Oklahoma! [DVD]

Wholeheartedly recommend. One of the absolute best classics of all time. My dad played the soundtrack in our house growing up so I’m very familiar — and delightfully haunted — by these magnificent R&H songs, but I hadn’t seen the movie in many years, so after a few weeks of suppressing my desire to buy it, I finally caved & decided to treat myself, and boy it does not disappoint. A larger-than-life, vivid, epically gorgeous movie. I don’t know of anything else like it. It is an undeniably timeless work of art.Just for giggles I read some of the 1 star reviews. We all know there’s no accounting for taste but how anyone could outright dismiss it — even after only seeing that EPIC opening scene where the camera is gliding through the cornstalks to reveal the vast open landscape, when Oh What A Beautiful Morning drops — is baffling. It’s very hard to miss the in-your-face beauty of this production. If anyone reading this is on the fence, I recommend you watch the opening scene on YouTube for a taste, or rather a big gulp of the pleasures that await.I myself was on the fence, because $15 for entertainment wasn’t in my budget this month, but evidently, I can’t say no.

Never gets old! What a happy show.

Okay, the DVD is a good quality and the sound is clear. No complaints there. I had forgotten how bad the choreography is in this movie! This movie makes you appreciate old movies like "Singing in the Rain" and "White Christmas". "Oklahoma" was, is, and will forever be a classic stinker unless you're from or moving to Oklahoma. Then, it's a great movie to have in your home video library. Enjoy!

High quality, excellent version!

Classic must have for collection

Though today's audiences might consider this a dusty relic, in its day it was virtually revolutionary - not only was ballet integral to a Broadway show - a shocker to audiences of the time - but, more significantly, the songs were embedded in the action and served to further the plot. This musical changed forever the way such shows were written.Still, the musical opened on Broadway over 70 years ago, and so you can't fault those caught in the maelstrom of the ever-sprinting zeitgeist, for whom last year's hot musical is already hopelessly passe, for relegating Oklahoma to the cultural equivalent of their great-grandmother's attic.But one thing pop culture never acknowledges is that quality is timeless, and the movie, made a long 12 years after the play premiered, retains the original's magic quality; indeed, it has aged remarkably well in the years since. It is a gorgeous piece of filmmaking and a joyous dip in the refreshing pool of unabashed Americana, with innovative camera work, a sumptuous palette of color, iconic performances all around and a ballet-within-the-musical that is so evocative and satisfying that, even if you're not a particular fan of ballet, will mesmerize you with its lush expressiveness and the scope of its rendering of the totality of the human condition - our aspirations, our fears and, especially, the evil that tends to brush up, however fleetingly, against even the sunniest of lives.The ballet is essentially a restatement of the arc of the play writ in dance, and a lovely arc it is.I won't get into the plot here, but I will say that the performances are all outstanding; it was Shirley Jones's first movie, and it rightfully made her a star. She is lovely and strikes just the right tone as the skittish Laurey, who badly wants to marry Curley, but whose games of hard-to-get almost get out of hand.Gordon McRae is excellent as well - yes, there might be more dynamic actors out there, but none who can sing as well as he, or who can do it while exuding unbridled, unapologetic alpha-male charisma as he.Gloria Grahame is one of my favorite female film actors of all time, and she almost steals the entire movie as the would-be trollop Ado Annie, whose sexual appetite is somewhat tempered with her essential innocence.Eddie Albert, another underrated actor who often spun pure gold, is a wonderful comic counterpoint to the dark Rod Steiger as Jud. I'm sure many think Steiger was too leaden or hammy as Jud, but he succeeds marvelously in making your skin crawl.And no, nobody's ever going to mistake Eddie Albert's Ali Hakim for a real Persian, but who cares?Charlotte Greenwood as Aunt Eller is a wonderful presence throughout the film - she may be one of the "old folks," but the light behind her eyes and her physical vitality are a joy; she is, in fact, the sun around which all of the other characters orbit.Gene Nelson's rendition of Kansas City - along with the wonderful staging and use of the chorus - is as good as any dance number ever caught on film - and I'm a huge Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly fan. So I don't say that lightly.The rest of the cast is appropriately homespun and distinctive.The plot is quite simple - it all revolves around the box social dance that's going to occur that night, and the love machinations that ensue as folks attempt to pair off.This movie is, quite simply, a delight. If you can transport yourself to a simpler time (when sentimentality wasn't an embarrassment and irony wasn't the oxygen that pop culture breathes), you will be richly rewarded.

