Product Details

• Actors: Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan, Margo Lee, Max Cullen, Pat Evison
• Directors: Gillian Armstrong
• Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), English (DTS ES 6.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Blue Underground
• DVD Release Date: July 26, 2005
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009MDQ9Q
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,612 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Starstruck (2-Disc Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Director Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career, Little Women) is behind this absolute gem of a movie. Though the soundtrack is pure New Wave, Starstruck has a surprisingly traditional plot. Jackie Mullins (Jo Kennedy, doing her own singing) has just gotta sing! And her cousin Angus is determined to make her famous. The two team up with local band The Wombats to take their shot at stardom and try to save the family pub. Starstruck's buoyant spirit will remind viewers of fellow Aussie films The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Strictly Ballroom, but it has a charming quirkiness all its own. Armstrong fills the background with sly sight gags and throwaway lines ("I'm looking for something good for the cat." "How about a brick and a bag?"), and the choreography has a real sense of humor, right down to the water ballet number with inflatable sharks. But for all its deliberate silliness, Starstruck is a musical with real heart; the 1980s hairdos and giant kangaroo costumes can't cover up the movie's deep central conviction that dreams really can come true. --Ali Davis

Product Description

From the Director of MY BRILLIANT CAREER - A Totally New Kind of Musical!

Three years after she rocked the movie industry with MY BRILLIANT CAREER, director Gillian Armstrong again brought the world to its feet with this unexpected musical comedy smash. Jo Kennedy stars as quirky young singer Jackie Mullens, who along with her 14-year-old manager/songwriter/ cousin Angus (Ross O’Donovan) will go to any outrageous lengths to chase their dreams of pop stardom. Oscar® winner Geoffrey Rush (SHINE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) makes one of his very first screen appearances in this acclaimed combination of delightful old-school story and explosive new wave musical that was nominated for three Australian Academy Awards – including Best Original Music Score – and features songs by Tim Finn and Phil Judd of legendary pop-rock band Split Enz.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monkey in Me, August 4, 2004

By	Meerkat - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starstruck [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is like all those old movies where the performing kids save the day (you remember...."we've got the barn...gran can make the costumes...we'll put on a show!!"). I LOVE this movie! I scrounged around until I found a copy of it back in the 80's (which wasn't easy to do). The movie is humorous, but the music is great! I especially love "I Want to Live in House" done by Angus and the Wombats, not to mention the song from crashing the Sydney Opera House "Monkey in Me". If you like irreverent humor and 80s semi-punk music as well, this movie is for you. The soundtrack for this movie (although hard to find) is also well worth the price if you can find it as well.

Update 12/31/05: I am thrilled this movie has been re-released with a two disc special edition. It is still a favorite even after all these years. Now, I can stop wearing out the VHS tape I have. However, like other reviewers, I want to know...where is the CD soundtrack?! My album is just about worn out. Bring on the CD!!

09/30/06: STILL waiting for the soundtrack to be released on CD. Who do we have to petition/cajole/threaten to get the soundtrack released on CD?
:-)

04/26/08: Seriously... is there any chance that I will be able to purchase this soundtrack on CD or as an MP3 before I'm eligible for Social Security? (still waiting......) :-)

07/08/09 tap-tap....is this thing on? ...haven't gone away. There simply MUST be a soundtrack released.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!, July 29, 2000

By	inframan (the lower depths) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starstruck [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Without hesitation I give Starstruck my vote as one the the all-time great movie musicals, right up there with the best of Warner Bros of the 30s, Fox of the 40s and MGM of the 50s. Possibly, it's the only movie to perfectly integrate (original & terrific) rock music with a funny, compassionate & inventive plot. The dance numbers, particularly the campy all-male sharks-in-the-pool scene & the one with all the regulars in the tavern joining in a stunning spine-tingling production number are absolutely outstanding. The "Monkey-in-Me (That Made Me Wanna Do It)" show-stopper is literally that. Jo Kennedy is marvelous, Ross O'Donovan & all the rest are first-rate. They will never make another movie like this. What a gem! I hope it comes out on DVD & the word spreads. A great big gift of joy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good re-issue version - this is the one to get, September 7, 2005

By	Steve Frazier (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This movie was finally re-released (summer of 2005) on a new two-disc DVD collection with the "extras" it deserves -- interviews with the producer, director, screenwriter; an audio commentary track; and deleted and extended scenes. More importantly, the sound and picture quality on this DVD release are light years ahead of the previous releases that were in the US (both of which I've previously purchased but gave up watching half-way through because the quality was so horrible). In short, the picture looks great, and the sound does the music justice. If you're a fan of Australian cinema in general...or movie musicals...or just want to see an Australian take on movie musicals in (roughly) the same era that the US was putting out "Grease" -- this is definitely worth seeing.

Also, if you're a fan of the movie or of director Gillian Armstrong, you'll enjoy the interviews. Gillian Armstrong talks somewhat wistfully about how she rejected two other "unknown" bands to do the soundtrack (INXS and Men at Work), both of whom went on to be huge hits in America about 6 months after the movie opened to modest business in the US. As she notes in her interview, this movie probably never really caught on with the teen audience in the US because "they don't go to foreign movies" and "at the time they couldn't imagine that there was any new wave music in Australia."

The audio commentary from the producer is an interesting insight on the movie-making business; he spends a lot of his time explaining what it took to get a movie made in Australia at the time (e.g., fund-raising from investors was driven by a mix of government funding and favorable tax laws for investors), and how it affected the creative process. Very different from most of the audio commentary tracks on the other movies.

All in all, a lot of fun.