The Who's Tommy movie

Domino · Sun 27/08/2006 02:56:23

I just wanted to know how many people liked this movie? For me, i find it quite disturbing and always makes me feel weird when i see it. It's not a bad movie, but feels like i'm on some drug induced state. Quite frankly, creeps me out. I cannot describe how i feel after watching it. Does anybody else feel the same way after watching it. Is it meant to be so surreal? The whole thing just freaks me out. Am I alone in this?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073812/

deadsuperhero · Sun 27/08/2006 03:04:59

Sorry to appear stupid, but I'm not really sure what movie you're talking about.

cpage · Sun 27/08/2006 08:31:46

... Thats crazy I just watched it all the way through today for the first time. Then I see this thread..

Anyway the only feeling I got was ... That just ruined the story of the album

Seriously it was crap... Listen to the album and dont watch the movie if you have a choice

AGA · Sun 27/08/2006 09:44:42

Even more crazy, I'm currently listening to the OST (Original SoundTrack) of the movie.

I disagree, cpage. The story of the album is pretty hard to comprehend, and without background reading and the liner notes, I doubt most people would understand it properly. The film, with its added songs and verses, fills it out a lot. Also, the synthesiser-led redoes of some of the tracks are awesome. It's just a pity about Oliver Reed and Jack Nicholson. All the other actors could sing really well.

The drug induced state feeling you get, Domino, is apparently a regular occurance of Ken Russell movies. The man is quite insane (as you'll find if you listen to the director's commentary on the LE DVD edition of Tommy)

HillBilly · Sun 27/08/2006 11:47:17

I was just watching "Son of Sam" yesterday, and they were playing "The Who" songs all the time. I think we just reached a new dimension of craziness.

Grundislav · Sun 27/08/2006 17:02:42

I was pretty indifferent towards the movie. On the one hand I thought it was cool to see all the songs sung in a movie, on the other I didn't think it could be considered a good adaptation of the album. I guess that's just what comes from making a movie from music.

The scene with the baked beans was pretty messed up, though.

MillsJROSS · Sun 27/08/2006 21:57:00

The movie was good for providing a few hints on some of there more cryptic songs. Most of the music you can figure out what's happening, but the movie pulled everything together in a nice focused view. So I'd say the movie did add something to the music for me...however, I'd rather listen to the music than watch the movie. Mainly because Oliver Reeds singing talents, which made it difficult to listen to without cringing.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about Jesus Christ Superstar, too ( the one done by Norman Jewison) Only instead of Oliver Reed being the culprit it's Josh Mastel's King Harod which wasn't too hot. The music from the broadway show, is excellent, though. Although I haven't seen the one done in 2000, which is supposed to be better...so I might change my mind later.

-MillsJROSS

Erenan · Mon 28/08/2006 06:46:22

The only thing about the film that disturbed me even a little was the sounds that Uncle Ernie made at the end of "Fiddle About." Yuck.

Musically, I found most of the album far superior to the film, but some of the arrangements in the movie are worth hearing. I remember liking the version of "Eyesight to the Blind" with Clapton as the Preacher (is that the right song, or was it another one?).

I was hypnotized by the movement of Tina Turner's lips at the end of "the Acid Queen."

I wanted Uncle Ernie's organmobile.

The way the people swayed out of rhythm with the music in "Welcome" annoyed me.

The real travesty, in my humble opinion, was the stage adaptation. I think Townshend was involved in adapting it, but they completely flipped the ending around. Why did they do that?

AGA · Mon 28/08/2006 12:58:34

Which stage adaptation? Personally I've seen two completely different ones, about 6 or 7 years apart. The one I saw most recently, this year or last, which I think was on Broadway at some point, was kinda neat. Going in expecting it to completely match the album and/or film would be silly, and I think it handled itself well enough.

Erenan · Mon 28/08/2006 16:10:38

I wasn't aware there was more than one. Maybe the one Pete Townshend helped with was better than the one I saw. All I know is that they did 1921 waaaaay too fast. But that's the individual production, of course, and not the adaptation.

Anyway, my complaint wasn't that it didn't match the album/film completely, but that the ending was an utter and complete departure from the ending in the album/film. It was exactly reversed.

Domino · Tue 29/08/2006 01:07:08

I enjoyed watching Ann-Margret, she was probably the best looking person in the movie. But there were scenes that really made me cringe and feel weird, but the ending takes the cake. I could handle it until the end when...

