ic-games Review - The Sound of Music - 40th Anniversary Edition - DVD Review - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox, PS2, Nintendo and N-Gage

ic-games Review - The Sound of Music - 40th Anniversary Edition - DVD Review - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox, PS2, Nintendo and N-Gage ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,PS2 and Gamecube

The Sound of Music - 40th Anniversary Edition - DVD Review - 11.15.2005 | 09:29 - Andrew St.Denis

The greatest film musical ever is 40 years old, 20th Century Fox have now re-released The Sound Of Music in two formats. There is a two disc special edition and a ‘sing-a-long’ version, the one we got was the former. Re-mastered, re-recorded and generally all spruced up for the modern audience who either want to relive or see this masterpiece for the first time.

There must only be a few people who haven’t either seen or heard of The Sound of Music, this classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical comes from the original stage musical with book credits by Howard Lindsay and Russel, which in turn comes from the original German film (1956). Everything however started with the original book by Maria Augusta Trapp, the story of the Trapp family singers (1949). The last musical ever scored by this famous duo (including the very last lyrics written before Oscar Hammerstein’s death). The Sound of Music is the quintessential family movie almost tailor-made for Sunday afternoons.

The story-line (for those that don’t know) follows Maria (Julie Andrews) who, as a novice nun in Salzburg, Austria is sent to be a governess to the seven children of widowed, retired naval officer, Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer). The children, Liesl, (Charmian Carr), Friedrich (Nicholas Hammond), Louisa (Heather Menzies), Kurt (Duane Chase), Brigitta (Angela Cartwright), Marta (Debbie Turner) and Gretl (Kym Karath), initially are hostile and rather mischievous, but, with the help of some very famous songs, eventually come to like her. Maria also finds herself falling in love with the Captain. Whilst all this takes place the Nazi’s take control of the country in the Anschluss, the Germans also want Captain von Trapp to return to action.

The songs in The Sound of Music are perhaps some of the most famous ever seen on film, from the opening credits and Maria spinning her way into ‘The hills are alive with The Sound of Music’, through ‘Do-Re-Mi’, ‘My Favourite Things’ to the closing ‘Climb Every Mountain’. Another song, Edelweiss is so famous that Ronald Reagan had it played when an Austrian delegation visited the White House, even though it was written by Rodgers & Hammerstein and not the national anthem as thought.

The extras on the two disc special are for the most part very good, Julie Andrews reminisces in ‘My Favourite Things’ and joins Christopher Plummer for a similar session. There is a trip around the various locations used around Salzburg along with perhaps the best, ‘From Liesl to Gretl: A 40th Anniversary Reunion’ where it is easy to see how well, even after all these years how well everyone gets on. There is also a biography of the real von Trapp family, which shows how much different the film is from the reality of the events in Austria. The one part of the extras that disappoints is the section about the restoration of the original film stock. The detailed explanation goes into far too much detail for the average viewer, and it will not be until comparison shots of various scenes show on the screen that any understanding will be reached. There is also a screen test for a young Mia Farrow’s audition for the part of Liesl.

With the film and musical score being restored and re-recorded the quality is quite excellent, 5.1 or 4.0 surround sound capability enhances the experience of these wonderful Rodgers & Hammerstein songs. Also in this 40th anniversary edition you get introductions by Julie Andrews, talking about the film on both of the discs.

So is this 40th anniversary edition worth a purchase? It has to be said yes, even if you have already got a copy of this classic film, the restoration of the original film brings all scenes back to their best and with the inclusion of the new extras, commentaries etc allow you to gain added information about how this extraordinary film came about.

Scores -
Movie: 7.7
Extras: 8.3
Total: 8.1

Everyone should see this movies at least once, and how better to see it then in front of a warm fire over Christmas with the whole family… There’s not likely to be anything better to watch on TV, that’s for sure!

Cast List (includes)
Julie Andrews .... Maria
Christopher Plummer .... Captain Georg von Trapp
Charmian Carr .... Liesl von Trapp
Nicholas Hammond .... Friedrich von Trapp
Heather Menzies .... Louisa von Trapp
Duane Chase .... Kurt von Trapp
Angela Cartwright .... Brigitta von Trapp
Debbie Turner .... Marta von Trapp
Kym Karath .... Gretl von Trapp

To view the trailer, click here

To visit The Sound of Music website, click here

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