The Red Shoes (DVD, 1999, Criterion Collection)

For lovers of ballet - the late Moira Shearer is fantastic. The acting is very dramatic and "over the top" but a great film for its era. The dancing is just plain wonderful.

One of my all-time favorite movies/ballets! I first recorded it from AMC channel, back in the 80's! Loved it all those years until I saw it on eBay! Yay! So happy I have a great copy of it now!

This movie is undoubtedly the best ballet I have ever seen. As a 56 year old grandfather of 7, I wanted to go right out and purchase my first pair of toe shoes. My doctor sent me to see the shrink. He told me at 335 lbs. I needed to reconsider, and perscribed Paxil. Seriously. This movie is awesome. Very well done. The Dance Troop, Stage & Set are second to none. I highly recommend viewing this wonderful production.

I thought the movie was Fantastic. It showed a lot of how a show is put together, & how hard they work to make a show a success, & how hard the troup practice with all the training they go through to make everything go so smoothly. I really enjoy it & so does my daughter. She enjoyed it so much she wants to get a copy of her own.

I bought this movie because I love the films of Powell and Pressburger. They were a fabulous moviemaking team. This film is absolutely vibrant! If you love dancing you will love this film. The colors are rich and eyepopping, the acting and dancing spectacular, and the story right from a fairytale. Powell and Pressburger were way ahead of their time. There are some special effects that I think are amazing considering this film was made in 1948. To see it is to love it!

A spectacular achievement from every angle. The Easdale ballet is a significant contribution to serious 20th century music. The choreography is magical, wonderful, epic, allegorical of course, deeply moving - it's impossible to convey the greatness of this film in words. It's amusing to reflect that Rank was initially concerned about production cost overruns. Of course the producers/directors were totally vindicated when the film ran continuously for 2 solid years in NYC - thiterto unrealized by any film ever, anywhere. And the film is still often screened in the better movie houses today, some 60+ years later.

Many films are thought of as great classics, inanities like 'GWTW' and dozens of more or less dreadful so-called 'musical comedies' (America's highly questionable contribution to world culture).. believe me , those are pure trash compared to this flick. (Come to think of it, they're pure trash by any standard I can think of).

Dig it! And if you ever read Pauline Kael's review of this film, think of it as a manifestation of her morbid envy - envy that Hollywood and its vomit factories could never produce anything as beautiful as this film - never!