Product Details

• Actors: Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Gary Beach
• Format: NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (199 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JO24
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #601,321 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where Did They Go Right?, May 7, 2006

By 

Cowboy Buddha "David" (Essex UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Producers (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

I remember seeing the original film of The Producers in a virtually deserted theatre and loving it. I still think it is one of Mel Brooks' best films. So I was a bit apprehensive when I heard it was being turned into a Broadway musical and then that musical was being made into a film. But, on the whole, I have to admit to enjoying it much more than I thought I would.

Much of the credit must go to Susan Stroman's stagey and somewhat campy direction, which suits the material perfectly. Even more credit belongs to the incredible Nathan Lane for managing to equal Zero Mostel's original Max Bialystock and even, once or twice, surpassing it. He is, quite rightly, the heart and soul, of the film. The rest of the cast is not bad either. Uma Thurman is a pleasant surprise, the double act of Gary Beach and Roger Bart are pure politically-incorrect joy, and even Will Farrell is good. Which leaves Matthew Broderick. He certainly comes to life when singing and dancing, much more so than I would have expected. But his characterisation of Leo Bloom seems just a bit too bland. I know Leo is supposed to a personality-deficient accountant, but I really miss Gene Wilder's manic edge. With Broderick, there's not even a hint in the eyes that he really needs that blue blanket.

It was fun spotting all the lines of dialogue from the original and seeing how the story and characters were altered (I could understand LSD not fitting into the new concept but the playing of Hitler first by Hans, then by DeBris seemed a tad awkward). But, this being a musical version, the show is going to rise or fall on its musical numbers. In general, the staging was clever and often laugh out loud funny. The songs, it must be said, are not the most memorable ever heard on Broadway. But the energy and enthusiasm with which they are performed more than make up for that. Strange then that some of them are edited. The opening number ends so abruptly - I'm grateful that the DVD has the entire number as an extra. I can see no real reason why it was cut short (unless someone felt it was too Jewish). Surely, running times are not the crucial factor they used to be. But many delights survive including a chorus line of grannies with walking frames, beautiful girls dressed only in pearls, and Uma Thurman doing a quite good Cyd Charisse impersonation with her seemingly endless legs. In fact, the only real musical disappointment for me was the notorious Springtime For Hitler number which seemed to lack the punch, fizz and open-mouth shock quality of the original. Maybe it's the passage of time or just knowing that it was coming. But Nathan Lane's Betrayed number was soooo good that I had to rewind for an instant encore.

All in all, it's nice to see that someone can still do a good old-fashioned musical.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bump 'n' Grind, January 3, 2006

By 

MICHAEL ACUNA (Southern California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Producers (DVD)

Loud, Crass, Dopey, Sleazy, Tuney, Beautifully produced and Acted and Supremely Not PC, Susan Stroman's "The Producers" comes at you like gang busters on speed.
The Singer/Actors here are/will always be identified with these parts as they have been on the Stage for the last several years: Nathan Lane as Max Bialystok, Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom and now Uma Thurman as blond bombshell, Ulla.
The story is pretty simple: Max, Broadway producer down on his luck comes upon the idea via his accountant Leo, to produce a show that will without any doubt fail; thereby, through larceny and/or accounting tricks, make both Max and Leo a lot of money. Make sense? Not much but who cares: it's in the telling that "The Producers" is so much fun.
Both Lane and Broderick chew the scenery within and inch of its life and most of the musical numbers are fantastically staged outdoors to great advantage: the investor ladies with walkers scene is a hoot as well as Leo's number with his fellow accountants as is the opening scene from the show that Max and Leo produce: "Springtime for Hitler."
"The Producers" will not teach you anything except maybe not to listen to your accountant nor will you leave the theater with any profound thoughts...but you will leave happy and positive...and those are not bad things, not bad things at all.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Oooh-wah-wah-woo-woo-wah-wah...!", March 22, 2006

By 

S. Ventimiglia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Producers (DVD)

A fantastic film, made less than it could have been by the studio's inability to keep everything intact.

Now with this DVD version, it seems that everyone will have a chance to see the film version of Nathan Lane's "King of Broadway", one of the best songs in the stage production - which for some reason, was not included in the theatrical release. We also get the short "In Old Bavaria", also cut from the theatrical release. However, omitted completely from the movie is the hilarious "Where Did We Go Right?" - disappointing, as it's the only song in the musical that won't ever be seen on film (and it's a great song, too!)

Even though I'm of the opnion that Mel Brooks himself would have done a better job with the camera work; Susan Stroman does her best to direct the film, and brings a flavor of old 1970's movie musicals to the entire production (whether it was intentional or not.)

Be forewarned: After listening to the original broadway cast recording (which receives my highest possible recommendation), you will wish they kept the original Franz [Brad Oscar] and Ulla [Cady Huffman] - their voices are very strong and it's hard to accept Will Farrell or Uma Thurman in those roles if you've been, even slightly, exposed to the original cast (especially Cady Huffman - who truly makes Ulla "belt" the song "If You've Got It, Flaunt It").

All compromises aside, this is one heck of a movie musical which brightly shines the spotlight on the performance abilities of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. You can easily see why they will always be the definitive stage versions of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom.