Customer Reviews

Selena

5 star:		(210)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This 1997 film, well directed by Gregory Nava, was the film that propelled Jennifer Lopez on to stardom. She is nothing short of sensational in this film. She is Selena!

The film recounts the brief life of Selena Quintanilla Perez (Jennifer Lopez), a life that was built around her father's broken dreams. Her father (Edward James Olmos) had himself had a band in his youth called "Los Dinos". Now a married man with children, his dreams have stalled along the wayside. When he realizes, however, that his young daughter has some musical talent, he builds a band around her, "Selena and Los Dinos", and begins living vicariously through her.

Under the watchful eye of her martinet father, years of forced, musical practices and life on the road follow. Loving, possessive, and controlling, he succeeds in almost losing her, when she marries her guitarist without her father's permission. They reconcile, however, and he places Selena on the path to stardom, a tejano sensation on the cusp of becoming a crossover musical star. Unfortunately, her path crosses that of a fan, Yolanda Saldivar, whom Selena befriends, only to have her be the one who cuts her down in her prime.

Jennifer Lopez is sensational as Selena, big booty and all. She charms. She beguiles. She entertains. She is every inch the star. This has been her best role, and her performance is stellar. She should have won an award for her performance, because she most certainly deserved one for her portrayal of Selena. It is unfortunate that her acting career has been downhill ever since.

Edward James Olmos is perfect as Abraham Quintanilla, the father who pushed his daughter to heights that he had dreamed for himself but had been unable to reach. His performance is powerful and rich. He, too, should have had his award calibre performance acknowledged in some way, as it was close to perfect. Mr. Olmos is a wonderful actor who deserves more recognition than he has gotten, thus far.

All in all, this is an interesting, absorbing film with some great music. No wonder Selena was a hit!

First, I was skeptical about Jennifer Lopez's big-screen debut as the slain Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla. The movie was heartfelt, realistic (Selena did come to life!) and I loved all the characters, especially Abraham Quintanilla (Edward James Olmos), Marcela (Constance Marie) and Chris (Jon Seda), who all contributed to bringing Selena's spirit and music to life. I also give huge props to the Young Selena (Rebecca Lee Meza). The film had me in tears at the end and the storyline was sentimental and sweet, not trashy. A very well-produced, great movie! I don't care if people though that because Jennifer Lopez was Puerto Rican, she shouldn't have been playing a person of Mexican lineage, but she did a wonderful job to bring Selena's music and spirit back to life! I like the fact that Selena's father Abraham was the executive producer of the movie so he could be positive to sustain the dignity and memory of Selena. Viviras Selena!

First off, I would just like to say that the movie was a box-office success, I have no Idea were people get the idea that it wasnt!

Well, now that that is out of the way, "Selena" was an incredible piece of work! From the very beginning where her last Houston concert was re-created I could tell that Jennifer Lopez did the best, she acts so much like the real Selena, it really amazed me!

The films major pluses are the fact that her killer is not in it that much, becuase the film has to do with her life, and not about a killer that everyone would rather forget existed. Secondly, the fact that the movie did not go into what happened after Selena died, when a movie comes out about the life of a legend, it should stick to her life and not to what happened after she died.

The DVD version is great aside from the GREAT AUDIO and PICTURE , "Selena" comes in both Pan and Scan and Widescreen formats which is great for me cuase I really like alternating. And the Menus make it more enjoyable and interesting.

