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| Hairspray (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Adam Shankman
Actors: John Travolta, Michelle Pffeifer, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Christopher Walken
Studio: New Line Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $2.85
You Save: $17.13 (86%)
New (65) Used (81) Collectible (2) from $2.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  273 reviews
Sales Rank: 708
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 117
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: TRNDN11212D
UPC: 794043112126
EAN: 0794043112126
ASIN: B000W4KT6E
Theatrical Release Date: July 20, 2007
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: dvd is a ex-library copy in a library case guaranteed to play great or your money back no shipping to APO FPO AK HI
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| Customer Reviews:
 Love this Movie! August 16, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this movie more than I can say. I felt happy for hours after watching it. It was energetic, happy, sweet, funny and delightful. The casting was perfect. Everyone seemed to give it there all. The songs and dance sequences were very entertaining. I especially loved the innocent chemistry between Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron. They are both very talented. I would highly recommend this movie. For those of us over 40 the energy of these kids is invigorating! I hope this movie succeeds beyond all expectations so that they will make more like it in the future.
'Hairspray' should not be taken too serious. Just ENJOY it!!! August 15, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Some of the negative reviewers who are revolted by Travolta's fat-suit and the seriousness of segregation during the 60s, among other things - these people need to lighten up. 'Hairspray', like 'Grease', was created to entertain, not necessarily to remind us of the bloody 60s. If we DO come away being reminded of segregation during the terrible 60s (not to mention Vietnam, Nixon, Johnson, the murders of the Kennedys, etc.), this film wisely keeps to the silliness of hairstyles and fashions and falling in love, touching only briefly on the idiots who were responsible for segregation (much like Lucas' 'American Graffiti' did). The musical numbers are fantastic, the performers are outstanding and perfect for their roles, and the dancing is wonderful to watch. I had to see the film twice because this movie made my heart sing (considering all the dreck we have to put up with in today's society) and it opened up my mind just a little more. I mean, why can't we ALL sing on a bus, on the sidewalk, in the classroom??? 'Hairspray' is clearly the most cheerful movie I have seen in a long, long time. As for Travolta dressed in a fat suit, the actor is clearly having a good time, and it shows. I don't know how good the other actors are (Divine and Harvey) as Edna, but there isn't any reason to compare performances. Travolta fits into the movie perfectly. He's contagious and you want to join in. Queen Lativah's singing performance dares you to get up there on the screen and march right along beside her, proud to be by her side. The singing, the dancing, the bubbly energy is completely contagious and you never want the movie to end. I don't know what the director did with his cast, but it worked. And when I left the theatre I had a smile on my face. I can't wait to see 'Hairspray' again, and I will recommend it to my friends and my family. In a summer filled with lame-brained excuses for movies, 'Hairspray' reminds us all that, once in a while a movie comes along and will wildly sweep us off our feet. You WILL be singing and dancing wherever you are when you leave that theatre. And don't be embarrassed when people are staring at you suspiciously. Hey, do what your heart tells you to do. You'll be happier. That I can guarantee.
Dances Up A Storm August 14, 2007
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Adam Shankman directed "The Wedding Planner" with Jennifer Lopez and "Cheaper By the Dozen 2" before directing "Hairspray." Upcoming is a revival of "Topper" starring Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper who can see ghosts. I don't recall if I ever saw the 1988 "Hairspray" musical film; and I sure as shootin' can't afford a trip to Broadway. So "Hairspray" the film was viewed with a set of fresh eyes; and I liked what I saw.
From the first frame, it kept my interest. It's so significantly different from the summer's movie offerings that it stands out nicely. John Travolta has been nominated for two Oscars, "Saturday Night Fever" in 1977 and "Pulp Fiction" in 1994. He does a great job as Edna Turnblad with a look and gestures so different that we believe this is the gal with whom Wilbur (Christopher Walken) is in love. Walken won a supporting Oscar for "The Deer Hunter" in 1978 and was nominated again in 2002 for "Catch Me If You Can."
Michelle Pfeiffer plays Velma Von Tassle. It is a pleasure to see her return to the screen after a hiatus. She has three times been nominated for Oscar: "Love Field" (1992), "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989) and "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988). While this film may not result in nomination #4, she does a great job as the beauty queen whose superficiality is so huge that it leads her to judge everyone by their exterior, whether it be because of race or girth.
