My musical/dance movie adventure continued with A Chorus Line (1985)
"A director is casting dancers for a large production. Large numbers of hopefulls audition, hoping to be selected. Throughout the day, more and more people are eliminated, and the competition gets harder. Eventually, approximately a dozen dancers must compete for a few spots, each hoping to impress the director with their dancing skill. But, is this really what the director is looking for?" (IMDb)
I liked this musical directed by Richard Attenborough and based on the book of the 1975 stage production of the same name. Starring Michael Douglas, Terrence Mann, Alyson Reed, Audrey Landers, Gregg Burge, Michelle Johnston, Yamil Borges, Janet Jones, Charles McGowan etc. etc.
Janet Jones, Gregg Burge and Michelle Johnston in action
The cast did a great job and you really cared about the characters in the end. I´ve never seen the Broadway show and probably never will but i can´t understand why most people hate this film?
You can witness huge choreographies, decent tunes and excellent dancing in this film.
Highlights: Charles McGowan and his "I Can Do That" performance, Gregg Burge and his "Surprise, Surprise" dance, Audrey Landers and her fun "Dance 10, Looks 3" T&A song and of course the great finale "One".
Count me in! I too do not understand the hate for this movie. It's very entertaining and fun. Great dancing and I like the characters.
I have seen the live stage show and I like the movie better! I even have the soundtrack on CD to go along with my vhs and dvd of the movie. =)
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Very cool skatexedge!
I also have a VHS tape and a dvd but i do not own the soundtrack... yet Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
I love this movie.
I have to disagree however, that it was better than the stage show: Attenborough completely misunderstood the point of the original show, and he said it was something like, 'a story of young dancers looking for their break' (paraphrased). It really isn't; it's the story of dancers who've given up on the idea of their big break and now just go from audition to audition hoping they get something that will pay the bills and keep them from waiting tables for one more year.
This was one reason the movie didn't seem to work as well as the stage show, another was the horrendous musical changes and camp 80's style, the film should've had far more sweat and far less glitz. And the songs; they added the ok 'Surprise' and 'Let Me Dance For You', but to do that they had to cut 'Sing', 'Mother / Gimme the Ball' (both weak and justifiable to cut), but they also cut 'The Music and the Mirror' - which is unforgivable!
Knowing both versions I have to say that the movie - even though I do really like it, is an 'almost' rather than a bullseye.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Thanks for the wise words once again Logan. Nice to see that you´re still out there!
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
Cheers dude! Yeah, still here, but working too much to come to the Rewind. Some time off has enabled me to come back and post!
Posted by markr (Member # 8513) on :
For anyone interested in the film locations for this movie, I've recently posted it on "On the set of New York.com".
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
and of course the great finale "One".
![[Wink]](wink.gif)