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West Side Story

Play trailer Poster for West Side Story Released Oct 18, 1961 2h 31m Musical Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 114 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated when a gang members falls in love with a rival's sister.
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West Side Story

West Side Story

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Critics Consensus

Buoyed by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen.

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Critics Reviews

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Louis Cook Detroit Free Press One of the lovely things about West Side Story is Rita Moreno, whose acting and dancing are elegant. Chakiris is darkly handsome and effective, and Tamblyn is great on the dancing. Dec 2, 2021 Full Review Marjory Adams Boston Globe It roars with the hatreds of street battle. It twinkles with joyous motion which turns into fierce agitation as the stresses of misunderstanding speed the players into an uncontrollable maelstrom. Dec 2, 2021 Full Review Stanley Kauffmann The New Republic It is Robbins' vision -- of city life expressed in stylized movement that sometimes flowers into dance and song -- that lifts this picture high. Dec 2, 2021 Full Review Mark Johnson Awards Daily Loaded with innumerable and distinguished songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (each one an earworm of its own), West Side Story is a tale of race and social decorum and is an incredibly inventive adaptation of the legendary Shakespeare story. Jun 8, 2023 Full Review Pauline Kael Film Quarterly This is a movie that pretends to deal with racial tensions. The lyrics keep telling us this is what it's about and the critics seem to accept the authors' word for it. Jul 29, 2022 Full Review David Reddish Queerty The film version of West Side Story often pops up on Greatest Movie of All Time lists thanks to its unique blending of realism & metaphorical dance and performances by Oscar-winners Chakaris and, in particular, Rita Moreno. Rated: 4/4 Mar 20, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews
kevin c Classic. Don't see how Speilburg can make this better Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/21 Full Review Michael The film was great of course. But I want to thank Hawthorne 12 theater (Vernon Hills, Illinois) and Fathom for the presentation. Print of film was new beautiful, the colors were hot—-and there were no glitches. Well presented. Even intermission was handled well ( with time on screen) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/21 Full Review cathie This is my all-time favorite movie that I’ve loved since I first saw it in 1975. I lost count how many times I watched this movie, and tonight was no disappointment. The seats are so comfortable and the theater was perfect for this movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/21 Full Review Hannah P Loved the movie! My friend enjoyed it too! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/29/21 Full Review Paul horrible. the theater couldn't log in to show the movie. received an error message that either the broadcast was unavailable due to maintenance or access was unauthorized. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 11/29/21 Full Review Robert B I really appreciated the Orchestra accompanying the scene of sexual abuse with exciting bursts of energy it helped convey that such an act is quite mean. daddy o Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/10/24 Full Review Read all reviews
West Side Story

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Cast & Crew

West Side Story

West Side Story: Official Clip - I Feel Pretty West Side Story: Official Clip - I Feel Pretty 2:45 West Side Story: Official Clip - Challenge to a Rumble West Side Story: Official Clip - Challenge to a Rumble 2:04 West Side Story: Official Clip - Killed By Hate West Side Story: Official Clip - Killed By Hate 2:51 West Side Story: Official Clip - The Jets Own the Streets West Side Story: Official Clip - The Jets Own the Streets 2:04 West Side Story: Official Clip - Love At First Sight West Side Story: Official Clip - Love At First Sight 2:44 West Side Story: Official Clip - Maria West Side Story: Official Clip - Maria 2:34 West Side Story: Official Clip - Cool West Side Story: Official Clip - Cool 3:16 West Side Story: Official Clip - America West Side Story: Official Clip - America 3:59 West Side Story: Official Clip - Somewhere West Side Story: Official Clip - Somewhere 2:28 West Side Story: Official Clip - Tonight West Side Story: Official Clip - Tonight 4:28 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated when a gang members falls in love with a rival's sister.
Director
Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Producer
Robert Wise
Screenwriter
Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Ernest Lehman
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
United Artists, Mirisch Films, Beta Productions
Genre
Musical
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 18, 1961, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 20, 2015
Runtime
2h 31m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track
Aspect Ratio
70mm
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