SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Hitchcoc In this Melies film, he stays pretty true to the legend. A man who has managed a great fortune, talks another man into giving him his daughter in marriage. She resists, but the financial gains clinch the deal. They have a really interesting wedding feast with huge foodstuffs. Now he takes her into the courtyard and tells her the whole castle is hers, except for the one room. He gives her a key but forbids her to use it. Of course, she does and realizes what her fate is going to be--there are seven women hanging in the room (pretty harsh stuff). Anyway, it is now up to her to be enterprising and survived. The conclusion is a bit scattered, but it's fun anyway.

MartinHafer For 1901, this is a completely extraordinary film. No other film director or producer of the time could even come close to equaling the complexity and watchability of his films. Think about it--in 1901 when this film was made, almost all films were only about a minute long (more or less) and almost all of them were just ordinary films featuring ordinary activities (such as babies crying, waterfalls or street scenes). There was absolutely no writing, no plot and no acting as we came to know it. Yet, at the same time we have films like BLUEBEARD that have wonderful sets (kind of kitchy compared to today--I really think they are cute and charming), acting and scripts! Plus, after about the first half of this film, you'll see the absolute best trick cinematography of the era!! When the little imp jumps in and out of the book, the horrific scene of the seven dead wives hanging in the basement and the amazing not to be missed final scene you realize that for his time, Méliès was an absolute genius and tremendous innovator. The only negative at all about this film was the lack of inter-title cards--something that you can't blame him for since they hadn't yet come into vogue. Brilliant and every bit as wonderful as his 1902 breakout film Le Voyage dans le Lune.If you want to see this film online, go to Google and type in "Méliès" and then click the video button for a long list of his films that are viewable without special software.

tavm Bluebeard is one of Georges Melies' most fascinating films not just in the depiction of how the title character lost his first seven wives but also in a fascinating dream sequence involving keys and vision of those wives from his current one. Melies also became the first filmmaker to use product placement when we see a giant wine bottle of a popular French brand during the wedding preparation. There's lots of comedy in the beginning and plenty of action at the end so there's no shortage of excitement in this nine minute short! Melies was obviously on a roll here but it would be a year before he became world famous with what would be his most popular film: A Trip to the Moon. By all means seek Bluebeard out if you're a Melies enthusiast!

Snow Leopard This lavish, well-crafted version of the legend of "Bluebeard" also contains plenty of distinctive touches from the great cinema pioneer Georges Méliès. He must have enjoyed making this story, which offers a good variety of material, and to which he added his own richly detailed background sets and special camera effects.The first half of the story begins with Bluebeard about to be married for the eighth time, and while this part has none of the special effects for which Méliès is usually remembered, it's pretty good without them. The backgrounds are quite interesting, and there is a funny banquet preparation scene that combines wit and slapstick. The second half focuses on the grimmer part of the well-known legend, and in this part there are plenty of good visual effects to go with the story itself.As was often the case with his movies, especially in his earlier years, Méliès planned for a spoken narration to accompany this when it was shown. Actually, the movie is probably good enough that most of it could probably stand on its own, with the possible exception of portions of the earlier scenes. The DVD release does have the narration, which makes sure that you don't miss any of the detail in this imaginative version of the story.