My favorite movie of all time. And in my view, F. Murray Abraham's performance is the greatest acting performance in the history of movie and drama-making. His performance is THE standard against which ALL acting performances should be measured.

One of the greatest and most admirable features of this movie is its PG rating. This film entertains on every level without graphic violence, sex, or language. One of the greatest.

Every time I see this movie it seems to get better.

Hmm This film was very frustrating, in general it was average but it had one major flaw, and you may have to ask yourself did mozart have an american accent? It was cringeworthy, sometimes there was use of words that were most likely not used at that time. The bit i thought was classic is when his landlord tries to get mozarts attention from the edge of the stage and she has a southern american accent. Maybe if your american you can switch of from the fact that its meant to be in Austria. Its just not a very good film, the acting is completely varied it ranges from excellent to completely inept. Its a 3 star - 6/10 kind of film. If you can just watch as a bit of an education into the music of mozart then yes its passable but as a movie as a whole its jus plain average. Who this film can be getting reviews like 10/10 and be up for oscars is completely beyond me.… Expand

Great soundtrack. Great choreography. Great excuse to go out and read a decent biography on Mozart to find out that the great genius' story is far more compelling than the simpleton portrayed here. For example, his relationship with the various Weber sisters, resulting in his writing of his best aria to wed the one who was not the famed singer. The fact that he wrote Cosi based on an amusing anecdote the empoeror shared with him, only to see it closed when the empoeror died and the empress shut down the theatre. The fact that most of his major Opera's took on the power of the aristocracy head on, and that his last was in support of his membership with the Masons. And that the so-called evil Salieri tutored Mozar's son (as well as Beethoven). Really, there's a lot more here than giggles and passing gas.… Expand

A celebration in music, cinematography, with witty dialogues, & interesting story, told in the flashback mode from an asylum.

If there has ever been a better biopic, please let me know, because as far as I can tell, "Amadeus" is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. F Murray is spot-on as the seething Salieri, Tom Hulce is almost as good, perfect as a wonderfully irritating but oddly endearing Mozart. And Jeffrey "Say it ain't so" Jones is hillarious. Forman, meanwhile, has never done a better directorial job, and Shaffer's adaption of his own play is only criticizable on two scores: leaving out most of the "grazie, signor" speech; and slight historical inaccuracy, which has only come to light recently anyway. This is powerful, compelling film-making that needs to be seen. Oh, and the soundtrack rocks bells as well. Obviously.… Expand

To be succinct: the best movie I have ever seen, indisputably!!

This is an unforgetable movie from start to finish.

In terms of times seen (at least ten) my all-time favorite. The greatest composer of all time portrayed as someone you'd more expect to meet a frat house still makes me smile. Great casting all around. Some great lines and of course great music.

Brilliant! One of the major accomplishes of this film that rarely is acknowledged, is how it captures the spirit of creativity, and the amazingly destructive while still inspiring magic of genius, and how perilously close it runs alongside madness.

Sublime, superb, marvelous-do I need say more?? The whole movie had a rich, creamy, completely finished feel. Everything was perfect, from the philosophical questions right down to the heart-breaking soundtrack who no one could have composed but Mozart. Oh!! The questions it stirred, the way it, not mocks but observes human faults and then the humour!! It somehow found the perfect balance to make you laugh and cry in exact unison. It had me completely hooked. I'd give it an 100000000 if I could. A+.… Expand

My favorite movie of all time.

10 points from Denmark!!!!!

It is unfair that a brilliant film from 1984, got BETTER!!! I was amazed at how much richer the supporting performances became. (particularly Elizabeth Berridge)

I'm 55 and an AVID movie fan. This is on my top ten list. It hits ALL the buttons--acting, editing, cinematography, score, etc. and excels in all categories.

Wonderful music.....sorry for the sad ending.

It had it all; the best acting from the entire cast including competing best actor noms, the best cinematography ever, music (of course, extraordinaire). Costuming, make-up, the finest of any film ever made and a juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy that defines drama.

Amadeus is one of my favorite movies ever a near perfect movie. It's dazzling, very interesting and funny. Also F. Murray Abraham puts on a one of a kind performance.

I thought the original was a 10 movie, but I agree with Yoon's observation below. Mozart was as good as he was presented, but his contemporaries were not as bad.