Spoiler

When everybody was playing pinball and then turned against tommy and family and there were bodies and blood laying everywhere and smashed up pinball machines on those gigantic metal balls, that is when it really became weird and i was like, what the hell just happened here.

[close]

I know Tommy became a Blind, Deaf, Mute, but please help me understand the story of the movie. Maybe, it was just too much singing.

BerserkerTails · Tue 29/08/2006 05:10:37

Tommy's my favourite album of all time, and I love the movie as well. Domino, just for you, here's a rundown of the story in the album, along with changes made in the film in brackets.

Spoiler

Captain Walker, a fighter pilot in World War I (WWII in the movie), is shot down and thought to be dead. His wife gives birth to Tommy. She then goes on to meet another man and fall in love. However Tommy's dad is alive, and when he comes home and sees his wife with another man, he kills the other man (In the movie, the other man kills Cpt Walker). Scared that Tommy will someday tell someone about the murder, his parents tell him over and over that "He didn't see it, he didn't hear it, he won't say nothing to no one, never in his life." This traumatizes Tommy into becoming deaf, dumb and blind.

As Tommy grows up, his parents try many things in order to cure Tommy, including bringing him to the "Gypsy Queen", who shoots him up with heroin (Tina Turner), and a crazy preacher (Eric Clapton). Tommy gets tortured by his Cousin Kevin, molested by his Uncle Ernie, and learns how to play pinball very well. He gains a lot of fame with his pinball skills and ends up beating out the Pinball Wizard (Elton John), becoming the world pinball champion. One weird thing his parents notice is that Tommy spends a lot of time looking in the mirror, as if he can see his own reflection.

Eventually, his parents find a doctor who claims he can cure the boy. They take Tommy to him, but the doctor rules that Tommy has put up a mental block and the doctor says that no stimulation is strong enough to remove it. Annoyed with the fact that her son will never be normal again, Tommy's mother smashes a mirror that Tommy is looking in, and this causes his mental block to be lifted (In the movie, I believe Tommy falls through a mirror into a pool, curing him).

Since Tommy is already famous, the news of his miracle cure ends up elevating him to a god-like status. He begins to have followers, forming a sort of "Tommy Cult". The Tommy cult grows and grows, until finally Tommy decides to capitalize on his popularity, forming a Holiday camp in which he uses ear plugs, eye shades and corks to make visitors deaf, dumb and blind. He then makes them play pinball.

The cult becomes fed up with Tommy, either due to him selling out or just because he wsa a passing fad to the youth who are moving on, and the cult leaves him. (In the movie they destroy the Holiday camp as well)

THE END.

[close]

Phew. That said, I absolutely love the album, and can hum every single note (Even horn parts and drum fills, haha). The movie is a great adaptation, if a bit inferior musically.

n3tgraph · Tue 29/08/2006 12:06:00

TOMMY!!!

I was always a great fan of the "THE WHO" album Tommy.
Then there was this musical from England in our country, which would tell the story of Tommy from the Who.

I went to that show and it was really brilliant!
Instead of an orchestra they had a real rock-band playing the music and the stage wasn't the same for 10 minutes. I was really impressed!!

Then I got the movie on my birthday one year.
I liked the movie and it was fun to watch.

Spoiler

But the creator of the musical made an altered version of Tommy.
Where in the movie the guy from the theme park kills Tommy's father with a bed-lamp (stupid)
in the musical Tommy's real father kills the man from the themepark with his gun (bit more realistic). Actually there was no themepark in the musical at all.

Also they stopped earlier in the musical.
And that's why I never understood the ending of the movie "Tommy".
It gets all weird when people start playing pinball and a riot breaks out where his mom dies and all....

[close]

Overall I liked the music,
But I thought it was a shame that they didn't use music which the who made.
I mean Roger Daltrey is even playing in it! Instead they used synthesizer music.
That I thought was a pity.

woodz · Tue 29/08/2006 19:02:43

in my skool days i was a big Who fan, had the sound track, the original with just the band playing, at the time the movie wasn't dated
its off the wall, lets face it it shows pete townsend's metality to a tea!scary what must go on in his head
kieth moon was fantastic in the film, i agree tho it could of done without ollie singing!