Evita: 10th Anniversary Special Edition....

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:48pm

Why hasn't this happened? In 1997 The Criterion Collection released the film in a director approved widescreen transfer loaded with extras. When the film finally made it to DVD all we got was a bare bones non-anamorphic transfer that is in serious need of an upgrade. It's a shame this film hasn't been given an anniversary re-release on DVD with all the extras featured on the now long out of print Criterion laserdisc.





Updated On: 4/19/07 at 07:48 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:57pm

I would buy it if they released it with extras

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 7:58pm

I didn't even like Madonna in this, but I would still get it.

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:15pm

Not that I want to get into a LuPone/Madonna war here, I think Madonna did an exceptional job in the role even though she lacked the vocal command for some of the score. Her rendition of "Buenos Aires" just did not do it for me. That number exploded and was so full of energy on stage. The film version is sorely lacking but their are a lot of great things about this film.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:17pm

At least they never did PEARL HARBOR...

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:30pm

At least who never did Pearl Harbor?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:37pm

The Criterion Collection, the company that released the laserdisc of EVITA prominently displayed above. It got to the point that they were releasing big elaborate special edition discs of rather undistinguished films.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:42pm

I would SO get it if it came out!

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 08:42 PM

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:44pm

So Roscoe are you saying that you consider Evita an undistinguished film?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 9:01pm

There are worse films than EVITA. Doing a big 4 disc special edition for it was a bit much, I thought. If people like it, more power to them.

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 9:14pm

Evita is a great film; extremely under-rated, IMO. Very well-directed epic. In preperation for the film, Madonna had vocal lessons (due to the commanding songs); and although she is still no Patti LuPone here, her performance is amazing. Totally a 360 degree turn for her.

I would definitely welcome a new, elaborate edition. I do think that it would sell very well.

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 09:14 PM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 7:26am

I thought it was okay. It certainly features Madonna's best film performance, and Banderas is very good indeed. It was certainly very interesting to see that story set in a specific historic time and place, with sets that looked kind of real, rather than the undefined space of the stage.

Unfortunately, the movie suffers from some of the same problems that the play does: Evita's death doesn't really carry very much emotional weight for me. She sleeps her way to the top, steals public funds, and just generally shows few if any redeeming qualities, and then dies of cancer, and I'm supposed to give a damn? Madonna isn't actress enough to show me any but the most nasty manipulative sides of Evita. Her deathbed scenes, with Evita all wrapped up in bathrobes and singing in a quiet little mousy voice with her eyes full of glycerine tears, didn't do a lot for me. I just though, well, one down, several thousand to go. IMELDA THE MUSICAL anyone?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 7:26am

I thought it was okay. It certainly features Madonna's best film performance, and Banderas is very good indeed. It was certainly very interesting to see that story set in a specific historic time and place, with sets that looked kind of real, rather than the undefined space of the stage.

Unfortunately, the movie suffers from some of the same problems that the play does: Evita's death doesn't really carry very much emotional weight for me. She sleeps her way to the top, steals public funds, and just generally shows few if any redeeming qualities, and then dies of cancer, and I'm supposed to give a damn? Madonna isn't actress enough to show me any but the most nasty manipulative sides of Evita. Her deathbed scenes, with Evita all wrapped up in bathrobes and singing in a quiet little mousy voice with her eyes full of glycerine tears, didn't do a lot for me. I just though, well, one down, several thousand to go. IMELDA THE MUSICAL anyone?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 9:08am

This laserdisc is one of the only reasons I still have my old laserdisc player. (That and the fact the picture quality is sharper than dvd could ever hope to be, but that's a discussion for another day)

I've written numerous times to Criterion and to Disney and both tell me each time that there are no plans to put this out on dvd anytime in the near future. Since the movie came out 11 years ago we can hope for a 15th anniversary edition in 2011 I suppose.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 10:52am

I own the laserdisc and the extras are incredible. It helps you see all of the work that went into the film. The documentary is incredible.It is also a great document of how hard Madonna and Antonio worked on the film. Alan Parker loved the laserdisc format which is why he released all the extras only on those discs. I love the film EVITA and it is one of my all time faves. I am sure over time some of the extras will be released, but possibly not on dvd. Parker doesnt like the dvd format (he also hated vhs), so maybe blu-ray or something.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 10:56am

I thought Madonna did a very good job in this version. It's an odd choice for Criterion though.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 11:05am

If Alan Parker ever did a movie that deserved the Criterion treatment, its SHOOT THE MOON...certainly not this one. This isn't even one of his good-bad movies. FOUR discs???

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 11:13am

Let me know if they plan on giving my money back for sitting through this in the first place...

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 11:15am

FOUR discs???

Well, it was a laser disc. Those suckers don't hold as much per disc as dvds do.

This thread title makes it seem like the 10th Anniversary edition exists.

Posted: 4/20/07 at 11:51am

"I thought it was okay. It certainly features Madonna's best film performance,"
-Roscoe

I would say the only acceptable movie performance. My friend and I cannot understand how a woman with so many other artistic abilities can be such bad actress.

ETA: please re-size Updated On: 4/20/07 at 11:51 AM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 11:59am

Madonna's only successful film perfs were DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN and GIRL 6.

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 12:04pm

I think Who's That Girl? is underrated.

She should be shot for The Next Best Thing, though.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 12:18pm

Curious this film. When it first came out, I thought she'd pulled it off rather well. But I revisited it only two weeks ago when it turned up on cable -- on my new TV, making it look great -- and I was shocked at how undernourished her performance is in its entirety. There are a couple of really awkward moments, that make you wonder what takes were ignored to select these. When she visits Peron in jail, and seemingly has trouble with her (dark brown) contact lenses. She bats her eyes at him with no apparent reason, and brings nothing to one of the character's most high-stakes encounters. The fire just isn't there.

I wondered if she was intimidated by a locked-in vocal performance -- all numbers pre-recorded of course -- and doesn't have the experience to add to the "canned" material with variety in her acting. She seems to want to serve the lip-sync, as in a music video, withouth adding a layer of reality that would heighten the stakes in every crescendo. The facial expressions just don't vary enough until she's dying -- they it grows lugubrious and feels too self-pitying to match the character we've seen.

And then there's Parker's odd editing -- infamously, the balcony scene noted by Michael Musto, when the first line of "Don't Cry for Me..." the beat has built to is offered in long shot, with a microscopic Eva. It's bizarre.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 12:29pm

Auggie brings up something interesting, the cut away from Evita/Madonna during "Don't Cry For Me Argentina." This happens a lot lately in musical films, people get to sing one line of lyrics before the director cuts to another shot. It happens in other ways, shadows fall across peoples' faces, etc. Watch the Waltz Between Evan And Che, their faces are obscured for much of the song.

It probably has something to do with lip-synching for foreign versions of the film.

As for Madonna's performance, why is it so hard for people to just admit that she's not a particularly good actress? She's got a lot of energy and star quality, sure, but how many films like WHO'S THAT GIRL and BODY OF EVIDENCE does it take?

As for THE NEXT BEST THING, well. I'll give her credit for taking such a risk in playing such a completely revolting character, unless of course she's not supposed to be completely revolting.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/20/07 at 12:31pm

Borstal, I agree about SHOOT THE MOON. Still Parker's best film. Or at least it was my favorite for a long time, I haven't seen it lately. Does it hold up? I remember the acting being particularly good, that scene of Diane Keaton in the bathtub, for example.