A terribly misconceived populist movie about classical music. Hulce is entertaining and the point about genius obeying its own rules is well taken; still, it's too cartoonish in the Three Stooges mold. One wonders if a Looney Tunes character wouldn't have done just as well? Also, the genius of Mozart is misappreciated by showing his competition as mediocre; in this dynamic, Mozart is good, everyone else is bad. Had the movie presented Mozart's peers as excellent composers and musicians yet with Mozart reaching even greater heights, the film would have paid a more respectful, more proper appreciation of Mozart's genius. Great performance by F. Murray Abraham. … Expand

Amadeus is an effortlessly entertaining film, to put it mildly. I won't, in fact I cannot, critique it in detail as I have only seen it the onc time, as an 8 yr old when it was first released. To be honest I can remember very little about it, other than Hulce, Abraham, Berridge and of course the music. The question must arise then: how can I rate it if my memory of it is so scant? Simple, because as an 8 yr old I was completely bowled over by this film. I was enthralled, stunned, shocked and entertained - and wild horses could not have dragged me away, not for any one of the 158 mins that it ran. While everything else may be hidden in cloudy haze of time-worn memory, I will never forget how this film captured my heart, imagination and soul. A classic.… Expand

Great movie that doesn't take itself too seriously...so it should be viewed in that respect. If I wanted a documentary, I'd watch the history channel special on Mozart.

this has always been and will forever be my favorite movie of all time. i have honestly seen this movie at least 30 or 40 times; about half of those viewings was when i was a child, not able to even follow the story line completely. i suppose most of what kept me coming back for more was mozart's brilliant compositions, which all have a certain sweetness to them that no other composer has ever been able to duplicate. as i got older and was able to understand everything that was going on in the story, i fell even deeper in love with this film. it was just about six months ago that i bought the director's cut - the deleted scenes (although strange to see after having seen the original dozens and dozens of times) shed a whole new light on the movie that i have basically memorized line for line. truly brilliant.… Expand

What a great vehicle for presenting an ancient, yet still relevant theological/existential question: Why does God give gifts of remarkable creativity and ingenuity to those who treat those gifts with such shallow reverence? Furthermore, why does God endow those who passionately desire these gifts with medicore ability? Almost everyone could identify with Salieri.

Having waited this long to watch it I have to admit that I am somewhat disappointed. It did not woe me at all. It is a long long costume drama about a guy with an annoying laugh and an obvious talent for music.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Simply awful. The acting is so bad, and Tom Hulce's performance in particular, this movie is unbearable to watch. Who came up with his ridiculous giggle ? The costumes do not match the acting, which makes this entire enterprise a really bad comedy, almost like a slapstick, but one that misses the mark completely.… Expand

It's a ugly and boring movie. I didn't like the actors, the script nor the director. It's nothing inside the move. Only the Mozart story.

great movie. Tom Hulce a great actor.i love when he does his nervous laugh. it is true most artists are weird they have a artistic mind. being a genius has its cons.

Somehow I just didn't imagine Mozart to be like this. I pictured him to be more the, uh, 'classy' kind, as one would say. In this movie he seemed more like a goofy drunkard with a talent for music. Not to mention that they never exaggerated the point where he expressed himself as 'different' and 'outstanding' in the act of music (a.k.a. the point where he became famous). Nonetheless, it was a decent movie and I don't regret watching it -- the ending took me by surprise.… Expand

Amazing movie! Great story and brilliant music. Maybe it's a bit too long, but on the end it's worth every second of your time. Totally a must watch!!

From the most important contemporary Czech director Milos Forman, whose sole work I have watched before is THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT (1996, an 8/10) and he has gotten hold of two Oscar wins for BEST DIRECTOR, one for this film and another one for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO

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.

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.

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.… Expand

Absolutely amazing. The watcher needs no prior knowledge of classical music to enjoy this movie because the plot is so riveting and the acting is so great. Afterwards the viewer may become interested in classical music just because this movie does an exceptional job displaying Mozart and Salieri's lives in an extremely interesting and captivating way.

I saw this film when i was in eigth grade. I thought it would be boring, dull and incredibly moronic. How wrong I was. This movie is AMAZING! There are no words to describe its greatness. It is a visual treat that attracts the eye, and a glorious feast for music fans (and non-classical fans as well) It is close to perfection as movies come. Like Jaws, The Godfather, Raiders of the Lost Ark,Toy Story 3, and other great classics- i consider this to be my top favorite all time movie. It deserves all the awards it received. The only flaw it has, Tom Hulce didn't win best actor (but F. Murray Abraham did) IT IS AMAZING!… Expand

Massive in terms of scale, talent, and allure, "Amadeus" remains an epic in every sense of the word.