Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9986 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-17
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Writer-director Alan Parker's feature debut Bugsy Malone is a pastiche of American movies, a musical gangster comedy set in 1929, featuring prohibition, showgirls and gang warfare, with references to everything from Some Like It Hot to The Godfather. Uniquely, though, all the parts are played by children, including an excellent if underused Jodie Foster as platinum-blonde singer Tallulah, Scott Baio in the title role and a nine-year-old Dexter Fletcher wielding a baseball bat. Cream-firing "spluge guns" side-step any real violence and the movie climaxes cheerfully with the biggest custard pie fight this side of Casino Royale (1967).

Unfortunately for a musical, Paul Williams' score--part honky-tonk jazz homage, part 1970s Elton John-style pop--lets the side down with a lack of memorable tunes. Nevertheless, Parker's direction is spot on and the look of the film is superb, a fantasy movie-movie existing in the same parallel reality as The Cotton Club and Chicago. A rare British love letter to classic American cinema, Bugsy Malone remains a true original; in Parker's words "the work of a madman" and one of the strangest yet most stylish children's films ever made.

On the DVD: Bugsy Malone's picture is presented non-anamorphically at 1.66:1, with rich colours and plenty of detail. The print is excellent. The audio is stereo only and while full and clear seems to leave a hole in the middle of the soundstage. Extras include an informative commentary by Parker, eight pages of trivia notes by Parker and a very informative 12-page booklet, also by the director. There are three trailers, nine character profiles, two scored galleries, and more imaginatively, a multi-angle option to compare Parker's sketches, their comic-strip realisation by Graham Thomson and the finished opening sequence. Quality over quantity make this a strong collection of extras, though recollections from the stars would have added so much more. --Gary S. Dalkin

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
In this unique mobster movie, Scott Baio heads up a prepubescent cast as the title character, a child gangster determined to rule over New York City. Instead of throwing fists or bullets, the Prohibition-era kiddie mobsters sling confections at one another. When Bugsy learns that a rival gang has developed a secret weapon capable of firing sweets as quick as a machine gun shoots bullets, he sets out to heist the high-tech tart-launcher.
BUGSY MALONE, director Alan Parker's first feature, cleverly spoofs the rich, cliche-ridden history of films about organized crime while lightly mocking the childlike, selfish traits of grown-ups. The engaging silliness is periodically spirited forward by several song-and-dance numbers composed by bubblegum pop maestro Paul Williams.

Customer Reviews

Poor soundtrack? WHAT?!?
Not so much a review (it's an excellent film - 'nuff said) but more a comeback to the laughable review by Amazon.

"Unfortunately for a musical, Paul Williams' score--part honky-tonk jazz homage, part 1970s Elton John-style pop--lets the side down with a lack of memorable tunes."

What? No memorable tunes? Bugsy Malone has one of the most famous movie soundtracks of all time.

The Amazon reviewer who introduced this item should hang his head in shame and seriously reconsider whether he is actually capable in his job.

The difference between the two DVD editions
Love the movie. I'm just here to help those who might be wondering about this edition (the newer, brown cover special edition) compared to the earlier DVD release, ASIN B00004D0AJ.

EXTRAS: The earlier edition has no extras. This special edition has a fair amount: director's commentary audio track, trailers, brief (one page per) character biographies, a photo gallery (motion accompanied by music), an art gallery (from sketches to full painted art, motion accompanied by music), a featurette, trivia, and a very nice 12-page booklet with a detailed production history by Alan Parker.

VIDEO: This special edition presents the movie properly letterboxed, and the print is clean and sharp. HOWEVER - the earlier edition is not just widescreen, it's ANAMORPHIC widescreen (formatted for 16:9 televisions). And because there are no extras on the older edition, the average bitrate for encoding is higher. The picture, though, is not quite as good. So you need to decide how important it is to have an anamorphic widescreen DVD.

I can't understand why the newer edition takes such a step backward (non-anamorphic widescreen) in its presentation, but I felt it would be worthwhile to let people know.

Great
I recently bought the DVD and I have to say it is one of the most cleverly written musicals ever. I was recently in a stage production of the show, and on the last night of the show, all cast members sat down to watch the original version. The acting was miles better than ours! I would definitely recommend this film, particularly young children. Young boys will enjoy all the different gangsters such as Fat Sam and Dandy Dan, while young girls will love the character of Tallulah the show-girl. 10 out of 10.