The Film
Few stories have been adapted as many times as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. And from all the modern adaptations, very few hav been as captivating as West Side Story. The original Broadway play which opened in 1957 was a critical success, but it didn't run away with the box office and certainly did not run as long as some other musicals. The release of the film in 1961, however, was a pivotal moment for Hollywood. Not only did the film earn 10 Oscars (including Best Picture), but it took in a staggering $43 million at the box office. Adjusted for inflation, it is in the top 70 films of all time for domestic releases.
The cast, which included Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, absolutely nailed their respective roles (although Wood didn't quite get the accent down) and secured their places in film history. Moreno and Chakiris even won Best Actor Oscars for their efforts. Moreno (perhaps best known for the PBS series The Electric Company, which was like Sesame Street for cool kids) may not have been the "star" of the film but she completely overshadowed the rest of the cast with her performance; her dancing was second-to-none.
The Jets and the Sharks battle it out on the streets (Jerome Robbins' choreography is still so bold and original; some fifty years later), while Maria and Tony fall tragically in love. We may know the ending long before it unfolds, but we've never seen it like this before. The music will endure until the sun explodes and we all freeze to death. It's my opinion that this is one of the most important films of all-time and should be considered mandatory viewing for any self-respecting movie lover.
The Picture
UPDATE: Fox has announced details on how to get a replacement disc with fixed opening credit sequence. See this article on High Def Digest for details.
There are some issues with shimmer (look at the roofs of the buildings during the overhead pan of New York City) and moire, but the overall transfer is quite strong; deep blacks, wonderful color saturation, and the sharpest the picture has ever looked. Do not adjust your set during the high school dance sequence; it is supposed to look that weird. Minus the Overture fiasco, the film has never looked better.
The Sound
When M-G-M first announced that the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray was going to be a DTS-HD 7.1 channel mix, a lot of people nearly wet their pants. The film's original six track master was discoverd in 2010 and restored, so it was reasonable to expect that the lossless mix was going to be spectacular. Unfortunately, the folks at the studio either got lazy or cheap because this version utilizes a cleaned up version of the four track masters instead. Don't ever try to understand how studio execs think. Pay some cruddy actor $10 million for a bad teen comedy? Not a problem. Restore one of the most important films in motion picture history properly allowing millions of fans to own the definitive version? Dream on.
Someone at the studio must really hate the Overture to the film because the audio on the transfer doesn't match up to the original theatrical release at all. Don't the engineers have access to the original film? Weird. One plus is that the sync issue with the song "Tonight" has finally been rectified.
The surround mix, however, does not disappoint with excellent dynamic range and exceptional punch. The music has never been offered with such clarity; Rita Moreno and Natalie Wood really benefit from the lossless mix.
The Extras
M-G-M and Fox have loaded up the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray with a diverse collection of featurettes and documentaries that really enhance the film; including a 85-minute video jukebox of the film's musical numbers (HD). If you really want to torture your significant other, leave "Maria" on repeat for a few hours.
One of the most significant aspects of the film was the dancing and those who want to know how it was all choreographed can dance themselves silly with Pow! The Dances of West Side Story (HD; 20 minutes) which features commentaries from Robert Relyea, Debbie Allen, and even Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The song commentary with Stephen Sondheim will be grating for those who don't love all things Sondheim, but hearing from the original lyricist and how he feels about his work so many years later, makes for interesting fare.
If you ever wanted to know how the film was completed considering the difficulties that transpired between co-directors Robbins and Wise, you will get a kick out of the featurette entitled West Side Memories. The overall collection which includes the original theatrical trailers in HD is well worth your time.
Final Thoughts
Diehard fans of West Side Story are going to notice the problems with the opening of the Blu-ray transfer and feel like they have been taken for suckers by the studio. It's a legitimate gripe and Fox really needs to make good with a proper transfer of the film. For the rest of the planet, this transfer is the best the film has ever looked and you'll be too engrossed in the film to truly care. The greatest musical ever on the silver screen? Absolutely. The best home video version? Not quite.
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