Singin’ in the Rain is a wonderful musical that has influenced so many over the years and has stood the test of time and will surely/hopefully, be prominent for years to come.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Musical, Comedy
Warner Bros. | G – 103 min. – $84.99 | July 17, 2012
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Writer(s): Adolph Green and Betty Comden (screenplay)
Cast: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
Theatrical Release Date: April 11, 1952
DISC INFO:
Features: Commentary, Featurettes, Musical Number Outtake, Stills Gallery, DVD Copy
Number of Discs: 3
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 1.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Video: 1080p/Full Frame 1.37
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc Size: 35.3 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C
THE MOVIE – 4.5/5
Plot Outline: With fame, fortune and fans galore, silent screen idol Don Lockwood (GENE KELLY) thought he had it all. But one look at aspiring actress Kathy Seldon (DEBBIE REYNOLDS) and he knew exactly what he was missing. Now he’s swinging from lampposts, singing in the raindrops and ready for love. With talking pictures on the rise, Don sets out to make musicals with the woman of his dreams… but one thing stands in his way: his jealous co-star (JEAN HAGEN) who wants Don, and the leading role, all to herself.
Quick Hit Review: I’ve never been much of a musical fan but Singin’ in the Rain is probably the only exception featuring wonderful dancing, genuinely funny, not to mention sharp, comedy (both dialogue and physical) and a great cast headlined by the venerable Gene Kelly alongside Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor. This is a film that not only has stood the test of time, and it’s also a part time capsule to a different era in Hollywood, but it has so much replay value.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.25/5
This “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” comes in Warner’s larger packaging with a clear outer sleeve that slides over a box. The box lid lifts up to reveal some trinkets/collectibles (umbrella, book, door panel display reproductions) and a digipak containing the 3-discs (2 DVDs, 1 BD).
Audio Commentary – This multi-person track, recorded separately, is guided by Debbie Reynolds introducing each new commentator including: Donald O’Connor, Cyd Charisse, Kathleen Freeman, Stanley Donen (co-director), Betty Comden (co-writer), Adolph Green (co-writer), Baz Kuhrman and Author Rudy Behlmer. I normally don’t care for these types of tracks but as it is, it’s a enthralling track where you get to learn various topics.
Singin’ in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation (50:48; HD) – An immersive documentary where various people (inc. Paula Abdul, Corbin Bleu, chorographers, etc) talk about the influence the film has had on the new generation of dancers today.
Jukebox allows viewers to jump to their favorite sequence in the film.
Theatrical Trailer (4:07; SD)
The set also comes with a 2-Disc DVD Copy with the following features:
Musicals Great Musicals (1:26:03) is a multi-part and extensive documentary on, well, musicals and the influences.
What a Glorious Feeling (35:33) is a nice featurette which covers the making-of the movie. This is far better than your usual ‘making-of’ featurettes that come on home video releases today…
Also included are Excerpts from Features Where the Songs Originated (50:12), ‘You Are My Lucky Star’ Outtake (4:06), a Gallery of production photos, and Scoring Stage Sessions.
VIDEO – 4.5/5
Singin’ in the Rain has been remastered from a new 4K scan and presented in 1080p high-definition, the movie looks amazing. There’s a discernible amount of natural grain and noise but the detail level is fantastic and the color array in, in a word, incredible. The print looks clean and free of any flaws. It doesn’t look pumped up, instead it seems natural and how it was originally intended.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track may not be stunning but nonetheless, it’s still impressive. The dialogue levels are extraordinary making use of the center speaker as the side and rear channels get some use for idle chatter or off-camera action. The musical numbers allows the lossless track to shine.
OVERALL – 3.25/5
Overall, Singin’ in the Rain is a wonderful musical that has influenced so many over the years and has stood the test of time and will surely/hopefully, be prominent for years to come. The Blu-ray features a wide array of features to go along with great audio/video transfers which makes purchasing this a no-brainer, though I’d probably recommend the single release as it’s more economically priced…
Published: 07/22/2012