everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A lot of fun.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Simple but memorable of Abba Sydney Tour in 1977, priceless

The idea of a coproduction between Australia and Sweden might sound a little strange, but it happened with this movie. The results suggest why there hasn't been another attempt to date. Whether you are an ABBA fan or not, you'll more likely than not find the movie unsatisfying. Yes, there's plenty of ABBA music, but surprisingly most of it is not played completely, which will likely frustrate fans. Also, the concert sequences are not particularly well directed and edited; the only number that really comes to life is the "Dancing Queen" number (which IS played the entire way through.) What's most annoying about the movie is that while it promises to take a look at the ABBA band members in depth, we learn next to nothing about them. Much of the movie is instead devoted to an incompetent Peter Fonda clone whose ineptness and stupidity become annoying pretty fast. I can only recommend the movie to die hard ABBA fans, and even they will more likely than not find large portions of the movie hard to sit through.

I grew up in Australia and was 16 at the time of ABBA's 1977 concert tour Downunder. I lived in Melbourne and went to all three performances (1 on the Saturday night and 2 on Sunday) and I remember seeing the film cameramen on stage during the show and wishing they would get the heck out of the way, especially when they blocked my view of Agnetha (which was unfortunately already bad enough due to the fact that I was so far back in the crowd that I had to use binoculars!). Watching this movie again after so many years sent my mind spinning back to my 16th year and flooded me with wonderful memories and an extremely intense feeling of nostalgia and longing to be back there again at that time; and it's great to know that when they perform Fernando in the movie, I'm somewhere out in that crowd at Melbourne's "Sidney Myer Music Bowl" (which is named after a guy called Sidney Myer, not the city of Sidney). Being a big ABBA fan and an even bigger Agnetha fan, it's great to see the appreciation of ABBA: The Movie and of my girl Anna, who at 57 years of age now is still the most beautiful woman who ever lived. On the Monday after the concerts, I learned that ABBA would spend one more day in Melbourne so I (naturally) skipped school and went to the city to try and get Agnetha's autograph. ABBA had the whole 5th floor of The Old Melbourne Hotel, and during my efforts to infiltrate that fortress, I met an old lady who was staying on the 4th floor who asked me what was going on. When I explained my love for Agnetha to her, she took sympathy on me and told me to go down to the lobby and wait for my chance. She said if any hotel staff bothered me I could tell them I was her grandson and staying with her (God Bless her!!). When I stepped off the elevator into the lobby, the staff must've automatically assumed I was a guest because no one bothered me. After about 30 minutes, the crowds outside began screaming wildly as ABBA returned from a day trip they'd taken and entered the lobby. And there she was, the blonde angel named Agnetha - right in front of me! It took all my strength and nerve just to stand up and approach her, but when I did, she smiled and took the proffered pen and paper and signed her name with a flourish! I've still got it in my files at home in Melbourne, but unlike my love for her, it's kind of faded these days. ABBA: The Movie was originally intended to be a documentary (despite Benny's apprehensions about it due to an earlier, similar type of documentary he'd been involved in during his Hep Star days (a film that apparently was disastrous, at least in his eyes)), but as momentum built during pre-production for both the film and the Australian concert tour, Lasse Halstrom decided it would be better to add the subplot of the D.J. trying to get an interview with them. It's a thin plot to say the least, but it does add humor to the movie and is a great window into Australia of 1977. They don't even have money like that anymore down there - nowadays it's made of some sort of futuristic, flexible plastic material that just WILL NOT stay in your pockets (as I learned on my last visit from Los Angeles). Anyway, ABBA: The Movie is a wonderful film for anyone who is a fan of the group or of that style of 70s music in general.

We follow the Australian leg of Abba's first major world tour in March 1977, and what an experience it is! Stunning visuals matched with terrifically polished performances from the SuperSwedes showcased Abba's immense popularity at that time! The story in which a local DJ tries every trick in the book to secure an interview with the group is lacklustre, but at least ABBA: The Movie is not a straight 95min collage of concert footage, which may have made the whole film seem longer than it is. Even Lasse Hallstrom (now a successful Hollywood director) knew this plot was quite inept! Lovely to hear some of the group's classic songs such as Dancing Queen, Fernando and S.O.S. (as well as the bouncy Get On The Carousel, which has only ever been available in ABBA: The Movie), while the sheer excitement and hysteria of the Australian fans showcased the group's outstanding popularity, which was probably at its highest in 1976/77.Abba were divine as a live band, despite some critics' negative views, and were actually more successful Down Under than the Beatles, reflected by the fact that they are the best-selling artist of all time in Australia! You can see why when viewing this film! The concert footage included in ABBA: The Movie is exceedingly electric and superbly conducted, making you want to get up and dance, and simply makes this film a sure-fire hit for Abba fans worldwide. In fact, it's only this movie and ABBA In Concert, recorded two years later, that we can see Abba in live performance. And it sure doesn't disappoint!