Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance [Blu-ray]

Review of double-disc blu-ray set.Saw the original at Drury Lane once - not that impressed. Saw the 2014 production, as seen here, and saw it again and again - such an improvement in terms of pace, staging, you name it! Day seats meant that I was on the front row of the stalls numerous times for just £20 - brilliant!And now we have the film of the show. I saw it at the cinema. For some reason, the volume was so low that you could hear the subwoofers from the action movies on other screens, not to mention the munching of popcorn and slurping of drinks, so I'm looking forward to watching this movie on my terms!OK - it's a brilliant record of a brilliant show. The cinematography is superb. The only fault I can find is that editing room floor must have been littered with the footage filmed from the static cameras that must have been there on the night of the 25th Anniversary Performance. Cameras that must have filmed the stage as a whole. One of the reasons I loved this production was that the stage was used to its full extent. You could look left and right and see other stuff. "Dressing the stage", I believe. When Alistair Brammer is giving his truly stupendous rendition of "Why God Why" stage left, there is a wonderfully understated bar scene stage right. I mean, I'm not complaining that the camera spent a lot of time on close-ups of Mr Brammer during this scene, but the atmosphere the bar actually adds is lost. During "What a Waste", there is action everywhere - a few wide shots would have been very welcome. Almost nothing of the go-go boy as he teases the Mormon - one of the funniest parts of the show. Instead, to put across the delightful mayhem of this scene, there are lots of, well, close-ups. Superimposed. Moving across the screen like those old films of firework displays where they tried to cram as many actual bursts of stars as they could. I'd rather have a little more choice of where to look.Even in the final scene - the one which I thought was ruined by the addition of Ellen, the Engineer and John faffing about with Tam stage left, while (is this really a spoiler?) Chris bids farewell to Kim stage right - the film does a close up of Chris/Kim and all but ignores the others.It was a big theatre with a wide stage. The production team did a fantastic job filling the stage. That is sadly missing here.Rant over! There is plenty to praise in this film:There can be very little of the actual 25th Anniversary Performance left. Most of the shots are clearly from Steadycam on stage, which will have been filmed after the event. This actually makes the film more interesting, as swings and new cast members had joined the show. It was fun debating "Well, I'm sure Niall was the Mormon at the start of 'What a Waste', but that wasn't him later on upstage with the pole dancers." It was also great to see that all the cast members had their close-ups. A very nice touch.The colours are strangely muted - especially in Act II. For example, Ellen's hideous lemon-yellow dress (who thought that was a good idea?) looks almost sepia in the film and decidedly more tasteful as a result.The close-ups show the amazing performances being given. Eva Noblezada - a truly remarkable find - and Rachelle Ann Go express such a depth of emotion it truly has to be seen in close-up.I strongly recommend this film. It's not quite as effective as the film of the Australian production of Love Never Dies in terms of portraying an actual stage performance - Miss Saigon looks more like it was filmed on a sound stage rather than in a theatre - but it is still an excellent portrayal of a much-loved show.

I live in America where the blu ray of this performance is unavailable presently. So, I purchased from .co.uk and the shipping took a lot longer... but who cares. I still got the blu ray and it looks and sounds amazing. The product is great.In terms of the actual performance. Well, if you don't know the musical but are a broadway fan then you will most probably love this!If you are a die hard Lea Salonga Original cast recording person, then you will likely have beef with a few choices the producers made in this version.I was irritated by the omission of "Now That I've Seen Her/It's Her Or Me" and the addition of a much more watered down new composition. It seems that Ellen's character came off as too selfish in the original story, and they wanted to soften her up a bit and make her more likable... SHAME! People are selfish! that is reality, I wish they would have left her character alone. Let her be selfish and then face the consequences of her actions. Give the audience credit... we understand that the blame ultimately lies with Chris. He is the one who flounders and flim flams his way through life. The female characters are already strong--they need not be perfect.The other minor beef I had was the inexplicable alteration of certain lines within the songs. I mean, I understand why. Producers have a desire to modernize and round out characters and help them become more relatable to a "modern" audience, etc.... PLEASE STOP! Imagine a re-released version of Sound of Music that changed the Nazis into North Koreans. That's extreme but still, it's where all of this artistic meddling is headed! (Cough cough, looking at you George Lucas)After that rant you might wonder why it's still a 5 star review... well cmon, all things considered, this musical and the actors and actresses performing are absolutely world class!!! Jon Jon rivals Bryan Cranston in Playing an absolute scumbag that you can't help but loving. His Engineer truly steals the show. I enjoyed the cast immensely.Try not to get teary eyed during Bui Doi! I dare you! It's the most stunning performance of this song I've ever heard!Also Eva Noblezada is entrancing as Kim. You will be rooting for her!Feel free to comment if you want to further discuss/vent about any of the topics I listed above :)

Well what can I say about this?? Just like Les Mis, I have been waiting an age for a recorded version of Miss Saigon. Les Mis was disappointing (mainly due to Russell Crows Javert) I would have much preferred Les mis to have been filmed like this.I have seen the original production 4 times in Dury lane. Has always been one of my favourite musicals. 10 years on, after a re-imaging, we have a newer more provocative version of this wonderful show.I took my partner to the Cinema Showing of this. He is not an emotive person. I was also dubious he was going to enjoy this at all. I have never seen him speechless or so affected by anything before. He said he was glad I took him as he enjoyed every minute. The audience clapped and cheered throughout and there was hardly a dry eye in the house by the end. Even the men!!So there are a few niggles as mentioned in other reviews, I feel these are just that, niggles.I believe you will NEVER see another live filmed show like this. If you are a fan, you will fall in love with this show all over again. Like I have. To see up close shots of PURE EMOTION really took my breath, you don't get to see this in the theatre. There have been some changes to the script and music, but I believe this is for the better.The sound is stunning and the vocals are spot on from all performers. With the unintrusive up close camera shots, you feel closer to the magnificence and beauty of this wonderful show like never before.This is a MUST HAVE for any musicals fan collection. You will not be disappointed.Thought provoking, Exciting and Ultimately Heartbreaking. Expect the feelings to remain hours if not days after.Beautiful Production.

Sorry, just didn't enjoy this musical, it wasn't my cup of tea.