The Hills Are Alive!

Amazon.com: The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition): DVD

So I'm in Costco today (yeah, even the day after Christmas I practically live there), and I notice that one of the all time classics, "The Sound of Music," has been released on a brand new two disk DVD released, fully restored and in widescreen. So naturally, I have to get this. It was one of my favorite movies growing up as a kid, and the chance to see it again in widescreen for the first time is too good of an opportunity to pass up. And the DVD is only $16, which is a steal. When I get home I decide to watch it right away. I don't plan to watch the whole thing though. I remember that there is an intermission in this three hour film, so I fully intend to only watch half of it today and half tomorrow. I end up watching the whole thing today.

What a fantastic movie this is. It has been some ten or more years since I really sat down and watched this movie, and I regret that now because I felt like I had forgotten how good it was and how much I enjoyed watching it. The characters are all very memorable. Especially Maria. I know this may sound silly, but I feel in love with her all over again. I remember seeing her as a great mother figure as a kid, and I see her as that and much more now. Some people may not like Maria much anymore because she is a housewife, and the ultimate goal for her ends up to be married and to be a mother for these kids...but you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. People act as if being a housewife is boring and degrading, but in this movie I actually have a lot of respect for a woman who loves these kids to death, and is fulfilled because she receives their love in return for hers.

I love about Maria. Very few things warm my heart then seeing a mother bonding with her kids (Especially when the kids in question aren't even her biological kids, but her adopted kids). I think I also have a better understanding of "The Captain" now then I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid I saw a jerk, pure and simple. Now I see a man who has sheltered his feelings for so long, that when he hears his kids singing for the first time, and I mean truly singing, his eyes are opened to what he's been missing all these years by shutting down his heart. Seeing as how I went through a time in my life when I shut other people out of my life, the talk he has with Maria where he thanks her for bringing music back into his house made me tear up a bit, because now I could relate to that speech and the meaning behind it.

I also have a new respect for the cinematography. Since some of the sequences in this movie have been spoofed many times in other movies these days (the opening hilltop scene for example), I was amazed at how much these scenes took my breath away. There is a reason so many movies spoof some of the scenes in this movie: The scenes are fondly remembered by film makers. And, of course, I have a new love for the music as well. This must seem like a stupid thing to say (seeing as how this movie is called the "The Sound of MUSIC"), but the music is really quite excellent. When I was a kid my favorite song from the movie was the fun "My Favorite Things," but now that I'm older I think the inspirational "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is now my new favorite song from the movie, for it's beautiful melody and lyrics.

Oh, and I DID spell the name of that song correctly, so don't send me e-mails trying to correct my spelling on this one! Another thing I noticed is how great of a movie this was. "The Sound of Music" is a musical. I know it must sound like I'm stating the obvious, but it's important I point this out. Musicals from the old days aren't thought of very highly. It's not that there's anything wrong with them, but most kids consider them to be movies for old people. I think this would be the one exception to the rule. Even people who don't tend to like musicals would like this movie, in the same way that people who don't normally like horror movies would like "The Sixth Sense" and "JAWS" (yes, "JAWS" is a horror film, look it up). The movie is not forty years old. I know this because my DVD cover proudly proclaims to be the "40th Anniversary Edition."

Like "The Wizard of Oz," this film doesn't feel like it's aged a day. Oh sure there are a couple of noticeable graphic effects that don't hold up, but the overall package still feels fresh even to this day. I know the movie is so popular (and to lesser extent, old) that those who haven't seen it yet would possibly not want to watch it for a variety of reasons. Either it's too old, it's a musical, or it's rated G (since when did G rated movies start getting classified as "bad"), it's not an action film...I don't care, it's a good movie. Even if you think you've figured out whether you'll like this film or not I'm here to tell you that you have no idea. This is one of the greatest movies ever made. Oh, and did I mention the movie has Nazis in it? Any movie with Nazis in it has to get props for THAT much at least! Right?