New York, New York (Special Edition)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barry Primus, Lionel Stander, Liza Minnelli, Mary Kay Place, Robert De NiroBrand: MINNELLI,LIZA
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 155 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-08
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of New York, New York (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Misunderstood classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Martin Scorcese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK is a film that explores realism through a most unlikely medium--a homage to the movie musicals of the 1950s, particularly the more dark and dramatic musicals, such as Judy Garland's A STAR IS BORN and Doris Day's LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME.
To many people 1977 does not seem like so very long ago, but to younger viewers and film enthusiasts who were not around then to see the movies firsthand, it can be a very daunting experience trying to hunt down obscure films from that time. I searched for about five years to find a decent copy of NEW YORK, NEW YORK, but was unlucky until finally it was released on DVD this year. I must say, along with THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, it was a very welcome release!
I am intrigued by many of the films of the 1970s and early 1980s that sought to explore earlier, more glamorous decades. Along with THE DAY OF THE LOCUST and FRANCES (1982), NEW YORK, NEW YORK is especially important for, if nothing else, a rare glimpse of Liza Minnelli at the peak of her beauty and talent. The film is an astounding showcase for her to emote, sing, and display incredible star quality at every turn. By the the time the great finale rolls around, with the theme song "New York, New York" sung with such bravado, it's easy to see what made Liza so famous. For many younger viewers, such as myself, who weren't around at the time, what made Liza famous (besides CABARET) is not readily apparent.
Finally, I will discuss the quality of the film, which is one of the truly great musicals. NEW YORK, NEW YORK is misunderstood primarily because it is so ambitious. For the sensitive viewer, who has great attention to significant details, the film is not flawed. The first time I watched it I considered it incredibly flawed, but the second time everything clicked for me. The idea behind the film was the put real life situations (including acting improvisation, etc.) into an artificial setting--in this case, a glitzy New York City during the big band era of the 1940s. The production is astounding at all levels. Nightclubs and streets and locations are recreated as if you are walking into the past, except better--this is the glamorous past created by the movies that didn't necessarily exist, but fuelled so many dreams. New York City was certainly movie heaven. The glittering skyline alone could make you dream of something better, and that's really what this movie is about. It's about wanting a happy ending, when it doesn't really exist.
For the two main characters, played so brilliantly by Robert Deniro and Liza Minnelli, that happy ending can't exist. Thus the magnificent lyric from the "Happy Endings" musical number that sums it all up: "Happy endings are only for the stars, not in the stars for me." And so we know that NEW YORK, NEW YORK can't end happily like so many musicals that came before, because this is the 1970s, and real life doesn't always end happy.
And real people do not always possess sympathetic qualities that win us over, or make us love them in the end. Robert Deniro's character is like many people we may have known in life, who we didn't like, and the movie doesn't bother trying to make us love him. Again, in real life, some people we just can't love. The main problem many people have with the film is their dislike of Robert Deniro's character, but in certain scenes he is touching, such as when he meets Liza in the hospital and says he doesn't want to see his son, because he is so genuine. We may not like him, but he is a genuine character.
There are other examples that may not be so obvious, of the realism the producers were trying to achieve: characters regularly flub their lines, people trip over chairs and bump into each other, and wine glasses are lifted with napkins stuck to the bottom. It's all so carefully constructed, and ultimately masterful.
The colors are reminiscent of A STAR IS BORN, Liza Minnelli reminds one of Judy Garland, but NEW YORK, NEW YORK belongs to Martin Scorsese. It is a misunderstood, but enduring, triumph.
Summary of New York, New York (Special Edition)
Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese teams with Academy AwardÂ(r) winners* Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro in this splashy, flashy musical spectacle celebrating the glorious days of the Big Band Era in the Big Apple! Jimmy is a joint-jumpin saxophonist on his way to stardom. Francine is a wannabe starlet who dreams of singing in the spotlight. When they meet, sparks flyand when he plays and she sings, they set New York on fire! It's the beginning of a stormy relationship, asthe two struggle to balance their passions for music and each other under the pressures of big-timeshow biz. *Minnelli: Actress, Cabaret (1972); De Niro: Actor, Raging Bull (1980), Supporting Actor, The Godfather Part II (1974)Martin Scorsese took a daring turn from the mean streets that made his reputation in the early '70s with New York, New York, his homage to the big-band era. And what an homage it is: the dazzling production design by Boris Leven continues to impress over the film's nearly three-hour length. And there's no denying the anthemic appeal of Kander and Ebb's title song, belted with winning bravado by costar Liza Minnelli in a showstopping finale. But as valiantly as Minnelli and Robert De Niro try, they can't elevate the shaky plot beyond its two-dimensional construct. It purports to be a Star Is Born-like tragedy of colliding careers, but too often it feels like inadvertently eavesdropping on a marriage counselor's most truculent clients. (There are times you want someone--anyone--to slap Minnelli upside the head with a copy of Women Who Love Too Much.) For diehard Minnelli (or Scorsese) fans only. --Anne Hurley
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