New York, New York (Special Edition)

Released in 1977, Martin Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK instantly divided critical response--and, facing box office competition from no less than STAR WARS, proved a major financial failure. A significantly edited re-release followed not long afterward but proved even less well received and even less profitable. Although a double VHS release eventually brought the film to the home market, the film remained unpopular and made barely a ripple in public consciousness. In 2005, however, NEW YORK, NEW YORK received an unexpected release to DVD. At long last it may begin to reach a significant audience.As a story, NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from a number of oddly "Noir-ish" musicals made at Warner Bros. in the late 1940s. Most particularly, according to Scorsese's commentary, it drew from MY DREAM IS YOURS, a film that not only starred Doris Day but actually reflected her life in its tale of a talented big band "girl singer" trapped in an abusive marriage with a musician. Although the film force-fed the audience a happy ending, later films would not. In the mid-1950s, Doris Day's LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME and Judy Garland's A STAR IS BORN offered stories of a gifted female vocalists locked into disastrous romances that played out to a very distinctly unhappy ending, and NEW YORK, NEW YORK draws from them as well.Scorsese not only repeats the basic stories and themes of these films, he also repeats the artificially heightened visual style typical of Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s--it is no accident that Liza Minnelli looks and sings remarkably like mother Judy Garland in this film--but he does so to an entirely unexpected end. The bravado performing style of such films is completely snatched away, and the characters are presented in an almost documentary-like realism. In theory, each aspect of the film would emphasize the other; in fact, however, this was precisely what critics and audiences disliked about the film when it debuted. They considered it extremely grating.But perhaps the passage of time has opened our eyes on the point. I saw NEW YORK, NEW YORK in its 1977 release and, music aside, I disliked it a great deal. I expected to retain that opinion when I approached the DVD release, but I was greatly surprised. It holds up remarkably well, and most of the time the balance of artifice and reality works very well. But there are significant flaws. In a general sense, the film has a cold feel to it that occasionally becomes so downright chilly you begin to detach from it. But even more difficult is the character of Jimmy Doyle, the abusive husband of the piece.In his commentary, Scorsese notes that both he and actor Robert De Niro sought to push the character far beyond the extremes of MY DREAM IS YOURS, LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, or A STAR IS BORN. They were perhaps more successful than they expected. The result is a character you actively do not want to watch or hear, and although we are eventually allowed to see beyond his annoying qualities that moment comes much too late in the film to make him acceptable in any significant way. It makes for more than one bout of uphill viewing.Even those who didn't like the film in 1977 agreed that it looked good and the music was great, and although it isn't entirely ideal the DVD presentation is quite fine. Scorsese's introduction and commentary are excellent; he is, however, augmented by film critic Carrie Rickey, and while her remarks are often interesting they are a shade to academic in tone for consistent interest. The film has received a director's cut that restores the edits made for the second release as well as the "Happy Ending" number cut before the debut release, so the deleted scenes hold no great treasure; even so, they are interesting to watch.Overall, I recommend the film--but it is very much a "Hollywood Insider" film that is probably best left to those who know a great deal about film history and who can recognize the numerous antecedents from which it draws.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I'll start by rephrasing what I said about the last DVD editionEven the non Special Edition of Boxcar Bertha from the Martin Scorsese Collection was presented in Widescreen , but alas New York, New York was only Letterboxed.It only included the so called restored version of the film which is in reality only one of three versions released.If any film is more deserving than The Abyss for a "watch it the way you want to" DVD release it's New York, New York.The deleated / alternate scenes included did not represent the differences between the first and third versions of the film, nor do they include the scenes deleted from the first release to shorten the running time for the second run release.The Laserdisc Special Edition release had more bonus material than was included on that DVD.Guess we'll have to wait for the Ultimate Edition Boxed set for a truely special edition .In the meantime this one will due.Oct 2007: Pre - order pages are appearing for New York, New York: 30th Anniversary Edition, Reportedly 2 discs. Hopefully it's a vast improvement on the last one.Details are starting to appear :Features Region 1 Keep Case Anamorphic Widescreen Audio: Mono - English, Spanish Dolby Surround 5.1 - English Subtitled - English, French, Spanish - Optional Additional Release Material: Disc 1: NEW YORK NEW YORK - Feature Presentation Alternate Scenes - 1. Alternate Takes 2. Deleted Scenes Audio Commentaries - 1. Martin Scorsese - Director 2. Carrie Rickey - Film Critic Introduction - Martin Scorsese - Director Trailers - 1. Theatrical Trailer 2. Teaser Trailer 3. MGM/UA Previews Text/Photo Galleries: Galleries - 1. French Lobby Cards 2. Original Posters Stills/Photos - 1. Filmmakers, Cast & Crew 2. On Set 3. Research Photos Storyboards Disc 2: NEW YORK NEW YORK - Supplemental Material Additional Release Material: Audio Commentaries - Lazlo Kovacs, ASC - Cinematographer (Select Scenes) Featurettes - 1. "The New York, New York Stories" Part One 2. "The New York, New York Stories" Part Two 3. "Liza on NEW YORK NEW YORK"It still may not be the Ultimate Edition this film should have but in the meantime this one will due.Sadly latest news is it's the same version ( so called director's cut)as the last release only and even the "Liza on New York New York" is abridged.Only 5:35 minutes from a 30 minute segment done for an overseas release taped November 10th, 2003.Shame on them.

