Great Balls of Fire!

Great Balls of Fire!
by Jim McBride

Great Balls of Fire!
List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $13.49
You Save: $1.49 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.35 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Dennis Quaid, John Doe, Stephen Tobolowsky, Trey Wilson, Winona Ryder
Director: Jim McBride
Cinematographer: Affonso Beato
Editor: Lisa Day
Editor: Pembroke J. Herring
Editor: Bert Lovitt
Producer: Michael Grais
Producer: Mark Victor
Writer: Myra Lewis
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-04
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Orion Pictures Corporation

Movie Reviews of Great Balls of Fire!

Movie Review: Fun and over the top biopic about Jerry Lee Lewis
Summary: 4 Stars

This comic book like biopic about singer Jerry Lee Lewis (Dennis Quaid) rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace after his marriage with his 13 years old cousin Myra (a very young and very good Winona Ryder) was discovered, is probably not terribly true to life, but it is still very entertaining. Quaid happily hams it up in an over the top performance that has to do more with caricature than with acting. Alec Baldwin adds to the fun in his cameo as Jerry Lee's cousin, preacher Jimmy Swaggart. There is a nifty, idealized pop reconstruction of small town America in the 1950s. And the music, of course, is great. Best scene: staid English journalists raising a scandal when the singer and his teen wife arrive.

Summary of Great Balls of Fire!

They called it "the devil's music." To this, Jerry Lee Lewis whooped: "If I'm going to hell, I'm going there playing the piano!" Dennis Quaid gives a "rousing performance" (Gene Shalit, "The Today Show") as the defiant rock 'n' roll superstar who broke all the rules. Co-starring Winona Ryder as Jerry Lee's teenage bride and Alec Baldwin as Jerry Lee's evangelical cousin Jimmy Swaggart, and featuring scorching piano and vocals re-recorded by the legendary Lewis himself, Great Balls of Fire! is a wild ride back to the early days of rock 'n' roll that will leave you "B-B-B-Breathless"! In 1956, Louisiana bad boy Jerry Lee Lewis (Quaid) moves to Memphis, determined to dethrone Elvis with his "ferocious, God-given talent." When Jerry Lee bangs out the bass chords with his feet,fans howl for more. When he finishes a performance by setting his piano ablaze, they mob the stage.But when he marries his 13-year-old second cousin Myra (Ryder)...the scandal nearly kills "The Killer's" career.
Dennis Quaid's delightfully over-the-top performance dominates this 1989 biopic about the life, times, and music of rocker Jerry Lee "the Killer" Lewis. It's all here: his snazzy threads, his devil-may-care Southern charm, his mane of golden hair, his underage girlfriends (Lewis's infamous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, played here by Winona Ryder, and its effect on his career is a big part of the story), his fascination with "the devil's music" (much to the chagrin of cousin Jimmy Swaggart, portrayed by Alec Baldwin), and of course the classic tunes like "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Director Jim McBride plays the whole thing broadly, for laughs, much like Quaid plays Lewis. The result is tongue-in-cheek entertainment with a strong musical component, made all the more so by the fact that all the singing and playing on the soundtrack is done by Lewis himself. --Sam Graham

Drama DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in GOING BEYOND THE FRINGE--Peter Cook
Not Only but Always... ImageNot Only but Always...
Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $9.79
Price in other shops: $24.99
Beyond the Fringe (1962 Original Broadway Cast) ImageBeyond the Fringe (1962 Original Broadway Cast)
Release date: 2006-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $9.29
Price in other shops: $13.98
Beyond the Fringe a random house play ImageBeyond the Fringe a random house play
by Alan; Cook, Peter; Miller, Jonathan; Moore, Dudley Bennett
Random House; Published: 1963; Hardcover; Book
Dud and Pete (Methuen Humour) ImageDud and Pete (Methuen Humour)
by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore
Methuen Publishing Ltd; Published: 2003-11-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.80
Price in other shops: $14.45
DUD AND PETE: THE DAGENHAM DIALOGUES ImageDUD AND PETE: THE DAGENHAM DIALOGUES
by DUDLEY MOORE PETER COOK
MANDARIN; Published: 1991; Paperback; Book
Goodbye Again: The Definitive Peter Cook and Dudley Moore ImageGoodbye Again: The Definitive Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
by Peter Cook
Random House Business Books; Published: 2004-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $37.20
Beyond The Fringe (1961 Original London Cast) ImageBeyond The Fringe (1961 Original London Cast)
Release date: 1996-12-06; Music CD
Best price: $29.65
Price in other shops: $64.99
Original Television Show ImageOriginal Television Show
Release date: 2002-02-06; DVD
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $30.49
Secret Policeman's Ball [Region 2] ImageSecret Policeman's Ball [Region 2]
Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $20.93
Price in other shops: $41.49
Yellowbeard ImageYellowbeard
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-06-27; DVD
Best price: $6.51
Price in other shops: $14.98
Similar DVD Movies
Dirty Dancing (20th Anniversary Edition) ImageDirty Dancing (20th Anniversary Edition)
Lions Gate; Release date: 2007-05-08; DVD
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops: $14.98
Jerry Lee Lewis: Greatest Live Performances of the 50s, 60s and 70s ImageJerry Lee Lewis: Greatest Live Performances of the 50s, 60s and 70s
WEA DVD; Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $19.98
Last Man Standing ImageLast Man Standing
Release date: 2007-03-06; DVD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops: $19.98
Walk the Line (Widescreen Edition) ImageWalk the Line (Widescreen Edition)
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-02-28; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $29.99
The Buddy Holly Story/La Bamba ImageThe Buddy Holly Story/ La Bamba
Sony; Release date: 2005-09-13; DVD
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops: $19.94
Jerry Lee Lewis - I Am What I Am ImageJerry Lee Lewis - I Am What I Am
Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops: $14.99
La Bamba ImageLa Bamba
Sony; Release date: 1999-04-06; DVD
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $14.94
Coal Miner's Daughter -  25th Anniversary Edition ImageCoal Miner's Daughter - 25th Anniversary Edition
Universal; Release date: 2005-09-13; DVD
Best price: $6.30
Price in other shops: $12.98
Sweet Dreams ImageSweet Dreams
Warner Brothers; Release date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Buddy Holly Story ImageThe Buddy Holly Story
Sony; Release date: 1999-09-07; DVD
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops: $14.94
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners