Product Details

• Actors: Mark Lester, Tracy Hyde, Sheila Steafel, Keith Barron
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: TELEVISTA
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001BPJJ1E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,348 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Features include:

•Runtime: 106 minutes
•Runtime: 106 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Excellent movie / terrible print, November 21, 2009

By 

Brant Nelson "bonelson" (Vermont, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Melody (DVD)

I got my eagerly anticipated copy of the DVD a few days ago, and I have to say that they did a really lousy job. From the amateurish packaging done by someone who knows nothing about graphic design to the printing on the disc which is merely labeled with a single word "Melody". That's nothing compared to the quality of the actual movie print though. I don't know where they dug up this print (somebody's dusty attic?), but it has really been through the ringer. It has scratches and marks that never completely go away, the colors are completely washed out, it's grainy, and the sound is not very sharp. Several splices are obvious. Besides this, the only extra is a "slide show" of grainy screen captures from the movie with lame dissolves between the pictures.

It is also FULL SCREEN. Beware!

The packaging says "digitally remastered" and "enhanced audio". I don't really see how this can possibly be true.

The "unofficial" copy I bought off eBay is much, much better quality, AND it's in widescreen format.

So it's a huge disappointment, but at least it is officially released now, people can easily get it, and more people will see it.

Maybe Criterion Collection will pick it up and do it right!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet little time capsule, November 28, 2009

By 

Steven W. Shaw (Morrisville, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Melody (DVD)

I had never seen this film before, as I was only 1 year old when it came out and from what I have read, it did not get distribution in the States anyway. But I am an avid follower of Mark Lester's. He really was the perfect Oliver, and such a charming screen presence that I find myself slowly wanting to watch all of his movies, which leaves me with one BIG problem: Most of them are not available on DVD. For someone who still holds a pretty big cult following, he has one of the worst DVD production rates of any former child actor. If I were him, I would buy all the prints of my films and release them myself. But, I digress, which leads me to this movie.

Truthfully, there is not much to this movie at all. Boy meets best friend, boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, best friend shows a brief flash of jealousy, boy and girl decide they want to get married, best friend marries them with the whole class watching. Along with this distinct lack of meaty plot comes a HORRIBLE DVD transfer which made me feel like I was watching an old kinescope on a bedsheet. Now, that would be the minuses. But you know something? I was utterly charmed from beginning to end and was certainly not sorry I bought it. It is an awesome little time capsule of working class London circa 1970, and seems to have been filmed with very few extras. Scenes at the beach and at a school athletics competition feature onlookers who seem to have been pulled in off the street, which adds a lot. Mark Lester is charming as usual, and Jack Wild, the Artful Dodger himself, is a riot at times playing the best friend as a cheeky boy who always gets into trouble. And then there is the soundtrack. I knew a few of the Bee Gees early songs, such as To Love Somebody and First of May, but this film also includes overlooked gems such as In the Morning and Give Your Best. Put simply, the movie would be worth buying for the soundtrack alone, but with Mark Lester along for the ride and a few amusing scenes here and there, it was well worth buying in my humble opinion.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible print - but you may have an alternative!, September 23, 2010

By 

Daniel Appleman (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Melody (DVD)

As others have posted, this was possibly the worst print of the movie they could find - it is full of very noticeable scratches and horrible cuts that cause momentary gaps in the movie at various places. Plus it's a pan & scan. What they did to this great film is an embarrassment to the DVD business.

But, there is now an alternative...

If you have a Region 2 compatible DVD player that can handle PAL (or a computer that can read and play region 2 DVDs - which is more common), then you can buy this version from Amazon.co.uk.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Melody-DVD-Jack-Wild/dp/B002VD5SA6/

This version (which I ordered and had shipped from the UK) is an absolutely stunning print - not a scratch to be seen. And it's a wide-screen version as well.