Sandwiched between (arguably) the man’s two greatest films (Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) it’s perhaps not surprising that Martin Scorsese’s 1977 musical and 'genre departure’ was (and still is) widely regarded as something of a failed excursion. Certainly, with the ‘full-length’ version running to over 2½ hours, there’s just not enough narrative (or engaging character) variety here to really sustain such a duration (an hour could be pruned quite easily). Having said this, though, the film does score well in a number of areas. I was reminded recently on rewatching Goodfellas of Scorsese’s talent for comedy (yes, honestly!) and here the man’s street-smart New York City sensibility (plus Mardik Martin’s sharp dialogue) shines through, particularly during the film’s opening extended sequence as Robert De Niro’s cocky, swaggering GI and aspiring saxophonist, Jimmy Doyle, attempts to chat up Liza Minnelli’s budding singer, Francine Evans, during the 1945 V-J day celebrations. More generally, De Niro’s acting turn throughout New York, New York is pretty much on a par with (and, character trait-wise, reminiscent of) his other best work for Scorsese (the actor’s comedic Doyle being very much akin to the comedic elements of his Johnny Boy in Mean Streets).Narrative-wise, in keeping with Scorsese’s overall ambition for the film, New York, New York reflects the relatively well-established themes of earlier 'golden era’ Hollywood musicals, namely, creative career differences, love rivalries, inter-personal power struggles, family issues, etc. Where the film does differ from earlier era films of the genre, however, is in De Niro’s harder-edged, less sympathetic (chauvinistic, selfish, etc.) characterisation – Minnelli, by contrast, being largely the more familiar, put-upon, member of the gentler sex. Looks-wise, the film is often quite stunning visually, particularly during the musical numbers, even if László Kovács’ cinematography is rarely called upon to reflect the inventive visual qualities of Scorsese’s best work. On the other hand, the film does not reflect the more OTT artifice of a film like Coppola’s One From The Heart. The extended musical numbers might detract somewhat from the narrative drive, but are still (in the main) highly invigorating, both the more jazzy interludes and Minnelli’s impressive vocal renditions, particularly of The Man I Love, And The World Goes Round and (of course) the finale of the film’s title song.As a slight aside, Scorsese also appears to pay homage during the film to the great British film-maker Michael Powell (of whom Scorsese is an avid fan), assigning the ‘Powell’ moniker to Doyle at one point and including the Happy Endings/Aces High drama within a drama à la The Red Shoes (one of Scorsese’s favourite films). New York, New York is not, for me at least, in the same league as the Powell film but should also not be dismissed entirely out of hand and, incidentally, has a truly memorable ending.

Liza Minnelli is synonymous with the word ' entertainment' and she doesn't disappoint here.Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb & ME all gave this film approximately 3 stars and I’m quite happy to go along with that! It was well worth a watch and quite entertaining. Minnelli plays her typical role, as in her Cabaret and Stepping Out. I thought she and De Nero were excellent as leads.DeNiro did learn a bit of saxophone prior to this film but didn’t actually play on the film - it was dubbed in. He didn’t totally convince me as a musician I have to say? Minnelli only sang one song live on set; the others were recordings, though I have to say that ‘The Man I Love’ & ‘New York, New York’ were absolutely fabulous.The film was not a great success and just about broke even. The one thing I did take away from the film was the lovely wardrobes and the jazzy venues and music. The film was nice on the eye and the music was very good. The film I watched was 2 hours 36 minutes, which did seem a little long at times but the actual film quality was very good.

Love this film. The narcissistic De Niro character finally comes to the realisation that you can't keep a good woman down. The climax of the film being the fantastic song New York, New York ( as it SHOULD be sung - take note Sinatra!) sung by Liza Minnelli.

Unfortunatly Robert DeNero's charactere was so obnoxious I fast forward to the musical numbers. His scenes with Liza Minnelli were all shouting and dragged out far too long. The last half hour was the more concise and entertaining section of this fim for me.

An old classic, As can see why it flopped first time around, as Robert De Niro is not very nice at allBut Liza Minelli, I had forgotten how very good she was. Forget De Niro, and just watch Minelli takeover this film. Happy Endings was cut from the film, but is now back in. Sorry to say its too long anda bit of a mess, in this case I would have left it out.