The mother of all Musicals!

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2008)

Ever since I was a kid, I saw "The Sound of Music" and considered as the best musical and one of my favorite movies. Now as a young adult, it still remains as one of my favorites. First of all, it has Julia Andrews's best performance. I enjoyed her role as Mary Poppins, but she flourishes and illuminates the screen as Maria, the cheerful, witty, and funny want-to-be nun. She brings to life some of the most memorable songs that drown out all others such as: "Do-Rei-Mei" and "The Sound of Music." Second, the magnificent score of Irwin Kostal adds to beauty of the music. It uplifts my soul to levels that hardly any other music can surpass. Third, the wonderful shots of the landscape (on location) add to the authenticity to the film's story that not even Terrence Malick could dream up. Fourth, the supporting casts (particularly the seven children) make believable performances. Even the serious Christopher Plummer shines a new light on his character as the widower Captain.
Fifth, the story itself makes a great film. It's not elongated or filled with plot holes, but unique with many individual subplots at hand such as the romances between Liesl and Ralph, and later Maria and The Captain. Sixth, for a movie in the 1960s covering events in the 1930s such as: the lighting, sets, art direction, and costume designs make it all feel real.
There are some people that I know says this movie is too "sugar-coated" or even unrealistic to the time period. That's a load of manure. This is the perfect feel-good musical ever made. There's only six other musicals that I have seen that I consider grand, but this beats them all. 10/10 If you have not seen this movie, even if you don't like musicals, you're missing a whole lot!