The Sound of Music (45th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray + DVD)

This is such a charming movie that the plot is almost lost...almost.The plot is that of a family man choosing to walk away from all his worldly possessions for the sole (soul) purpose of NOT joining the Nazis. He follows his moral compass firmly, refusing to take part on any level in hurting the innocent, and without a moment's hesitation treks off with his family into an unknown future with nothing but his family and the clothes on their backs.This movie offers us an opportunity to examine what it would take for us, the viewer, to do the same thing if we ever found ourselves in a situation where our jobs depended on us looking the other way or enabling a predator to harm the innocent for selfish purposes. It's something you really have to prepare for. More and more, we see in the new these days, the teams of enablers that support predators who get away with "murder" for decades before anyone has the balls to blow a whistle...i don't get it.This is just a movie. The true story is quite different. But still a Great movie and it's also great to see, in the news, so many people standing up for themselves and others who are not able to defend themselves. Let's hope it continues.....and if YOU are the predator or enabler- stop today and make it the first day of the rest of your life. People will support your selfless change.

This is one of my favorite movies. I always look forward to it being on tv around Christmas, and I purchased the DVD so I can watch it anytime. No one can hold a candle to Julie Andrews singing. She is so good! And the clarity of both sound and image on this DVD is stunning, much better than when I would watch it over the air (and no commercial interruptions)! While I don't watch this all the time, it was worth purchasing it so I can watch it as often as I like.

This movie needs a ten star-review. Despite its enchanting songs and story telling, it contrasts with the Anschluss plot. That somber period of Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria. "While The Sound of Music was in tryouts in Boston, Richard Rodgers felt Captain von Trapp should have a song with which he would bid farewell to the Austria he knew and loved. Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II decided to write an extra song that Captain von Trapp would sing in the 'Kaltzberg Festival' (Salzburg Festival in the film) concert sequence towards the end of the show. As they were writing it, they felt that this song could also utilize the guitar-playing and folk-singing talents of Theodore Bikel, who had been cast originally as the Captain (Christopher Plummer eventually got the job). The Lindsay and Crouse script provides the metaphor of the simple edelweiss wildflower as a symbol of the Austria that Captain von Trapp, Maria, and their children knew would live on in their hearts despite the Nazi annexation of their homeland. The metaphor of this song builds on an earlier scene when Gretl (played by Kym Karath, the youngest of the seven von Trapp children) presents a bouquet of edelweiss flowers to The Baroness Elsa Schraeder (played by Eleanor Parker) during her visit to the von Trapp household. Rodgers provided a simple yet haunting and affecting waltz-time melody to the simple Italian style ritornello lyric that Hammerstein wrote about the appearance of the edelweiss flower. This song turned out to be one of the most beloved songs in the musical, and also one of the best-loved songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein."

This is a review of the 50th anniversary blu-ray ultimate collection.Because there are 5 discs in this set, I'm going give each one it's own rating and give thoughts on each one.Blu ray disc one: The movie--***** The movie looks and sounds better than ever. The 7.1 Audio mix is wonderful. The songs sound even better in this mix. They have cleaned up every frame of the picture which is a time consuming task-esp for a 3 hour movie. The colors are more vibrant than ever. This is like watching the movie again for the first time!Blu ray disc 2: Special features--***** I never had the 40th anniversary edition, so most of the stuff here is new to me. I do have the 5 gold star collector's edition that was released in 2002-which is out of print-this was a two disc set and had a couple of things that are included here--the 87 min documentary "The Sound of Music: From Fact to Phenomenon" and the 13 min feature: "Salzburg Sight and Sound" and some trailers if I remember correctly. It took me 2 days to watch all this. There are hours of stuff here and I enjoyed every minute of it!Blu ray Disc three--*** "The sound of a City: Julie Andrews returns to Salzburg" this was Ok. It's only 60 minutes and it's the only thing on this disc. It was nice seeing Julie Andrews in something new-but really--after watching the stuff on disc 2-it just feels like Been there-done that.DVD---(no rating)I feel no need to watch this on DVD. it does say on the label that it has been remastered for this release and I suppose if something was to go wrong with my Blu ray player-it would be handy-despite my having the already mentioned release from 2002.CD Soundtrack--***this is an admittedly goofy CD. One reviewer claimed that the songs are sung in German. This is partially correct. Most of it is in English, however there are several bonus tracks(The last 20 minutes)with German versions of some songs. Why did 20th century fox include the German portion of the sound track? It makes no sense at all.Overall-I'm very happy with this release-and we'll see how they try to top this in 5 or 10 years.Here is link to a page that has a complete listing on everything in this set:http://flix66.com/the-sound-of-music-50th-anniversary-ultimate-collectors-edition-blu-ray-review/

