Dreamgirls (Full Screen Edition)

Excellent movie to purchase. It is well done and timeless.

Great movie I can watch it every day

I loved Dreamgirls when I saw it on stage all 3 times (the Broadway touring company, a bus & truck reduction of the Broadway version, and the Paper Mill Playhouse re-imagining). And while I liked the film, I always thought it was just a tad too severely edited. It seemed a bit choppy, like there were pieces missing. Now at last the original director has released a "Directors Extended Edition," and the movie finally feels complete. The cast is phenomenal, the production values are top notch, and the new songs are not bad at all. I heartily recommend this version to fans of the film (and show). However, one minor note: it is a little light on extras. There are 4 Jennifer Hudson screen tests or auditions, and that is it. There are rumors of "2½ hours of extras," but that is not the case. There are 2 discs: one is the DVD and the other is the Blu-Ray. They are almost identical, except the DVD version only has 3 Jennifer Hudson screen tests, and the Blu-Ray has noticeably higher definition in picture quality. The packaging includes a small booklet with lyrics of most of the songs and full-color photos of the songs being performed. Notice to graphic designer: the film credits on the bottom half of the back cover are absolutely illegible due to dark on dark ink colors. Somebody should have noticed that. But I am being picky. The movie itself is just wonderful. And when it was over, I had to fight the urge to watch it all over again immediately.

Great movie

One of my favorite Broadway shows that is a Wonderful screen adaptation. (Not something I say lightly). Not a big Eddie Murphy fan generally, but he did a great performance! The added songs fit the time era and the characters originally created for the stage!

Mr. Gordy definitely has legal grounds against Dreamworks Films considering how they have taken even more artistic license than they did with the Broadway musical. The special pre-opening run in limited markets came with a souvenir booklet that took ownership of their plagiarism. The Motown/Jobete songbook is infamously expensive to license. Therefore, only those classic Motown hits are missing. In its place are a crop of new songs that doesn't sound very much like "the Sound of Young America". Beyonce also does little to capture the essence of Diana Ross. However, collectively, "Deena Jones & The Dreams/Dreamettes" do replicate the essence of The Primettes morphing into The Supremes and finally Diana Ross & The Supremes even without any of the songs sounding much like the group's 12/13/14 #1 singles. However, the iconic artwork of several of the #1 gold and/or platinum albums especially "More Hits by", "Floy Joy" and/or "The Supremes 1975".The movie is quite entertaining. The showstopper, "And I Tell You I'm Not Going" sounds nothing like a Supremes single nor an indication of some hidden magnificent talent by Florence Ballard that was somehow suppressed. As a movie in its own right, it deserved its multiple Oscar nods. As the story of the life of The Supremes, Diana said it best when she echoed, "this is my life, not a damned story". While forever the opportunist, marywilson milked the association for all its worth including naming her hilarious biography, "Dreamgirls: My Life as a Supreme". While Diana kept a respectable distance from the entire affair when it was so blatantly obvious that David Geffen nor Michael Bennett went so far as the desperate former ex-ex-former Supreme, the belabored marywilson.In the souvenir booklet for the early special screenings, Mr. Geffen thanked Mr. Gordy profusely for his tremendous influence and impact of Motown and The Supremes. Eddie Murphy gives a somewhat subtle performance as a James Brown morphed into Marvin Gaye characterization. Jennifer Hudson takes the music down to Muscle Shoals with "Love You, I Do" in a soulsista portrayal more reminiscent of Atlantic-era Aretha, soft portrayals of a Smokey Robinson-type songwriter compliments a Beyonce meets Mahogany era Diana Ross recreating the iconic "Mahogany" fashion montage.The film ages well and with the current release of the wildly successful "Motown, The Musical" hitting legitimate theater stages from Los Angeles to London....."Dreamgirls" has survived over 3 decades.....stronger than ever.