| | | All You Have to Do is Dream.
Features: Widescreen, English, French, Spanish
Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry.The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyonce Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.
"Elegant, unabashedly theatrical, and packed with lush concert scenes and period-perfect costumes." Albert Williams, Chicago Reader
"A musical masterwork. An explosion of passion, power and, most significantly, a film of true heart." American Film Institute
"Rapturously entertaining." Entertainment Weekly
"Condon's Dreamgirls is a triumph! It's smartly entertaining, fresh and alive." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"A fabulous movie with plenty of pizazz!" Richard Corliss, Time
Editor's Note
IN THEATERS DECEMBER 29, 2006 An all-star cast, including Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx, and Beyonce Knowles, brings this Broadway production to the screen, with three soul singers enjoying a delicious slice of pop success in the 1960s.
| Features | Dreamgirls Soundtrack Promo | | Anika Noni Rose Audition | | Art Department Archive | | Audio: English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Auditions & Screen Tests | | Beyonce Knowles Screen Test | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Extended & Alternate Scenes | | Featurettes: Building The Dream, Dream Logic - Film Editing, Dressing The Dreams - Costume Design, Center Stage - Theatrical Lighting, & Steppin' To The Bad Side - Fatima Robinson Choreography Audition | | Image Gallery | | Interactive Menus | | Music Video: Listen By Beyonce Knowles | | Previsualization Sequences | | Scene Selection | | Storyboards | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture And Sound |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Dreamgirls - DVD By: TV and Film Guy - Blogcritics.org Reviews Published on: 4/30/2007 7:34 AM | | Even so, the movie does provide enough shimmer, enough glitz, and enough good music (on stage, not off) that it is unquestionably fun to sit down and watch. With strong performances by Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Jamie Foxx, and others, there is little doubt as to why it was nominated for so many acting awards. I must state though, as has been stated elsewhere, that Jennifer Hudsons role was not really a supporting one as much as a lead....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 5/1/2007 |
| Running Time: 130.016666666667 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 123560 | | UPC: 00097361235608 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (2007) | | | British Academy Awards, Jennifer Hudson, Best Actress in a Supporting Role | | | Golden Globe, Dreamgirls, Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy | | | Golden Globe, Eddie Murphy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | | | Golden Globe, Jennifer Hudson, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | | | Image Award, Jennifer Hudson, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | | | Oscar, Jennifer Hudson, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | | | Oscar, Michael Minkler, et. al., Best Achievement in Sound Mixing | | | Screen Actors Guild, Jennifer Hudson, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | | | Screen Actors Guild, Eddie Murphy, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "This baby dazzles like nothing else anywhere....DREAMGIRLS is a movie that has everything: a blazing new star in Jennifer Hudson, a riveting, revitalized Eddie Murphy, a hot-lick score...[and] a timely story..." 12/14/2006 p.132New York Times
"[W]hen was the last time you saw a first-time film actress upstage an Oscar winner, a pop diva and a movie star of long standing? Ms. Hudson is not going anywhere. She has arrived." 12/15/2006 p.E10 Entertainment Weekly
"DREAMGIRLS is the rare movie musical with real rapture in it....[The editing] works in beautiful smooth tandem with the whooshing, darting camera." -- Grade: B 12/22/2006 p.55 Rolling Stone
Ranked #2 in Rolling Stone's "The 10 Best Movies Of 2006" -- "DREAMGIRLS is a movie you take to heart." 12/28/2006 p.116 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Murphy delivers easily his best work to date in a role that perfectly utilises his wise-cracking persona, earthy singing voice and steadily advancing years." 03/01/2007 p.32 Sight and Sound
"[T]he greatest pleasure comes from its honesty as a musical....[With] great spangly extravaganzas of glam and glory, fireworks and frocks." 03/01/2007 p.43 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "Packed with big production numbers and dazzling cinematography, this movie is sequin-sharp and note perfect..." 07/01/2007 p.16 Variety 9 of 10
Finally. After "The Phantom of the Opera," "Rent" and "The Producers" botched the transfer from stage to screen, "Dreamgirls" gets it right. Bill Condon's adaptation of the 1981 show about a Motown trio's climb to crossover stardom pulls off the fundamental double-act those three musical pics all missed: It stays true to the source material while standing on its own as a fully reimagined movie. Driven by tremendously exciting musical performances, the Par/DreamWorks release should sing loud and strong through awards season and beyond...The film drips glamour and vibrant color thanks to Sharen Davis' glitzy costumes and John Myhre's detailed production design. Matching Condon's achievement in marrying naturalistic showbiz drama with old-fashioned musical, the retro stylings of both sets and costumes expertly brush period-specific reality with subtle touches of fantasy. - David Rooney
ReelViews 9 of 10
Dreamgirls is a wonderful entertainment: a musical that, while not skimping on the music, delivers a multi-layered storyline featuring complex characters. The average Hollywood musical focuses on spectacle and, while there's some of that to be found in Dreamgirls, the movie has loftier goals, many of which it successfully achieves. If there's one weakness in the film, it's the music. While effective within the context of the picture, the songs have a generic quality. Even the standouts are not memorable. Leaving the theater, I was not seized with the desire to stop at a music store and purchase the soundtrack. However, this is a minor quibble, and it does little to impact the viewer's enjoyment of what is sure to be a huge crowd-pleaser...As long as Hollywood can mount productions like this, the musical - which has been in intensive care for a long time - will never die. - James Berardinelli
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