Les Miserables 25th Anniversary [DVD]

Wow! What an outstanding concert presentation of this opera-like musical adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel "Les Miserables", which has been a worldwide sensation for over 25 years. This 25th anniversary concert, taped before a wildly enthusiastic audience of thousands at the cavernous O2 Arena in London, was simply superb--the production values (state-of-the-art lighting, audio, and video), the fantastic talent assembled on the stage, including performers from several companies--all in costume--and a huge back-up chorus all contributed to an amazing performance. The grand finale alone is the worth the price of the BD: members of the original cast (and other previous and current cast members) sing duets and medleys, including four different Valjeans, all incredibly awesome. Their performance of "Bring Him Home" will bring tears to your eyes. The other cast members including Lea Salonga, Katie Hall, and Norm Lewis were equally impressive and emotional.The Blu-ray Disc's video and audio are both excellent--you will not be disappointed in the sharp, pristine video and the impressive, full audio. If you have a surround-sound system, you are in for a real treat. Much unfair criticism has been heaped on pop singer Nick Jonas, who plays the part of Marius, the young student who falls in love with, and eventually marries, Cosette. While his voice is not operatic (and the other cast members have such voices), his voice is nonetheless fairly good and with his boyish good looks, he is very convincing as the young idealist student who becomes the love interest of Cosette.Also, this BD, which I ordered from Amazon.uk, is region-free: It will play flawlessly on Region A (U.S. & Canada) Blu-ray players. I live in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA--and this BD, which is not yet available on Amazon in the U.S., was a bargain, at less than $23-US, including shipping.This BD is a keeper--you will watch it over and over again. Highly recommended!

I'll get right to the point .... THANK YOU THANK YOU Amazon.co.uk!!!! You made this US LES MIZ fan extremely happy this holiday season. To start out with I was extremely jealous that we here in the US were not able to see this concert "LIVE" in the Cinemas when it was originally broadcast in the UK ... we had to wait over a month before it showed up on this side of the pond. Then it was announced that it would be available on dvd at the end of November but, alas, only in "Region 2" which means it is not playable here in the US. I began searching the internet trying to find any information on an expected US dvd release but found NOTHING!! Finally, I happened to stubble across a posting on the LES MIZ Facebook page where someone had responded to another unhappy US fan's plea for any information regarding a US release. This person replied that they were pretty sure that the Blu Ray version was "Region Free" and should be playable in the US. I immediately logged into Amazon.co.uk and took a gamble and placed an order for it. It arrived about a week later and played perfectly!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!! My only suggestion to Amazon.co.uk would be that you should make the "Region Free" aspect of the blu ray a little more visible so that other customer's like myself who aren't in a "Region 2" zone would be aware that this blu ray (and any others you might offer) are playable for us. I'm sure I'm not the only US fan that was anxiously awaiting the release of this concert.As for the dvd itself ... what more can I say that hasn't already been said in other reviews ... it was FANTASTIC!!! The HD picture and sound were incredible. The performers were fantastic ... Nick Jonas, eh ... ok, but WAY OUT HIS LEAGUE!! The encores at the end were icing on the cake. Someday I hope that there will be a "Definitive Collector's Edition" that will contain interviews with all of the original cast and creative team. I would love to hear their stories about the shows beginning and how it feels to have been a part of something that developed into the phenomenon it has. I admit I'm one of those people that finds all the "Extras" and the "Behind the Scenes" features on dvd's just as interesting (sometimes moreso) than the feature itself.If you're in the US and can't wait for an official US release then hop on to Amazon.co.uk and order this edition ASAP ... you won't regret it!! :-)