Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is a great film that is so much better than the awful remake they did with John Travolta. The remake lacks all the things that males this version so brilliant. The humour, the great music and dancing and the underlying message about race and segregation in the 50's and 60's in the USA. There are so many good performances that it is hard to single out any. The script and direction are both brilliant and this is a rare combination of a feel good film with a serious message. it is comedy and drama, it is one of the only musical films I like and is one of those films I would happily watch over and over again. I am surprised that the remake was in fact so bad, missing all the elements that made this a great film, so in my opinion, give the remake a miss and buy this version on DVD!

Hairspray directed by John Waters is one of the first movies that he directed that was mainstream and less obscure/ extreme to cinema goers in 1988.I decided to give the original version of this movie a go before watching the 2007 remake I have seen this movie at least five times and is one of those movies that never gets old or flat after watching it multiple times.My favorite character was Edna Turnblad played by drag queen Divine.I thought this movie was more cruder than the 2007 remake but it was still acceptable to mainstream cinema.I really liked the songs in this movie.This movie was very funny and had some fantastic quotes.This is one of the few musicals I liked.Rating : 9/10 stars.

I was reading a user comment on here and someone actually said that Divine does not even compare to John Travolta as Edna. I can't even believe it! Anyone with even half a brain knows that Divine is so much better. Ricki Lake is so winning, and why isn't Leslie Ann Powers in anything else? ever? I think it's very rare to find a mainstream movie actress on IMDb.com with only one credit! I love John Waters and wished he used Mink Stole more in this movie, since she is amazing. Divine's Edna is such a fabulous mother--"I'm trying to iiiiiiiiiiiiron.." and "it's the times--they're a-changin'". Love it. The remake I would rate a 2/10. This one is so much better in every single way.

Knowing that John Waters likes to make outrageous movies, "Hairspray" is an easy introduction to his movies. It portrays chubby teenager Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) trying to help bring about integration in 1962 Baltimore, all in the context of hairstyles. Watching the movie, one gets the feeling that Waters long had a thing for beehive hairdos - I mean, look at Velma Von Tussle's (Deborah Harry). But overall, it's the sort of movie that you really wish that you could experience, especially when Penny's mother gets freaked out in the ghetto.Anyway, you gotta love John Waters (who appears briefly as the psychiatrist) for making these kinds of flicks. Also starring Divine, Sonny Bono, Jerry Stiller and Mink Stole.