Amanda Bynes who did a nice job in She's the Man (Widescreen Edition), plays the best friend of Tracy Turnblad played by newcomer Nikki Blonsky. Blonsky has unlimited energy and a smile that could stretch all the way from Baltimore to D.C. James Marsden from the X-Men films hosts the "Corny Collins Show," a dance teen favorite. Queen Latifah plays Motormouth Maybelle who works on the show once a week when blacks are allowed. Latifah's lone Oscar nod was for "Chicago" in 2002. Brittany Snow plays Amber Von Tussle who models her mother's example of perfect hair, perfect dress and perfect superficiality. Snow has done a lot of TV work from "The Guiding Light" to "American Dreams" to "Nip & Tuck." Zac Efron plays the local favorite teen dancer Link Larkin. Taylor Parks does a nice cameo as Little Inez who dances up a storm on the final live TV craziness.
The pacing, music and dialogue kept me riveted throughout the film and had me leaving the theatre with a big smile on my face. Enjoy!
No Stopping the Beat Here with Such a Game Cast and Surprising Gravitas August 11, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is the sort of brassy, candy-coated musical to which you either give yourself entirely or not at all because there is little room in between. First, there was the edgy 1988 John Waters comedy followed years later by the sunnier 2002 Broadway musical version. I thoroughly enjoyed the elaborate stage version thanks mainly to Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's ebullient music and sharp lyrics and stellar performances from Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur as a most unlikely mother and daughter in 1962 Baltimore. That most of that high-kicking, watusi-gyrating spirit remains intact is quite an accomplishment for director Adam Shankman, whose previous track record consists of mediocre studio comedies. Adapting Mark O'Donnell's stage book, screenwriter Leslie Dixon seems equally unlikely of pulling it off. Yet, somehow they do and even bring a deeper sense of gravitas than the previous incarnations with the heavier elements of racism and segregation. Starting out his career as a dancer and choreographer, Shankman provides the energetic, in-your-face choreography that is appropriately applied here.
The story centers on Tracy Turnblad, a genuinely optimistic teenager, a bouncing bundle of energy obsessed with the local Corny Collins dance show. Living in a working-class neighborhood with her agoraphobic, self-consciously plus-sized mother Edna and her congenial, novelty store-owner father Wilbur, Tracy only wants to dance on Corny's show. Standing in her way is the malevolent Velma Von Tussle, an aging beauty who owns the TV station, and her equally venal daughter Amber. Once a month, the station allows the dance show to have a co-host, blonde-tressed Motormouth Maybelle, who holds a "Negro Day" to allow the local black kids to dance on their own. These kids seem to end up in detention a lot since Tracy finds them there and learns new dance moves from them. She realizes the world would be a better place if black and white kids were able to dance together on Corny's show. This sets up the story's central conflict, which comes accompanied by romantic complications among the various characters. All of this ends with the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant and naturally a pull-all-the-stops production number.
The casting is inspired. Following Divine and especially Fierstein in the cross-dressing role of Edna is no easy task, but John Travolta brings a surprising delicacy to the character. The novelty of his casting never wears off, but he also does not stoop that much to parody either. Even with a slightly garbled Baltimore accent, he is convincing as a woman who has accepted life's compromises for the sake of her family. Alternating quickly between clever and broad, Michelle Pfeiffer has a field day playing Velma, though she has precious little opportunity to show off her long dormant singing talent. As Maybelle, Queen Latifah seems to be cornering the market on musical earth-mother types and gets her shining moments on "Big Blonde and Beautiful" and especially on the gospel-flavored "I Know Where I've Been". Christopher Walken has comparatively less to do as the put-upon Wilbur, though he shows off his singing and dancing skills on his sweet pas de deux with Travolta on "(You're) Timeless to Me".
For all the veteran talent on display, it's Nikki Blonsky who carries the heart of the movie as Tracy, and her sunny demeanor and "American Idol"-caliber talent keep the story aloft. The other teens - Zac Efron as singing heartthrob Link, Amanda Bynes as devoted best friend Penny, Brittany Snow as spoiled Amber, and Elijah Kelley as Maybelle's son Seaweed - are all played with energetic adolescent brio. Complementing the principal cast are James Marsden as the perpetually smiling Corny and Allison Janney as Penny's Bible-thumping mother. Everyone is in the right spirit, and the pacing and tone are spot-on. The film's one weakness is a certain lack of energy in the camera movement around the production numbers, as Shankman's tendency is to film key dance sequences intermittently at mid-waist level. The net effect is a reduction in the overall energy level at key moments such as Travolta's Tina Turner-style turn at the end. Regardless, this is fun stuff for those open to this genre.
Loved it August 10, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I really loved this movie. I saw it 3 times in theaters. It gets a little bit slow during the marching scene but thats the only part of the movie i get even a little bored with. The songs are excellent and ive been singing them ever since and the cast is great. John Travoltas voice got a bit annoying, i feel like he tried to do the Willy Wonka voice of Johnny depp and failed but he has his high points in the movie. Dancing in a fat suit for one.
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