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Amadeus
Metascore
93 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    100
    It still soars, but now it seems richer, more expansive. Amadeus reminds us that movies can be lyrical as well as vulgar, ambitious as well as playful, brilliant as well as down and dirty -- just like Amadeus himself.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    100
    "Amadeus is about as close to perfection as movies get," I wrote in 1984. Now, it's 20 minutes closer.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    100
    Perfect pitch.
  4. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    100
    In what was indisputably his finest moment as a filmmaker, Forman summoned the absolute best work of his craftsmen -- costumes, makeup, camerawork, production design -- and merged them with his own storytelling sense and his special way with actors to create what has to stand as cinema's most successful musical epic.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: F. X. Feeney
    100
    Remains the most popularly successful film ever to render the inner life of an artist.
  6. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Gregory Weinkauf
    100
    One of the finest qualities of Amadeus is that it reminds us of those rare occasions when an Oscar sweep is actually merited.
  7. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    90
    The superbly edited original version of Amadeus used overlapping sound cues for a lively flow between scenes, and the new version breaks up some of that flow with lengthy, talky interludes. Still, Ondrícek's breathtaking images and Forman's essential craft are best appreciated on the big screen, and another theatrical run for Amadeus is a welcome gift, no matter how much this edition unnecessarily gilds what's already a near-perfect lily
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    90
    Loaded with pleasures, the greatest of which derive from the on location filming in Prague, the most 18th century of all European cities.
  9. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    88
    Except for the Mozart music and Tharp movements around the edges, Amadeus plays like a monument to mediocrity. The movie belongs to Salieri.
  10. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Ted Mahar
    83
    The big-screen reissue offers a rare chance to admire the marvelous production details.
  11. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    Amadeus needs an additional 20 minutes running time like "The Magic Flute" needs a drum solo. Though the production is gussied up with more frills and decoration than a Viennese dessert trolley, Forman is generally workmanlike in his visual style and very uneven with his handling of actors.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    60
    It binds up introductory lessons in music appreciation, Freudian psychology, and fanciful history with a pulp thriller plot.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 126 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 1 out of 33
  1. JMH
    10
    How better to tell a story of mediocrity, the average human condition, than by telling a story of a genius through the eyes of a mediocrity? Amadeus is not a film about Mozart, played flamboyantly by Tom Hulce; it's a film about his contemporary Antonio Salieri, played by F. Murray Abraham as a sort of composer-everyman. The film's plot is largely fictional, with its earliest source in Alexandr Pushkin's 1830 Mozart and Salieri. Salieri blames God for meting out the greatest gift He could offer a composer, genius, with cruel unfairness. Salieri feels he's a devoted servant of God, via his music. But comes Mozart, in Salieri's eyes a pagan who nonetheless creates, sans effort, music Salieri knows to be genius -- this "idle loafer" (per Pushkin) has been granted God's gift. Salieri can't accept this injustice, and he plots Mozart's death, all the while hearing the voice of God in Mozart's art. Herein, Amadeus tackles two eternal themes in man's relationship with genius. The seeming arbitrariness of genius -- placed in select hands -- belittles ordinary men. Yet the product of genius raises ordinary men beyond the brutalities of worldly existence. Most of us are mediocrities mocked and enlightened by some form of genius we don't fully comprehend. Accordingly, Salieri's mission takes on ironic motive: "I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint." Taking a step back, should genius be stamped out because it's inegalitarian by nature, or relished because it enlightens the vulgar masses of which we're a part? Director Milos Forman allows both possibilities to play out brilliantly. And from Forman there are deeper questions, as the Czechoslovakian-born director lost his parents in the Holocaust and emigrated to the U.S. when the Soviets invaded his homeland. Most specifically, does genius have the potential to save men from themselves and their worst collective impulses? At its heart, Amadeus asserts, emphatically, that it does.… Full Review »
  2. Trev29
    10
    A near perfect fim that is just magical and marvelous. This type of film might appear to be very tedious, but is wasn't. Everything about it was just great. Wonderful acting. That laugh will be instilled in my mind forever.… Full Review »
  3. stepholicious
    0
    I was quite keen to watch this film but the over top and ridiculous American accent of Tom Hulce detracted from what could have otherwise been an enjoyable historical drama. Does it not matter what country the movie is set it? I'm sick of hearing **** American regardless of the setting.… Full Review »
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