 | Mark B. |
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
So excited that this brilliant film is FINALLY on DVD. It's a dark story (but very funny) about the Bad Old Gay Days, when you had to worry about the cops showing up at your door and arresting you for being gay. It takes place at a birthday party gone wrong...yet sublimely entertaining.
The film's cast are all the same actors from the original Broadway production...how rare, unique and wonderful is that? Expertly directed by William Friedkin and brilliantly written by Mart Crowley, The Boys in the Band is a fantastic film that takes the viewer into the reality of being gay in the late 60's. It is a rare glimpse and an EXTREMELY overdue DVD release. WHOO HOO! Was this review helpful? Yes
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 | Thomas W. |
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
This is an important movie. A feature-length gay film, in color, with significant actors, produced and distributed by a major motion picture company, in 1970?! Who would have thought! This film hearkens from the day when gays on film had to be miserable, and these guys are certainly miserable. This film puts you smack in the middle of the worst birthday party ever, but the characters are so compelling that even the awkward turns of the script are easily forgiven. See this film for the classic it is, and be glad our world isn't quite so awful as it once was. Was this review helpful? Yes
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| Kristoff H. |
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
A look back at what it was like to be gay in a frightfully homophobic world--hmmm...almost sounds like 2008. Was this review helpful? Yes
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| MICHAEL G. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
I LOVE THIS MOVIE....I WATCHED IT 15 TYMES BEFORE I SENT IT BACK......IT IS A CLASSIC!THE THOUGHTS AND THEMS ARE GREAT.THE QUOTES ARE MEMORIBLE.
THE CAST IS GREAT .THERE ARE OUTSTANDING AND WELL DONE ACTING .THE THEMES AND THE PROBLEMS THAT THEY HAVE IN THE MOVIE ARE ALNOST THE SAME AND SRILL CAN BE HAD AND SED TODAY!
AS A GAY MAN I FEEL AND HAVE HAD FRIENDS LIKE THAT AND HAVE BEEN TO PARTIES LIKE THAT ALSO!
I WOULD RECOMEND THIS MOVIE HIGHLY!ITS A GREAT MOVIE OF OUR TIMES.....AND THE FIRST GAY MADE FOR THE MAINSTREAM....RUN AND GET THIS MOVIE!
ALSO I DID SOME RESEARCH.....MART CROWLEY WROTE A SEQUEL PALY TO THIS .IT IS CALLED THE MEN FROM THE BOYS......IT TAKES PLACE 30 YEARS LATERAT MICHAELS APPARTMENT ON THE DEATH OF LARRY.....IM BUYING IT TO READ.....SO GET THE BOYS IN THE BAD......AND ADORE CHEAP SENTIMENT! Was this review helpful? Yes
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| Mike J. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
So glad to see this movie once again. Brilliantly acted with a wonderful story. So interesting (and quite sad) that the majority of the cast has passed away. A MUST SEE! Was this review helpful? Yes
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 | Chris C. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
At times truly heartbreaking (and perhaps just a bit over-acted), this film was pioneering in it's unapologetic portrayal of homosexuals as real people with real lives. Until TBITB, gay men were mostly portrayed as tragic, perverted, or demented and usually ended with our being murdered or committing suicide. What I liked most about this film was the way in which it handled the main character's unconscious self-loathing, gradually bringing it into the light. Though it may seem dated according to today's standards, this film played a pivotal role in bringing homosexuality out of the dark and was a giant step forward in the film industry's portrayal of gay men. Was this review helpful? Yes
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| Karl H. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
In addition to everything else written here about this film, let me remind folks that it's a damned good movie in its own right. Friedkin, while faithfully rendering the play, made a movie, not just a filmed stage play. The camera work, settings, costumes, lighting, not to mention Mart Crowley's screenplay, are all top notch. It is amazing that Crowley was able to use the original NY cast for this production. That is almost never done (although The History Boys would repeat this almost forty years later, to equally good effect). Although the play itself is set in pre-Stonewall, pre-AIDS New York, the extras reveal that only two of the original cast members are still living, Laurence Luckinbill (Hank) and Peter White (Alan). A third Rueben Greene (Bernard) has apparently disappeared from public life. Five of the actors died of AIDS in the nineteen eighties and nineties. We are very lucky indeed to have these performances captured on film. Was this review helpful? Yes
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| Christopher L. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
FANTASTIC! Was this review helpful? Yes
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| Paul B. |
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful
I saw this movie for the first time with my ex, it makes more sense on DVD. It's a very sad portrayal of being gay, but very honest, and subtly funny at times, considering the year it was made, and I've seen my share of movies with this subject, liked most of them. Best known for directing Exorcist, does a very good job here as well. The story is pretty good too. Was this review helpful? Yes
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 | Richard T. Y. |
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Did not know it was a gay movie. Returned asap. Am not into this gender type of movie. Was this review helpful? Yes
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