"Selena" was a remarkable film! Although I do think that the fans that knew her in life will relate to it more, It will touch everyones hearts if they see it for what it really is: A loving and humble tribute to Selena and her fans.(See the ending to see what Im talking about)

SELENA is a True Story. Selena, is a beautifull rising Mexican-American music star who's life comes to a tragic end when she is killed trying to recover financial records from a so-called friend. Her talent and voice is a great reminder of how great of a woman she really was. Jennifer Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda, Rebecca Lee Meza (Young Selena) and the entire cast perform astonishingly magnificent. The movie describes with high definition the strong love between Selena Quintanilla Perez, Her husband Chris Perez, Her Father Abraham Quintanilla and the rest of the Quintanilla familly (Her Brother Abie, Sister Suzette, Mother Marcella, Delores and Eddie). This movie is a masterpiece describing the magical life of Selena. Selena is a TRUE inpiration to ALL of us. I am sure Selena is watching over us somewhere over the rainbow :)

I REALLY recomend that you buy this movie. You'll love it like I loved it greatly.

This movie was on VH1 "Movies that Rock" which made me think about it for the first time in like 10 years. The good thing about Selena is that it's a musical biopic that is actually about the music. At least 50% of the movie features musical performances, concerts, and recordings instead of spendning most of its time focused on Selena's murder and death. The film highlights her career as an artist, which I think is an important thing to keep at the forefront. Furthermore, whether you like J.Lo or not, I think it's important to recognize that she did a great job portraying this rising Tejano singer. She wasn't even J.Lo yet when the movie was filmed, and I still only knew her as a fly girl from In Living Color.

The movie Selena tells a great story--though a sad one. Gregory Nava did a wonderful job of showcasing the life she led rather than her tragic end.

No question about it, this movie made Jennifer Lopez, who plays Selena, a star. It made Selena one too, or should I say, a star in a wider arena. Most of the mainstream population had never heard of Selena, myself included. When I first saw this movie, I had no idea how it would end, and was shocked by the tragic conclusion, and deeply saddened.

Today, this is still a movie I enjoy. Any underdog story is inspiring, and Selena was an underdog, alright. The odds were against her ever making it big, (that's showbiz) but not only did she, but with flair.

Lopez not only plays Selena, she BECOMES Selena. I'm no J.Lo fan, but she absolutely blows me away in this film. Anybody who can critize Lopez's performance in this film is either impossible to please, or still bitter that a Puerto Rican played a famous Mexican American. From the footage of Selena I've seen, Lopez nailed it, and that should mean more than pedigree.

There is no bad acting in this film. Perhaps the weakest link would be Jon Seda, who plays Chris, Selena's husband. But that's not to say he does a bad job. He convinces me he loves Selena, and that he can play the guitar. Not much else is needed, even if he doesn't dazzle with his skills. He's there to support a part of the story, so why expect Oscar worthy?

Still, however much I enjoy the film, I can't escape the feeling that I'm not getting the entire truth, that I'm getting a censored, whitewashed version of events. But what can one expect? This movie was released just two years after Selena got shot, and nobody was ready to see a gritty, raw version of the singer's life. It was also produced by her father, for crying out loud. This movie was for Selena's fans, and to get her story and music out there. It certainly accomplished that. Still, it would be interesting to see an unathorized version of Selena's life, made by somebody totally objective, see how it holds up.

"Selena" is a fun movie, well-made, performed and entertaining. I do agree that a bit more time should have been waited before making a movie about the doomed Tex-Mex singer. Selena was a talented artist and that feeling vibrates through-out the entire movie, especially with Jennifer Lopez's immpecable performance which is right up there with Val Kilmer in "The Doors." However, sometimes we do feel as if this is really a shot at gaining some big bucks off Selena's image (but then again, isn't that the case with ALL products quickly released after a singer's death?). Yet the movie works, it is not an epic, grand piece, but it is still well-directed by Gregory Nava, who manages to capture the characters and their feelings in a believable way. Also, in the tradition of all singer movie bios, Nava also adds some mythic touches we know probably didn't take place, but for the sake of elevating our modern artists into rock god/goddess status, he puts them in (take that scene where she quiets a huge crowd by just raising a finger for example). Do we care about the dramatic license? Not really, since movies are fantasies in themselves. Back to Jennifer Lopez, she looks so much like the real thing that we never doubt for a moment that it is SELENA on screen, even with Lopez's current superstar status, we can still see this movie and think it is Selena doing things on screen and not Lopez. She also lip-syncs the songs perfectly and moves like the real person resurrected. All in all, it's not just a movie for tejano fans, it is a film anyone looking for a good time can enjoy. It is a sweet package about fame, singing and falling in love. The songs are pretty good too. It's a fun movie all around and I really can't think of anyone making another movie about Selena. It isn't a masterpiece, but could stand by "La Bamba" and "The Doors" as a great artist bio that can stand the test of time.

