Stars: Scott Baio, Jodie Foster, John Cassini

Director: Alan Parker

Summary: In this unique mobster movie, Scott Baio heads up a prepubescent cast as the title character, a child gangster determined to rule over New York City. Instead of throwing fists or bullets, the Prohibition-era kiddie mobsters sling confections at one another. When Bugsy learns that a rival gang has developed a secret weapon capable of firing sweets as quick as a machine gun shoots bullets, he sets out to heist the high-tech tart-launcher.<BR>BUGSY MALONE, director Alan Parker's first feature, cleverly spoofs the rich, cliche-ridden history of films about organized crime while lightly mocking the childlike, selfish traits of grown-ups. The engaging silliness is periodically spirited forward by several song-and-dance numbers composed by bubblegum pop maestro Paul Williams.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Writer-director Alan Parker's feature debut Bugsy Maloneis a pastiche of American movies, a musical gangster comedy set in 1929, featuring prohibition, showgirls and gang warfare, with references to everything from Some Like It Hotto The Godfather. Uniquely, though, all the parts are played by children, including an excellent if underused Jodie Foster as platinum-blonde singer Tallulah, Scott Baio in the title role and a nine-year-old Dexter Fletcher wielding a baseball bat. Cream-firing "spluge guns" side-step any real violence and the movie climaxes cheerfully with the biggest custard pie fight this side of Casino Royale(1967).

Unfortunately for a musical, Paul Williams' score--part honky-tonk jazz homage, part 1970s Elton John-style pop--lets the side down with a lack of memorable tunes. Nevertheless, Parker's direction is spot on and the look of the film is superb, a fantasy movie-movie existing in the same parallel reality as The Cotton Cluband Chicago. A rare British love letter to classic American cinema, Bugsy Maloneremains a true original; in Parker's words "the work of a madman" and one of the strangest yet most stylish children's films ever made.

On the DVD:Bugsy Malone's picture is presented non-anamorphically at 1.66:1, with rich colours and plenty of detail. The print is excellent. The audio is stereo only and while full and clear seems to leave a hole in the middle of the soundstage. Extras include an informative commentary by Parker, eight pages of trivia notes by Parker and a very informative 12-page booklet, also by the director. There are three trailers, nine character profiles, two scored galleries, and more imaginatively, a multi-angle option to compare Parker's sketches, their comic-strip realisation by Graham Thomson and the finished opening sequence. Quality over quantity make this a strong collection of extras, though recollections from the stars would have added so much more. --Gary S. Dalkin

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary - 1. Alan Parker - Director, Trailers, Featurettes- 1. WHERE ARE THEY NOW, 2. Behind The Scenes, Interviews, Stills Gallery, Production Notes, Biographies, Design Artwork, Reviews
Year:	1976
Release Date:	February 17, 2003
Runtime:	95 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	37115 04133
Keywords:	Special, Music, Films, Bugsy, Malone, Edition, Performing, Musicals, Arts
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts