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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 15958
Released: March 28, 2000 |
| Our Price: $9.48 |
| Used Price: $3.62 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
This oscar-winning feel-good comedy won the hearts of moviegoers partly for its lavish costumes and devotion to abba but mostly for the great performances of three drag artists who are on the road trip of a lifetime. Special features: subtitles in french and spanish theatrical trailer and much more. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 09/20/2005 Starring: Terence Stamp Guy Pearce Run time: 103 minutes Rating: R
Description of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert:
A surprise hit in America, this 1994 Australian comedy is anchored by Terence Stamp as a transsexual who, in the company of two drag queens, travels to a remote desert location to put on a lip- synch performance--to the amazement of the locals. Getting there on a pink bus named Priscilla, the trio stop and play for people all over the Outback, getting the same homophobic, bewildered responses. The weak link in the film is dialogue that seems to have been pulled from "Queer Movie Banter for Dummies," all bitchy and cliché-ridden but fortunately salvaged by strong acting. The most fun comes whenever the three are performing; fans of Abba will be particularly pleased. --Tom Keogh
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Reviews:
The Outback Will Never Be the Same 
2009-10-08 - On September 19, 2009, in London I saw the new wildly popular cult musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" which is based on the Australia movie of the same name. The musical was extremely well-done, well-staged; innovative, all-in-all a hoot. The bus taking up most of the stage could be turned around to show interior and exterior shots. The principals did their own singing, and as far as I could discern, unlike the movie, there was no Abba. The fast-paced show delighted audience members, many of whom seem to have seen it before.
In this film two drag queens and a transsexual (Terence Stamp, born in 1939) travel in a rickety, quirky bus from Sydney to Alice Springs to perform in a casino night club where one of the performer's ex-wife works. The photography of the Australian outback, the rock formations, the skies, the landscape is overwhelming and stunningly beautiful, almost worth the admission price.
In the movie (1994) some of the staging of the musical numbers did not even pretend to be realistic. That bus couldn't possibly hold all of the costumes and props. The instantaneous changing of costumes in the Alice Springs number is mind-boggling. Some of the movie scenes are surreal and eerily transcendent. The two diva opera numbers atop the bus are beautifully done, but not in the least realistic.
When the three divas are performing, they never get more than a lukewarm reception from their audiences except for the aborigine group they meet. In their long odyssey they have two homophobic encounters with the cowboy-types of the Outback.
Terence Stamp's performance is spot-on, and he deserves high praise for his acting. The movie has brief flash-backs to the characters' pasts that really aren't necessary.
The movie has a strong plot, good by-play among the various characters (Bernadette and Felicia are constantly spatting), and a sense of purpose that becomes apparent after a viewing. The London West End musical version cleaves very closely to the movie's plot, but seems more light-hearted. The movie is well worth seeing. It's a trip in every sense of the word.
Australlan comedy
2009-09-14 -
A delightfully bawdy comedy, but so Australian. They love shows with cross dressers. It must go back to Elizabethan times, when males played all the roles.
memorable, bold and even wonderfully decadent
2009-08-11 - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is both shocking and extremely entertaining; it grabs your attention and doesn't let go until the very final moment of the picture! The acting is extremely convincing; I really like that. The musical score is excellent, too.
When the action starts, we meet three people who perform a cabaret act in outrageous extremes of drag; they are "Tick" or Anthony who also goes by Mitzi (Hugo Weaving), Adam or Felicia (Guy Pearce) and Bernadette (Terence Stamp), a man who had surgery to become a woman. Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette get dressed up in their costumes (most of which are not terribly pretty although the film did win an Oscar for Best Costume Design) and lip-synch their way through musical numbers to an enthusiastic crowd in a bar in Sydney, Australia. However, life takes its twists and turns and for their own individual, personal reasons Mitzi, Felicia and Bernadette decide to take a road trip to perform in Alice Springs, way out in the middle of Australia. It isn't long after that Felicia gets an old, run down bus for them to use as transportation.
Along the way the trio has quite a few experiences although not all of them are bad. They are greeted warmly by a group of Aboriginals who even join them dancing and playing music into the night; and Mitzi, Bernadette and Felicia have a lot of fun teasing each other while they're riding on the bus through the outback. On the other hand, they enter a town in which there is a great deal of prejudice; after a night of harsh words, verbal threats and a drinking contest between Bernadette and a local lady named Shirley (June Marie Bennett), the three of them awake to find some mighty nasty graffiti written on the side of their bus. They wisely decide to promptly head out of town and they continue on their way to the hotel in the outback where they have their upcoming gig--and all is well until their bus breaks down. After a day or two of being stranded in the outback desert, they finally meet Bob (Bill Hunter), a thoroughly good sport who lives in the outback with his mail-order bride Cynthia (Julia Cortez).
Bob fixes the bus and they go on their way with more adventure; and Adam/Felicia re-paints the bus lavender to erase the graffiti. As they get closer to their destination, however, one of them drops a huge bombshell on the others. I also got the feeling that Bob and Bernadette might be starting to be more than just friends.
Of course, the plot can go anywhere from here--which one of them reveals something major than the others didn't know before? It's his real reason for taking the gig in the outback. What about Bob, Cynthia and Bernadette--how will all that play out? Sorry, no spoilers here--watch and find out!
If you get the "extra frills" edition of this movie, tune into the excellent audio commentary. There is behind the scenes footage; interviews with cast and crew and more!
If you want an excellent movie and you're not averse to this subject matter, this will provide you with excellent entertainment and you should add this to your DVD collection. I also recommend this film for members of the GLBT communities.
You can not BE ready for this Movie 
2009-07-16 - Three drag queens go off on a bus (to be painted pink and named Priscilla) for a four week gig in Alice Springs. AS is in the middle of the Australian outback and close to nowhere. It began as the middle stop on the cross-country road from the south to Darwin in the north. There is truly nothing there or anywhere near it.
So the three drag queens go off into the outback where they have a whole cavalcade of adventures while practicing for their show and making friends almost everywhere they go. Next to the costumes (all over the top) we see some of the most starkly beautiful country on this globe. They even throw in some Abos just to make every one feel at home (yes they cook on the barby every night).
Most of this is very trite and maudlin but somehow it never gets that depressing feeling or 'feel sorry for me' attitude. This is a 'this is who and what I am movie and if you don't like it, stick it up your arse' so there. Great fun if you have a slightly tilted sense of humor.
Zeb Kantrowitz
Priscilla Reigns!
2009-06-05 - This has it all-great acting,awesome scenery [the Australian Outback, etc], and mindblowing costumes and song and dance numbers.
An absolutely perfect way to escape,when life just gets too doggone dreary and humdrum. Great tounge in cheek, just plain old FUN.
Get it-you won't be sorry. It's become one of my favorite 'funky mood, it's been raining forever, I need to escape' movies.
Terrance Stamp is amazing-well, they all are, but the biggest scene stealer is the Australian Outback. Pick it up, pop it in the DVD player, and just lose yourself for a bit.
If it hadn't been in widescreen, I'd have given it 5 stars-but that's just me-I like my movies taking up the entire 40" of my screen.
