LeonLouisRicci Ear Piercing Audio, without Dialog, and Visually Overwhelming, this Overblown Rock-Opera Written by Pete Townshend (Oscar nominated), and Directed by Ken Russell, Stars Ann Margret (Oscar nominated), Roger Daltrey (Golden Globe nominated), with a Gaggle of Cameos.The Elton John (Pinball Wizard), Tina Turner (Acid Queen), and Eric Clapton (Preacher) Segments are Highlights but the Movie is on a High of its Own. There was Absolutely Nothing Subtle about The Who, Ken Russell, or the 1970's. Everything was Big, Bright, and Blowhard. The Hair, the Attire, the Politics, and the Culture were on a Mind Expanding Trip to the Heavens.This Movie is a Product of its Era. A Gut-Wrenching, Cringe Inducing Musical Satire on Religion, Pop Culture, Fame, and the Kitchen Sink. It is as Kitsch as it gets. A Sensory Overload of Sound, Color, and Excess for Excess Sake.Unless You are Fan of The Who/Ken Russell, this will be an Inconsistent Piece of Work at Best and a God-Awful Debauchery at Worst. An Objective Viewer most Likely will find something to Love and something to Hate.But, it can't be denied its Ambition, Creativity, and Place in the World of Cult Cinema, Rock on Film, and Artsy Pretensions. It's Long, Well Done, mostly Entertaining, and Exhausting, with a Color Palette and Style Worthy its Subject. A Breathtaking Ballyhoo.

michaelhirakida If I had known better, I would have stayed away. I am absolutely shocked by this film's glorification of Xenophobia to the mentally challenged (Mostly in the film's case, retarded people) I am not sure if I understand what Ken Russell is trying to say about The film version of one of The Who's greatest works. Now I am thinking. Thinking of things I have never thought about. Have I missed something? The movie is one of the most unpleasant experiences of my movie watching career. Tommy features many scenes of nauseating visual effects, disgusting images, and Xenophobia. Tommy seems to be the most Xenophobic person on the planet after he gets his senses back because he wants everyone to be like him. Hitler Much? Also, The people are Xenophobic to Tommy and kill his parents and he plans revenge or plans to get healed again? I don't know it never explains at the end. Maybe some text could help me? But no, they just say, HEY HIS PARENTS ARE DEAD! HE LOOKS INTO THE SUN! THE END! I never want to see a film like this ever again. I felt sick, filthy, and absolutely awful. I was disturbed immensely by this film so much, that I might need therapy every weekend. AND I LIKED PINK FLOYD THE WALL! 48/100 C-

TheLittleSongbird Ken Russell has always been an interesting director but also a very controversial one, for example Women in Love, The Devils, Mahler and The Music Lovers are great(though his biopics on Elgar, Delius and Debussy are even better where you see Russell in restrained mode) but Lisztomania and Salome's Last Dance not so much. As someone who does like The Who and thoroughly enjoyed the school production of Tommy with my sister as the mother, Tommy was a lot of fun. It is though the sort of film that will divide viewers, Russell does go overboard with the excess that are not always relevant to what's happening, Roger Daltry goes too overboard(also rather swamped by his colleagues), Eric Clapton is bland and while his voice is not that bad Jack Nicholson is one of those talented actors who is not used very well, verging on wasted actually. Tommy does look great though, the surrealist look is positively hypnotic and the photography is very well suited for the atmosphere. The songs are outstandingly catchy, with Pinball Wizard being the most memorable one, and orchestration-wise it is rousingly power-house, to have the Who themselves involved was a great idea that paid off well(though you do wish that Keith Moon wasn't the only one with a substantial character). Some parts are on the overblown and excessive side but there are a number of great moments especially Pinball Wizard, Acid Queen and Champagne(though it is somewhat true too that it is an example of excess). Likewise the story of the film and the musical is just absurd and knows it, seeing as Tommy is a satirical rock-opera that didn't mar things. Most of the performances are good, true Oliver Reed's singing ability is very limited(as is Keith Moon's actually) but he plays a real sleaze with perfect gusto. Moon himself is appropriately repellent. Tina Turner gives a bat-out-of-hell performance as the Acid Queen and Elton John is fun personified and provides some of the best singing of the film. Best of all is Ann Margaret, she has a great voice acts with energy, charisma and vulnerability. Overall, a very divisive film and not a perfect one but is very entertaining in a strange way. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

James Hitchcock "Tommy" started life in 1969 as an album by The Who. It was described as a "rock opera", and was indeed the first album to be so described, because the songs told a story, which was explained on the album's sleeve notes. It was not originally intended to be performed on stage in the same way as a Classical opera, but someone clearly thought that the story had dramatic potential, because it was turned into this film and later into a Broadway play. The title character is a young man who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind following a traumatic childhood experience, then later becomes a champion pinball player and is hailed as the Messiah of a new religion. I must admit that I am not a great fan of The Who's music; my main reason for watching the film was that it was directed by Ken Russell, one of the leading British auteur directors of the sixties and seventies. Not every film made by Russell was a masterpiece- some of them were far from being so- but he was generally interesting (as well as controversial), and he brought to "Tommy" his the vivid visual imagination which was a hallmark of his films. Early in his career, as in his famous "Elgar" documentary and even in something like "Billion Dollar Brain", Russell was capable of restraint and good taste, but by the mid-seventies he had developed a visual style characterised by bright colours and a fast-moving kaleidoscope of striking, sometimes shocking, images. The film is perhaps most notable for Russell's visuals; scenes which stand out include the Prologue, which tells the story of Tommy's parents, Group Captain Walker and his wife Nora, the "Acid Queen" sequence with Tina Turner, the bizarre scene involving a religious cult that worships Marilyn Monroe and the Pinball Wizard sequence in which the film's best-known musical number is belted out by a manic Elton John; the cast list names John's character as the "pinball wizard", although the lyrics of the song make it clear that this description refers to Tommy himself. (Practising Catholics might have been offended by the Marilyn scene, which parodies the Mass, although it should be pointed out that Russell himself was a Catholic). Russell also had a good eye for the eccentricities and inanities of British popular culture in the sixties and seventies, something shown in the holiday camp scenes, the Christmas party and the various advertisement parodies. The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey plays the title role, and the other band members all make appearances, along with other rock stars such as John, Turner and Eric Clapton. The film is a "sung through" musical, without spoken dialogue, so it is surprising that Oliver Reed and Jack Nicholson, neither of whom were noted for their singing voice, were cast, Reed in the major role of Tommy's stepfather. The best acting performance comes from Ann-Margret as the sluttish Nora, a performance which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination. (Ann-Margret is only three years older than Daltrey, who plays her son, but in a heavily stylised, non-naturalistic film this does not really matter). My main problem with the film is that this type of rock music is not really the ideal vehicle for putting across a story dramatically, particularly a tragic story like Tommy's. (Besides being struck dumb, deaf and blind, Tommy also loses his father at an early age, is tortured by a sadistic cousin, sexually abused by a perverted uncle, and suffers problems with drug addiction. Even his role as the new Messiah fails to bring him satisfaction or happiness). The music, generally loud with an insistent rhythmic beat, designed to be exciting or exhilarating, lacks the variety to cope with the vast range of different emotions which would be involved in a story like this one. The film does manage to tell a story- one can always work out what is going on from the visuals alone, even if the lyrics are unclear or inaudible- but it does so without any subtlety, insight, sympathy or understanding. (The scenes in which Tommy is abused, making light of a serious matter, struck me as particularly crass).The traditional Broadway-style musical, and for that matter the traditional Classical opera, are much more effective narrative vehicles in this respect. As I said, The Who are not really my cup of tea, musically speaking, and those who love their music may well enjoy the film more than I did, although I note that there are several negative comments on here from those who describe themselves as Who fans. The visuals are striking, if occasionally garish or in dubious taste, but it is difficult to make a successful film on the basis of visuals alone. "Tommy" betrays its origins as a rock album, resembling nothing so much as a series of loosely-connected pop videos. Nice videos, shame about the film. 5/10