This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The original Mel Brooks movie is a classic, about two impresarios deliberately making a flop stage show that becomes a success, then the movie was turned into a real successful Broadway show, then this stage show is turned into a remake movie, and ironically, it flops, but I still gave it a chance. Basically Max Bialystock (Golden Globe nominated Nathan Lane) was once a top Broadway producer ("Opening Night"), but is now washed up, and resorting to wooing and seducing wealthy elderly women to raise money for his shows, many becoming flops. Nervous and hysterical Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) is an accountant sent from Max's firm to study his books, and in doing so he finds that his last show raised more money than was required. Leo makes a passing comment that selling shares and embezzling in a show that is guaranteed to be a flop could generate a fortune, more than that of a hit show that runs and runs, Max tries to convince him to run with this scheme ("We Can Do It"). Returning to his accountancy firm, Leo fantasises about being a Broadway producer ("I Wanna Be a Producer"), he decides to quit his job and forms "Bialystock & Bloom" with Max. Max and Leo search for the worst play ever written, and they find Springtime for Hitler, a musical celebrating the Führer, written by an ex-Nazi named Franz Liebkind (Golden Globe nominated Will Ferrell), they meet with Franz to acquire the rights to the musical, performing Hitler's favourite song and taking "Siegfried Oath" ("Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop"). To ensure the play's failure, they also seek the worst director possible, they meet flamboyant director Roger De Bris (Gary Beach) and his assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart), Roger is reluctant to direct, but Max and Leo suggest he could win a Tony, he agrees, on the condition the play be more "gay" ("Keep It Gay"). Back at their office, attractive Swedish woman Ulla Inga Hansen Benson Yansen Tallen Hallen Svaden Swanson (Uma Thurman), or simply Ulla, appears to audition, Leo says that they have not started casting, Max hires her as a secretary until she can audition ("When You've Got It, Flaunt It"). To get the money they need to produce the show, Max has dalliances with several elderly women ("Along Came Bialy"), allowing him to raise the $2 million, while Leo shares a kiss with Ulla ("That Face"). Franz is angered at the auditions for role of Adolf Hitler by a performer's rendition of a German song, he storms the stage and performs it himself ("Haben Sie gehört das Deutsche Band?"), based on his performance, Max hires Franz to play Hitler. On opening night, the cast and crew are preparing, Leo wishes everyone "good luck", but everyone warns him that this is bad luck, he should say "break a leg" ("You Never Say Good Luck on Opening Night"). Franz leaves to prepare and breaks his leg, Max needs someone to take over the role of Hitler, he asks Roger to perform, as he knows the lines, Roger accepts. As the show opens, the audience is horrified at the first song ("Springtime for Hitler"), with some walking out in disgust. This is until Roger enters as Hitler, his flamboyant interpretation creates laughter, the audience misinterpret the play as satire, resulting in the show becoming a smash. Max and Leo realise they have failed to create a flop, and they argue that the IRS will learn of their crimes, then Franz appears with a gun to shoot them for breaking the Siegfried Oath by mocking Hitler, the gunshots alert the police, Franz breaks his other leg as the duo try to evade the police. Max is arrested and imprisoned for tax fraud, while Leo gets away to Rio de Janeiro to marry Ulla ("Betrayed"), but at sentencing, Max is saved by Leo, who returns to defend him ("'Til Him"). The judge (David Huddleston) realises Max and Leo are inseparable, they are both sentenced to five years at Sing Sing Prison with Franz, there they write and produce a new musical ("Prisoners of Love"). Leo, Max, and Franz are pardoned by the governor for their work, allowing them to collaborate with Roger and Ulla and release Prisoners of Love, this hit play means Max and Leo go on to become successful Broadway producers. Also starring Jon Lovitz as Mr. Marks, This Is Spinal Tap's Michael McKean as Prison Trustee, Richard Kind as Jury Foreman, John Barrowman as Lead Tenor and Mel Brooks as himself, and the voices of Tom the Cat and Hilda the Pigeon. Lane and Broderick are nowhere as good as Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, but they are just about passable as the leading duo, Thurman is beautiful and amusing, and Ferrell is amusingly ridiculous. The original premise story, premise and format remain pretty much the same, it is different with the more colourful production, and the obvious addition of songs, those from the show are fine, there are some additional ones that don't work as well, and it has been made a longer film which is a bit annoying, overall it is an alright musical comedy. It was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Original Song for "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway". Okay!

