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ASIN : 6303494390
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Editorial Reviews
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The dazzling Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, brought to lush life by the director of the original stage version, Joshua Logan. Set on a remote island during the Second World War, South Pacific tracks two parallel romances: one between a Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) "as corny as Kansas in August" and a wealthy French plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi), the other between a young American officer (John Kerr) and a native girl (France Nuyen). The theme of interracial love was still daring in 1958, and so was director Logan's decision to overlay emotional moments with tinted filters--a technique that misfires as often as it hits. The comic relief tends to fall flat, and an overly spunky Mitzi Gaynor is a poor substitute for the stage original's Mary Martin. But the location scenery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is gorgeous, and the songs are among the finest in the American musical catalog: "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger than Springtime," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," "This Nearly Was Mine." That's Juanita Hall as the sly native trader Bloody Mary, singing the haunting tune that launched a thousand tiki bars, "Bali H'ai." Based on stories from James Michener's book Tales from the South Pacific. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Most people live on a lonely island (2006-07-21)  Based on James Michener's book `Tales of the South Pacific', this Rodgers & Hammerstein's play is adapted for the big screen. There are overlapping stories of different people with extremely different backgrounds and how the cope or not with each other in a time of adversity during the second world war in the south pacific. This is a musical and the songs (most have the feel of the 50's, others are timeless) tell the story best of all. Be sure to also obtain the soundtrack. You will recognize that many of the best actors of the time were picked. This includes recently deceased Ray Walston who played Luther Billis. There was some decision to do some dubbing of the songs; however it does not distract form the ambiance of the film or the nature of the story. So prepare to be absorbed in the Tales of the South Pacific.
South Pacific (2005-03-15)  I first sore this film many years ago on the Cinerama extra wide screen with multi track speakers. The film was spectacular. Acknowledging the limitations of a DVD, and the age of the film, visually this DVD was excellent. But why have they not included stereo sound? The music is so important, yet they have chosen to distribute this musical in mono, which to me is flat and lifeless. If you want a decent sound rendition, I suggest the CD version of the original sound track, which is infinitely better.
Another Let Down (2004-06-26)  The first time I watched this I was hitting the sauce pretty hard with the result that I thought it was one of the greatest movies ever made. In the next few days I tried to re-watch it and there were some things I wasn't going for. (The interesting thing is I was drinking just as much, if not more.) Actually, there were a lot of things I wasn't going for, but I'll only mention a few of them: (1) There's some saying that the French plantation owner keeps spouting to the nurse as if it were their "little phrase" - something like "Fools never argue, wise men never agree", that's not it, but it was something that sounds profound but is actually a piece of garbage. Even if it were profound, I don't need to hear it. (2) This movie starts out making some pretense to being a realistic war movie, but the combat scenes toward the end are asinine in the extreme. (3) The nurse and the marine are both supposed to be racists who need to be straightened out, with the implication that YOU are if you're white. I'm sorry but I watch musicals to be entertained, not to get a course of "sensitivity training." -- If I ever watch this again, I'm going to cut it down to watching 2 or 3 of Mitzi Gaynor's numbers.
It's simply the best... (2004-05-07) What a classic, wow! Don't believe one negative word you hear about this film. Everyone knows that the songs are the best Rogers & Hammerstein produced for one show. The singing in the film and the renditions are fabulous. The first time I saw this film I was 10 years old and, yes, it was in 1958 in an old, classic of a movie theater where the ushers were wearing suits. I was totally entranced by this great film at that time and still am today. Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi were excellent selections-- I don't think Mary Martin would have been any better. John Kerr looked exactly like a young Marine lieutenant circa 1942. Sure, ladies, it could have been someone who was known for having knockout looks, but they would not have been as effective. And France Nuyen captures the essence of a native girl like no one else and that was good casting opposite Kerr. To me, the greatest achievement of this film is that Joshua Logan absolutely captured everything about the early 1940s in that cast of characters. Mitzi Gaynor has a 1940s face and style, and looked exactly like a Navy nurse. The same is true for the other characters but especially so for Kerr. If you look at war footage from the Pacific theater, you'll see hundreds of Marines with frames exactly like Kerr's. No one lifted weights back then so no one had the "body cuts" of a weight lifter. He looked just like a Marine Lt from WWII should have looked-- tall, very lean, serious but a kid at the same time. He was intense in the combat scene and very light during the scenes with Nuyen. And Juanita Hall couldn't have been better; she will always be everyone's vision of Bloody Mary. Logan manages to take you back to that time over and over again even though it was filmed 15 years later. When I watch it today I know that the smells were different, the mindset was different, the clothes were different, the cultures were different, the people were different, and life was different; perhaps simpler. Logan capture all of that for us to see over and over again. Plus, he did it in a way that makes the racial point but does it without being vulgar. South Pacific captures the World War II era in the same way that Gone with the Wind captures the Civil War era. We can never go back to those times, but Logan helps make time stand still. Best of all was his casting. This version of South Pacific is one of my all time favorite films and no classic film library should be without it. Buy it. Watch it. Love it!
Great, but maybe not good (2004-04-26) After viewing the full screen version of "South Pacific" on a projector screen as well as my own home, I feel that the movie was filmed beautifully!!! The use of color tints carries the audience away. Mizti Gaynor has a fabulous singing voice, even if she is "as corny as Kansas in August." The characters overcome the racial prejudices, showing the world that mixed couples are acceptable. The only thing that I found lacking was the plot line. If it weren't for the musical interludes, the movie may have been a flop.
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