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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | Set in America during the Vietnam War, Across the Universe is a powerful love story set against a backdrop of political and social unrest: it's a story of soul-searching, self-doubt, and individual powerlessness cleverly conveyed through a multitude of Beatles songs. Like young adults all across America during the 1960's, Jude (Jim Sturgess), Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), Max (Joe Anderson), Sadie (Dana Fuchs), Prudence (T.V. Carpio), and JoJo (Martin Luther) are in turmoil over the war; questioning their individual roles in the war effort and struggling to find a way to hold true to their beliefs while making a difference in the world. While love proves a powerful uniting force, its limitations become clear as relationships are strained and broken over individual perceptions of responsibility to cause and country. A fairly bizarre juxtaposition of extremely stylized, almost hallucinogenic scenes of swirling colors and reflections, highly choreographed dance segments, seemingly commonplace character interaction, and emotionally packed close-up footage of characters lost in contemplative song, this film imparts a good sense of the confusion and passion of the time and is at once powerful, invigorating, and disturbing. The film runs a bit long at 2-hours 11-minutes and several segments drag noticeably thanks to some incredibly slow song tempos. Warning: this production may change how you think about a favorite Beatles song forever. --Tami Horiuchi Beyond Across the Universe 
On Blu-ray | 
The Deluxe Soundtrack | 
Beatles audio CD | Stills from Across the Universe (click for larger image) | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Actors: | Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson (VI), Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther (II) | | Director: | Julie Taymor | | Format: | AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English | | Subtitle: | English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Thai | | Number of Discs: | 2 | | Studio: | Sony Pictures | | Run Time: | 133 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | February 05, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 390 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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 Imagine Aug 27, 2008
Who would have thought that this could be done? Stringing a story through the soundtrack of our lives could have been trite. The movie though, captures the times between 1964 and 1969 perfectly. The evolution of the politics, music and graphic imagery mirrors what I remember. The references to charactors and historical people is very clever, and it was all done without being a slave to literalism. The interpretations of the songs are novel and imaginative. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and "Carry That Weight" are totally unexpected, but in an alternate universe, could be just what Lennon and McCartney intended.
As a separate issue, I was bowled over by Diana Fuchs' performance. She channels Janis Joplin and Joan Osborne without imitating them, and is proof positive of the magic of the blues.
A walk back in Time Aug 24, 2008
I have never written a movie review before, and after reading many reviews realized many people are in love with what they write..
I just watched the movie, had not even heard of it before my son had me sit down to view. I turned on the surround sound, earphones on, and walked back thru time, as that brought back a flood of memories.. I thought it was a great movie, visuals, sound, singers, actors, it was all a well spent two hours.
Now I have to buy it, because it all worked for me. May be a bit much for those that have young ones to watch, but for those with more mature offspring, it is good to have some dialog around the material.
This is a keeper for me.
 Disc issues Aug 23, 2008
Unfortunately, I can't give a review for this movie. The disc will not play in my DVD player or my computer. I received one and returned it after it wouldn't play. Unfortunately, the second one has the same issue. It is not my player because I have no problem with other DVDs.
 HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY! Aug 20, 2008
Help! I need somebody, not just anybody, but the director!
If you must start with disc 1, comparisons will be made. Like the movie "Hair" made you long for the original play and storyline, the movie "Tommy" made you long for the original album and storyline..."Across the Universe" will actually make you long for, or at least appreciate, Stigwood's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
One surely wonders why the director chose, out of over 200 songs, most of the drug-induced ones The Beatles wrote. With slight musical changes to all the songs, and the removal of the overly-produced musical backgrounds of the originals, it is very easy to tell the difference between Lennon's wit and intelligence; and the lyrics that make no sense what-so-ever, unless you, too, are on drugs and seeing spiders on your hands and walls. The Lennon/McCartney music originally made up for the nonsense words.
The movie, itself, is full of beautiful faces and lovely voices. Some of the images are excellent, but the movie isn't as cohesive as you would think it would be. Some parts make no sense at all on the surface of a first viewing. Some Beatles' songs are just hinted at in a throwaway line, or the easily recognizable opening chords that just go into a different song. And like all `pretty' movies, the heroes are bashed in the head one day and have their lovely faces back the next.
Now, if you choose to watch disc 2 first, you will discover that the movie becomes more comprehensive and makes a little more sense.
Actually, disc 2 comes off more enjoyable than the movie itself, or at the very least, makes the movie seem better than it actually is.
If you just want to tune in, drop out and watch a movie, this is the one for you. Otherwise, stick to "Hard Days Night" and "Help".
Miss Josh
Beautiful and Bizarre Aug 18, 2008
What a beautifully bizarre film that brilliantly uses a catchy and heartwarming Beatles soundtrack to show a tempestuous time in our nation's history. Though the movie is at times so bizarre it's confusing, it is easy to get caught up in the stunning and surreal artistic visuals. For me, the best musicals are those that know how to get in your face with pulse-pounding song and dance scenes and can also stir your heart with songs that are sad or romantic.
Across the Universe does all of this, frequently. The musical numbers are effective and abundant. Trying to tell a story with songs that weren't originally written for a musical isn't a new concept (see An American in Paris) but it also isn't a simple one. I give Julie Taymor a lot of credit for tackling such a difficult challenge.
Unlike some others, I'm not sorry the movie didn't win Best Picture, because it does have its faults that keep it just out of "great movie" range. But it is very, very good and deserves to be counted as one of the best musicals of all time.
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