At long last, the restored Todd-AO version of this great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, OKLAHOMA!!! on Blue Ray AND it looks fantastic!!After a number of attempts of this Todd- AO version from VHS (reasonable quality) to DVD (ARRRGGGHHH!!!! WHAT WENT WRONG????) to finally the one we have been waiting for!!!Best viewed on the biggest screen you can get, mine's an 8ft wide screen with Benq Projector (4 billion pixels) and obviously a 4K print, this just leaps off the screen. With it's very impressive opening with Overture (the word is small against a black screen) then into the knockout opening credits (barely legible in earlier incantations) and first actual scene in the cornfield who could ask for anything more? It must have been very impressive to original audiences!!The wonderful voices of Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones (you can understand every word they sing!) send all the songs to the height of an elephant's eye.....This film was actually produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein and what a great job they did. It's just a pity they didn't seem to have a real hands on for their other stage to films. One wonders what a full version of the King and I would have been like. But they were more interested in the stage.Two interesting little differences between this and the scope version. In the auction scene, Charlotte Greenwood brings down the auction hammer so hard, the head breaks off and flies straight into the camera lens(!), the actors seem to groan (watch Jay C Flippen in the scene as though he is thinking, retake!!) But to Charlotte Greenwoods professionalism and credit, carries on with the scene, so it's left in the Todd-AO version.The other difference is the ending. In the scope version where they ride off into the sunset and camera rises, a fly lands on the lens and there's a bodgy job to cover it up. In the Todd-AO version there is no fly and ends smoothly.Run the DTS 7.1 through your amp system (though just as good on 5.1) and make sure it's good and loud to hear every wonderful note.4K resolution and great colour restoration. If you're alert enough, you'll spot a travelling car in the distant background. Seen the film heaps of times but never the car which shows just how good the detail is!!The 2nd version, the CinemaScope 55 version is... well, quite ordinary. Grainy, a standard opening with credits.... and well, it just ain't the same despite everyone being just as good as in the Todd-AO version. An example of difference is the first shot of the Claymore Station where they pan from the carriage with Charlotte Greenwood arriving to across to the train coming in (yes, pan even in CinemaScope!!) The Todd-AO version sees it all in the one shot!One of the featurettes uses the SmileBox format with it's OKLAHOMA! samples... so who knows it may get done in that next....!!Still though this is one we have been waiting for and now at last it is here. Enjoy one and all.

It's difficult to put into words how magnificent the BluRay is.First the obvious: the movie is choc-full of wonderful Rogers & Hammerstein songs and some gorgeous dream sequences/ballets. The subject is corny, but like the corn 'as tall as a elephant's eye' in the opening song, corn has never been so beautifully delivered.The choreography is absolutely brilliant.The absolute revelation though is the 70mm Todd-AO print and THE SOUND. The visuals are pin-sharp HD, you can see the textures in the leading lady's make up - it's almost frighteningly good. The colours are rich, and there's one particular fantasy scene shot on a Hollywood sound stage that is so HD I was screaming with joy!Literally you are looking into 1955 (and possibly 1954 given a long post-production lead time).But the killer is THE SOUND. Todd-AO used a six track system that is scarily close to modern digital quality.Yes the soundtrack will have been re-mastered, but you can't create what wasn't there in the first place. From the first thrilling bars of the full cinema overture, you experience layers of strings and horns that are true high fidelity. The fact it was recorded nearly 70 years ago is simply beyond belief. And when Gordon McRae starts to sing in the cornfield, the technical recording quality of his vocal is perfect.Other movies were filmed/recorded using this process - notably the Sound Of Music and South Pacific - but this is the finest product of that system.Buy it and be thrilled.