Personally, I discovered this film more than 45 years after its release, with myself already in the late 30's. But it immediately became one of my top ten favourites. A really divine combination of family story based on real events, coloured by the era of darkening political situation around the onslaught of Nazism, blissful music of masters named Rodgers/Hammerstein. Although it is predominantly a musical (and an American one at that), the universal message fits well even in the beautiful Alpine scenery of Austria, a country which once we in Slovakia were part of. The film also offers rather a kind, sympathetic look at Catholic Church, which now seems dated, but with the whole feel-good package you do not care a bit. The complete winner of 1965 main film awards against David Lean's excellent "Dr. Zhivago", it achieved a very rare feat being a truly good musical with excellent story (with at least Maria, starring the excellent Julie Andrews, being a really deep-drawn character). The film is sometimes beautifully romantic and offers not a few cases of comic relief, which are welcome every time the film threatens to slip to moody seriousness.

I think I first watched this film during the 1960s with siblings and mother. Fantastic to witness and a sad history. The ugly face of Naziism sounds unpromising material for a musical though Rodgers and Hammerstein came up with the goods. The beauty of Edelweiss is wonderful indeed. A family play, plot, and script with a young jeune in Julie Andrews' Maria. The Von Trapp try to get out of one. In Austria today the far right are on the up again. Whose the next victim? Naziism is one of the purest evils ever made. The Sound Of Music a children's choir of optimism. And a sobering story of innocence and national direction; of song and death.

Bought as a gift for my partner. Everything is good apart from when the sing along mode is activated. A blue bar appears at the bottom of the screen when you start the movie in your favourite things mode, this has to be done to engage sing along mode. Once the blue bar appears there is no way to get it off the screen, the only way is to exit favourite things mode which then disengages the sing along feature!! That is my reason for the four star rating.

How wonderful it is to have a movie such a this in one's collection! Julie had trouble with her vocal chords afterwards and I read an article about her having to give up her singing. How wonderful to hear her and have a video to recall how great she really was! Christopher Plummer of course is just a dreamboat... Don't know whether I like the idea of women (chaste ones) coming from a convent background however this was typical of ever so many who entered the church as a career and models expectations held of that era. (In reality though, life of sisters in the church, a life of total surrender and obedience was a lot harder.) When we combine the threat of a Nazi take-over of Austria into the equation and having to come up with a scheme to get out of the country, this movie takes on another meaning altogether. Ever so many people had to leave everything during the World War to secure their freedom when resisting Nazi occupation. This is what makes the whole movie so interesting. There's a spice of romance when Julie falls for the Baron (who is courting a Baroness) without realizing her love. This sustains the film. There is also suspense in being looked for in the grounds of the convent at night time by the Nazi soldiers. I especially like the performance of the children. It is great to see what happened to those children on YouTube inepisodes of 'What happened after.' The scenery and home of the children and the Baron are also breathtaking. Enjoy!

Bought for a elderly lady with dementia who had been singing songs from this musical for the past few weeks. Brought tears to mine and her daughters eyes as she watched it and started to sing (every word) along with the DVD really pleased I got this for her