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97% positive over last 12 months
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The Temptations
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
July 21, 2020 "Please retry" | — | 1 |
—
| $10.65 | $10.59 |
DVD
March 23, 1999 "Please retry" | — | — |
—
| $14.95 | $2.92 |
Watch Instantly with | Per Episode | Buy Season |
The Temptations | — | — |
Purchase options and add-ons
Format | NTSC, Multiple Formats, Color, Closed-captioned |
Contributor | Tina Lifford, J. August Richards, D.B. Woodside, Kevin Arkadie, Alan Rosenberg, Terron Brooks, Allan Arkush, Jenifer Lewis, Gina Ravera, Obba Babatund, Charles Malik Whitfield, Christian Payton, Erik Michael Tristan, Leon, Robert Johnson See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours and 30 minutes |
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Product Description
The soap-opera career of Motown's most successful group, the Temptations, lends credence to the old belief that great art comes from troubled lives. Over three decades, the band struggled through numerous ego trips, countless members, broken relationships, coke addiction, alcoholism, suicide, cancer, deadly arthritis--in short, all the melodramatic devices necessary for a TV miniseries. This two-and-a-half-hour docudrama touches on all of these personal tragedies, but unfortunately forgets the real reason for the strength of the story: the music. Sure, there's wonderful reenactments of the quintet's finest material, such as "My Girl," "Just My Imagination," "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and "The Way You Do the Things You Do," all performed with the slick choreography and shimmering vocal harmonies that made the band legendary. But, unfortunately, director Allan Arkush (Rock and Roll High School) and writers Kevin Arkadie and Robert Johnson forget to put the music into any historical perspective. Why were the Temptations so important? What was their contribution to pop music? By watching this saccharine, manipulative expos�, you'd never know. The performances are nonetheless terrific, especially Charles Malik Whitfield as leader (and narrator) Otis Williams, D.B. Woodside as his partner, Melvin Franklin, and Leon as the group's talented livewire, David Ruffin. The DVD edition offers several fine features including 2.0 Dolby Surround Sound, a discography, cast and crew profiles, extensive production notes, and most important, the ability to jump to any of the seven songs performed... basically the main reason to watch this epic. --Dave McCoy
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 9 x 5.5 x 0.53 inches; 0.01 ounces
- Director : Allan Arkush
- Media Format : NTSC, Multiple Formats, Color, Closed-captioned
- Run time : 2 hours and 30 minutes
- Release date : August 14, 2001
- Actors : Charles Malik Whitfield, D.B. Woodside, Terron Brooks, Christian Payton, Leon
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
- Studio : Lions Gate
- ASIN : B00005NSXV
- Writers : Kevin Arkadie, Robert Johnson
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #11,236 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #132 in Musicals (Movies & TV)
- #1,751 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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If you aren't familiar with this, it was a TV mini series based on the bio by Ottis Williams of how the group evolved over the years from teens to Super stars. The segments on this particular DVD had it in two parts on the same disc and played continuously one after the other without having to make manual changes. The Temptations music alone made it worth the price for me. Their first big hit out of Motown was in my junior or senior year in high school and I loved their sound regardless of who was in the group. So if you love their music, you should enjoy this story. Be advised they had a lot of heartbreak and their lives behind the scene is very sad in parts.
You have to see this movie if you're a Motown/Temptations fan. And the real Smokey Robinson makes an appearance close to the end of the movie. All of the performances are wonderful. I felt like I traveled back in time being at their concerts. It was an amazing feeling. I love the concert when they sang "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and David... (I won't spoil it.) Haha. Love David!
Gotta love Kid's (Christopher Reid from Kid N' Play) appearance as a radio disc jockey in 1958. You know they had to have a rapper to do those lines he did. And he nailed. I believe he did it in one take. He was the perfect person to play the disc jockey. Introducing a Jackie Wilson song he says, "..he's reet petite, light on his feet, and he wants y'all to be loved. This cat's pillow's never dry 'cause he's got lonely teardrops." Loved the rhyming he was doing!:)
Great movie. Hands down. There should be more Motown/legends bio-pics. There should definitely be one about Jackie Wilson. I absolutely love him. Buy this DVD. Not one minute is boring. It's three hours but the time flies. It should be four hours! Wonderful movie about how the greatest soul group in history (my favorite on Motown) got together and later split up and reunited again. Regardless of their troubles, they kept it together and performed like there were never any problems. They sang, dressed, and danced impeccably. The actors were great. And the music is wonderful. You will find yourself singing along. David's sense of humor will have you laughing. Yes, he had an ego. But his talents and voice overshadowed that.
I can go on and on about the Temps and this movie. I'm on my way to Mama Rose's for some short ribs and cornbread. Haha. (If you've seen the movie, you get that joke.) :)
PS: Some "older" fans complain about how some scenes were not "exactly" how they really happened like the fight scene between Al and Paul at the New Year's party. Some people need to understand this is a movie. Some things need to be changed up a little bit for a more dramatic effect. And we know Melvin didn't pass away in his mother's house. The producers decided on this scene in the movie because Melvin had just died a couple years before this movie was made and they didn't want to portray the way he really died in a TV movie. The producers know what they're doing.
For anyone who is a fan of Motown, the Temptations, music from the 50s-60s era - this is a must see! The movie begins in 1957 and chronicles the history not only of the Temptations but includes a lot of Motown history as well. The music is out of this world!
Because I'd seen the show when it was originally aired on TV, I realized that some key scenes had been excluded from the VHS; this was very disappointing. Note that the special was broadcast on two nights at 2 hours each and the VHS is only 2-1/2 hours long, you can figure that quite a bit had been cut. The pacing seems too quick on the VHS and you get the feeling that you missed something. Case in point: There is a scene that had been cut from the VHS that shows Paul Williams in the early years refusing a beer and drinking milk instead. But in the VHS version, the viewer is unaware of Paul's uncharacteristic descent into alcholism until later when his problem is obvious and one of the band members comments that Paul used to refuse to drink. When Otis informs the band (then called the Elgins) that they needed to come up with a new name before Mr. Gordy would allow them to audition, the boys banter names back and forth along the sidewalk in front of Hitsville U.S.A. Their struggle to think of a name was the scene that was cut and I no longer remember which one of the group came up with the Temptations. Anyway, that's just a small sampling of deleted scenes. There were many others.
I was pleasantly surprised to read in another viewer's review that the DVD contains the full version. It is well worth purchasing the film again just to have the full version, so I'm clicking this gem into my cart.
In closing, I think it should be mentioned that the movie was based upon a book by Otis Williams and that the story is told from his perspective. Although I loved their music, I was totally unaware of what went on behind-the-scenes. Sometimes fame exacts a terrible price from those who are unable to handle it.
Top reviews from other countries
Absolutely brilliant and why it was never shown in the UK I don't know! Gripping viewing from the start to the very end, I'm so glad I managed to get a copy and I would thoroughly recommend!