Abduction Movie Reviews

INfrequently (thank God !) we Men run into the (thankfully) *rare* "Lady* that _chooses_ to NON-ethically claw into a Man using the courts, etc., just-coz-she-wants-to-strike-at-him. May I haste to add that the MAJORITY of the Ladies out here among us guys would NEVER choose such a disgusting, illegal, UNethical course of action, just to get back at us. And _that_ is the perfect segue, at least as I see so, into my high praise of Victoria Principal and Robert Hays in THE ABDUCTION. May I please say how marvelously balanced, rational, and just and fair the illustration of the HORROR of us "Men" doing the OPPOSITE to the Love we *are* OBLIGED to demonstrate, perpetually, to Ladies is so well portrayed by Ms. Principal and Mr. Hays. A *must see* for EVERY Man *and* EVERY Woman. Guys, sit down with your Wives / Girl / Your Wife or Romance's Girls, and if what you see in THE ABDUCTION is YOU, please, get help ! It's NEVER too late !

Shocking and suspenseful movie about a stalker ex-husband who wants his ex-wife back...both physically and emotional. Victoria Principal is a victim overcoming the violence brought upon her by her ex-husband (who turns psycho and will go to any length to get her back). This kind of stuff is really going on...The movie is a good reminder of that.

Crying Freeman is one of the best animes ever made! A MUST for any anime lover!

THIS IS SUCH a delightful gem of an Opera ~ superbly staged and acted and sung in CONTEMPORARY terms. But then again wasn't it quite contemporary when it first HIT?

LORD! What our Wolfie would have done for us today ..... such a funny, sad, uplifting and utterly POLITICALLY correct piece of art. [Remember the difficulties he had with the staging - the banning of the ballet, etc.]

The Cast spear-headed by the Dresden-like Christine Schafer and the never-disappointing Paul Groves [recently seen in LA - Berlioz 'Damnation of Faust'. The Salzburg version with Mr. Groves is available on DVD]. AND the rest of the highly professional cast - perfectly in harmony with this work.

NICE addition is the Turkish [NON 'WAM' music].

BUT it is the utter freshness of the cast dominated by the gentle Pasha and his Solomon like advice that remains long after the seats cool down. Very much a reflection of our times today ....

GREAT DVD!

I had to buy this because schafer was in it. Her Constanze is uncomparable to any soprano who has done it. If you just listen "Ach, Ich libte" you'll understand what I mean. That common aria sounds so different when she sings it. Just gorgeous!!! But one drawback if I have to say, the other singers are a little bland... compared to the same title CD from Erato. The CDs from Erato would be a better choice if you just go for the music. Also Schafer is in it, too.

I agree with othere that this version is unconventional, but also hasten to point out that the performers are really great. I do believe that Mozart would have been pleased, even if a bit dismayed by the razor-wire and submachine guns. It is really nice to see talented young performers do Mozart well and having fun doing it. I have a conventional version and clearly and strongly prefer this one.

I watched this opera side by side with "Don Giovani" conducted by Furtwangler, another Mozart opera produced by DG. The orchestra here is Bayeriscshen conducted by Karl Bohm, a favourite conductor of mine. With Bohm, we have perhaps a little more lyricism but we don't have the sort excellent support to the singers as we have from Furtwangler. Nor is here Furtwangler's full sense of drama or power. The orchestra was nearly as good as Vienna Philharmonic, but the singers are remarkably weaker. One supposes that got nothing to do with the language in which it was sung, for it intended by Mozart to be sung in German. So, despite the recording was made some twenty years later, technology doesn't help much, even though photography is much and settings are marginally better. Nonetheless, this one is all fun to watch. In my own list, this would have to come next to Furtwangler's Don Giovani if one has to choose just one.

This "Entfuhrung..." is one of the best TV opera productions I've ever seen... and I've seen too many.
The quality of the music is unmatchable. Herr Bohm conducts the orchestra very well.

The perfomers? From Selim (spoken character) to every singer do it awesome. Specially the Soprano arias of Constanze. Gruberova sings them quite well. Belmonte is played by Araiza.

This opera is a comical work. If you're a purist or are stuck with Wagner's work, do not watch it. It will take you out a laugh or two (specially the bad tempered Osmin and the easy going Pedrillo aria of "Baccus")

I really enjoyed it. Mozart really knew how to write operas. I highly recommend it. I own all his operas. Another piece to my opera collection. You won't be disappointed. Also,don't forget to buy his other operas. You can find them on Amazon,along with lists of other fine operas.

