Movie Review # 450: The Sound Of Music (1965)

Hi everyone! Welcome to another session of movie reviewing. Well, today, we have hit yet another milestone, as we have now come upon 450 movie reviews. For this special review, we are going to be reviewing a film that I was not originally going to have be the episode of this movie reviewing series. In fact, I had originally intended to review a different film for my 450th film review. In the end, however, because I wanted to try to watch this film sometime this year, and this particular movie is such a classic film, I decided to make a change of plans, and make this the film the one that I would review around now. So, without further ado, here is my review of one of the most legendary films, and one of the best movie musicals, The Sound Of Music.

Plot: Set in 1938, shortly before WWII, in Salzburg, Germany, a nun named Maria (Julie Andrews) is assigned to by the Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) to go be a governess at the home of retired naval officer Captain Georg Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), and his seven children. While there, a couple questions remain: “Will Maria still want to be a nun by the end?”, and “Will Captain Von Trapp, and his children also learn some lessons while Maria is around temporarily as well?”

Okay, I remember first seeing this film all the way through back around the early, or mid-2000s, sometime like that (I had at least watched bits, and pieces of the film before then). After that, I’ve seen it a few times either all the way through, or certain parts of the movie. One way, or another, I definitely remember really enjoying The Sound Of Music. Now, watching it again in it’s entirety years later, does the film still hold up? Wow, I’m delighted to say very much so. In fact, if you liked some of the other movie musicals like South Pacific, Fiddler On The Roof, Oklahoma, or some of those films from the 1950s through the 1970s, or shortly after, chances are you’ll really enjoy this film too. First off, even if, much like movie musicals such as 2017’s The Greatest Showman, The Sound Of Music also has some inaccuracies here and there, the story is amazingly well-paced. You can tell from the start that the makers of this film definitely wanted to take advantage of the fact that this film had a running time of 175 minutes. The story is well done, the characters are developed as much as each of them need to be, and the music is so great. Yeah, especially when it comes to the music, how can one not like songs such as the title track, “Climb Every Mountain,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and others, for instance? Also, considering that some of those songs have been used in music classes, and have been sung in schools, and likely even other public places, that most likely says a lot for the music of this film. As for the characters, like I said, they are developed really well. First off, these characters are ones that you really sympathize with, due to some of them having struggles, and inner turmoil within themselves for different reasons. Seeing as that helps portray them as being humans, and flawed, it helps make those characters all the more likable, and memorable, you know? Not to mention that such good qualities could potentially could raise even animated family films like Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, Zootopia, or even Tarzan to the next level. Of course those films were still good on their own. Still, when a movie like The Sound Of Music has an opportunity to live, and breathe for an extra half an hour to an hour, if not more, why not take advantage of such an opportunity, you know? Well, good thing that this film definitely seized such an opportunity! Now about the inaccuracies! Even if there were some inaccuracies to this film, at least it still does well with remaining faithful to the key points of this film. Oh, and how could you not love the spectacular scenery throughout the course of this film? Additionally, the movie does provide some good lessons, including one about how things like communism aren’t exactly the best idea. There’s also the whole deal about not letting hardships, and difficulties not letting one get bitter, but rather, better. One other good lesson to learn from this film is, especially if you’re a Christian, you may be one of those Christians that may be skeptical when it comes to certain issues, or situations in life, maybe being flexible about some of those situations, you know? Oh, and the script is brilliant throughout this film, especially when it comes to conversations that occur between any two people during certain points in the film. One other thing that I would like to mention is how Maria can most likely be an upgrade from most, if not all of the Disney female leads of a Disney animated film. Oh, is that hard to believe? Well, let’s recap! The main female lead here sings about wanting more in life, and things like that. However, one of the main differences here is that she has good mentors, and God is incorporated in situations like this, you know? One other thing to mention is how the acting is splendid. Julie Andrews, and Christopher Plummer truly deliver well with this film. Seeing as the former had her hands full even with Mary Poppins the year before, it’s obvious she was committed to performing well even in this film.

And that’s my review for The Sound Of Music. This film is spectacular, whether it be with the songs, the characters, and the story overall. If you want a story with really great songs, and other great elements to go along with it, I’m not so sure that you could go wrong with a film like this one. If you haven’t seen The Sound Of Music yet, please make it a point to do so! You will not regret it, that’s for certain!

Final Grade: A+