Finally, this wonderful film gets the treatment it deserves. Great transfer/sound, loads of extras.

Mustang Sallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Funny sub goof:

When Jimmy is walking with his two friends and explains to them what soul music is about, he refers to sex and uses a number of foul language items to make his point. Turn the english subs on and among the "offensive" words you will see "scooter".

Sub person 1: Hmmm, what did he just say?
Sub person 2: Well it sounded like scooter.
Sub person 1: Are you sure? That doesn't seem to fit at all with the other words he said.
Sub person 2: Maybe, but I can't think of any other word it could be.
Sub person 1: Oh ok, let's go with scooter then.

......

Yep this is a great DVD set. Too bad all the cast members didn't return in the documentry. Where are the other 2 female singers now anyway?

Yeah, would have been nice to have Joey "The Lips" and Jimmy and/or Deco on the commentary track too.

The Commitments is a great movie that I haven't seen in about a decade. I'm looking forward to picking this up.

Quick question -- is Colm Meaney in this one? My wife is a big Star Trek fan, and I bet I could convince her to watch if I tell her Colm Meaney is in it.

More serious question -- does anyone know if there are plans to rerelease The Snapper and The Van?

Yup . . . he's the "main" character's father. He's pretty funny in it too.

I thought so, but I was afraid I was just squishing my memories of The Snapper together with my memories of The Commitments.

Colm Meany: "Blashphemy! Elvis wasn't a cajun!"

I'd love to see similar treatment given to The Snapper and The Van, thus completing the "trilogy."

I was more pleased with this set than I thought I'd be. The extras are great. Well worth the long long wait.

And released the day before St. Patrick's Day, too.

great movie! finally a great dvd. i absolutely loved the 5.1 track...i thought it was near perfect for the type of movie.

Awesome movie

I found it odd that nowhere in any of the bonus material or in the commentary (at least not that I heard) did they mention that a (eventually) quite famous Irish singer/musician played the part of Jimmy's younger sister.

Dude. I envy you. It's hard to look for R1 DVD here, and the movie is just that good.

I might pick this up.

Is Wal-Mart carrying it? I hope this isn't considered too "foreign" for them.

I'm no expert on Irish dialect and indigenous terminology, but since he was talking in sexual terms, it sounded like he said "gunthers," whatever "gunthers" is. After playing it back a number of times, I definitely detected a "g" sound at the beginning of the word, and an "n" sound in the middle. The subtitle people were probably confused and typed in whatever they thought he was saying...instead of asking someone for sure. I see the same thing in lots of movies.

I also hate how they just put in "(singing)" when they perform or play any song in the movie. Seems like they didn't want to take the time to mess with lyrics. Kind of lessens the experience...that is, if you're deaf and would like to know just what they're singing. Otherwise, I guess the rest of us can just turn the subtitles off.

By the way, anybody know for sure what he said?

It's definitely mentioned in the commentary.

They may not have been able to use the lyrics in the subtitles due to rights issues. And I believe the term is "gooter," a slang term for penis.

I bought this blind with a certificate. All I can say is: where has this movie been all my life? It came out when I was a Freshman in High School, so I really wasn't into smaller movies at the time. Furthermore, I lived in a largely rural area, so it never really played. I do remember seeing the video for "Try a Little Tenderness" about 20+ times on VH1 when I was sick for a week and home from school, and seeing them perform on the Grammys as well. But I never saw this great little film until now. Glad I waited until it had a deluxe version to see it though!

That's the great thing about DVD, that overlooked films from the past can suddenly gain new life, 13 years later.

I fell in love with The Commitments in 1991; I was in college in Boston. A few of my close friends at the time - locals who were maybe third/fourth generation Irish-Americans - dragged me to see it (the film played seemingly forever in Boston). I fell in love instantly, bought the soundtracks, videotaped a Pay-Per-View showing that spring... and that copy has stayed on my shelf for the last 12 years, worn out over the years from constant replay

This DVD is (I believe) not only the first release of the film in its OAR, but it's really a magnificent transfer. Audio and video presentation is wonderful (I've seen some other reviews griping about the color levels; what are they on? The film is intentionally murky looking, and even the murkiness looks vibrant), and the extras are definitely worthwhile. When Geoff shipped me the disc for review, I went utterly bugfork. It's definitely worth the hype, easily my favorite DVD of the year so far.

And I'm really, really glad they never went ahead with the proposed sequel.

I'll have to listen to it again...I must have missed it.

Well, I guess that clears that up.

In the interest of completeness, here's a bit from the novel where "gooter" is used, in which Jimmy is giving the group their stage names; Derek (the bassist) has been assigned the name "The Meatman," because he's a butcher and because of the sexual connotation. He's not real happy about it:

--It's the image, said Jimmy. --------Annyway, nobody'll know wha' the name stands for till we break it in the States.
--It's a good name, said the Joey the Lips. --Every band needs its Meatman.
--------I don't know, said Derek. --Me ma would kill me if she knew I was named after me gooter.

I can't wait to get this on DVD!

NB if you like the music, the band is still touring. It's largely different cast members but they're excellent. http://www.thecommitments.net/ is the website.

Matt, I agree with you on the transfer. I thought it was exceptional. This set is a must for fans of the film.

Oh man, I finally got mine and watched it and that was just a delightful experience. I haven't seen this movie in ages and forgot just how much I loved it. I think I may just go spin that again.