The Greatest Showman explores themes of acceptance, love, and family, and will mean something different to each person who watches it. A fantastic journey filled with infectious songs, this film will be sure to entertain.
“Hugh Jackman leads an all-star cast in this bold and original musical filled with infections showstopping performances that will bring you to your feet time and time again. Inspired by the story of P.T. Barnum (Jackman) and celebrating the birth of show business, the film follows the visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerizing spectacle. This inspirational film also stars Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya.”
While most of Hollywood seems to be dedicated to churning out the next action-packed blockbuster, original musicals seem to be rare, and given the ever shifting tastes of modern audiences, must be something spectacular in order to find success. The Greatest Showman achieves this and more in a number of ways, telling a story of self-love, acceptance, and finding happiness right in front of you. While this isn’t exactly a biopic of P.T. Barnum, it uses his life to stage the themes of the film, and although it may feel a bit misleading to those interested in seeing historically correct information about the man himself, the feelings that the film invokes melts away those expectations as you become entirely invested in the story that is just as prevalent today as it was then.
The music and performances are absolutely the number one thing driving the film. The songs are fantastic, conveying so much feeling between characters in the song without having to specifically say the words. That is one of my favorite things about musicals, all the information that might take pages of dialogue to get through, but only takes a song to achieve the same end, adding beautiful choreographed sequences and set designs that will ensure to put a smile on your face. The one element to the songs that I can understand may put off certain people is the fact the song styles don’t quite match the period they are set in. The songs are more hip-hop, high energy and definitely more modern and could seem out of place for some. Personally, one of the things I dislike is when there is a modern song in a period film. That being said, these original songs, regardless of the style, fit so beautifully in the film that any doubt I may have had going into the film instantly disappeared. The songs perfectly capture the moments, bring a wide array of emotion with them, and are performed to perfection by the cast.
The Greatest Showman achieves so much in the span of two hours. It may have been one of the first musicals that I’ve seen that I wanted to keep going. I wanted to see more of these characters, more great songs and amazing set designs. The themes in the film will have different meanings for everyone, for those wanting the best possible life for their family, those wanting acceptance, from others and from themselves. It’s a celebration of accepting who you are no matter your background.
Video
The Greatest Showman is presented in 2160p Ultra High Definition 4k 2.40:1. The 4k is absolutely stunning on this set given the period and bright costumes and colors of the circus. The High Dynamic Range beautifully displays the vibrant balance of colors, at the same time providing very deep darks to contrast the vivid colors during most of the film.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby Atmos, perhaps the most important technical aspect of the film. Being a musical, hearing it in the most spectacular way is imperative, and this is definitely the way you want to hear it. Fantastic balance between the surrounds, giving the musical score and songs the power they deserve.
Special Features
The extras on the disc are almost as moving as the film is. The ‘sideshows’ in the film learn to love themselves for who they are and are able to stand up and be seen. The same can be said for some of the actors in the film, namely Keala Settle, who played Lettie Lutz, who originally signed up to sing on the choir on backup on the soundtrack and offered the role of the Bearded Woman. Being a self-described introvert, she overcame a lot in order to accept the role that she hopes can change lives.
Overall, this set has some great in-depth featurettes with everyone involved in the film, and you can really feel the passion as each of them, especially Hugh Jackman, share stories about the making of the film and the process he went through. If you have to pick just one, The Songs featurette is definitely worth watching, as it brings as much joy and excitement as the film does, satisfying fans like me who wanted it to keep going once the credits rolled.
The complete list of extras on the Blu-Ray disc include:
- The Family Behind The Greatest Showman
- The Songs
- The Spectacle
- Galleries
- Music Machine with Sing-Along
- Audio Commentary by Michael Gracey
The Greatest Showman provides everything you could hope for in a musical, including a great story behind it, filled with promise, tragedy, and most importantly, heart. Given the choice, this film should be experienced in 4k to get the most out of a joyous film from start to finish.
