5/5 LOVE THIS MOVIE!
  by D. Cortez (USA)
This arrived very fast & in perfect shape, brand new. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this movie! Thank you for such great service.

5/5 I love this movie
  by Nik (Brooklyn, N.Y. USA)
This movie is soulful and true to its story. Kristofferson and Streisand have so much passion creating so much heat between the two of them. I also feel it is Streisand at her absolute honest best. The sound, the feel, the love. All a must for a collectors collection. I love it.

3/5 Cringing at 'the way we were' in 1976
  by C. CRADDOCK (Bakersfield)
"A Star is Born" (1937) won an Oscar for Best Writing, Original Story. Fredric March and Janet Gaynor, the two leads, were also nominated, as were the director and assistant director. Dorothy Parker was nominated along with the other screenplay writers, and it was also nominated for Best Picture.

"A Star is Born" (1954) was nominated for six Oscars. Best Art Direction, Costume Design, Musical Scoring, and "The Man That Got Away" was nominated for best song. The two leads, James Mason and Judy Garland, were nominated, and Garland lost to Grace Kelly by only six votes. Groucho Marx called that "the biggest robbery since Brink's."

"A Star is Born" (1976) won an Oscar for best song, "Evergreen." It was also nominated for Best Cinematography, Musical Scoring, and Sound. Streisand and Kristofferson, the two leads, were not nominated. Despite it being the second highest grossing film of 1976, and winning that Oscar, it wasn't a very good movie. Like the fashions of 1976, some very poor choices were made, and looking back we cringe to see them.

Speaking of fashion, the clothes Barbra Streisand wore were horrible, and yet in the credits it said the clothes were from Barbra Streisand's closet. Like some people whose names I won't mention (not that there's anything wrong with it), they should have stayed in the closet. What was up with those white shorts and the shirt with the Superman logo? Don't even get me started on the hair, Barbra. Harpo Marx called. He wants his hair back.

Who WASN'T miscast? Gary Busey as the tour manager, a stable presence? Kris Kristofferson, a great songwriter and country performer, is no rock singer, let alone rock star. He is not even convincing as a has been rock star. When Johnny Cash heard the demo for "Sunday Morning Coming Down" he said "The man's a poet, but he can't sing." Kris Kristofferson certainly has a lot of charisma and stage presence, he even had a little chemistry in the love scenes with Barbra, but what he wasn't was credible. I didn't see him with her, or vice versa. I didn't see him as recognizing her talent, not that she displayed any. In the scene where he "discovers" her, the song just isn't very good. And as the white filling in a group called The Oreos, why was she the only one with an Afro?

Later, Kris is trying to make a comeback, playing at some benefit, but he stops mid-song and has Esther (Barbra) go on instead. Of course, even though it made no sense, Kris' band, Speedway, a crude bar band, somehow knew her arrangement, had it orchestrated with strings, and followed the diva's dynamics -- from soft, barely audible beginning, to bravura ending where she flexes those vocal cords of steel! At least Richard Simmons liked it.

I did like the scene in the studio where they recorded "Evergreen." It was recorded live, as Barbra didn't think lip synching looked convincing in close up, and though Kris Kristofferson is nowhere near the singer that Barbra is, he makes a charming and valiant effort. I love that song, especially the part where she holds the pedal tone at the end as the chords change under her. She has credit for writing the music, and Paul Williams only has a credit as a lyricist, but I hear that she claimed she wrote the whole song. What I want to know is, who wrote those chords under the note that she is holding? The song is pretty pedestrian up to that point, but then that ending is so harmonically dramatic.

Bottom line, the third time is definitely NOT the charm for A Star is Born, but this overblown movie is fun to watch, nevertheless, if only to cringe at 'the way we were' in the bicentennial year.

Powder Blue (2009) Kris Kristofferson was Randall
Trouble in Mind (1985) Kris Kristofferson was Hawk
Songwriter (1984) Kris Kristofferson was Blackie Buck
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea (1976) Kris Kristofferson was Jim
The Way We Were (Special Edition) (1973) Barbra Streisand was Katie Morosky
The Owl And The Pussycat (1970) Barbra Streisand was Doris
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) Barbra Streisand was Daisy Gamble
Funny Girl (1968) Barbra Streisand was Fanny Brice
A Star Is Born (1954) Judy Garland, James Mason
A Star Is Born (1937) Janet Gaynor, Fredric March

BTW, Barbra is releasing a new album in a few days and I can't hardly wait to hear her do "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." It is coming out on 9/29/2009. I have the feeling that this album is going to be incredible, a career milestone. She is a great singer and her voice is "like buttah."



5/5 A Star is Born with Streisand
  by Florence Nightingale (Chandler, AZ USA)
My husband and I saw this movie when it was first made. It inspired us to choose the theme song for our wedding dance. Now, it is good to watch it again.

5/5 A Star Is Born
  by T. Nylander
My husband and I have always liked Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristopherson and the clarity of the movie is much better on DVD than on VHS. The service from Amazon was very quick.