Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1556 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-14
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Icelandic, Dutch, Romanian, Greek, Czech, Italian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, English, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, Polish
• Dubbed in: Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Rent, the show that in 1996 gave voice to a Broadway generation, has finally become an energetic, passionate, and touching movie musical. Based loosely on Puccini's La Bohème, it focuses on the year in the life of a group of friends in New York's East Village--"bohemians" who live carefree lives of art, music, sex, and drugs. Well, carefree until Mark, an aspiring filmmaker (Anthony Rapp), and Roger, an aspiring songwriter (Adam Pascal), find out they owe a year's rent to Benny (Taye Diggs), a former friend who had promised them free residence when he married the landlord's daughter. Roger has also attracted the attention of his downstairs neighbor, Mimi (Rosario Dawson), while Mark's former girlfriend, Maureen (Idina Menzel), has found a new romance in a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thoms). Philosophy professor Tom (Jesse L. Martin) finds his soul mate in drag queen Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia). But because this is the late-'80s, the threat of AIDS is always present.

The remarkable thing about Rent the movie is that nearly 10 years after the show debuted on Broadway, six of the eight principals return in the roles they originated. They're a bit older than would be ideal for their characters, but they do have the advantage of having learned the show directly from creator Jonathan Larson (who died of an aortic aneurysm while the show was in previews), plus they started young--we're not exactly talking Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford here. Alongside a polished performance like Rapp's--sometimes observer-commentator, sometimes participant in two of the score's showstoppers, "The Tango Maureen" and "La Vie Boheme"--the two new additions (Thoms in place of Fredi Walker, Dawson in place of the edgier Daphne Rubin-Vega) slip comfortably into the ensemble; the pivotal Dawson makes a seductive case as Mimi when she tempts Roger in the mesmerizing "Light My Candle" or burns up the stage of the Catscratch Club in "Out Tonight." Moviegoers who have an aversion to people who break into song while walking down the street probably won't have their minds changed by Rent (even if they are singing rock songs), and the gritty subject matter and lack of big-name stars make it unlikely to cross over to general audiences the way Chicago did. But fans of musicals should find "Seasons of Love" as stirring as ever, and the show's passionate admirers--the "Rentheads"--probably couldn't have wished for a more sympathetic director than Rent fan Chris Columbus, or a more faithful representation of the show they love. --David Horiuchi

Synopsis
A modern spin on the opera LA BOHEME, RENT tells the story of eight friends dealing with life and love in Manhattan's Alphabet City in 1989. Director Christopher Columbus (MRS. DOUBTFIRE, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE) adapts the hit Broadway musical of the same name to the big screen. Wannabe filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp) and singer/songwriter Roger (Adam Pascal) are facing eviction at the hands of their former roommate and current landlord, Benny (Taye Diggs). Benny has married rich, moved out of the neighbourhood, and wants to build a state-of-the-art studio where the local tent city stands. Their downstairs neighbour, vivacious Mimi (Rosario Dawson)--who strips at a local club to feed her heroin habit--takes a shine to Roger, a self-imposed recluse and former junkie whose last girlfriend died of AIDS. Their friend Collins (Jesse L. Martin) returns to town and quickly falls for Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a glamorous, gracious, HIV positive transvestite. Finally, there is Maureen (Idina Menzel), a performance artist who is planning a protest against Benny’s plans and has dumped Mark for cerebral Joanne (Tracie Thoms), a lawyer. Over the course of a year, the friends face poverty, drug addiction, break-ups, reconciliations, eviction, and AIDS. Despite these challenges, they find support, hope, and acceptance in each other, all the while embracing the bohemian lifestyle that was so much a part of the Lower East Side. Newcomers Dawson and Thoms mix seamlessly with the original cast members, and Columbus introduces some interesting staging locations. With a concept, music, and lyrics by the late Jonathan Larson, RENT is an exuberant rock and roll musical with the underlying message that love can prevail despite all odds and that, ultimately, there really is no day but today.

Customer Reviews

Repeated Viewing Required
Good Lord, I love this film. I have never seen the stage production - but this film makes me want to.

The first time I watched it - it was good, don't get me wrong - but it takes a few times to really listen to the lyrics, watch subtleties in performances (there's a huge amount going on in any single frame), get over the fact that not only is it a musical, but that even dialogue is sung much of the time.

Once you've swallowed all of that, you're left with an enormously enjoyable film to sing along to. That and the overriding positive uplifting message that's suitable for anyone, not just those living with HIV or AIDS. No day but today.

Notable performances from each of the main cast members (6 out of 8 from the original broadway show), although I think Taye Diggs may have a right to feel short-changed. In order to fit the movie timeline, a couple of his key character arc scenes were cut. Small gripe, and it did fit the overall flow...

DVD is good, deleted scenes good to watch, especially the cut song "Goodbye Love", commentary from Chris Columbus, Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal is informative - with good insights about deceased creator Jonathan Larson's vision. The only thing missing is that I think in the US this was a 2 disc version, with an extra documentary. Still a good buy though.

Amazing movie. Crap DVD.
The musical, the film, of course five stars. But this as a dvd package this is such a blatent rip-off for us Brits. You can get the American Region 1 two disc edition for less than ten quid if you shop around online. The second disc has an amazing two hour doc charting the life of writer/composter Larson and it tracks the life of the show through it's birth all the way through to the process of making the movie. It is well worth getting the the two disc version and is interesting to newcomers and fans alike. And it's cheaper. Great great film, crap dvd. Stop letting the studios rip us off and buy the import version.

FANTASTIC-A MUST WATCH
I loved this movie from start to finish although i must say having seen the show on Broadway and in the West End i was a fan already,but this is one of the best stage to movie adaptations i have seen .
For those who do not know this is a year in the life of a group of friends in 1989 in Alphabet City in Lower Manhattan,they are a diverse group some are hiv+ ,One has escaped into middle class marriage but they all have a strong bond.
Chris Columbus has done a great job in transferring the show to film and apart from a couple of tweaks here and there which you wouldn't know unless you had watched the show its the show basically just on film.
6 of the 8 original Broadway cast return including Jesse Martin now known on NBC's Law and Order and also Taye Diggs ,the only major newbie is Rosario Dawson but she fits in well.
The year takes in highs and lows and there will be tears if you dont cry you are DEAD frankly !and the time fairly flies by the songs are great and the different genres of music used in this production and the show as well was proof that Johnathan Larson who created the show and died on the day it opened on Broadway in 1996 would have been a powerhouse.
If you love musicals,or just good pictures then this is a definite must .