Nutcracker

I am one of the few people that saw this in the theater. The Ballet "Nutcracker" was very expensive to see. I was 21 and I wanted to take my niece & nephew to see it but 3 tickets would have cost about $80 back in 1986. (Around $140 in 2017 Dollars). So I saw this film being advertised in the paper. 3 tickets for this film was $12.00 and it was money well spent. Also we were only the only 3 in the cinema.

I have never seen this play before. I did not know the story. So I was like a child at Disneyland watching this. The costumes were nice bright & beautiful. The sound was an experience unto itself. I loved this film. It was not a bore. It was just a treat for the senses.

Years later I bought this on DVD and was shocked that the film looked so colorless. This film may not have been filmed in technicolor but it was a beautiful looking film. What is not out on DVD looks like the film was shot in VHS.

MGM owns this film. Since they have never released it on blu-ray I hope maybe someday that SHOUT FACTORY will. If not them then KINO LORBER or Olive Films. This is the type of release that those companies specialize in!

Of all the productions of the Nutcracker I've seen, this one would win my vote for best picture out of the batch. It's very well focused with regards to the actual storyline. Good thing I taped it while I had the chance.

PickMePickMe's commentary is almost three years old now, but it isn't too late to completely refute it. What was this reviewer watching? As far as the performers and dancing is concerned, this troupe has been 'fooling' the people of the US Northwest for over twenty years now with the Sendak Nutcracker. Tell it to the annual sold out performances!

As for the production itself, it couldn't be more cinematic without losing its balletic base. The Drosselmeyer toyshop background for the overture, for example, isn't even seen on stage, nor are the soaring views of Clara's living room. I could go on, but I suspect that PMPM is locked into to the wooden performances of the seventies, well represented in the current VHS/DVD world.

The overall production, as far as Nutcrackers go, is a stupendous, breathtaking affair and very accurately implies the dark E.T.A. Hoffmanesque background of the ballet.

The only letdown associated with it is the lack of a DVD, with which everyone's Christmas would surely brighten.

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS & SPECIALS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

Every year there seems to be on variations on "Christmas Classics" There is always new "twist" done to "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Carol", "Groundhog Day", "The Gift of the Magi" and even variations on "The Nutcracker"

The Nutcracker has been done as "A CARTOON" " A movie with no dancing" "A Semi-Musical" and even on "On Ice" This film however is not a twist it is just a beautiful filmed version of the famous ballet.

Nutcracker: The Motion Picture, like the Stowell-Sendak stage production on which it is based, is presented as Clara's coming-of- age story. It depicts Clara's inner conflict and confusion, as well as the beginning of her sexual awakening, as she approaches adolescence; similar themes occur in many of Sendak's books.

The film especially emphasizes the darker aspects of Hoffmann's original story and the significance of dreams and the imagination. The cinematography, by making considerable use of closeups and medium shots, attempts to bring viewers closer to the psychology of the main characters.

For the film's soundtrack, Sir Charles Mackerras conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at the Watford Town Hall in London in a new recording of Tchaikovsky's score. The passage for chorus was performed by the Tiffin School Boys' Choir. The soundtrack also includes the "Duet of Daphnis and Chloe" from Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades, performed by Cathryn Pope and Sarah Walker. Telarc released the complete soundtrack on compact disc, coinciding with the release of the film

This film however was not met with great reviews upon its initial release. They were okay at best. It was a huge box office bomb taking in less than $1 Million during its entire run. However since 1986 the film has developed a following and it is easy to understand why.

The soundtrack / orchestra is perfect. You will never hear the score sound better. The staging and costumes are wonderful. Its was directed with such craftsmanship that even if your NOT a huge ballet lover (Which I am not) you will be swept into the scope of this production. If you stumble across it on TV once you watch 10 seconds your hooked. That is what happened to me.

On home video however the film has never had a great release. The original VHS that was released by Paramount was only out for a short time and went out of print. It was later released by GOODTIMES home video and it was in the dreaded LP speed and lacked the stereo mix that the Paramount release had.

Even today the film has never had a DVD release that was worth buying. When MGM finally released a DVD they used an old master that was most likely from the Paramount Home Video release some 25 years earlier. What worked for a VHS release doesn't work for a DVD. In fact its not even a Pressed DVD it is a MOD DVD which makes the picture even softer! Plus is was in the old 4x3 (Pan and Scan) format. Most films released on DVD are presented in the Widescreen Format if the movie was shot in that format. "The Nutcracker" was shot that way but MGM was to cheap to re-master the film. So we get a DVD that is soft and at times un- focused. The stereo soundtrack however is very good. There is however room for improvement if there is a future blu-ray release.

I doubt a blu-ray release will ever see the light of day. Even if MGM wants to release a blu-ray the film will most likely need to have a restoration. I hope it gets one.

On the bright side HD-NET a cable/satellite channel does have a respectable transfer of the film that they show. It is 16x9 and the sound mix is great and its also in stereo. Now why hasn't MGM used this transfer for a DVD is beyond me.

Now back to the film itself. It is the best presentation that has ever been put on film! The only thing wrong is there is no "Mother Ginger in this production". The colors and costumes are as eye popping. The orchestra is one that will put others to shame.

For years Video Stores (if they had a copy) reported that this was a huge rental during the holidays!

A few years later Warner Brothers decided to make their version of the film! Just like other remakes the film industry thought they could do another film and do it better. So in 1993 they released a "Bigger Budget" production.

That version was not 1/2 as good. The only thing it had that the 1986 version didn't was Macaulay Culkin and Mother Ginger.

Catch this 1986 Version! Its worth seeing.

This picture is billed as "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture", but really it's a cross between a movie and a live ballet performance. They make some use of the freedom of camera movement and more elaborate sets to enhance a ballet, but really it's just a ballet performance with no wait between set changes.

That said, this is pretty darn good. The dancing is excellent, of course, but I'd like to see the Kirov or Bolshoi Ballet (or even the Joffrey) do a film like this, rather than the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The sets and costumes (by Maurice Sendak, the famous author of "Where the Wild Things Are"), are superb...for a stage performance, but not for a movie. The overall effect is basically of a PBS special production of the stage ballet.

If you like the grace and beauty of the world's most famous ballet, you'll like this film. If you like Tchaikovskiy's amazing music, you'll like this film. If you like gorgeous ballerinas prancing around on their toes (and hey, who doesn't), you'll like this film. If you can't stand to sit through a ballet, you won't necessarily be converted by this film, however, but the ability to hit "pause" on the VCR and go get a beer might help.

One other thing. I have no idea if this is included in the theatrical or video releases, but when I saw this late at night on WGN-TV in Chicago, Tony Randall appears between acts and provides commentary. Why, I have no idea, but it looks tacked-on at the last minute.

Short, short summary: Fun costumes, hot chicks in tu-tu's, and good music. Everything you'd expect from a great ballet performance, but they could have done so much MORE with this as a movie...