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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Orion Pictures Corporation
Salesrank: 7929
Released: June 4, 2002 |
| Our Price: $7.86 |
| Used Price: $5.47 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
They called it "the devil's music." To this, Jerry Lee Lewis whooped: "If I'm going to hell, I'm going there playing the piano!" Dennis Quaid gives a "rousing performance" (Gene Shalit, "The Today Show") as the defiant rock 'n' roll superstar who broke all the rules. Co-starring Winona Ryder as Jerry Lee's teenage bride and Alec Baldwin as Jerry Lee's evangelical cousin Jimmy Swaggart, and featuring scorching piano and vocals re-recorded by the legendary Lewis himself, Great Balls of Fire! is a wild ride back to the early days of rock 'n' roll that will leave you "B-B-B-Breathless"! In 1956, Louisiana bad boy Jerry Lee Lewis (Quaid) moves to Memphis, determined to dethrone Elvis with his "ferocious, God-given talent." When Jerry Lee bangs out the bass chords with his feet,fans howl for more. When he finishes a performance by setting his piano ablaze, they mob the stage.But when he marries his 13-year-old second cousin Myra (Ryder)...the scandal nearly kills "The Killer's" career.
Description of Great Balls of Fire!:
Dennis Quaid's delightfully over-the-top performance dominates this 1989 biopic about the life, times, and music of rocker Jerry Lee "the Killer" Lewis. It's all here: his snazzy threads, his devil-may-care Southern charm, his mane of golden hair, his underage girlfriends (Lewis's infamous marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, played here by Winona Ryder, and its effect on his career is a big part of the story), his fascination with "the devil's music" (much to the chagrin of cousin Jimmy Swaggart, portrayed by Alec Baldwin), and of course the classic tunes like "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." Director Jim McBride plays the whole thing broadly, for laughs, much like Quaid plays Lewis. The result is tongue-in-cheek entertainment with a strong musical component, made all the more so by the fact that all the singing and playing on the soundtrack is done by Lewis himself. --Sam Graham
Great Balls of Fire! Reviews:
Hollywood doesn't do Rock and Rollers justice 
2009-09-18 - Oh, MAN........you thought that insult to Johnny Cash, "I Walk The Line" was bad? I mean, Reese Witherspoon playing June? Ugh, that's ALMOST "The Last Waltz" or "Gimme Shelter" compared to this tripe (the operative word there is "almost"). Dennis Quaid does a LOT...an AWFUL lot...of "mugging," but it's worse than Jehosaphat Phoneix affecting Johnny Cash's snarl. And Winona Ryder just...DOESN'T project the..."jailbait quality" of Myra Lewis. She's just too old. Do yourself a favor: grab any compilation of The Killer's performances during the 60's/70's...on upward, and alight on the "Last Man Standing" DVD where he has a decent backup band for the first time, almost, in his career.
Great Balls of Fire! 
2009-05-13 - This is a biographical movie about American singer and extravagant virtuoso pianist Jerry Lee Lewis (born Sept.29, 1935), contemporary of Elvis Presley. The movie named after Jerry Lewis' famous hit (1957). Talented actor Dennis Quaid played role of Jerry Lewis who's career was about ruined by his marriage on a 13 years old, impressively performed by Winona Ryder. Jerry Lewis played on piano not only by hands, but also by feet, put on fire during performance on the stage his musical instruments (piano and guitar). His escapades gathered large crowd of admirers. However, despite his extravagant behavior on stage and in life, Jerry Lewis generally recognized as a pioneer of rock-and-roll. This is a very dynamic spectacular movie with first-class cast that attract attention from the beginning to the end. Highly recommend.
Poor sound quality.
2009-03-21 - I have always loved Jerry Lee and particuraly love the movie. So I decided to buy the soundtrack. Boy, was I dissapointed. The sound quality is like listening to the songs on an AM radio in a very old car. I quess we are just spoiled to the new 5.1 digital surround sound of today.
Worth Buying For Two Songs...
2009-01-28 - Whether you're a diehard Jerry Lee fan or just a casual, this soundtrack CD is worth buying on the strength of two songs - the updated versions of title track and "That Lucky Old Sun".
On this re-worked version "Great Balls Of Fire" we get the best of both worlds - Jerry Lee vocals that are relatively close to the orginal, with the added bonus of crystal clear and dynamic instrumentation on both JLL's piano and the lead guitarist. This track jumps and stands up against anything Lewis put down before or after.
The remake of "that Lucky Old Sun" is a must-have collectable due to it being one of the few times Jerry Lee was officially recorded by himself on the piano - and trust me, he shines! In this era of "unplugged" recordings, it's truly a pity that no record company exec along the ruff and rocky road of Jerry's career ever thought to do an intimate album with him. But such has been the story of JLL's career: opportunity missed.
Don't you miss this one - the GBOF soundtrack
Fun and over the top biopic about Jerry Lee Lewis 
2008-01-29 - This comic book like biopic about singer Jerry Lee Lewis (Dennis Quaid) rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace after his marriage with his 13 years old cousin Myra (a very young and very good Winona Ryder) was discovered, is probably not terribly true to life, but it is still very entertaining. Quaid happily hams it up in an over the top performance that has to do more with caricature than with acting. Alec Baldwin adds to the fun in his cameo as Jerry Lee's cousin, preacher Jimmy Swaggart. There is a nifty, idealized pop reconstruction of small town America in the 1950s. And the music, of course, is great. Best scene: staid English journalists raising a scandal when the singer and his teen wife arrive.
