Doelger, Simon Wright, Su Armstrong
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Hbo Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 4, 2001
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005ASQQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,932 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I absolutely loved this movie!, February 3, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Last of Blonde Bombshells [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When Elizabeth's (played by Judi Dench) husband dies, she contemplates where she should go with her life. She starts by returning to the music she played during World War 2, when she belonged to an all-girl band called The Blonde Bombshells. However, when she runs into Patrick (Ian Holm), the drummer from The Blond Bombshells (OK, they couldn't find a girl drummer), she hits on the idea of bringing the Blonde Bombshells back together. However, that's easier said than done--some are dead, some have left the country, one has lost her sanity, one has found God, and all are scattered. However, Elizabeth is not a woman to give up easily. This is the story of nostalgia, overcoming, the love of music...and so much more! [Color, released in 2000, with a running time of 1 hour, 24 minutes.]

I absolutely loved this movie! It is star-encrusted, and even though I am an American, I kept recognizing just about everyone in it. The story is touching, and yet not maudlin. I loved the music (so very timely again), the acting, and the story. The one warning I will give is that the movie earned its PG-13 rating due to swearing, with the "F" word being used all too often. That said, though, this is a great movie, one that I highly recommend.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judi Rules !, November 7, 2002

By 

peterfromkanata (Kanata, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (DVD)

I agree completely with the other positive reviews of "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells", so I'll not repeat the plot details, and other comments. The film is a delight !
I must express my frustration that witty, poignant films like this, clearly aimed at an older audience, do not seem to appear in the local cineplex.
There may be one or two actresses in the world as good as Dame Judi--but none are better. She really shines here, even in a cast of superb veteran British actors, not to mention non-Brits Dukakis and Caron. So nice to see Ms. Caron on screen again, even in a cameo, some 50 years after "An American in Paris".
So--a real winner--and the price is right.
Recommended.

One very sad footnote--I believe that this was Joan Sims' last
film. Ms. Sims was a delightful character actress, and, of course, an indispensible member of the legendary "Carry On Gang".
She will be missed.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who Am I?, March 13, 2001

By 

VA (Landenberg, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last of Blonde Bombshells [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A woman's movie, "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells" was both nostalgic and provocative. The cast included first-rate actors Dame Judi Dench, Olympia Dukakis, Ian Holm, and Leslie Caron who never disappoint. Add to this the vocal artistry of Cleo Lane performing the songs of the forties era, and you are transported to your own long ago and far away.

Dame Judi Dench portrays an aging woman who has just lost her husband. Her marriage brought her love and family, a fair share of things material and . . . contentment. But she is at the point now when she can reflect on her life and "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" (theme song from the equally poignant movie, "Shirley Valentine").

Much of the movie, for me, centered on the relationship between the grandmother and her young granddaughter. In a particularly moving scene near the beginning of the film, the granddaughter comes into her grandmother's home to find her alone upstairs playing a tenor saxophone. She sees a side of her grandmother she never knew existed, perhaps even sees her as a person for the first time. Her grandmother tells her that she has played only for herself over the years and only when her husband was away from the house, but that during the war years she was in an essentially all-female band that achieved some measure of recognition.

The story unfolds fairly predictably as the widowed grandmother has a chance meeting with the aging and dapper only male member of the band. With her granddaughter's encouragement, the grandmother and he set out to locate the other band members for a reunion performance at her school dance.

The characters are portrayed with sensitivity and dignity, humor and pathos. The aging process can be as unfamiliar and unsettling as was first love, intimacy, and raising a family. It involves looking back and moving ahead . . . and, in this case, moving ahead as a person of proven, continuing worth in the world's eyes and, more importantly, in the eyes of one's grandchildren. Dare I say, "Amen."