DVDizzy Forum

Similar to the "Post Your Top 25 Movies of All Time" thread, this one is specifically about movie musicals. So, what are your top 10 movie musicals? Mine are:


10. The Wizard of Oz

9. Grease

8. The Wizard of Oz

7. Dreamgirls

6. Moulin Rouge!

5. Rent

4. Chicago

3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2. Hairspray

1. The Phantom of the Opera

All these titles are very closely tied but if i had to arrange them in a scale from one to ten it would be in the following order:

10. The Producers

09. Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

08. The Wizard of oz

07. Mary Poppins

06. Chicago

05. Across The Universe

04. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

03. The Phantom of The Opera

02. Hairspray

01. Rent

I'll aim for more live-action films.
Pretty much in no specific / particular order:


1. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

2. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

3. Cannibal! The Musical (1993)

4. Dirty Dancing (1987) (I say it counts)

5. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

6. Labyrinth (1986)

7. Hairspray (1988)

8. The Mask (1994) (yeah, I'm counting that one sequence, "Cuban Pete")

9. The Parent Trap (1961)

0. The Wizard of Oz (1938? 1939?)

Not a big fan of the musicals here. I think most of the Disney animated musicals work because they're animated or fantasy films with a lot of otherworldly settings.

In no order:

1. My Fair Lady
2. Gigi
3. Singin' in the Rain
4. The Music Man
5. Hello, Dolly!
6. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
7. Hairspray
8. Show Boat (1951)
9. Oklahoma!
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

And here are the remaining 15 of a top 25 list:

11. Newsies
12. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
13. The Band Wagon
14. West Side Story
15. The Phantom of the Opera
16. The Great Muppet Caper
17. The Happiest Millionaire
18. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
19. Pete's Dragon
20. The Sound of Music
21. Easter Parade
22. Funny Girl
23. Chicago
24. (Will post after I have more time to think)
25. (Will post after I have more time to think)

And musicals that probably will make the list when I see them:

Victor/Victoria
State Fair (1945)
Carousel
The King and I
Top Hat
Oliver!
Guys and Dolls
1776

1. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" - Just all-around excellent film adaptation of one of my favorite stage shows. Excellent casting, look, cinematography, etc. Plus... Helena. Come on.

2. "Chicago" - Contrary to what some might say, the fantasy cabaret technique is very true to what the original stage show did, and it works brilliantly on film. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah are both of particular note here.

3. "The Wizard of Oz" - I mean, come on. Probably the most famous musical in the world, and one of the best loved.

4. "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" - Probably the best musical you've never seen. One of the few Broadway scores to have a legitimate rock score through and through.

5. "Singin' in the Rain" - Easily the best original movie musical ever. The "Broadway Melody" sequence lags a bit, but that's a minor quibble.

6. "West Side Story" - If anything, it improves upon the structure of the stage show. The constant dubbing is a bit disconcerting, and Jim Bryant was a poor choice for dubbing Rich Beymer, but ithe acting makes up for all of that.

7. "Little Shop of Horrors" - Incredibly funny, amazingly well-written, and perfectly casted all around (having Ellen Green recreate her role makes the movie that much better). If they had kept the original ending, it would be higher up on my list.

8. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" - One of those movie musicals that is nearly a carbon-copy of the stage show, but it works here. Apart from the last act sort of falling apart a bit, it's great campy fun, especially in a theatre at midnight.

9. "Hairspray" - Very fun and funny, but not as good as the stage show. Casting is great, with the possible exception of Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken, but the deletion of some great moments on stage and the intense restructuring made it less fun than it could have been.

10. "Dreamgirls" - Was on the road to being a classic, but the confusing shoehorn of "Family" and "When I First Saw You" into a film that relied heavily on performance songs really slow down the movie and feel awkward. Plus I'm not a fan of Jamie Foxx, but thankfully Beyonce, J. Hud and Anika compensate for that.

And the remaining 25...
11. My Fair Lady
12. Moulin Rouge!
13. All That Jazz
14. The Music Man (60's version)
15. Hair
16. Cabaret
17. Shock Treatment
18. 1776
19. Rent
20. Oliver!
21. 42nd Street
22. Reefer Madness
23. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
24. Godspell
25. Bye Bye Birdie (60's version)

Honorable mentions are "A Little Night Music", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Evita", "Jesus Christ Superstar" (70's version), "Gypsy" (60's version), "Man of La Mancha", "The Phantom of the Paradise", and "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut".

