Beauty And The Beast [DVD]

I adore the story of "Beauty and the Beast," so when I found out Disney was making a live-action movie based off of their classic animated movie, I knew I had to see it! I saw it in the theater when it was first released and loved it! It was it's own movie that stood separately from the original animated classic. I thought it was about time I added the Blu-ray to my collection!

I have always loved the Beauty and Beast story, the enduring lesson that beauty is within and that love conquers all. The original Disney animated film was my favorite for years and years, and now we have this one that tells the same story but in a more tangible manner, with characters that are human and fantasy all rolled into one. Of greater enjoyment for this version was the music. New songs that spoke to the mood and moment, and that sometimes brought a tear to my eye. Stellar settings, vivid and fresh, draw you deeper into the story until you feel you are a part of it.This is a timeless tale, splashed across the screen in a new and enduring way. I think people of all ages will love this movie.

I did not get to experience this beautiful film when in its theater run, so anxiously awaited its release on blu ray disc with "baited breath" probably as untold numbers did also! Having not gotten to see it on the "real" widescreen, I was not sure how it would look on my 42" HDTV...but, not to worry folks if you also may be wondering...it is beyond gorgeous, it's Magnificent and must be seen!My second worry was "how is this going to work, really, as live action and cgi blended together, and how would it all sound as well? Again, it turns out as arguably the most beautiful Disney release for a great many years (wow huh?)!!The cast....practically takes your breath away when you see just how many time-honored and loved actors and actresses appear and delight with their presence and acting skills! Singing!...that's right, they are Singing, and Dancing, and pouring themselves into this most beautiful Disney marvel!▪ Emma Watson as Belle▪ Dan Stevens as The Prince / Beast▪ Luke Evans as Gaston▪ Kevin Kline as Maurice – Belle's father.▪ Josh Gad as LeFou▪ Ewan McGregor as Lumière▪ Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza▪ Ian McKellen as Cogsworth▪ Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts▪ Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe▪ Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette▪ Nathan Mack as Chip▪ Hattie Morahan as Agathe▪ Adrian Schiller as Monsieur D'Arque▪ Gerard Horan as Monsieur Jean Potts▪ Haydn Gwynne as Clothilde▪ Michael Jibson as the Tavern Keeper▪ Ray Fearon as Père Robert▪ Sophie Reid, Rafaëlle Cohen, and Carla Nella as the Village Lasses▪ Jimmy Johnston, Dean Street, and Alexis Loizon as Tom, Dick, and Stanley – Gaston's henchmen.▪ Zoe Rainey as Belle's mother▪ Clive Rowe as Cuisinier▪ Thomas Padden as Chapeau▪ Henry Garrett as The King▪ Harriet Jones as The QueenThe cgi work is so believable it's unbelievable....(clever description intro, huh?) every character, article, etc., of cgi imaging is breathtaking in its beautiful, reality-fitting splendor from the computer artists! Was I delighted? Beyond what I could have possibly imagined.....I was thrilled and pleased throughout the entire film! The hype and trash heaped upon this movie because of ----'s performance was unfair and crossly wasted words and judgements! My God people get over it!!! Nothing was overtly presented nor was it out of place! So, folks, you can totally disregard the trash from those (quick to label and judge you-know-who's) that heaped judgement on this film at the time of its theater run and also below here in these reviews!Beautiful throughout, every aspect of it! Valuable, worthwhile entertaining film that will delight people of all ages (I resisted "children of all ages" here!).I loved this film tonight as I watched it in this initial blu ray disc release. I will most assuredly obtain it again when the 3-D version gets released as well as I am completely sure it will be worthy of this extra enhancement technical marvel!The extras here are awesome and so very pertinent although excised from the film. Some are screamingly hilarious! There is the music video "Beauty & the Beast" that was released concurrently with the films theatrical release, an interview with Celine Dion, and many of the actors and creative members involved with the film. A truly great presentation of film and extras making a truly generous package!One thing I will say, is that I am greatly jealous of those that got to see it in its I-Max presentation in the theater as no television view can recreate this sort of experience.You will not now or ever regret acquiring this masterpiece!~operabruin

DVD , Right on time. Like new, plays perfect 🤗

Since the plot is so well-known, I'll touch on details and minutiae that made this film more meaningful for me. Like many, many others, I loved the original animated version, but, still, it IS a cartoon. The difference in the empathy and emotion drawn forth by having human actors is amazing. I FELT Kevin Kline's aching sense of loss for his beloved dead wife; Belle's impatience at the constricts of living in a provincial village; Gaston's insufferable self-love, the Beast's anguish at the predicament that he KNOWS is of his own making, the castle's inhabitants grief and regret at not having helped the prince be a better person..The settings recalled the real darkness of the original French fairy tale. The prince is a prisoner of his own arrogance, selfishness and anger, and the intricacies of the Beast's cursed castle show that so well, metaphorically: everything is entangled and entwined with sharp, brittle branches and dark, dark, dark. The scenes where Belle and he begin to interact to get to know each other become well-lit and brighter, as if the Beast is slowly letting go of his own destructive tendencies. The mob scene is truly horrifying, as I could feel the hatred that Gaston is whipping up, and the villagers so quickly fall for. The obvious "lessons" are here as well: appearances are not all there is to a person as well as (sorry, Lloyd Weber fans) love changes everything.The humor is still here, as is the wonderful score of the original. But the score is so much more lush and full, and the three new numbers enhance both the plot and the character development very well. The opening prologue shows in just a few minutes how shallow and self-satisfied the prince is. "How Do You Hold a Memory" is so achingly sad (and I'll be some imagineer at Disney had a fabulous time making the clock that Belle's father is working on). "Days in the Sun" could be about any regret of not grabbing every chance you can to learn about and/or live life as fully as your circumstances allow. And what can be said about "Evermore"? As many versions of this fairy tale as I've read and/or seen, nothing else captures the agony of the Beast's finally finding love and realizing that, for his beloved's happiness, he must give her up, knowing full well what that will mean to and for him. Yup, I cried."Beauty and the Beast" has always been for me, the quintessential romantic fairy tale. This rendition captures all the romance, pain, love, and self-sacrifice that the best fairy and folk tales offer in explanation of the human condition.A couple of small details: some commenters have pointed out that Belle' favorite book is "Romeo and Juliet," a play written in the 1600s, and the fact that her mother dies some twenty years before of plague (probably the Black Death), which they assert happened in the mid 1300s. I have just finished listening to a set of lectures on the Black Death (available from The Great Courses), and that outbreak was neither the first nor the last outbreak of the plague. The plague (of which there were three variations) returned many times through out the centuries. Cases still appear today, in the US as well as other parts of the world.There are antibiotics now to stop it, but the symptoms are so little known/recognized and the disease so fast-acting that those who contract it often die before a correct diagnosis is made.The other comment seems to be that the library in the town is not well stocked with books. Historically, it wouldn't necessarily be: even though printing had been around for a century or so, books were still nowhere as readily available as they are today. As well, not many people in that town would be literate nor interested. Remember that Belle was harassed for teaching another little girl to read.

Nice quality and was delivered fast! Never bought a used DVD before but will from this place again!