Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Good buy until you realize the dvd won't play in your player. Doesn't matter if you have a region 1 dvd player...

I knew nothing of this film, and some old friends sent it as a gift, certain I'd love it.

They were right.

What makes this a great movie, one to keep and watch over and over, is, of course, the music. The ability to create original treatments of the songs while staying so true to the intended spirit is an enormous accomplishment; to make the songs wonderful again in a new way and in their own right is a miracle.

I'm always hesitant of Beatles remakes, suspicious that someone just wants to make a quick buck. There have been some great renditions, but all too often the attempts fall short. This doesn't! Even what I considered "the sacred song" the one Beatles song I never wanted anyone to remake ("Let It Be") is done so well that I just watch that powerful, original and moving scene over and over (to me, that was the film's greatest success).

The more you know about the Beatles, the more you'll appreciate the little touches: not just the characters' names, but so many subtle references / inside jokes that the viewer either gets on his or her own, or they're lost: the apple being drawn, Maxwell's hammer, the rooftop concert... things that just add something extra for those that get it.

It's not perfect, though: the film is a vehicle for Beatles music. The storyline is a bit forced, and you can see the ending coming from a mile away -- but I think that just makes it more fun. It's not meant to be a deep, philosophical movie; it's meant to be entertainment... and it's just so good at being entertaining that it goes beyond entertainment to arouse passion. Just like the Beatles.

"Across the Universe" presents Beatles' songs in quite a different way. The rendentions grow on you the more you listen. The actors are of fresh and new talent and sang live througout most of the movie. The storyline was made to go along with the songs and was very familiar. The colors are absolutely astounding in blu-ray. There are a lot of special, but weird and vivid, effects which seem to take you on psychedelic journeys. I feel these may have been a bit overdone. The extra features include a lot of material and are very interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, especially the music. Great soundtrack.

I'm giving this movie a 2-star rating due to the fact that the description is misleading. The movie is listed as having SDH. SDH is an acronym for "Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing". In addition to captioning spoken dialogue, SDH provides non-dialogue audio commentary and speaker identification for off-screen voices. All of this is very important for a person with a hearing disability to understand and enjoy a movie. This movie is labeled as having SDH in the language menu but does not caption any of the song lyrics. This is unacceptable for a musical. I've provided a copy of the email my fiance sent to Sony (below) regarding this issue. Those wishing with hearing disabilities, please take notice. We really loved the movie after seeing it on TV but unfortunately we have to send this copy back. To Sony's credit, they did respond to our complaint with (tedious) instructions on how to receive a refund. We hate to have to send this movie back but unfortunately we have no other choice. =(

Subject: Complaint about subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing in Across the Universe

Hello,

I recently bought the Across the Universe Blu-ray Disc. I had seen the
movie on a movie channel on TV and loved it. I am hearing-impaired and,
while I can hear the tune to a song, I cannot understand the words. When I
watched the movie on TV, the spoken and sung lyrics were captioned. None
were left out. On the Blu-ray, there's a setting for SDH, which means that
the movie is captioned explicitly for those who can't hear well and need the
captions to understand the words and be alerted to sounds in the movie.
However, the songs were NOT subtitled. Instead, I got "[SINGING]" whenever
they would sing. Um, it's a MUSICAL. Half the movie is sung--how am I (or
any other hearing-impaired or deaf customer) supposed to understand the
movie if I can only read HALF of the words? The words in the songs were
important to understanding the story.

I've heard before that Sony does not caption songs because they're afraid of
being sued for copy infringement. I do not understand this because you
are performing a captioning service. The movies on TV are captioned,
including lyrics almost all the time. The TV station wouldn't be sued
because they're a performing captioning service for the disabled. You do
understand that you are misleading your customers when you label a
*musical*as subtitled for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, yet you don't
subtitle the songs (half of the words in the movie)?

I would like to file an official complaint with Sony. The SDH label is
misleading. I would like a refund. I cannot return the Blu-ray to the
store because it has been opened. However, I cannot fully enjoy the movie
because it does not allow someone with a hearing disability to understand
the story, yet the product is labeled as providing captions for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing. Something must be done about the labels on this Blu-ray.
The SDH label should be removed immediately.

I would appreciate a prompt reply.

Thank you

This is one of the best musical/movies I have seen, love the music, the actors, actresses, did an amazing job in their performances, their voices were beautiful, great job, this is must see, and the soundtrack is fantastic.