ThiefHott Too much of everything
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
mark.waltz This is an allegory of a person's life and goals and dreams and disappointments, utilizing a long dead, pretty much forgotten king (actually "Pepin"), practically fictionalized to show off a new wave of musical theatre that has moved on to other avenues yet is still greatly influenced by this entertaining, if now dated style. Bob Fosse, who had been around seemingly forever when this began its lengthy run, took on all the individual styles that he had used in his previous works, and had his first singular work on stage that melded all of those experimental ideas that had mastered his reputation on screen with the film versions of "Sweet Charity" and "Cabaret".The whole idea of "Pippin" is basically a tale of growing up and finding oneself among the confusions of life. In the case of the dark ages prince Pippin, he's the smarter of the two sons of emperor Charlemagne, trying to figure out his destiny. Hr finds grandmotherly advice and love from a young lady, fatherly resentment and sibling rivalry. It's the "into the woods" theme with just one confused hero, and the giant in the sky is his own fear of an unknown future.The greatest of American heroes, William Katt, is handsome, strong and sensual, perhaps lacking the vulnerability that oozes off the original cast album from John Rubinstein. Ben Vereen remains "magical" as the leading player, reminiscent of el Gallo in "The Fantadtiks" and the emcee in "Cabaret". Big names in small roles cone with Chita Rivera as his sensual wicked stepmother who only wants to", Spread a Little Sunshine" and Martha Raye who encourages us all to keep livin' in an audience sing along. Certainly those who saw the original Broadway production or the smash revival will find disappointments in the cuts and certain aspects of this production, but it's what we've got as a representation of the original show. Most shows don't even get this! It's dated fun in its efforts to show us what it was all about, and indeed, there are moments that are quite wonderful. So as they had magic to do, some of it was really mystical.
jcravens42 I wasn't at all familiar with this musical. I had no idea what it was about. I knew Ben Vereen won a Tony Award for his performance in the 1970s production, and that there have been endless numbers of high schools and colleges of it. That's it. I stumbled upon this production on TV with no intention of watching it - and watched the whole thing, mesmerized and delighted. It's not so much the music, which is dated, and certainly not the Bob Fosse choreography, which is always *really* dated (jazz hands!!!). Rather, it is the amazingly layered story and themes, which are much more complex and timely than I ever expected, that drew me in. I suspect these very risqué, biting themes are completely glossed over/ignored in high school or college productions. And the performances by Ben Vereen, William Katt (he can sing?!? who knew!), Benjamin Rayson, and the amazing Chita Rivera are wonderful - I realize other reviewers did not like them, because they had seen other people in the role, but looking at them from a clean slate, I thought they were all perfectly cast and quite compelling. I really loved the simplicity of the production. Sure, I wish the camera work had been better, but given how rare it was (and still it) to film live theatrical productions, I thought the videographers did quite well.
starsaturn33 I'm in a production of Pippin (Player, Girl, Beggar, Courtier), and one day, my director sat us down and screened this movie for us. Well, Ben Vereen is fantastic!!! And Chita Rivera IS Fastrada. I don't think that anyone else can pull off being sexy in the same way that she does. The only one who blew it in my book was William Katt. He was a HORRIBLE Pippin. And what the heck was he doing bouncing around the stage like that yelling the line "GLORY'S IN THE AIR!" And the only thing that didn't tickle me like the rest of the movie did (the bedroom scene was HILARIOUS)was the cuts. They cut out Theo's duck dying and most of the lines when Pippin was made King. Some of the adlibs, I admit, were pretty funny, i.e. when the leading player yells at Catherine about flubbing the line ("But he touched my hand, they don't normally do that!" "I don't care WHERE he put his hands!"), but others were just really dumb. And the orgy scene made me blush furiously. Now, I admit, my production is cutting the bed scene and the duck dying, but it would've been better if we hadn't. The same applies for this. But other than that, this is a great movie.
jeisrael This is one of the finest videos of a musical available anywhere. In addition to being an unbelievable musical, this top notch cast brings PIPPIN to an astounding level.Particularly amazing is Ben Vereen... his singing, acting, and dancing abilities are on full display. Broadway legend Chita Rivera is also spellbinding in her small but show-stopping performance.This is a musical not to miss!
