Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Blistering performances.

The acting in this movie is really good.

When I was 17 my high school staged Bye Bye Birdie - which is no great surprise, since it is perfect high school material and reputed to be the most-staged musical in the world.I was a music student and retained strong memories of the production and its songs, as well as a lingering disregard for the Dick Van Dyke movie version which had (deliberately) obscured the Elvis references and camped it up for a swinging 60s audience.So, when the 1995 version starring Jason Alexander hit my cable TV screen, I was delighted with what I saw. Alexander turns in an exceptional performance as Albert, a performance in strong contrast to his better-known persona from a certain TV series. The remainder of the cast are entertaining and convincing in their roles (Chynna Phillips is perhaps the only one who does not look her part, supposedly a naive and innocent schoolgirl).But best of all, the musical numbers familiar from the stage show are all preserved in this movie and performed as stage musical songs should be (allowing for the absence of a stage).So, if you know the musical (and few do not), then check out this telemovie. It does the stage show justice in a way which can probably not be bettered, which is good enough for me. What is better than rendering a writer's work faithfully and with colour and style?

We taped this when it aired on TV back in 1995 and have waited all these years for its release, for it quickly became one of our family favorites. The kids are now teens and must have seen it a ba-zillion times, yet they still watch it religiously with friends. It's timeless appeal reaches across all ages groups--similar to "Grease."Vanessa Williams is spectacular. Jason Alexander delightful and wonderfully light on his feet. I've noticed other commentators on this site are pretty rough on him, but our family gives him top ratings. (We loved his 'Giant Step' number.) Marc Kudisch (as Conrad) supplies us with comedic relief and wonderful musical numbers. And Brigitta Dau (as Ursula) just flat steals the show. Probably our favorite character in the entire movie.The one disappointment was Chynna Philip's performance of Kim. Part of that has to do with the writing. Kim's role is completely one-dimensional. Complicating that, Philip's delivery is flat, unimaginative, unbelievable and just plain awful. The director should have seen that and corrected it. Or never cast her to begin with.Overall, though, the picture is delightful and I highly recommend it for families of all ages.

I have always loved the original movie, but I decided to watch this version to see if this one was nearly as good. Although this version sticks closely to the stage play, and nearly keeps the same script, it is dull and I found myself fast forwarding many slow scenes. If you're going to watch the movie, watch the Ann-Margret version, which is absolutely wonderful. There are many MANY flaws with this one.1. Could the dialogue scenes be any more boring?? This was not a problem in the original! Even some of the newer songs ("Giant Step", etc. just made it drag!)2. You would think with Ann Reinking as the choreographer the dances would be brilliant. WRONG! The fast-paced songs consisted of the teens clicking their fingers. That's IT. Sure, sometimes they actually SKIPPED or something but basically songs like "American Boy", "Honestly Sincere", and "Telepone Hour" were standstill numbers.3. Half the people in this movie can't act OR sing. Which you think would be one of the requirements when you are putting on a movie musical. Especially the females who play Kim and Mrs. MacAfee.4. Casting Chynna Phillips as Kim was a TERRIBLE mistake. Sure, she's pretty but at the time of filming she was a 27 year old playing a 17 year old, and it shows! And she can't sing or act...and she's one of the leads!! I cringed when she opened her mouth to sing, enough said. This is a minor complaint, but isn't this Hugo just a little TOO cute to play a dorky teen like Bobby Rydell did in the original?Now to the good parts! Jason Alexander is my new Albert Peterson!! He was BRILLIANT! And Vanessa L. Williams BLEW me away as Rosie!! Thank Goodness the director had some brains casting them!! They were amazing to watch. And even though people have complained about the girl who played Ursula - I thought she was the best teen in this whole movie - especially when she sings "Bye Bye Birdie" . She was a bubbly, obnoxious teen - which is what Ursula should be! That's another problem with this movie - they make the small songs like "An English Teacher" and "Bye Bye Birdie" the hits of the movie and the MAIN songs - well, boring. The last hour or so of the movie they should have cut, it was so boring! And don't even get me started on Conrad! Do they not know he was supposed to be sexy??? Watch the first half hour for Jason and Vanessa - then turn the TV off!!!

In my opinion this was better than the original. The cast is great. Jason Alexander shines as Albert, he has a fantastic voice!! Vanessa Williams was a wonderful Rosie!! All of the cast was fabulous. If you are a fan of the original film or the musical see this version. It's alot of fun!!