Lets make a musical version of a comedy film about musicals. but instead of filling it with legendary songs let's put absolutely no effort into them and make them barely passable. Lets have one actor do a pointless impression of his predecessor and the other barely act act all.I felt sorry for the actors who seemed to be trying hard with an ill conceived turkey.except Matthew broderick of course Why on earth would anyone put Matthew broderick in anything?

This film version of the biggest Broadway musical in decades couldn't be filmed and kept for posterity any other way. The team of Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman kept the remake of Mel's 1968 classic totally a camp riot, as pretty and witty and gay as they could possibly be. For those like me who couldn't score a decently priced ticket with original stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick got a chance with the film version. I was lucky in getting a ticket to the Los Angeles production with Jason Alexander and Martin Short, but the legendary team of Lane and Broderick was the dream of many a theatrical fan's impossible dream.Who'd think that anybody could rival the stars of the original, Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, but Lane and Broderick are their equals. Most of the original Broadway cast got to repeat their roles as well with Gary Beach and Roger Bart deliciously stereotypically gay as a lousy director and his "common law" assistant. Brad Oscar and Cady Huffman weren't as lucky, replaced though by two fine substitutes, Will Farrell and Uma Thurman. I normally can't stomach Farrell, but he's delightfully obnoxious as the playwright of the deliciously tacky "Springtime For Hitler". Thurman fills out the part of Ulla, the Swedish chorus girl who has the need for sex every day at 11, and us told by Lane and Broderick to report to work at that time. (Something tells me that they'd be done "rehearsing" by 11:05.)The chorus is mainly filled by mainly Broadway notables, including Brent Barrett, Peter Bartlett, Karen Ziemba, Andrea Martin and Debra Monk, although for some it's a blink and you'll miss them situation. Even the aging Mel Brooks gets in on the action, utilizing his voice for several parts.I've read reviews which claim that thus was "too theatrical", but how else should a musical comedy be filmed? I love the fact that this is also not afraid of going down dangerous paths with parodies of certain races and the gay lifestyle that are stereotypical and obviously true in some cases. It was nice to see all that laughed with rather than scorned. This is exactly what a big movie version of a smash hit Broadway show should look like, big and brassy in the 1950's and 1960's way, but with modern sensibilities.

What's the deal with directors who remake movies and get angry when anyone calls it a remake? ("It's not a remake, it's a re-IMAGINING!") Whatever. Not here. "The Producers" (2005) is a hands-down, unapologetic, knock-down, dragout REMAKE. And a fine one at that. Not just scenes, but sets, costumes, actors' intonations, and the overall feeling is just like watching the 1968 classic. I can picture both Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane intently studying the reels of Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel to get pinpoint accuracy.If it's so true to the original then why, you ask, would anyone bother watching the remake?For the same reason we rush out to buy the digitally remastered versions of our favorites. We want to see them shiny and new, the way we've never seen them before but without destroying the original charm. Here we have writer/director Mel Brooks after 40 more years of experience and maturity, doing it again for a new generation, yet having the humility to keep it the same as it was for the old generation. Imagine going to your favorite band's reunion tour and having the thrill of seeing/hearing them sound exactly the way they did decades ago but now with a stage 5x the size and all the fun stuff that they never had the chance to do before.What's that? Never saw the original "Producers"? Even better. Here you have the opportunity to see a classic, but with crisp, modern production standards. And with some crazy showtunes that were never there the first time around. My guess is that Mel always wanted this to have more music, like his later classics, "Blazing Saddles""History of the World", "High Anxiety", etc. But with "The Producers" being his directoral debut in '68 he toned it down a bit. Here we get the absurdly flamboyant musical he always wanted.Actually there are 2 big changes to the original, both of which are so perfect I can't believe I went all these years not missing them. The first is the expanded role of "Ulla" (played by Uma Thurman) who is perfect as the ditzy Swedish bombshell. The second is Will Ferrell as the Franz the closet Nazi. In both of these cases, the characters pop right out of the screen. Will's song "Der Guten Tag Hop Clop," complete with choreographed pigeons, had me howling.And that brings me to the biggest reason why you'd want to see this remake, aside from the songs, the dancing and choreography is EXCELLENT. Folks, this isn't just a movie with some crazy songs and actors flailing for laughs. It has some great dance numbers with nice moves had by all.All of this has the effect of making "The Producers" (2005) more like the extravagant musical comedies that made Mel famous in the 70s. This remake got everything right. I have to say, compared to other successful directors who now sit in their ivory towers disparaging their early work and swearing they'll never do that again, Mel's still the same as he ever was, but even more so. Keep em coming, sir!