Stephan Quinland Maria captured my attention the moment she arrives in the atrium and holds it for the entire movie. She was perfect on the first dance with the Captain, she was rightly guarded after hearing the Captain was falling for her (and she for him), and she was sublime when she tells the Captain "your decision is my decision" regarding escape from Nazis. She would have to be some professional stage actress from UK with a slight Bristish account, and what a pleasant surprise, Carrie Underwood ! All the mean-spirit critics who gave less than scintillating respone to Underwood, have we watched the same movie? Now the rest of the movie was not perfect. The scene of Listl and Rauf I remember took place under moon light in a green house, floated softly like a dream scape in the original movie. In this movie they used the same mountain background, no green house. What a disappointment! The Captain needed more girth. When he first appears I thought he was the butler. Rauf, the budding nazi boy should have short blond hair but in this version he has greased black hair. The children however were flawless, each one has own personality. The other high point of the movie in the Abby where the Rev mother councils Maria to go find her life could have been more astounding. The song "Climb Every Mountain" wasn't sung as well as it should have been.Overall this is great family entertainment for a Christmas weekend and guys Carrie Underwood was great!

Li Cheng Jia I'm surprised to see some posts said that it's a live show so it's OK if the performance is not very good. Do you say the same when you go to a Broadway show? I'm not an American and I've never heard of Ms. Underwood or any other actors of the show before, so it's not that I have a prejudice against her or something. But I'm sorry that I must say: poor acting, not very good singing, for Maria and Captain. I couldn't help changing the channel. Even not comparing to the film 1965, the performance is far from good. Maria's voice is OK. She might be a good pop singer, but not good enough to be a Broadway singer. If I were her, I will NEVER take a role Julie Andrews once played. As for the Captain, his voice is not bad, but not good enough to cover his poor acting skill. Seeing him not to know where to put his hands really bothered me. Don't people have to take some acting classes before they act?If you want to do a live show, why not cast it from the Broadway? Is that because they just want some famous people to attract the audience without concerning the quality of the show?

marcijimlove I am so tired of hearing everybody compare this production to the Julie Andrews classic. This musical was a TV version of the stage production and it was delightful. The children were believable and the whole family was fun to watch. I want to buy this DVD as a regular tradition for our family to enjoy along with the original Sound of Music production. Each version (the live and the original) of Sound of Music has it own unique reasons to love and enjoy them. There are moments in this new one that will take your breath away because the music is so ethereal and beautiful. Most of the movie was full of joyful, exuberance that was in every song and word. I was surprised when I looked at the web and saw so much criticism and meanness about this production. I am glad we did not listen and instead were treated to a night of beauty and inspiration. 10 Stars is not enough. Carrie Underwood and the entire cast gave us a treasure and another beloved holiday classic that we can enjoy for years to come. Thank you!

david-569 First, kudos for creating a live television presentation.Please please please... more. I and I know many would flock to this kind of live performance. Next, too easy to do the comparison thing. But unavoidable... so must qualify this by declaring the obvious intimacy of film versus the live TV/stage adaptation. And there it is... intimacy of film. One is hard pressed to not draw those comparisons in spite of this. So let's... first Ms Underwood. Most excellent to give this a go. She is also not an actress. It was obvious. There is no substitute for having worked on stage, as an actress. There was a distinct lack of depth to the character. And the vocal performance that is markedly different from people with great voices as Ms Underwood has, and seasoned stage actors and actresses as for instance Ms MacDonald has. Ms Underwood hit her marks. And her voice is superb. But the performance lacked that *it* thing. If she would commit to doing more stage work, her depth would grow. As it was, it was a thin performance. All the other performances were serviceable, and some good. Or as in Ms Audra McDonald, she was superb. Ms McDonald of course is a trained stage actress, and it screams so. The production quality not the least of which was the musical production was top shelf. And choreography. Well done here. There was one huge mistake that overtook the entire production however. It must be pointed out. The lack of a live audience was a huge misstep. The 1965 version had the huge advantage of the intimacy of film. In choosing to do a live TV version, what would have bridged that difference would have been to honor what live stage productions have... and that is a living breathing audience. The energy, the ambiance, everything would have been greatly influenced by this. Not having it in my opinion crippled the experience. If there is a future attempt at a live TV production of anything.... do not make this same mistake. You must must must have the energy that a live audience brings to a production. This would have without question made a significant difference in this current production. Am not sure why there was a choice NOT to have a live audience.... Still, that this happened at all is big. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeze take on another one, and another one. As the ratings would show, this art, this craft, is alive and quite well. I give mega props for taking this on and hopefully the learning experience will go into future productions...