Llega en dvd una gran version del 'Rapto en el Serrallo' mozartiano, con un buen reparto encabezado por la soprano italiana EVA MEI, una gran Konstanze en lo vocal, segurisima ante todas sus dificilisimas coloraturas, agudos e intervalos agudo-grave, grave-agudo. Brava!. El tenor RAINER TROST es un Belmonte con la voz algo metálica, aunque mantiene un nivel medio aceptable. Como Osmin, el bajo KURT RYDL hace una soberbia creacion vocal y una divertida creacion escenica. Vocalmente intachable tambien la Blonde de PATRIZIA CIOFFI, de bellisima voz y potentes agudos. El tenor que da vida a Pedrillo cumple, sin mas.
La produccion escenica, del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, es muy bella visualmente, con notables decorados y vestuario, y detalles de muy buen gusto (la llegada del barco, el cocodrilo...)
ZUBIN METHA dirige a la orquesta con suma correccion, lo que termina de cuajar una version muy recomendable de la gran opera mozartiana.

Hans Neuenfels' stagings have an irritating habitude of displeasing the audiences. His last Fledermaus in Salzburg involved the police - the director of the festival was punched by a member of the audience. Two of my friends were there and said it was the worst operatic performance of their entire life. This video is a serious candidate for this title. First of all, who is Mr.Neuenfels to re-write the dialogues? We all know how particular Mozart was about his libretti and especially in the case of this opera how demanding he was on his librettist. Worst than that - Neuenfels dialogues are longer than the original ones and it takes this comedy to loose the essential quality of comedy (timing). Also, his re-invention of the plot made the whole thing to be simply impossible to follow if you don't know the story already. It doesn't help either to use two artists for each role: a singer and an actor. It makes the stage to be incredibly crowded and it was simply unnecessary considering that the singers had better physique du rôle than the actors and were themselves good actors. Anyway, they definitely had to be because they are made to move around in a distracting manner. If the musical performance was something of particular interest, I could have overlooked the production (or turned the image off), but the fact is that it was incredibly boring. Zagrosek's conducting was acceptable in the ouverture, with good woodwind playing, but since singers appear, the orchestra starts to be recorded in too recessed a way, turning the whole thing very shallow. Also, Zagrosek's tempi are slow and his phrasing is heavy - and his cast doesn't help him. The Konstanze has a creamy voice with some beautiful mezza voce, but she is unable to make it move. The coloratura is incredibly blurred - Martern aller Arten was a martyredom to the audience. The Belmonte had a plausible voice, rather juicy, but he sounded too much the operetta tenor to my ears - his voice is a bit lacrymose and he is not very precise with divisions. Roland Bracht (Osmin), the more familar name in the cast has an imposing voice, but he is not really Mozartian and doesn't have very good low notes. The saving grace of the production is the Blonde, who has a charming bright and clear voice and is also very funny. This video has strong competition all the way - Böhm's tempi are slow and the production is a bit outdated, but he has Gruberová and Araiza. The Covent Garden video has a charming production, good conducting, a nicest Belmonte in Deon van der Walt and there is Kurt Moll, who is reason enough to watching it.

This was a very disappointing performance, and I question why it was chosen for a DVD. The singing is acceptable, but not what I would consider to be especially inspired. The root of the problem is the production. I was so looking forward to adding this DVD to my collection, as this ranks as one of my favorite operas--thank goodness I checked it out at the library first! It just is not a captivating performance, and it is far too untraditional for my taste. Surely a much better version of this opera will come along on DVD. Until then, you're better off enjoying it on CD and leave the visuals to your mind. It is doubtful your imagination will conjure up anything like this production of annoying mirror images! It is disturbing to say the least and it does nothing to enhance our understanding of Mozart or this opera.

It may be schocking at the beginning to see all the characters (except the Pasha) splitted in two: the singer and the actor, and interacting in unusual ways, but you will finally enjoy it. You must take into account that this is not a typical Opera but a Singspiel that has not a rigid libretto and the dialogues are opened to improvisation. I found the two female singers (Catherine Naglestad playing Constanze and Kate Ladner playing Blonde)quite good, as well as the tenor playing Pedrillo and the baritone playing Osmin. I recommend it to all Opera lovers.

I have never been so lied to by a DVD's liner notes in my DVD purchase history!
This movie should have been rated PG or PG13 at most! No nudity whatsoever, there is zero sexual tension and its picture quality is horrible. The scariest thing about this film is that I bought it!
On the back of the DVD cover, the vendor compares this film to excellent cult classics such as "I Spit on Your Grave" and "The Last House on the Left". I have seen those two sexplotation classics and this one has nothing in common with either of the two. In one scene, for about 20 seconds, you see the two "captive" teens in their underwear. Save your money folks and stay far away from this B picture! I expected so much....and got so little. Its the rip off of the century!