The Sound of Music (Single Disc Full Screen Edition ) [DVD]

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I own the Widescreen version, but my mom doesn't like it. She hates the black bars on the top and bottom. I tried to explain to her that nowadays, they're doing Widescreen because they're including the left and right sides of the screen they previously cut off to fit the old square TVs. Now that TVs are becoming more wider, movies are being released on DVD in Widescreen format.My mom said she still wants to have the Full Screen version of this movie so that it fits the entire screen (without black bars). So I ordered a used copy of this! I have compared it with my Widescreen DVD and it DOES cut off the left and right side of the movie, as I assumed it would. But it does not make the DVD any less enjoyable. The quality is crisp and the sound is excellent. I'm really glad I own BOTH versions of this movie. The Sound of Music is my favorite and is the only movie I own both versions of.There's really no special features on it, except 1 commentary. But is worth having if you're a fan!

One of the all time great movies that was ever made was the 1965 musical, "The Sound of Music." It certainly is one of my favorite films, but it is also one of the best examples of how history gets hacked to pieces to make it more commercial. As a result, I don't think I can ever watch that movie in the same way again. The basic saying in Hollywood is that when you have to make a choice between the facts and the legend, always choose the legend. So how much do you know about the movie's main character Maria Von Trapp as fact--and not legend? You think you know the story. An inept nun gets sent to become a governess for a man with many children, and she ends up falling in love with him, and marrying him much to the adoring approval by the children. Together, they flee the Nazis and live happily ever after. End of story, right? Not even close. This is legend, the kind of stuff Hollywood likes to show. Here are the facts--what Hollywood likes to stay away from."The Sound of Music" MOVIE takes place in the late 1930s, but Maria was born in 1905, and was raised by some relatives in an athiestic/socialistic home. Her "father" told her the Bible was just full of fictional stories, but when Maria entered a church thinking she would hear some classical music, she heard instead a sermon on the Bible that so moved her she joined a monistary. This was in 1924. If the time frame provided in "The Sound of Music" movie was accurate, Maria would have been a novice nun from 1924 to around 1939. Surely, no one can be an inept nun for that long of a time.There was a decision to send Maria to the home of retired WWI submarine captain Georg von Trapp, but her position was not as governess to all the children, as the movie portrayed, but specifically to the captain's daughter who was bedridden with rheumatic fever. Maria never returned to the convent, and married the Captain on November 26, 1927. She entered the Abby in 1924--not that long after WWI.Captain Von Trapp was born in 1880, and Maria married him in 1927. Now let us do the math. The Captain was 47 years of age at the time; Maria was just 22 years of age. This sounds like something you would read about in Hollywood, where some 70 year old actor marries a giirl barely out of high school and becomes a father for the first time.When Maria married Captain Von Trap in 1927, the Captain had just twenty years to live. Such was their age difference. He died in 1947 at age 67. Maria at the time of his death was 35. According to the movie, the kids adored Maria, but in reality their first impression was one of resentment, and with the age difference its easy to see why. Here we have a 47 year old man producing three children with a 22 year old woman --maybe better described as a "young girl." People today might accuse him of being a cradle robber, but perhaps times were different. The kids wanted to hang on to their memories of their real mother--not substitute them for this young thing.But think in terms of making a film about this. Is it as romantic for a 47 year old man to be married to a 22 year old? And how would you film a sequal? Their love was central to the story, and who wants to make a sequal where the man dies about 7-8 years after they were married--by Sound of Music time?And you know how wealthy Captain Von Trapp was? In reality, he lost most of his money when the banks crashed in 1932. The kids had to go to work to help support the family.Then consider how Captain Von Trapp was portrayed in the film. He was stern and cold, while Maria was warm and loving. In reality, one of the children descrbes the situation as just the opposite. The Captain was warm and loving, while Maria was dominating and pushy--hardly the Julie Andrews type.OK. Just enjoy the movie. They don't make songs like these anymore.

I love the orchestra and the fact that it was based on a true story

I saw this when I was a kid on a school trip. I loved it then, and I love it now.It shows what a true family is.

Delightful, refreshing, wonderful story.

Re ie rd in perfect working order

In general a joy to behold - from the music to the scenery to the fine cast.

Everything was great with this movie. Worked well

Love!!