Les Miserables is a near-perfect show. It has great songs and brilliant characters which are often portrayed by brilliant actors. There is no finer display of this casting than the Anniversary DVD. The original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson has not lost any of his wonderful voice and his counter-part Javert, Philip Quast, is equally as 'on-form'. Ruthie Henshall and Lea Salonga are also fine at their parts and the original Marius, Michael Ball is fantastic as usual. Michael Maguire's American accent makes a nice change and provides the perfect voice for Enjolras.
As Les Miserables is a predominantly stationairy show anyway, the lack of movement in the DVD is not a problem. The characters are in costume and do a fair amount of moving making the DVD really seem like Les Mis. The songs are well sung by all and there no weak links in the show. Equally, for the majority of the show, the songs are well directed.
Also the DVD allows viewers to sing-along using an extra 'Show Lyrics' Feature. The final feature that really makes the DVD is the performance of Do You Hear the People Sing and One Day More by Valjeans from across the world.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1992 - Music / Performing Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: Exempt - Starring: Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, David Bowie, Def Leppard, Extreme, Elton John, Bob Geldof
Production Year: 1999 - Music / Performing Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: Exempt - Starring: Donny Osmond, Joan Collins, Richard Attenborough
very helpful by (33%):
helpful by (67%):
