Rocketman

I loved this movie. I don’t know why it took me so many years to finally watch it. I think with MICHAEL coming out recently I decided to watch a bunch of biopics. I’m glad I did. I’m glad I watched this one. It was done entirely in a unique way. I absolutely loved it. Taron was brilliant and deserved an Oscar for his performance. The music was stunning. I bought the soundtrack too. That’s how much I loved this movie. I’m happy to add it to my collection.

Rocketman is a very different take on a biopic, loosely telling a fantasy version of the life of Elton John. It was directed by Dexter Fletcher and stars Taron Egerton as Elton John, Jamie Bell as his musical partner Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as Elton's manager and lover John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton's mother. As one of the producers said in the behind-the-scenes material, it is a biopic that is not a biopic, and a musical that is not a musical. It starts out with Elton in rehab, relating events from his life at a group meeting. Then we see the events play out in flashbacks that every so often breaks out in musical numbers. The songs used in the movie (mostly his songs from the 1970s) were selected from Elton's vast catalog of music but were not exactly tied to the time frame that the events in his life actually occurred. For example, the movie shows the song Saturday Night's all right for Fighting being played before Elton and Taupin ever meet. The songs were used mostly to fit with particular scenes in the story, not to convey when in his career they were actually released. Also, the movie does not tell events exactly as they happened or when they happened. For example, the final act of the movie shows Elton leaving rehab using the song I'm Still Standing which was released in 1983, yet he actually went to rehab in 1990. Even though the movie is a more "fantasy" telling of Elton's life, using actual events but often times putting a different spin on them, it does convey the mess his life was as he was coming to terms with his sexuality, using and abusing drugs and alcohol, and his issues with food, as well as his rather horrible family. Bryce Dallas Howard does a wonderful job playing Elton's mother and certainly gives the impression that she saw him just as a meal-ticket. For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc only has the movie, and all the extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. Those include about 20 minutes of deleted scenes, a handful of making-of featurettes, a version of the movie that will display the song lyrics during the musical numbers, and a version of the movie that just plays the musical numbers. All-in-all a very good amount of bonus material for those who like to watch it. Overall, the movie is very good. While I do think it would have worked as a more "traditional" biopic, without having musical numbers where everyone in the scene breaks out into song, I get why the choice was made to do it that way. Taron Egerton not only does a great acting job playing Elton, but he also sang all the songs, and not just lip-synching to the real songs. This allowed them to re-arrange the songs to help tell the story yet still keep the character of the original songs. For many of the songs, they were arranged to start differently and then transition to sound more like the album versions. While I cannot say that the movie is going to appeal to everyone, if you are a fan of Elton John's music and/or know a bit about his life, it is definitely worth checking out.

very entertaining, great music and storyline

I ordered this so I could watch it again.

Rocketman is a film about the heartbreaking life of Elton John, and how he came back still standing in the end. Yes it is a musical, but what many people seem to misunderstand is that the songs help tell his story. Each song helps capture the moment or explain the emotions within each scene, so you can get a 2nd view on how the events impacted him. This film really got to me and helped me figure out who I am deep down as well. It gives one the strength and inspiration to get out of their shell of hell; to make a life for themselves. Elton John was played by the incredibly talented actor, Taron Egerton. Not only did he capture the view of younger Elton nearly spot on, but he was able to show us the emotions Elton himself dealt with, even by looking at us with no words to be spoken. Jamie Bell as Bernie and Richard Madden as John topped off the cake completely with their charming smiles, quirks and their brilliant interpretations of whom they were portraying. Every actor left my mind blown. Just give it a try. With enough attention this film could really teach you something you never thought you'd realize.

This review is not about the movie itself. Rocketman is a biopic about a musical icon, so naturally you might want to expect that there is music in it (that's for anyone who might be shocked to learn this is a musical?). Personally, I love the movie, and I saw it multiple times in the theater. I was REALLY looking forward to seeing all the extras, including the extended musical sequences (!!!) and deleted scenes. If you're looking to buy Rocketman, you should know that there are exactly ZERO extras in the standard DVD version. I felt this was a little unclear in the online descriptions. I can now confirm that it is true. The packaging is a slap in the face that chastises you for choosing the DVD over the Blu-Ray, even though many of us may only have the capabilities to play the standard DVD. Should we really have to upgrade our whole system simply to watch the extras of a movie?? The standard DVD also comes in the cheapest packaging available. I've really never seen such a badly packaged mega-hit movie. The picture and sound quality are fine, but there's really no good reason to not include any extras. Hell, I'm willing to pay more than $18 (the price of the DVD) to get a standard DVD that includes all the secret, exclusive extras only Blu-Ray or digital viewers have been deemed worthy of seeing! That being said, the best deal is the Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital package, which was approximately $5.00 more (I bought both versions - $41 total, Paramount!). That has one standard DVD, one Blu-Ray disc, and instructions on how to redeem your digital video. But, once again, all 75+ minutes of extras are secreted on the Blu-Ray disc. Paramount should be ashamed of their deceptive handling of this release. (No, I don't have a Blu-Ray player or plans to buy one any time soon. I'm keeping both disc versions for some distant moment when I will have the opportunity to unlock the secret content, but, from now on, I will probably get all my DVDs from the library.)

Take care which disc you buy. Not all will play on US Blu-Ray players. This particular disc will play correctly in the USA without problems.

Great and somewhat sad film

4KUHD + Blu-ray (輸入盤) 4KUHD に情報通り日本語字幕、吹替有ります。（もちろんディズニーではないので歌唱部は原語です。） 歌唱部にも字幕があるので日本語・英語の切り替えができます。 Blu-ray に日本語は有りませんが、映画を観た方は内容を把握していれば、ミュージカルがメインだと思われるので問題は小さいと思います。 映像特典はミュージック拡張版4曲、削除&拡張版10シーン、インタビューやメイキング計44分、シングアロング(色が変わる)13曲分、ジュークボックスなどです。インタビューは日本語がないのでよくわかりませんが、英語は表示できるので皆さんは頑張って翻訳してください。 劇場公開は日本は3ヶ月遅れたので、でも待ちきれない人は是非挑戦してください。その価値はあると思います。(後はサイフと相談)

This is a sort of biopic of Sir Elton John`s life in movie form, the singing and the music is fabulous and just like being at his concert! The actor`s who portray all of the parts are magnificent including Taron Egerton who plays Elton and who sings all of the music by him! The executive producer is Elton John himself as he wanted the film to be historically correct, it has many sad parts but also some very happy and enjoyable parts too?! I enjoyed watching this film so much and have watched it 3 x times already!! Don`t hesitate, just buy it, you won`t be disappointed!

Sin ser fan de Elton John, si te gusta la música (buena de verdad, no lo que hacen algunos), ésta película debes tenerla. Con audio en Castellano y la calidad es impresionante, y con un precio que no llega a los 10€. Nada más verla a ese precio la pedí, desde el Reino Unido, tardó cuatro días pero mercer mucho la pena.

Très bon film sur la vie d'Elton John

Nothing else to add the 4k disc is superb as is the film.