The Greatest Show on Earth

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This Old G Lots of spectacle and daring do. the highlight of the film is the spectacular train wreck these are all the best parts of the movie everything else pretty forgettable. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/19/24 Full Review Blu B The only way I can see this being a Best Picture winner is if you turn your brain off and just focus on the lavish colors, production values, and pur spectacle. In that regard yeah it's a masterpiece but this is all sizzle and no steak. The pacing is terrible, it starts out entertaining enough kind of like your actually watching a circus and it's not half bad but than it just starts to drag because the circus act scenes just start to get repetitive because you've seen it already and the drama never adds up to anything. Rinse and repeat, drama than a long 10 plus minute take of the circus performance that adds nothing to the story and if it does has no reason to be as long as it is. This easily should've been 90 minutes. The editing isn't good either. It feels like your watching a compilation of circus performances mixed with a bad melodrama about characters that is done Robert Altman style but isn't skilled enough to make it all work. None of the storylines really ever add up to anything meaningful and it feels like there really isn't any central character ot theme to any of it. Everything else is just ok. The music is a mix of circus music and generic Golden Era sounding tracks. The production value is insane but it gets so repetitive at points when it shows the tricks because you've seen it all before and it does work at first. The drama is so over the top at points like Buttons being a killer and the train crash. This really shows DeMilles worst tendencies as a director for bombastic productions but lacking substance. This should have just been a 90 minute compilation of circus performances and make it into a musical hybrid. It still owuld'nt be a masterpiece but at least it would'nt be the bloated unfocused over the top mess it is. I really can't recommend this to anyone. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/03/24 Full Review Selene P This was a classic my grandmother and I loved to watch. It won an Academy Award for best picture. It gives you drama, theatrics, secrecy and music. You get a better appreciation for the Ringling Bros circus acts. I watch it with my daughter now. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/27/23 Full Review Patricia G The good kind of movie with love, mystery and excitement without bad language and gore Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/21/23 Full Review Pam K This movie is a history lesson on the now bygone days of the circus. What a spectacular show they put on back in their heyday. I'm old enough to have witnessed a three ring circus and It was thrilling! The story line isn't all that interesting but the massive size of the circus with all the animals and performers certainly is. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review CodyZamboni Watchable, but overlong circus soap opera. The story bored me. I was more fascinated by the logistics of doing a circus ---- setting it up, taking it down, and taking it on the road. And I was really happy to see Gloria Grahame ---- sooo pretty and sexy. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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