The Nutcracker / Baryshnikov, Kirkland, Charmoli

Unfortunately disc will not play on my DVD player but works on my pc

Beautiful choreography but film messed up a few times when playing.

Love that I can watch this from day after Thanksgiving till Jan 6th! The music amd performance males the season.

I LOVE this ballet. This is not just a ballet that is filmed; this is staged by Barishnikov specifically for the camera. Add to that all his classic Russian training and you have something special. I watch it every year and was overjoyed to find it here.

Baryshnikov is the best; this is thee rendition of Nutcracker!

Video ok

This Nutcracker movie starring Mikhail Barishnikov is, in my opinion, the absolute best version out there. I took away one star because unfortunately the picture quality isn't nearly what you get in more modern renditions, but the performances are breathtaking. This is a permanent addition to my Christmas movie collection, although I will admit some of my younger family members are a bit put off by the less-than perfect visual quality.

If they had just left it as the ballet with Baryshnikov dancing it would have been outstanding. I thought it was going to be like when I go to the ballet and when I've seen other films of ballets where it's just the dancers and the music. This was not that. There was someone who was narrating the story over the music and the dancing. So it took this from what could have been 10 out of 10 Stars to two out of 10 Stars. I mean you have Baryshnikov one of the penultimate Male Prima ballerinas in the world dancing The Nutcracker ballet and you ruin it with a bad voiceover. I fell asleep I never fall asleep during The Nutcracker it's one of my all-time favorite ballets.

great vid for christmas.excellent service

Can't beat this. But then, I love the ballet.

This Nutcracker was filmed for TV, using dancers from the American Ballet Theater. The big name was of course Baryshnikov, who had recently come to the West.The whole production is second rate, mostly because of lack of imagination rather than lack of resources. Sets and costumes look dull and the direction generates no excitement whatsoever.The corps-de-ballet is mediocre, but most of the solo dancing is very good.Baryshnikov makes a great start. His scene as the Nutcracker is wonderful for the mechanical percision of his movements, but once the mask is off, his Narcissism gets the upper hand. He dances "alone", trying to seduce the camera rather than his partner. Great dancing, but it failled to enchant me.The opposite is true of his co-star, the lovely Gelsey Kirkland. In the beginning I was struck by how child-like she seemed. As the performance progressed I was enthralled by her grace and charm. She was a real "floater", -you think she barely touched the ground when she danced,- and she had a beautiful sense of "flowing" with the music. If I were rating her performance, I would give it 5 stars without hesitation. I think this dvd is worth viewing for her alone.

Baryshnikov has been one of my wife's favourite dancers since we were fortunate enough to see him perform live in New York back in the 1970s.This may not be the best ever production of the Nutcracker but Baryshnikov's performance is magical. A bit of a nostalgia trip for us but also a disc well worth adding to the 'classic' productions shelf along with the rare recordings of Fontaine and Nureyev. A pity that the performance has been clipped to make space in the running time for US television advertising slots, but better than nothing.Well worth having if you are a fan of Russian classical dancers.

Basically I would think this is for Nutcracker nuts only. Its great but comes in the middle somewhere of all the ones Ive seen. It was filmed for TV and I think things are best when it is filmed with a live audience in a theatre. Thats just my thought. How ever at the start you see Barishnykovs fantastic skill in Slow motion, a pre highlight before the start and performing his jumps with the greatest of ease effortless. What he must have been like when he was excelling himself must have been out of this world. I would say for Nutcracker nuts only but still recommended. I like his Don quitoxe best for seeing his dancing.