Not including Disney Animated Classics (they would dominate he list if I included)


10. Jesus Christ Superstar
9. RENT
8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
7. Dreamgirls
6. Chicago
5. Mary Poppins
4. The Wizard of Oz
3. Grease
2. Hairspray
1. The Sound of Music

There are tons of movies that you are posting that are not musicals. Just because they have one song, doesn't make them a musical. The Lion King is not a musical, unless you are talking about Broadway stage play of the same. I think the list was Top Ten Musical Movies wasn't it?

In no particular order here is mine:

Singin' In The Rain
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
The Sound of Music
The King and I
Rent
Showboat
The Phantom of The Opera
Grease
Hairspray
Fantasia

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Little Shop of Horrors
Chicago
The Producers

Sadly, that's all I can list.

dvdjunkie wrote:There are tons of movies that you are posting that are not musicals. Just because they have one song, doesn't make them a musical. The Lion King is not a musical, unless you are talking about Broadway stage play of the same. I think the list was Top Ten Musical Movies wasn't it?

DVDJ is right. I wasn't looking for Disney Animated Classics since they seem to dominate any list. Also, since DACs like "The Lion King" don't really tell the whole story in song. Musicals have little dialogue (unless it is quite long like "Fiddler on the Roof") and I would say that DACs are mostly words with bits of music to help the words move along. So, yes, I was looking for non-DACs for this list.

In no order:

Rent
The Phantom of the Opera
Grease
Hairspray
the Wizard of Oz
Singin' in the Rain
Mary Poppins
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Dreamgirls
Chicago

TheSequelOfDisney wrote:

dvdjunkie wrote:There are tons of movies that you are posting that are not musicals. Just because they have one song, doesn't make them a musical. The Lion King is not a musical, unless you are talking about Broadway stage play of the same. I think the list was Top Ten Musical Movies wasn't it?

DVDJ is right. I wasn't looking for Disney Animated Classics since they seem to dominate any list. Also, since DACs like "The Lion King" don't really tell the whole story in song. Musicals have little dialogue (unless it is quite long like "Fiddler on the Roof") and I would say that DACs are mostly words with bits of music to help the words move along. So, yes, I was looking for non-DACs for this list.

Just to clear this up, I have "The Lion King" as #2 on my list, and I am referring to the Broadway version. I have not actually seen the show ON Broadway, unfortunately, but I have seen it on tour twice and it is amazing. Anyway, just wanted to clear that up!

Yes, but the subject is MOVIE musicals.

PeterPanfan wrote:Yes, but the subject is MOVIE musicals.

Touche'

TheSequelofDisney, you realize you put Wizard of Oz on your list twice, right? Not that I mind, of course; it IS my favorite movie musical. Anywho, here's my list (not including animation or TV musicals):

1. The Wizard of Oz
2. Singin' in the Rain
3. Chicago
4. Grease
5. Jesus Christ Superstar
6. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
7. Mary Poppins
8. Meet Me in St. Louis
9. Enchanted
10. Funny Girl

And just for the heck of it, here's 15 more:

11. Hairspray
12. My Fair Lady
13. The King and I
14. Annie
15. Moulin Rouge!
16. The Sound of Music
17. The Producers
18. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
19. Easter Parade
20. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
21. A Star is Born (1954)
22. Grease 2 (shut up; it's a guilty pleasure)
23. West Side Story
24. The Phantom of the Opera
25. Thoroughly Modern Millie

Okay, leaving off the Disney animated features (and don't quote me on the order):

Wizard of Oz
Mary Poppins
1776
Popeye
The Happiest Millionaire
Oklahoma
An American in Paris
Singing in the Rain
Annie
Enchanted


Ten more faves, not even trying to be in any order...

Sweeney Todd
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Phantom of the Opera
The Producers
Newsies
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
The Music Man
Pete's Dragon
Little Shop of Horrors
Blues Brothers/Blues Brothers 2000

And, yes, I could have doubled this list and surely forgot some stuff too.

dvdjunkie wrote:The Lion King is not a musical, unless you are talking about Broadway stage play of the same.

Didn't the characters sing more than 1 song? The film is totally a musical.

In no particular order and excluding Disney Animated classics:

Singin' in the rain
My fair lady
The Wizard of Ozz
Mary Poppins
West Side Story
Cabaret
The Sound of Music
The inspector General
The Court Jester
Jesus Christ Superstar (though it's more a 'rock-opera')

Also nice: The phantom of the Opera, Annie.

10. Annie (1982)

9. The Wizard of Oz

8. Dreamgirls

7. Grease

6. Moulin Rouge!

5. RENT

4. Chicago

3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

2. Hairspray

1. The Phantom of the Opera

One movie that I think we are all over-looking is:

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - The Beatles (1964)

That would go at the top of my list of favorites.