Tommy

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Tommy

PG

1975

1h 51m

Musical

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Popcornmeter

71%

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92 Reviews

71%

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25,000+ Ratings

After seeing his stepfather murder his father during an argument over his mother, young Tommy goes into shock, suddenly becoming psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind. As a teenager, Tommy stumbles upon a pinball machine and discovers he is a natural prodigy at the game. Fame and fortune follow for Tommy, as he becomes a pinball champion and later the messiah of a religious cult, which views his pinball skills as a miraculous sign of divine intervention.

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Critics Consensus

Tommy is as erratic and propulsive as a game of pinball, incorporating The Who's songs into an irreverent odyssey with the visual imagination that only director Ken Russell can conjure.

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Martin Knelman

Globe and Mail

Russell smashes everything he touches, but there's no affirmation; he smashes because he enjoys destruction.

Oct 8, 2025

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Phil Strassberg

Arizona Republic

Not all the "arias" work, though all are given spectacular, kaleidoscopic production values under Russell's shrewd and resourceful direction.

Apr 24, 2025

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Charles Champlin

Los Angeles Times

"Tommy" is an overwhelming, thunderous, almost continuously astonishing achievement, coherent and consistent from first frames to last.

Mar 19, 2025

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Lou Cedrone

Baltimore Sun

As imaginative and exciting as it is stunning.

Oct 7, 2025

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Tom Hutchinson

Radio Times

Stridency, both vocal and visual, is all, and Roger Daltrey's Tommy is flattened by the weight of celebrity (Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Jack Nicholson and Tina Turner), but it's still worth watching just for its reputation.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 31, 2025

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Boris Nelson

Toledo Blade

The purpose of all of this as entertainment escapes me completely.

Aug 20, 2025

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john w

The greatest rock opera of all time by the greatest band of all time .

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/14/25

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Bob D

Great as a vehicle to revisit a great album by The Who. Production seems cheaply shot and poorly acted, except for Ann-Margret, who is simply fantastic in every scene. In the 70's, I thought this was blasphemous. Now, it seems like a revelatory critique of westernized religiousness.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/17/25

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Jim E

Some of the acting was good.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/28/25

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Audience M

One of the best music films ever made! The Who is my favorite rock band and has been since I was 14 years old. classic rock fans need to see this film, it's one of the 70s greats! 5 stars!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/18/25

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Tara J

Brilliant and underrated. While some people will not understand the symbolism or the technique embodied in this movie, it has stood the test of time. I wish more movies like this was made and people really appreciated the depths of a rock symphony!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

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Stefano L

Despite its excruciatingly exhausting length and excruciatingly dated music (as well as excruciatingly dubious on screen singing talents), Tommy is a Humanistic epic masterpiece transcending fictional biography and entering the primal realm of myth, symbol, dream, and ancient archetype. Incredibly inventive and exacting in its details, Tommy is a sprawling Baroque work of art that never loses its heart or head amid its own twisting maze - and circles itself with robustly satisfying symmetry. Ken Russell managed to invent music videos before music videos. Where other classic musicals present one or two iconic camera shots, Russell serves up literally dozens, with surprise after surprise set up. This fundamentally spiritual tale, like it or not, will easily stand the test of the ages.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/25

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Synopsis

After seeing his stepfather murder his father during an argument over his mother, young Tommy goes into shock, suddenly becoming psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind. As a teenager, Tommy stumbles upon a pinball machine and discovers he is a natural prodigy at the game. Fame and fortune follow for Tommy, as he becomes a pinball champion and later the messiah of a religious cult, which views his pinball skills as a miraculous sign of divine intervention.

Director: Ken Russell
Producer: Robert Stigwood, Ken Russell
Screenwriter: Ken Russell
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Hemdale Film Corporation [us]
Rating: PG
Genre: Musical
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 19, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 1h 51m
Sound Mix: Surround

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