Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Sober-Friend I am one of the few people that saw this in the theater. The Ballet "Nutcracker" was very expensive to see. I was 21 and I wanted to take my niece & nephew to see it but 3 tickets would have cost about $80 back in 1986. (Around $140 in 2017 Dollars). So I saw this film being advertised in the paper. 3 tickets for this film was $12.00 and it was money well spent. Also we were only the only 3 in the cinema. I have never seen this play before. I did not know the story. So I was like a child at Disneyland watching this. The costumes were nice bright & beautiful. The sound was an experience unto itself. I loved this film. It was not a bore. It was just a treat for the senses. Years later I bought this on DVD and was shocked that the film looked so colorless. This film may not have been filmed in technicolor but it was a beautiful looking film. What is not out on DVD looks like the film was shot in VHS.MGM owns this film. Since they have never released it on blu-ray I hope maybe someday that SHOUT FACTORY will. If not them then KINO LORBER or Olive Films. This is the type of release that those companies specialize in!

Christmas-Reviewer BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS & SPECIALS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.Every year there seems to be on variations on "Christmas Classics" There is always new "twist" done to "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Carol", "Groundhog Day", "The Gift of the Magi" and even variations on "The Nutcracker"The Nutcracker has been done as "A CARTOON" " A movie with no dancing" "A Semi-Musical" and even on "On Ice" This film however is not a twist it is just a beautiful filmed version of the famous ballet. Nutcracker: The Motion Picture, like the Stowell-Sendak stage production on which it is based, is presented as Clara's coming-of- age story. It depicts Clara's inner conflict and confusion, as well as the beginning of her sexual awakening, as she approaches adolescence; similar themes occur in many of Sendak's books.The film especially emphasizes the darker aspects of Hoffmann's original story and the significance of dreams and the imagination. The cinematography, by making considerable use of closeups and medium shots, attempts to bring viewers closer to the psychology of the main characters.For the film's soundtrack, Sir Charles Mackerras conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at the Watford Town Hall in London in a new recording of Tchaikovsky's score. The passage for chorus was performed by the Tiffin School Boys' Choir. The soundtrack also includes the "Duet of Daphnis and Chloe" from Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades, performed by Cathryn Pope and Sarah Walker. Telarc released the complete soundtrack on compact disc, coinciding with the release of the filmThis film however was not met with great reviews upon its initial release. They were okay at best. It was a huge box office bomb taking in less than $1 Million during its entire run. However since 1986 the film has developed a following and it is easy to understand why. The soundtrack / orchestra is perfect. You will never hear the score sound better. The staging and costumes are wonderful. Its was directed with such craftsmanship that even if your NOT a huge ballet lover (Which I am not) you will be swept into the scope of this production. If you stumble across it on TV once you watch 10 seconds your hooked. That is what happened to me. On home video however the film has never had a great release. The original VHS that was released by Paramount was only out for a short time and went out of print. It was later released by GOODTIMES home video and it was in the dreaded LP speed and lacked the stereo mix that the Paramount release had. Even today the film has never had a DVD release that was worth buying. When MGM finally released a DVD they used an old master that was most likely from the Paramount Home Video release some 25 years earlier. What worked for a VHS release doesn't work for a DVD. In fact its not even a Pressed DVD it is a MOD DVD which makes the picture even softer! Plus is was in the old 4x3 (Pan and Scan) format. Most film released on DVD are presented in the Widescreen Format if the movie was shot in that format. "The Nutcracker" was shot that way but MGM was to cheap to re-master the film. So we get a DVD that is soft and at times un- focused. The stereo soundtrack however is very good. There is however room for improvement if there is a future blu-ray release. I doubt a blu-ray release will ever see the light of day. Even if MGM wants to release a blu-ray the film will most likely need to have a restoration. I hope it gets one. On the bright side HD-NET a cable/satellite channel does have a respectable transfer of the film that they show. It is 16x9 and the sound mix is great and its also in stereo. Now why hasn't MGM used this transfer for a DVD is beyond me. Now back to the film itself. It is the best presentation that has ever been put on film! The only thing wrong is there is no "Mother Ginger in this production". The colors and costumes are as eye popping. The orchestra is one that will put others to shame. For years Video Stores (if they had a copy) reported that this was a huge rental during the holidays! A few years later Warner Brothers decided to make their version of the film! Just like other remakes the film industry thought they could do another film and do it better. So in 1993 they released a "Bigger Budget" production. That version was not 1/2 as good. The only thing it had that the 1986 version didn't was Macaulay Culkin and Mother Ginger. Catch this 1986 Version! Its worth seeing.

OllieSuave-007 This is MGM's film version of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famous ballet, The Nutcracker, filmed at Burbank Studios in California.I would watch this movie when it is aired on TV during Christmas time for several years in a role. It tells the story of Clara dreaming about her Nutcracker Prince while The Pasha tries to win her heart and delight her with musical dance sequences - Spanish Dance, Arab Dance, Chinese Dance, Russian Dance, Dance of the Clowns and Waltz of the Flowers. These sequences are probably the highlight of the entire Nutcracker Ballet.Except for the narrator, there is no spoken dialog in the movie. It is just the cast of characters dancing around the huge stage through Tchaikovsky's rich music, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Maurice Sendak did a terrific job on the art and costume design - vibrant and brilliant and not too flashy. The story is told through the unspoken actions of the cast, which I thought were brilliantly done. While no dialog, it is still pretty simple to follow the story, even if you are not familiar with the original concept of the Nutcracker Ballet.Though a majority of the movie is shown on a typical theater stage, the special and visual effects made the setting much larger than it really is and it gives you the impression you are right on stage with them. The water scene with the "floating ship" is my favorite effect. I also like how the entire movie is told from the perspective of the toymaker; the plot of the movie begins after he falls asleep on his desk and the figurines begin to dance in a large music box he just designed, which then leads to the main story. The only problem I have with the movie is that some of the dancers were not in sync with the music, especially during the "Waltz of the Flowers" sequence. Other that that, this is an overall terrific film that brings back the nostalgia and spirit of past Christmases and today.Grade A

skorzeny This picture is billed as "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture", but really it's a cross between a movie and a live ballet performance. They make some use of the freedom of camera movement and more elaborate sets to enhance a ballet, but really it's just a ballet performance with no wait between set changes.That said, this is pretty darn good. The dancing is excellent, of course, but I'd like to see the Kirov or Bolshoi Ballet (or even the Joffrey) do a film like this, rather than the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The sets and costumes (by Maurice Sendak, the famous author of "Where the Wild Things Are"), are superb...for a stage performance, but not for a movie. The overall effect is basically of a PBS special production of the stage ballet. If you like the grace and beauty of the world's most famous ballet, you'll like this film. If you like Tchaikovskiy's amazing music, you'll like this film. If you like gorgeous ballerinas prancing around on their toes (and hey, who doesn't), you'll like this film. If you can't stand to sit through a ballet, you won't necessarily be converted by this film, however, but the ability to hit "pause" on the VCR and go get a beer might help. One other thing. I have no idea if this is included in the theatrical or video releases, but when I saw this late at night on WGN-TV in Chicago, Tony Randall appears between acts and provides commentary. Why, I have no idea, but it looks tacked-on at the last minute.Short, short summary: Fun costumes, hot chicks in tu-tu's, and good music. Everything you'd expect from a great ballet performance, but they could have done so much MORE with this as a movie...