West End's Miss Saigon to be released on DVD? — Page 2

Though I live here in the US, I received my DVD copy (PAL) yesterday. I don't have a Blu-Ray player so obviously I wouldn't order the Blu-Ray, but I assume based on Billy Elliott live that the Blu-Ray is region free. The DVD came with two discs, with the filmed show and gala on one disc and the un-enlightening behind the scenes "The Heat is Back On" on the other disc.



I really enjoyed this. The only time the close-ups were annoying was during the first 15 minutes or so until after "The Movie in My Mind." I felt too much context was lost, and some characters weren't entirely in-frame. The lyric changes didn't bother me as much, though there were a few lazy lyrics among them, and Thuy's introduction just doesn't flow. I couldn't follow Ellen's new song; I found the melody to be too disjointed.



Half the number "What a Waste" is gone. Based on the way it sounds, I assume it was from video editing and not changes made to the number for the stage. Can anyone verify?



It looked as though they only used footage from the final company bow for the curtain call, yet let the sound from the curtain call applause play normally through the credits. This is most obvious since during the closing credits scroll there are ebbs and flows in the applause, as if someone is taking an individual bow. I don't know why then they just didn't keep the entire curtain call.



The gala is a separate video track, accessed from the main menu or if you let the performance video play out, it defaults to that menu when it ends.

Updated On: 10/26/16 at 05:27 PM

"Half the number "What a Waste" is gone. Based on the way it sounds, I assume it was from video editing and not changes made to the number for the stage. Can anyone verify?"


That is correct

Received my Blu-ray today and worked perfectly fine on my player. The DVD of the Heat is Back On didn't work but I have already seen it on Amazon Prime anyway.

Hi! Just wanted to confirm..you had your miss Saigon bluray shipped to the US and it played on bluray machine no problems? Despite the region coding? Just curious, I just purchased one as a gift.

The Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk is region-free. It plays in all Blu-ray players. The DVD that comes with it does not play in US players...it is the documentary.

I've played the Blu-ray on two different players; definitely region free...and a great disc!

Updated On: 10/30/16 at 06:48 PM

After reading this and other threads, I'm glad I ordered the DVD and not the Blu-Ray (I have ways to watch non-region 1 DVDs). While everyone seems to have waited for their Blu-Ray, I actually received my DVD copy the day it was released, though Amazon said November delivery.



I have watched it again and have a few more thoughts on it.


I don't have as much of an issue with the lyric changes as I did initially with the cast recording, but some of them still just don't sound right (they either don't flow properly with the music as sung, or they simply just have no poetry to them and so they are more dis-jarring. However, I don't think I'll ever accept the musical extension towards the end of The American Dream; I think that change really was unnecessary. I still can't understand why they made an edit to What a Waste, since they can't possibly have shaved more than 1 minute off the running time, but I digress.



The attempts to "soften" Ellen simply do not work. The new song was written to make her more likable, and she does seem to express some fears and doubts regarding her relationship with Chris, but the song itself does not blend with the rest of the show. Perhaps I'm used to the original music and maybe that didn't fit in either, but this song doesn't have any cohesiveness, making it hard to understand what she is even singing about. And they did her no favors before the song either. I'll give the actress credit for at least making it appear that she doesn't want to separate Tam from his mother because she thinks the child belongs with mother (amazing what inflections can do!), but during the confrontation, she still tells Kim she and Chris want children of their own, and even follows that up by pointedly saying to her "he's your child, he's not mine." Trying to soften her up without changing these lines made the new song an exercise in futility. One can only imagine what kind of step mom she is to Tam.



We all know that the biggest complaint about this recording is the close-ups, but upon further thought I think it really works for this show, especially since this physical production and staging reportedly isn't as good as the arguably superior original. Though some complaints I read likened these close-ups to the Les Miz film, they weren't nearly that bad. One thing about Miss Saigon is that despite its grandiose production values, it has this intimacy about it. Since the costumes are mostly similar to the original, there doesn't sound like any deterioration in the orchestrations, and the cast is great, the close-ups aren't depriving us of the power of the show. You see what you need to see, for the most part. In fact, some of the more questionable directorial changes are masked because of the close-ups (so it doesn't seem strange to have two cast members on a stage left balcony while the rest of the stage is bare). I would argue that only The Morning of the Dragon suffers from close ups and frenetic editing.



All in all this is a mostly fantastic capture, and it's definitely one I will continue to re-visit time and again.

Have to say that the performances especially Kim and The Engineer are incredible. Also as someone who saw the original production at Drury Lane in London and this one at The Prince Edward theatre I think the set this time is far better. The original one I found to clunky (it also moved in a very clunky way) where as this one still has an epic feel but doesn't swallow the story up.

The close ups I think are great, this is a filming of the show, not the show from your point of view in the theatre, if that's what you want then buy a ticket, personally I thought this was one of the best live filming of a show I've ever seen.

Yes it does, Lot

There are numerous confirmations contained in this thread of the fact that this blu ray will indeed play on a US player. It has also been confirmed that the "bonus" dvd of "The Heat Is Back On: The Re-making of Miss Saigon" which is included with the blu ray is REGION 2 and is NOT playable on US players. However this video is available for download on Amazon.com The Heat is Back On: The Re-making of Miss Saigon

Ah, that's understandable ... I guess nobody really indicated in their posts that the listing on Amazon.co.uk has always had it listed as "Region 2" ... from the time it first appeared last year. The blu ray is fantastic and well worth ordering thru Amazon.co.uk. Some people have complained about it being filmed with too many "close-ups" ... the same complaint many had with the filming of NEWSIES but it's still a "MUST HAVE" for any MISS SAIGON fan!!

I just went on Amazon.uk to purchase the Blu-ray and happened to see this review:

"I was so excited when it arrived in the mail, only to find out that it will not play because of the 'region' restrictions... I tried it on different players, computers, laptops ... to no avail... should I not have been advised of this. It's not my first time to order DVD's from Amazon, but my first time to order from amazon UK."

And this subsequent response to the above:

"Under the heading 'Product details' it says: 'Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)' The bit 'Read more about DVD formats' is a link to the formats and which ones are available in which countries. So giving it one star because you didn't read the product details really isn't fair. 'Reviews' like this shouldn't be allowed on here because it skews the overall number of stars the product receives plus it's annoying for those of us who read both negative and positive reviews."

Ok, I took the plunge. Thanks for your input.

Why don't they release an American version like they did with Billy Elliot for example? I thought they would when the show opened on Broadway...