Product Details

• Actors: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, AC-3, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (268 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792838963
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,553 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Moonstruck" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Remember the outfit Cher wore to the Oscars when she won an Academy Award for her performance in this 1987 film? Ay-yi-yi. The actress' more retiring character in this infectious comedy leaps several psychological hurdles just giving her hair a permanent. But then the original screenplay by John Patrick Shanley (Joe Versus the Volcano) is a wonderful, gently satirical tale of an Italian-American family dealing with repression and dissatisfaction against a backdrop of cultural expectations. Cher is focused and funny as a widow who feels she should marry an older fellow (Danny Aiello), but then falls for his black-sheep brother (Nicolas Cage). Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia are perfect as her parents, and John Mahoney (of TV's Frasier) has a memorable, small role as a middle-aged man on the make who gets a lecture from Dukakis's character. Shanley's dialogue is comically stylized in a way that makes one appreciate how much words can inform an actor's performance. Taking its cues from him and director Norman Jewison (And Justice for All), the cast immerse themselves in a pool of hilariously operatic emotion. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Fall under the delightful spell of Moonstruck, the mesmerizing romantic comedy from director Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof) and OscarÂ(r) winner* John Patrick Shanley. Academy AwardÂ(r) winners** Cher, Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis excel in this explosively funny tale which also features flawless performances by Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia and Frasier's John Mahoney. Cher is "devastatingly funny, sinuous and beautiful" (Pauline Kael) as Loretta, an unlucky in love Italian widow who finds romance through the intervention of the Manhattan moon. With her wedding to a close friend just weeks away, she meets and falls hopelessly in love with his younger brother (Cage)! Her dilemma and her equally passionate and hilariously eccentric family make for an unforgettable film you'll find "beguiling" (Time), "enchanting" (Newsweek) and "irresistible" ("Today Show").

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich meal of a DVD!, April 17, 2006

By 

Cubist (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moonstruck (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

When MGM first released Moonstruck on DVD they inexplicably did so with an inferior pan and scan transfer. They've rectified this situation with a new deluxe edition that restores its proper aspect ratio and with a collection of new extras. Moonstruck was the My Big Fat Geek Wedding of its day only infinitely better and about an Italian family as opposed to a Greek one. Watching Norman Jewison's film again, you realize just how much Nia Vardalos' film is heavily indebted to it. If Moonstruck is La Boheme than Greek Wedding is Tony and Tina's Wedding.

It's time to use your old disc as a coaster as this edition is definitely worth the double dip. MGM has taken TBS' dinner and a movie to the next level by including three recipe cards with fine Italian meals so that you can do your own cooking and eat it while watching the movie.

Carried over from the previous edition is the audio commentary by Cher, director Norman Jewison and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley. Both Jewison and Shanley talk about their fascination with death while Cher talks about the importance of costume and how it helps her get into character. This is a solid commentary with smart observations and excellent anecdotes from everyone.

"Moonstruck: At the Heart of an Italian Family" takes us through the genesis of the film mixing interviews done at the time of filming (Cage and Cher) and new ones (Aiello and Dukakis). There is great, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage as Jewison and Shanley take us through the film telling several entertaining anecdotes.

"Pastas to Pastries: The Art of Fine Italian Food" is a tour of some of the best restaurants in Little Italy, in particular on Mulberry Street. You have six different places to choose from and their chefs demonstrate how to make a few choice foods guaranteed to make you hungry. If you love to cook and eat than this extra is for you.

Finally there is the "Music of Moonstruck" that examines the role that music plays in the movie. The first screening went badly because the music was all wrong.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comments on the transfer., June 28, 2000

By 

Jerry Jancarik Jr. "Jerry Jancarik Jr." (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moonstruck (DVD)

Despite comments by previous reviewers this video is not pan and scan, it is cropped. There is a difference although I can understand how people could confuse the two. Moonstruck was originally shot with the intention of a 1:85 aspect ratio for theatrical screenings and 1:33 for television. The tops and bottoms of the frame were cropped to give it the widescreen ratio in the theatre. When films are shot for cropping they are essentially composed by the DP for both for 1:85 and 1:33 ratios simultaneously. Full frame video versions simply remove the cropping bars and show you more than you would have seen in a theatrical presentation. Pee Wee's Big Adventure and The Shining are two other films that utilized this (relatively uncommon) process. While one would still prefer that these films be cropped so as to provide a more "theatrical" feel it is incorrect to call this pan-and-scan because there is no panning and the viewer isn't losing any of the original frame information.

Pan-and-scan is when a film is shot in a widescreen format such as cinemascope, panavision or Super 16 and then transferred to video full-frame. In this case you actually are losing the material at either side of the film frame and you get that notorious back-and-forth panning as the transfer people try to focus the viewer on what they consider the "important" part of the frame. This injustice is still perpetrated for a majority of VHS releases but DVD producers for the most part have caught on that people "want widescreen". So yes, most of the time a full-frame release does indicate the pan-and-scan process but not with this film.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the Whole Widescreen Issue..., July 3, 2006

By 

Timothy G. Morrison "chwelve" (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonstruck (Deluxe Edition) (DVD)

First off, this is a brilliant movie. Absolutely wonderful, delightful, funny, romantic, and magical. Divine. Worth a cosmos of the brightest, most glorious stars, but I guess in this case a mere five will do.

But I'm sure you've heard what a great film this is by now, if you haven't seen it already and found out for yourself. What I want to address is the controversy regarding the new widescreen transfer on the deluxe DVD. It is indeed true that you see more in the original MGM pan & scan release--but this is still a legitimate widescreen presentation, and the way this beautiful movie was originally intended to be seen. There are many different ways to shoot film in widescreen, and one of these involves shooting onto 1.37 ratio film (pan & scan ratio) while composing it for theatrical widescreen with the aid of two lines representing the "bars" you see on a TV on the monitor. This how "Moonstruck" was filmed, and it is done so that the director can have control over how the film will look both when seen in a theater and when cropped for viewing on a conventional television. Thus, the film is shot with more image on top and bottom than you actually end up seeing in the theater, but although you are technically seeing more in pan & scan, the widescreen is still really the "definitive" version.

Anyway, I hope this review helps those who may be debating between which version of this wonderful movie they ought to buy. Both are legitimate--I've seen the pan & scan and it's lovely (it clearly was carefully composed for both aspect ratios) but I'm going to buy the widescreen version. Thanks, and hope I could help!