As the title suggests anyone buying this must first make sure they have a Blu-ray multiregion capable player, not just DVD multiregion, Blu-ray multiregion. This is extremely important because if you don't you will, like me, be caught out! My Blu-ray player was due for upgrade anyway so I replaced it with a 4K Blu-ray and DVD multiregion capable machine.Now for the Blu-ray American import itself. It's fantastic! I never realised how good the film itself was, and with this version being taken directly from the original in Todd-AO format in 70mm film and at 30 frames a second, it gives a really smooth flicker free picture, and the colours are brilliant! It's also in it's as shown in original theatre version too with Overture and Intermission included.The extras are also extremely informative giving a full technical explanation of the Todd-AO process and why it was so good. Quite a revelation too that it was filmed twice! Once in Todd-AO and again in normal cinemascope for those cinemas that weren't equipped for Todd-AO because Todd AO had 7 channel sound even back in the 1950's, and required a special screen.I will use this film to show what can be achieved when a Blu-ray like this is coupled with a top range TV and AV setup.Even if you don't have state of the art gear get it anyway, it's a brilliant, brilliant film. They definitely don't make them like this any more! Five stars all the way!

Oklahoma has always been my favourite of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals.I finally bought this 4 disc dual format set on import becausevI got fed up with waiting for Fox to release it in the U.K.The two dvd discs in this set are region 1 encoded so unless you have a multi region player are not playplayable,since I already have the two disc dvd set this is not an issue.Both the blu ray discs are region free despite saying they are region A on the box.The Cinamascope version looks fantastic,but I bought this for the Todd-AO Roadshow version.It looks and sounds incredible.The picture is so sharp and has a depth of field that it is 3d.I switched the 2d to 3d conversion on and it looks fantastic.The phrase "They don't make them like this anymore"really applies in this case.

Oklahoma [Blu-Ray plus DVD] This four disc set consists of two Blu-ray discs that are REGION FREE and two DVD's that are Region 1 and will only play on a Region Free player. Disc One is the Todd AO Blu-ray version is by far the best and up there with some of the best for sixty year old film restorations. Not too far behind quality wise is the CinemaScope version Blu-ray. Disc 3&4 are DVD versions of both films, which though superior to the previous DVD versions are not really worth bothering about. The film was made in two versions, filmed at the same time and there are slight differences. Overall this is a worthwhile purchase if you enjoyed the film and its catchy music. I did feel it had dated and was perhaps slightly overlong and needed shortening to about two hours, but that's interfering with history and how the Studio wanted the audiences of sixty years ago to enjoy their film.

This four disc set offers both the Tod-Ao and cinema scope versions of the film., On both Blu Ray and DVD, as well as many other extrasAs Stated in other reviews the Blu Ray Discs are region free although Marked as {A} and the DVD's are Region 1 so will only play on a multi region player.At the time of making the film, to ensure the best presentation in cinemas that did not have the equipment to show the 70mm Tod-Ao Version with its six channels of sound, a cinemascope version with the standard four channel sound was also made.Sadly due to the nature 70mm Kodachrome film, the colours have faded on the print. So the colours are not as vibrant or the picture as sharp, as those of us of a certain age who were lucky enough to see this film in a cinema with 70mm projection and full surround sound will remember, Fox have done the best they could with the material and the restoration is excellent, and on a good home surround sound system the sound is fantastic and just how I remember it, Another plus is the fact that unlike the original DVD transfer the 70mm Tod-Ao Blu-Ray version has been transferred in its original 30 frames per second. The Tod-Ao system used 30 FPS unlike the Cinemascope system which used 24 FPS. Because the Cinemascope version of the film was made using the Technicolor three colour negative system Fox have been able to go back to the original negatives and create a new cinemascope 24fps print. The colours the Blu-Ray are as sharp and vibrant as the day the film was madeThis Four disc version includes both Blu-Ray and DVD films, which have sound and vision beautifully restored.Also included are many extras, and scene by scene commentary, and lots more.This set is a real must have for any fan of Hollywood musicals.