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Across The Universe details
| Formats: | 12 DVD, Blu-ray |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Bono, Evan Rachel Wood, Eddie Izzard, Joe Anderson, Salma Hayek, Jim Sturgess |
| Director: | Julie Taymor |
| Genres: | Animated - Other, Drama - African/American, Biography, Music/Musical |
| Studio: | SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Across The Universe |
12 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours 9 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 11 Feb 2008 |
| Main languages: | English |
| Hearing impaired subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Across The Universe
By SAI81 (360 reviews) from Tonbridge , 06 Oct 2007[Highly rated reviewer]
In the late 1960’s young Liverpudlian Jude (Sturgess) travels to the USA to find the father he’s never met. He finds his Dad; a janitor at Princeton University and soon falls in with Max (Anderson), a college dropout. Jude and Max move to New York, where Max’s sister Lucy (Wood) soon joins them and she and Jude fall in love. Meanwhile Max is drafted, Lucy becomes active in the stop the war movement and Jude tries to become an artist. All while singing Beatles songs.
Julie Taymor’s directorial debut Titus is one of the strangest Shakespeare movies ever made. Resetting the play in Roman times, yet using modern touchstones like cars and arcade games it throws you into a completely imagined world and while, at times, it feels scattershot; it is proof of a blazingly original vision at work. So too is Across The Universe. The difference being that Titus works, while Across The Universe is one of the more complete failures to be released to cinemas in 2007.
The first big problem with Across The Universe is evident as soon as you see the list of character names. The utter thudding obviousness of using the names Jude and Lucy for the protagonists (and Max[well], Jojo and Prudence for other characters, to mention mercifully few) smacks of extreme laziness from screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais. This laziness abounds as they introduce new characters every few minutes, new storylines just as often and develop precisely none of them. These aren’t people we’re watching, they are mouthpieces, designed to spout unbelievably banal dialogue (Music is the only thing that makes sense anymore... play it loud enough and it keeps the demons at bay) for a couple of minutes then launch into the next awkwardly crowbarred in Beatles song.
The songs themselves are great. Okay so not all of them are exactly from the first rank of Beatles greats (For The Benefit of Mr Kite) and there are few of the fun rock n rollers that marked the band’s early career but time has not dimmed the brilliance of songs like I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Let It Be or Strawberry Fields. Sadly the singing and staging of the songs is, at best, mixed.
On the plus side T.V Carpio’s rendering of I Wanna Hold Your Hand as a ballad about longing is incredibly well done, affectingly sung, and made me look at what I used to think was a happy song in a new way. Eddie Izzard does well with a spoken Mr Kite, to which he adds bits of improv (Come and see the show, we’ve got… stuff), which were a delight for this longtime fan of his stand up. Evan Rachel Wood (continuing her admirable resistance to easy choices) reveals that she’s got a pretty singing voice, and Dana Fuchs forceful vocals are particularly enjoyable on Helter Skelter.
Sadly for every well sung tune there are several that made me want to hack my ears off. Particularly bad is our lead Jim Sturgess, whose thin voice does nothing for these songs. Also notably bad are tunes like Let It Be, rendered as gospel, a terrible Revolution and the title track; which fails to meet not just the original but Fiona Apple’s wonderful cover.
It’s not merely the way the songs are sung though. It’s the way they are slotted into the story. Prudence develops a crush on Sadie (Fuchs), guess what the gang sing to coax her (literally) out of the closet. Jude looks at some strawberries, I’ll give you a clue, the next song isn’t Get Back. The staging too is often bungled. With A Little Help From My Friends has Max and Jude getting high with, yes, a little help from their friends. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) has Max being addressed by the Uncle Sam “I Want You” poster and a group of soldiers carrying the Statue of Liberty on their backs (what could Taymor be getting at?)
And yet, when Taymor gets it right Across The Universe shows flashes of her visual genius. The barking Mr Kite sequence and a solarised trip scene work well, as does a bowling alley song and dance to I’ve Just Seen A Face, while a hospital set Happiness Is A Warm Gun makes a nice change from the usual literal interpretation of the songs, and provides a slinky bonus in the shape of five (count ‘em) Salma Hayeks.
Viewed as a complete film Across The Universe is simply baffling. Watching it I kept wondering not just what drugs the people who made it were on but what possessed anyone to finance this in the first place and then to release this misbegotten pile of celluloid to cinemas around the world. Make no mistake Across The Universe is dreadful, but it’s so dreadful that there’s a perverse fascination about it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(76)Good music
By a customer , 10 Apr 2012Go listen to some Beatles songs instead of sitting through this film. The music is the only good thing about it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Across the Universe
By ElGuiri (3 reviews) , 03 Mar 2012I have read the negative reviews. I understand why the guy/gal at The Independent didn't like the psychedelic bits. They are a bit odd. However, I am a Beatles fan. I was moved by a beautiful, well choreographed film and I'm not ashamed to say it. I usually agreee with the professional critics as I work in the film industry. But this time NO! If they can big up that pile of ..... with ABBA songs as its main narrative drive, what the hell is wrong with this? A lovely story and the music of a Liverpool group who didn't write for Eurovision! BTW, Go Humberdink!!!- Was this review helpful to you?
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if it was a stage musical it would be fantastic
By aidskywalker (22 reviews) , 27 Feb 2012I was dubious about watching this as I read some other reviews, but I'm a Beatles fan and I decided to find out for myself. The film is not without it's faults but it is an enjoyable, romantic musical. You need to suspend belief and just go with it to enjoy the film. I thought the singing was pretty good and the re-arrangement of Beatles songs was a real eye opener, a simple tune like 'I want to hold your hand' became a song of gentle yearning from a shy admirer. All the characters have names from Beatles songs which one reviewer thought lazy, I disagree, names like the main character Jude, Max(well's Silver Hammer), Lucy(in the sky with diamonds), (Sexy)Sadie etc. Visually it is quite stunning and inventive. Now the bad points: It's too long, the simple storyline just can't stretch that long and after an hour and half you kind of want it wrapping up. The songs are sometimes just crammed in, i know the songs are there to move the story along but sometimes there was just no need (less is more was not on the film makers agenda). Characters are introduced from nowhere and not developed and/or forgotten about, mainly the character of Prudence, you realise she was there just to get the song 'Dear Prudence' in, once this is accomplished, she is forgotten about. The film also skips from one scene to the next and the viewer is wondering what just happened, one minute Jude is in Liverpool, the next he's at Princeton University. The most puzzling part, and I think the part where it starts to disengage you, was the trippy Mr Kite scene, which again, was put in the film purely to sing the song and add surreal Beatlesesque imagery. So, to conclude, it's good if you want a light hearted, inventive film but the novelty wears thin after an hour. This would make a great stage musical if it was edited down and re worked a little.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Beatles brilliance
By Bobjonesace (2 reviews) from Slough , 11 Dec 2011loved it, loved it, loved it! okay, so when he opens his gob and starts singing the first time it's a bit disconcerting, but get over that, by the end you're in heaven!- Was this review helpful to you?
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Do Not Watch
By a customer , 16 Nov 2011The only film I have ordered where I was dying to press the eject button 10 mins in...and this is from a beatles fan- Was this review helpful to you?
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