| | | Winner of 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1961
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Special Edition, Spanish, Subtitled, Collector's Edition, Documentary
A triumph on every level, this electrifying musical sets the ageless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of gang warfare in the slums of 1950's New York. Natalie Wood is breathtaking as Maria, a young woman whose first taste of love is fated in tragedy amidst the vicious rivalry of two street gangs--the Jets and the Sharks--one Anglo, one Puerto Rican. A rare and transcendent fusion of realism and fantasy that will forever be a feast for the eye, the ear and ultimately, the heart.
"Nothing short of a cinema masterpiece!" The New York Times
"...astonishingly powerful..." At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Editor's Note
Considered one of the most popular musicals of all time, WEST SIDE STORY earned director Robert Wise an Oscar for Best Director as well as nine other Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Realistically portrayed characters and their surroundings and expert editing complementing innovative dance sequences mark this highly stylized modern-day Romeo and Juliet tale. The stage is set in New York's Upper West Side in the 1950s, where the area's slums are plagued by racial tensions acted on by two rival gangs: the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Caucasian Jets. In the middle of this mess is young, innocent Maria (Natalie Wood), a Puerto Rican seamstress whose brother, Bernardo (George Chakiris), is the leader of the Sharks. Despite the warnings of Anita (Rita Moreno), Bernardo's fiery girlfriend, Maria falls in love with a young, hopeful Polish boy, Tony (Richard Beymer), who used to belong to the Jets, now headed by Riff (Russ Tamblyn). When Tony, on Maria's urging, tries to stop a rumble between the gangs, tragedy ensues, marking their dedicated love affair with violence and desperation. The infectious, lyrical landmark score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim help round out one of the greatest musical experiences ever captured on film.
Plot Summary
A Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim score backdrops this landmark Broadway musical in which a modern-day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York City street gangs. Academy Award Nominations: 11, including Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Academy Awards: 9, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor--George Chakiris, Best Actress--Rita Moreno, Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono; French Dolby Digital Mono | | Subtitles: English, Spanish, French | | Widescreen Version | | Storyboard-To-Film Comparison | | Original Release Trailers And Behind The Scenes Photos | | Collectible Scrapbook: Ernest Lehman Introduction, Film Script, Original Lobby Brochure Reproduction, Behind-The-Scenes Memos | | Option To Play Feature With Or Without Intermission | | "West Side Memories": 1-Hour Retrospective Documentary | | Original Film Intermission Music |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: MGM |
| Release Date: 10/16/2007 |
| Running Time: 152 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1961 | | Catalog ID: 1004353 | | UPC: 00027616884343 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.20:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1962) |  | Daniel L. Fapp, Winner, Best Cinematography-Color | | Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise, Winner, Best Director | | Robert Wise, Winner, Best Picture | | Fred Haynes, Gordon Sawyer, Winner, Best Sound | | Thomas Stanford, Winner, Best Film Editing |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"..Incredibly cool..." 04/04/2003 p.83Total Film
"...You'd be a fool not to buy it and once more savour the muscular song-and-dance numbers..." 07/01/2003 p.134 Uncut
"[E]very Bernstein song's a humdinger with sizzling Sondheim lyrical gags. Cosily cool." 12/01/2003 p.160 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 7 of 10
...still represents a brave and effective fusion of serious and fantasy elements, and offers two and one-half hours of solid entertainment. Admittedly, there are times when West Side Story strikes a campy or discordant note, but those instances are overbalanced by the more frequent moments when it offers its own brand of cinematic magic.
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| Essentials |
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