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Movies / On DVD / Across the Universe
Across the Universe

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Across the Universe (2007)

54%
50%
79%
N/A
N/A
N/A
54 %
Reviews Counted: 141 Fresh: 76  Rotten:65 Average Rating: 5.9/10
 
Consensus: Psychedelic musical numbers can't mask Across the Universe's clichéd love story and uninteresting characters.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins

Theatrical Release: Sep 14, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $24,343,673

Synopsis: The Beatles' songs may have provided the soundtrack for the lives of those coming of age in the 1960s, but their extensive catalogue acts as the literal soundtrack in this romantic musical from visionary director Julie Taymor. Newcomer Jim Sturgess stars as Jude, a young man working on the... The Beatles' songs may have provided the soundtrack for the lives of those coming of age in the 1960s, but their extensive catalogue acts as the literal soundtrack in this romantic musical from visionary director Julie Taymor. Newcomer Jim Sturgess stars as Jude, a young man working on the docks in Liverpool. Eager to escape, he travels to Princeton where he meets Max (Joe Anderson). But it's his meeting with Max's younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) that changes him. They quickly fall in love, but their relationship is tested by the chaos of the late 1960s and Max's unwilling tour in Vietnam. Throughout the film, characters burst into classics from the Beatles: frat boys sing "With a Little Help from My Friends," while Uncle Sam bursts from a recruitment poster with strains of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." U2's Bono makes a cameo as a counterculture leader and croons "I Am the Walrus," and actor-comedian Eddie Izzard provides a trippy rendition of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite." Sturgess has the voice, charm, and good looks to fill Shea Stadium with hordes of screaming young women. As Jude, he's earnest and certainly capable of carrying the film. Wood capably balances Lucy's naiveté and knowledge, easily moving between her love for Jude and her passion for her cause. Though the performances are strong, it's Taymor's gifted direction that makes ACROSS THE UNIVERSE so fascinating to watch. As in FRIDA and Broadway's THE LION KING, she proves herself an artist with creativity few can match. Director of photography Bruno Delbonnel also deserves praise for his contribution to the striking visuals. He has worked with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on AMELIE and A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, and he brings the same sense of romance and whimsy to this unique musical. [More]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy

Director: Julie Taymor
Screenwriter: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Story: Julie Taymor, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Producer: Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd, Matthew Gross
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 5, 2008

[DVD Details]

Blu-ray Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.40

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, Portuguese, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English, French, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai - Optional

Additional Release Materials:

  • Featurettes - 1. "Creating the Universe"
  • 2. "Stars of Tomorrow"
  • 3. "All About the Music"
  • 4. "Moving Through the Universe"
  • 5. "FX on the Universe"
  • 6. "Two Live Performances of 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite'"

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
47/100

chooses cheesy and nostalgic mis-en-scene over meaningful engagement with the musical material. A terrible disappointment.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/02/08
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image
2/4

'Across the Universe' is whimsical silliness, imaginatively constructed but precious and gratingly excessive.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/10/08
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
Ratings Image
6/10

Across the Universe doesn't completely work, but when it does, you're in for one wild and wonderful ride.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette
Ratings Image
A-

The DVD two-disk set gives us the remarkable movie plus lots of extras

Full Review | comment Comment
02/07/08
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/07/08
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders
Ratings Image
3/5

Proves compelling enough to give meaning to the whole as a successful experiment and stylization, if predictable and sentimental.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/04/08
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
Ratings Image
4/4

For my money, give me the original songs and a beer any day, but for a cute treat with a linear story and engaging characters, I suggest "Across the Universe"...

Full Review | comment Comment
02/04/08
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
Ratings Image
2.5/4

It's a dicey proposition to reverse-engineer a story, and Across the Universe shows the strain...[nonetheless] a very impressive music-video anthology. [DVD review included.]

Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/08
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
Ratings Image
1/6

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
01/18/08
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
B

While the story is not entirely coherent, the great Beatles music and numerous effective cast musical performances makes up for the film's narrative weakness.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/09/08
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Ratings Image
3/5

Uma obra frustrante, mas suficientemente curiosa para merecer uma pouco efusiva recomendação.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/07
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image
C

Misses by the size of the Atlantic Ocean in getting to what the Beatles were about.

Full Review | comment 5 Comments
11/18/07
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Thoroughly entertaining and delightfully tuneful, this fun little film will have you singing to yourself for days afterwards.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/07/07
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews
Ratings Image
2/4

an ambitious mess of a movie that stretches a thin premise across a bold canvas, resulting in moments of near ecstasy mixed with a nagging lack of emotional involvement

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
11/03/07
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Ratings Image
4/5

It's more than a nostalgia trip. The real pleasure lies in Taymor's ability to make it all seem brand new.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/02/07
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
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N/A

Whatever one thinks of it, it’s clear that this film isn’t made from a recipe for mainstream American embrace.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
10/27/07
Brent Simon
FilmStew.com
Ratings Image
N/A

Julie Taymor's adventure in Beatle-land is a huge success, ripping the songs that defined a generation and its (dashed) hopes for peace in a microcosm of a love story

Full Review | comment Comment
10/27/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Ratings Image
2/4

The jump the shark moment: Weary soldiers tote the Statue of Liberty across a tabletop Vietnam to the strains of the 'She's So Heavy' chorus from 'Abbey Road.'

Full Review | comment 3 Comments
10/25/07
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Ratings Image
A

This addictive and ambitious little pic will help you remember why you loved the Beatles so much in the first place.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/07
Danny Minton
Beaumont Journal
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