Boring, long, and too preachy.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

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

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This film immerses us into a fairytale atmosphere. As for me, I watch it many times, by the way, both in Russian and in English. It's too pleasantly to realize that Soviet Union and US joined together: legendary Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Jane Fonda and outstanding soviet actors Georgiy Vitsin, Margarita Terekhova, Oleg Popov. I was a little child when I found this masterpiece...Even then it left an imprint in my heart, and I'll always remember it with great pleasure and kindness! And know I can recommend u to watch this film and enjoy the playing of the best actors of 20th century. Don't miss the fairytale

The Blue Bird (1976) ** (out of 4) George Cukor directed this USSR/USA co-production of the classic story about two children who set out to find the Blue Bird of Happiness. The all-star cast includes Elizabeth Taylor in four roles including the Mother, Witch and Queen of Light, Jane Fonda as The Night, Cicely Tyson as Tylette and Ava Gardner as Luxery. THE BLUE BIRD has been filmed countless times over the years and this one here has the reputation as being one of the worst. It's strange to see all the talent that is wasted here but at the same time I think fans of the weird and surreal will probably want to check this out and they might get a few kicks out of it. This version here is completely weird from the opening scene to the last but I think this here is what keeps it entertaining. For the most part the performances range from poor to average but with a cast like this you expect much better. Taylor seems out of place in all four of her roles but I will admit that I got a kick out of her playing the witch. Fonda seems like she's caught up in a bad dream as she never feels in place. Gardner is wasted in her small role as is Robert Morley. Poor Tyson comes off the worst with a rather embarrassing performance. I'd say that the majority of the visuals are quite nice and we're given some good cinematography but all of this is pretty much wasted since the story never fully takes off. The dance sequences really don't add anything either and in the end this here is just a strange mix of fantasy and drama.

I love this film and it is my favourite film of all time. I think the cast, costumes and music are all original and brilliant. I cannot fault this film.It was introduced to me as a young child by my grandmother and I'm now 25 and i still enjoy watching it.This film makes me happy, i am an artist and have been so inspired by this movie. My grandmother prefers the b&w version - with Shirley Temple. I love this version, it contains some of the worlds most beautiful women: Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardener.It's true that this film is a little quirky and has some surreal scenes, but this only adds to the genius of it. I only wish that i had created this film, it's totally artistic and creative. A beautiful masterpiece.

I don't agree with the author of the previous comment about this film. The film has to be understood in the context of the time when it was made-at the height of the Cold War. It is one of very few examples of the US-USSR cooperation, especially, in the movie industry. I was very young when I saw it for the first time, on Soviet TV. Right after the signing of the nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and the then-Soviet Union. The soundtrack of the movie is beautiful; and some of the best Soviet movie actors are cast in it, to say nothing about Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Fonda. Yes, it's not the Lord of the Rings, by all stretch of imagination. It's rather a children's story, a fairy tale, without computer animation and Oscars for it, but with some good old-fashioned ACTING. By the way, I'd love to purchase the movie and would appreciate any hints regarding to who carries it on DVD.