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- 2007
- PG-13
- Columbia Pictures
- 2 h 13 m
- 2007
- PG-13
- Columbia Pictures
- 2 h 13 m
Summary Across the Universe is a love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of antiwar protest, mind exploration, and rock and roll. The film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool and the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village to the riot-torn streets of Detroit and the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crosse...
Directed By: Julie Taymor
Written By: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Julie Taymor
- 2007
- PG-13
- Columbia Pictures
- 2 h 13 m
- 2007
- PG-13
- Columbia Pictures
- 2 h 13 m
Across the Universe
56
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary Across the Universe is a love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of antiwar protest, mind exploration, and rock and roll. The film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool and the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village to the riot-torn streets of Detroit and the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crosse...
Directed By: Julie Taymor
Written By: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Julie Taymor
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
56
62% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
24% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
14% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
56
62% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
24% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
14% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Here is a bold, beautiful, visually enchanting musical where we walk INTO the theater humming the songs.
It's a funny thing: On the one hand, you fault Taymor for going out of her way to create some of the more disposable sequences. On the other, you can forgive her: Who wouldn't get carried away given the opportunity she has been given here to play with one of the world's greatest song catalogs?
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 102 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
68 Ratings
68 Ratings
24% Mixed
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
10% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 102 User Ratings
7.1
67% Positive
68 Ratings
68 Ratings
24% Mixed
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
10% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
An extravagant and joyous ode to the Beatles and the social issues of the 1960’s. Escapist fun yet also thought-provoking, and always wildly creative. Framed around an endearing romance stitched to a framework of perfectly chosen Beatles songs that are all beautifully reimagined. Across the Universe is an incredible visual and audio experience not to be missed. A masterpiece from Julie Taymor.
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All you need is love -- for the Beatles, for psychedelic visuals, for ideas about being young in the ‘60s -- to fully enjoy Across the Universe.
Julie Taymor says the idea for her Across the Universe was "to create an original musical using only the songs of the Beatles." That's like saying you're going to create a new element using only gold.
The film does not know what it is, tonally changing within and between structural acts.
Goofy, pompous, annoyingly boomer-myopic Fab Four musical.
Across the Universe will have ardent defenders, but in the long run, it will do nothing to infuse life into the current mini-revival of movie musicals and is as soft-headed as the wishful refrain “All You Need Is Love.” Maybe that works in real life but not in the movies, sister.
A musical is a movie where music is used as a piece of constancy, not as utensil for buying the viewers easy boredom. That's what musicals nowadays don't understand (like High School Musical, Camp Rock, etc.) But Across the Universe truly makes a difference. It isn't the lame, disturbing-to-see type of musical: In fact, this is the first of the two musicals where I actually get impressed and potently pleased with what the movie delivers, othe other one being Hairpsray. It's groundbreaking, spectacular, extraordinarily rare and crazy, but not for the faint of heart. I loved it!
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This is about as frustrating as movies come. A musical that can, at times, absolutely capture the magic and spirit of the Beatles, yet leave out so much of the other elements and - quite frankly - songs that made the band so damned good. A visual feat that can, at times, completely dazzle the audience with spellbinding imagery and production value, yet populate said images and set pieces with less than inspired characters and plot devices. It's a superficial marvel, no doubt, but I think the one thing that Taymor undoubtedly misses the mark on here is fairly simple: depth.
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At times it is a visual masterpiece, but other times it is a sprawling mess of jumbled story arcs. The actual music is very well integrated in the movie, but that doesn't mean I would listen to any of the covers over the original Beatles version. All in all, this movie just seems unnecessary in this day and age of cinema - the 1960s were an interesting time, but this movie just flies through all of the controversial aspects without any real effort to look at why they were going on; it fills that hole with teen angst and a rather weak and predictably bland storyline.
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I love the Beatles but this movie is just horrible. It's horribly pretentious and is very forced. There are characters thrown in just for the sake of some how tying in another song. The only positives this movie has is the music, but I can get that on my Ipod with out all the needless crap. The other positive is there is some very good cinematography but the vast majority of it was in the trailer. The think that irritated me most was the worthless cameos by Bono and Eddie Izzard. They were un-needed and a waste of their talent. Go out and buy a Beatles album and avoid this movie.
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Pretentious, self-indulgent, and pseudo-artsy. The story is boring and superficial, peppered with far too many attempts at "powerful" psychedelic imagery. The music is the only good thing about it.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Satellite Awards
• 3 Nominations