This 1997 film, well directed by Gregory Nava, was the film that propelled Jennifer Lopez on to stardom. She is nothing short of sensational in this film. She is Selena!

The film recounts the brief life of Selena Quintanilla Perez (Jennifer Lopez), a life that was built around her father's broken dreams. Her father (Edward James Olmos) had himself had a band in his youth called "Los Dinos". Now a married man with children, his dreams have stalled along the wayside. When he realizes, however, that his young daughter has some musical talent, he builds a band around her, "Selena and Los Dinos", and begins living vicariously through her.

Under the watchful eye of her martinet father, years of forced, musical practices and life on the road follow. Loving, possessive, and controlling, he succeeds in almost losing her, when she marries her guitarist without her father's permission. They reconcile, however, and he places Selena on the path to stardom, a tejano sensation on the cusp of becoming a crossover musical star. Unfortunately, her path crosses that of a fan, Yolanda Saldivar, whom Selena befriends, only to have her be the one who cuts her down in her prime.

Jennifer Lopez is sensational as Selena, big booty and all. She charms. She beguiles. She entertains. She is every inch the star. This has been her best role, and her performance is stellar. She should have won an award for her performance, because she most certainly deserved one for her portrayal of Selena. It is unfortunate that her acting career has been downhill ever since.

Edward James Olmos is perfect as Abraham Quintanilla, the father who pushed his daughter to heights that he had dreamed for himself but had been unable to reach. His performance is powerful and rich. He, too, should have had his award calibre performance acknowledged in some way, as it was close to perfect. Mr. Olmos is a wonderful actor who deserves more recognition than he has gotten, thus far.

All in all, this is an interesting, absorbing film with some great music. No wonder Selena was a hit!

Hypnotic's the best way I can describe it; I was not truly a Selena fan until after I saw this biopic/Jennifer Lopez vehicle. The story of Selena Quintanilla Perez's (Lopez) rise to become Tejano's queen is so compelling that it can be viewed over and over again, as I did every time it was on cable or TV. Certainly, the slant Gregory Nava took also contributed to the success of the movie. The story begins not with Selena outright, but with her father, Abraham Quintanilla, who had musical dreams early on in his own life. His band, "Los Dinos" fails before it gets a chance to start due to discrimination and prejudice. Flash forward several years, and Abraham has settled in Texas with his small family. Almost by accident, he discovers his younger daughter, Selena (played by Becky Lee Meza) has real singing talent, and he resurrects the band with his children (after MANY hours of forced practice), christening them Selena y los Dinos. We then pick up with the family several years later touring on the road, and they are facing a new kind of prejudice- Selena is treading into "man's" territory, and Abraham is told she'll never make it in this business. They persevere, at the expense of never having known a normal lifestyle. Soon Selena and her band hit number one, and things start to really take off for them. She even meets her future husband, Chris, played by Jon Seda. The introduction of the infamous figure that would take her life, Yolanda Saldivar (Lupe Ontiveros), was so subtle and underplayed, that it did not detract from the story. Obviously, this production was handled with sincerity and is a loving tribute to the young woman cut down in her prime. If she hasn't cast her spell over you yet, check this movie out, and she just might. Soundtrack includes the original recordings by Selena.

This is an amazing movie. She was an amazing person and her death was truly tragic. I love her music and her clothes. She will never be forgotton. Selena La Reina de musico latino.