Rating:  -
I've purchased every disc release of this movie: the expensive LaserDisc collector's set, the original DVD release and the subsquent Director's Cut, and this new Blu-Ray of the Director's Cut. The Blu-Ray release stands head and shoulders above the rest for picture quality, color, and sound.
My only gripe is that the original theatrical cut is not available on Blu-Ray as a separate item or as an alternative viewing option on the Director's Cut. The theatrical cut is the one that most of us saw first and saw over and over again over the course of some 20 years before the Director's Cut was released on DVD.
The additional footage in the Director's Cut is interesting but, to me at least, seems intrusive. It interrupts the flow and tempo I am used to. There is also a brief scene of female nudity that seems a bit gratuitous. The scene does, though, lend some weight to a scene later in the film where you see Constanze's open hostility toward Salieri. Normally I'm not one to complain about a little female flesh being exposed, but I think the film works well enough without it.
Other "new" scenes follow pretty much the same description: they are interesting but their necessity is debatable.
There is one small addition that I did enjoy, though. Early in the film, during one of the scenes where the elderly Salieri is confessing (?) to the young priest, Salieri is recounting the episode when he first met the young composer Mozart he'd heard about for so many years. He was blown away by his talent but outraged and offended by his peurile behavior. He insisted to the priest that such talent (evident in one composition in particular) could not and should not exist in such a vile and vulgar child. That brilliant composition simply HAD to be an accident! Salieri's lines are briefly extended in that moment, and it adds a wonderful touch of menace. I can't understand why it was cut from the original release.
The LaserDisc release included a wonderful behind-the-scenes documentary called "The Last Laugh". So far I haven't seen it included in any DVD or Blu-Ray release. I'm holding on to my LaserDisc player for precisely that reason. Add that documentary to this Blu-Ray release and you have a slam-dunk 5-star product.
Depending on the release version, this Blu-Ray movie may come in book form and include a short bonus CD of some music from the film and a picture booklet. If you bought/buy the version that comes with the bonus Digital Copy of the film (available at some retailers but harder to find online), bear in mind that the Digital Copy is NOT compatible with iTunes and cannot be loaded to your iPod. There is no wording on the package to indicate this. One has to open the Digital Copy booklet to find that out. The Digital Copy booklet looks the same on the outside as the booklet for the Digital Copies of other movies that ARE compatible with iTunes, so a consumer who has purchased iTunes-compatible Digital Copy-included DVDs before could reasonably assume this one would be compatible also. That consumer would be wrong. Nice bait-and-switch, don't you think?
If you got the non-book version of the Blu-Ray, it probably didn't come with the bonus CD, booklet, or Digital Copy.
Rating:  -
One of the best of all time. Everyone should see this in their lifetime.
Rating:  -
If you liked the original, this "director's cut" should be avoided. For starters, why not include the original theatrical release on the Blu-ray??? Give me a break. At least I would have been able to salvage the disc. Seriously, it wasn't good enough to win the academy award; why re-edit it? None of the extra footage added anything to the movie on any level. It was just a wasted effort.....a total disappointment. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Rating: -
A different movie with omitted scenes put back in. Much darker undertone for main character. Great, funny, stellar acting by F. Murray. Buy it now.
Rating: -
I have shown the original version of this movie many times over the years in my classroom as part of a unit on Mozart and was very familiar with the content of the movie. This newer version contains scenes that were not in the original and I was not aware that scene 16 contains nudity until I showed it to my seventh graders-so beware! By the way, this movie is unrated as there were no ratings for movies at that time-the original does contain some inappropriate language which I explain to my students that the use of this language helps to explain Mozart's behavior.
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