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| Director: Joel Oliansky
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick, Sam Wanamaker, Joseph Cali
Studio: Sony Pictures
Buy Used: $15.75
New (3) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $15.75
Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 5246
Format: Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6302363098
UPC: 043396601642
EAN: 9786302363098
ASIN: 6302363098
Theatrical Release Date: December 3, 1980
Release Date: June 23, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: FREE upgrade to 1st class mail & delivery confirmation .Daily shipping. VHS plays fine former rental with stickers on the tape.. Slightly different artwork/edition 1981 Columbus Pictures. Slipcase has alot of wear with stickers . Buy with confidence, 5 star seller, thank you!
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| Customer Reviews:
 After I beat you I'll allow myself to fall in love with you November 8, 2005
Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Two finalists (Amy Irving and Richard Dreyfuss) at a piano competition in San Francisco fall in love, with Dreyfuss spending a good part of his (and the movie's) time raving against such a thing in order to keep his competitive edge. Dreyfuss is very good in his role as a self-consumed person ready to jump out of his skin. Irving's role, however, is nebulous and hazy and hard to get a handle on. The movie is well-acted - by the principals and the supporting cast (Lee Remick, especially) - but it goes on longer than it should, and it's all fairly predictable as well. Great music, though, obviously dubbed in.
Nice Romance, Nice music, Nice Performances April 10, 2000
Sandra Robertson (Huntsville, Alabama USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I love romances and good acting, and my husband is a classical pianist. Consequently, this is one of our favorite "date" movies (after"Immortal Beloved"). It shows musical competition as what is is--at least as serious an endeavor as, say, the NBA championship or the Super Bowl. Regarding an earlier reviewer's remark about how it portrays "modern" compositions---well, not all of us think "atonal" was such a good idea in the first place. The acting is great, the love story is simultaneously hyper-romantic yet believable. It's easy to understand how Amy could fall for someone who plays Beethoven like that. I know I did!
 A must-see for musicians March 13, 2002
S. Fennell (Somewhere out there.....beneath the pale moon light...)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This movie is something of an underground classic in the world of musicians/pianists. It seems like most of the pianists I've talked to over the years have seen this and love to talk about it, especially the piano "faking", which is done so well, it actually fooled my piano teacher. Unlike most other movies that show a well-known actor playing the piano from only the chest up, this one keeps the hands and body in full view during the crucial scenes, instead of cutting back and a forth to a close-up of a stand-in's hands. Richard and Amy reportedly spent several months learning how to fake the moves required to make the piano playing look believable, and the results are astounding. The actual piano on the soundtrack was recorded by others, but you'd never know it just from watching the movie. The story line is very touching and has many moments that ring true, especially the portrayal of what we have to give up for the sake of our art.
This is the movie that I have watched over the years when I don't feel like practicing, or when I need to be inspired to keep pushing ahead at the keyboard. No, this didn't win any awards, and some people unfairly dismiss it, but in my book, it's still a classic.
Time for DVD Please !!! February 24, 2006
Really Windy (Wyoming)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Just a short review of a movie I would immediately buy if released on DVD. I saw this movie with a group of piano students about 25 years ago, and it seemed to embody much of the angst, joys, and politics of this type of competition. Although somewhat trite, the movie provided a theme for a group of college aged music students to identify with. I check about once a year to see if this movie is available on DVD, and alas---not yet. I will keep checking in hopes that the studios will see this little gem for what it is!
 Too Contrived. Lacks Authenticity January 15, 2000
Franklin Howell (Dallas, TX USA)
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
The Competition is a cozy love story with nothing in it. The piano competitors, the teacher, the conductor, and the candlestick maker are little more than a collection of circumscribed, mechanical strawmen. The personalities assigned to the supporting actors amount to predictable stereotypes. Rich in great music but empty of substance or purpose, the viewer is starved of any hopes of a proper introduction to classical music or artists. The movie succeeds in its portrayal of oddness in certain characters, and indeed many classical musicians, myself included, possess such oddness. But a personality, however odd, at least possesses life. The movie fails to deliver this critical piece of substance in its extras. Further, The Competition demonstrates an enormous ignorance of contemporary classical music to the point of nausea. It seems the conductor in this flick introduces such "weird" music to ladies back at his crib while getting them high and coming on to them. The producer is apparently saying that contemporary music is good for nothing else and that its composers must belong to the same ilk as the average beatnik dreamer. The truth of the few contemporary masters among us is almost a perfect about face of this rendering. This piece is fine for a casual, curled up viewing of a love story with one's lover and a bottle of wine. But for richness and culture, try Mr. Holland's Opus or Shine.
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