Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

just watch it!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I never saw the play, and it sounds like many of those who have are finding fault with the way the film was done, but since I've only ever seen the film version I don't have any way to compare the two. Treat Williams excels in the role of Berger, and he's supported by a very capable and talented cast. It's an interesting, thought-provoking film with some beautiful music and dancing, and it's very entertaining. Unlike some films of its era, it's still relevant and watchable today.I also find it interesting because in a way it parallels my life when I was that age: I was a small-town Claude type, and I traveled to the big city and got involved with a couple of rather cutting-edge New Yorkers who were amused by my naiveté. They had a completely different lifestyle than mine, but we learned something about each other and accepted one another at face value rather than passing up the chance to become friends just because of our extreme differences. That's a life lesson worth learning.Parents very strongly cautioned: no real violence to worry about, but your kids will be asking awkward questions and seeking the definition of some fairly off-beat words and concepts if they sit through it.

This IMO is the best anti-war movie that has ever been made. Because it is so full of LIFE! It shows how wonderful life can be! I don't care about the drugs or that typical 70th polygamy stuff but about all these warm hearted very modest people who care for each other. Who live their lifes - no matter what - with everything they have and are. So I've never seen a better approach for an anti-war movie. Usually it's all about watching people getting killed. Which - for me - is staying within the logic of war instead of showing what life can be...It is somehow a very simple and naive and moral look at things - but exactly because of that it is a very strong reminder of what makes life worth living.Not to mention how beautiful some songs have been performed - it is such a shame that Cheryl Barnes never tried to develop a career worthy of her incredible talent!This movie although the costumes are so very typical 70ig is timeless.Also - every time I watch it I get excited and even happy!

Hair is a musical about the hippie counterculture. Hippies generally are pacifists; they're against established institutions, parental values, war, pollution, and they live for drugs, free love (as much sex as possible) and peace on earth. For the most part they were just a lot of kids who wanted to try new things and make a difference. Well, they didn't succeed in creating world peace or ending war forever, but they did have quite an impact on society. Because they were against racism, sexism and homophobia, people learned a lot around that time about how people are all the same regardless of their race, gender or orientation. Hippies brought in new clothing styles and hair styles that on occasion are still worn today. They influenced music and books, movies and television. Not like the lazy, texting zombies of 2015 at all. They were the revolutionary generation, whereas today's generation is the couch potato generation.One of the many reasons people, mainly guys, became hippies was to avoid being drafted into the war. That's what happened to Claude, the main character of Hair. He soon makes friends with a hippie group in New York City (for the most part they look like hobos in flamboyant clothes). The leader of the group, George Burger, becomes his best friend and the hippie group crashes a party, sings about getting their hair cut and Claude gets stoned. After a falling out between Claude and the hippies, Claude joins the army after all, but when the hippies visit him and he goes AWOL, George gets on the plane going to Vietnam to take his place instead... getting killed overseas.Hair isn't just about hippies, it's a timeless message about how the world needs to learn to get along. We don't need to stop pollution or take drugs or have casual sex, we just need to learn to live together, everyone on the planet. Hopefully someday a generation like this one will come around again, hopefully kids will turn off their cellphones and glowing screens and wake up, try to make a difference in the world. Hair is one of the most interesting movies I've ever seen, it's been performed live as a play recently as well, and if you ever get the chance to see either version, don't pass it up.I also recommend Running With Scissors (2006), Pay It Forward (2000) and Harold & Maude (1971).

Hair isn't for me one of the my favourite film musicals(excluding animated films for now, West Side Story, Singin' in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St Louis) nor do I think is one of Milos Forman's best films(Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). It is much better than it's given credit for though, true it is inferior to the stage show and has its problems, but there are far worse film musicals out there(Xanadu, Can't Stop the Music, Mame, Grease 2, Across the Universe The Wiz, A Chorus Line) and for me it ties with Annie(1982, I know lots of people hate it but I love it and have done since childhood) as one of the most underrated.The story(the stage show does have a stronger one but not with its disjointed moments) does get weaker towards the end with an ending that is rather over-the-top, and the sequence with Claude's hallucination bogged things down a bit.It does however do a more than commendable job turning the stage show into something coherent and something that is still of relevant value now. Most of the story is good though even if re-written, with some well-explored, relevant themes of poverty, homosexuality and racism, even if these themes are closer to the 70s period rather than late 60s but I don't think it mattered too much. It is also successful in being not just tragic and poignant but also thoughtful and funny. The film looks wonderful, with the era detail, cinematography and colour a colourful and beautiful feast for the eye. The music is also fantastic, there are catchy numbers like Aquarious, Sodomy and Flesh Failures but also some really powerful ones like Walking in Space and Easy to Be Hard.The choreography looks dazzling and is danced and paced with sheer infectious energy, while the stage show has even more energy the film comes very close to matching it. Who can forget Treat Williams' table top dance? I can't. Forman I have always considered one of the most intelligent and underrated directors, while Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus are very well regarded and deservedly, few of his others have matched that, and it is a shame but movies like Fireman's Ball are also very good. And he doesn't undermine the energy, music, choreography or performances in any way, if anything he accommodates them while phoning it in. And of course the performances are just great. I don't think Treat Williams has been better, and he certainly hasn't been in a better film since Hair, while John Savage and Don Dacus are equally terrific and Beverly D'Angelo is smoking hot. Cheryl Barnes deserves a mention as well, as her Easy to be Hard rendition is one of the most powerful and heart-wrenching scenes of any film musical to me and what an entrance.All in all, not without flaws but much better than it's gotten credit for and deserving of being judged on its own terms. 8/10 Bethany Cox