WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Sam Hargreaves I was inspired to grab myself a copy of this DVD after seeing the 2012 film starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, and, as is usually the case with stage shows, I found it more entertaining than the film.Some will try and tell you that the 10th Anniversary Concert is superior to this one. While I agree with that comment as far as the cast is concerned I feel that overall the 25th Anniversary Concert is a superior production. I feel that the former fails to tell the story thoroughly due to important scenes being removed. This one still cuts some bits out, however it does not delete anything with major plot significance (except maybe The Death of Gavroche.) Each cast member in this production gives a stronger performance than their 2012 film counterpart (except Nick Jonas as Marius) and because of this I find this version more moving than the film.To sum up if you are deciding which production of the musical to get, get this one. It's amazing.

TheLittleSongbird Les Miserables for me is one of the greatest musicals, it has a story that really hits you in the guts emotionally(in a good way) and it is also one of those musicals where I don't dislike a single song. Valjean and Javert are also hugely compelling characters. The cast(and also that this is Les Miserables we are talking about) were reason enough to see this, and I also wanted to see how it would compare to the brilliant 10th-year anniversary performance. I was also hoping that even in concert form that it would bring out the emotion of the music and story. It certainly does not disappoint and it certainly has the emotion, I do give the edge to the 10th, but the previous reviewers have summed up perfectly what is so good about this performance.But I do have to agree that it is not quite perfect, though the cons are far outweighed by the pros. Apart from a relatively good Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, Nick Jonas is miscast and very out of his depth as Marius, his voice is rather thin and gets very nasal when forced, and I found him rather dull on a dramatic front. Compared to Michael Ball, he's not even in the same league in my opinion. Katie Hall is a little better though. She is charming and likable enough as Cosette, but not much more than that, and she is not helped by the fact that Cosette is not a very interesting character at all really. Her voice is a little uneven, the middle register is silvery and lyrical but the top register has a tendency to become shrill.Everything else ranges from very, very good to spot-on. The costumes are evocative, and the lighting especially in Empty Chairs and Empty Tables(very haunting) gives each scene atmosphere. It is staged very effectively too and it is very sympathetic to the story and the lyrics with all the emotional power and thrust needed. I found it very easy to be moved by Empty Chairs, and it was also a clever and tasteful piece of staging. One Day More is also spine-tingling. The orchestral playing made the music a feast for the ears, the textures and instrumental balances are done perfectly doing very well to accommodate the singers. The chorus are involved in the drama, sing beautifully and enunciate clearly, especially good in Do You Hear the People Sing and One Day More.Alfie Boe's Valjean was just wonderful. He may not quite erase memories of Colm Wilkinson, who probably had a little more emotion, but Boe is certainly not devoid of that. He has a ringing tenor voice that shows no sign of being taxed by this demanding role, he commands the stage with authority as he ought and he brings out all the complexities and nuances Valjean's character has. Bring Him Home really sounds like a prayer(the right approach as that's what the song is essentially), and staged in a way that will leave Les Mis fans absolutely delighted. Norm Lewis' Javert also stands out. He is authoritative, but also conflicted and subtle. His Suicide scene really gave me the chills. He also possesses a lovely baritone sound, not quite as rich or powerful as that of Phillip Quast, but never is it one that's dry and lightweight. Like Quast, he has the harshness of Javert but also a sympathetic side.Lea Salonga is truly moving as Fantine with a voice of an angel, and I do agree that she is more suited to Fantine than she is to Eponine. I Dreamed a Dream really brings the house down on an emotional scale. Samantha Barks is also perfectly cast, her Eponine is feisty but also heart-breaking. Her rendition of On My Own is pitch-perfect and very deeply felt. Ramin Karmimloo's Enjolras is excellent. Matt Lucas is surprisingly good as Thernadier, he hasn't got the best voice but has a very exuberant stage presence while managing to make the character as hateful as possible(even if he just lacks Alun Armstrong's sociopathic edge). Jenny Galloway's Madame Thernadier is perfect, just like in the 10th anniversary performance.To conclude, a really well done performance of Les Mis, with almost everything perfectly first-rate. 9/10 Bethany Cox

bh_tafe3 For a person who grew up with musicals, went to see local productions, big Sydney and Melbourne touring productions and spent a lot of my childhood watching musical films with my father, it's a little surprising that I'd never got around to seeing Les Miserables until it was turned into a feature film. I was quite impressed with the film, but assured by people the songs could have been performed a lot better, so I saw this on sale and decided to check it out. Suffice to say I was thoroughly entertained and very impressed.But the start is a bit shaky, the first two performers to sing solo during the "Look Down" opening had me wondering what I'd got myself into, but once Alfie Boe (Valjean) and the enjoyably hammy Norm Lewis (Javert) get on stage I knew I was in good hands. Boe's singing is magnificent, with Valjean's soliloquy and Bring Him Home two of the highlights of the show. Lewis is having the time of his life, shouting his name with gusto and giving a great rendition of Stars and a passionate soliloquy of his own. Their moments together are brilliant, but I especially love their confrontation as Fantine dies.Speaking of Fantine, played by Miss Saigon herself, Lea Salonga, her "I Dreamed a Dream" is the absolute high point of this show. She makes you feel everything that her character is feeling during the song while belting out the tune beautifully and receives a well deserved standing ovation at song's end.Matt Lucas makes a truly disgusting Thenadier (which I mean in a good way), his relative lack of singing ability is well and truly compensated by a great character performance and of course having stage veteran Jenny Galloway with him in most scenes.Nick Jonas as Marius does not appear to have a strong enough voice to be part of an ensemble, though he was not awful singing Empty Chairs and Empty Tables on his own (this was aided by the very effective lighting behind him to make his dead friends look like ghosts as they stood behind him). Katie Hall is a little hamstrung as Cossette because she spends a lot of her time having to try and sing more softly than Jonas, but she appears to have a nice clean voice.Ramin Karimloo, who I've always thought had a great voice but never really rated as a good Phantom of the Opera, is excellent as Enjolras. He sings with power and passion, and despite not being a big man, has a presence about him that is appropriate to the role and his rather large, unrestrained voice.Samantha Barks is good as Eponine and it's impressive she was able to play the role equally well in the film version. There's a lot of power in her voice.Overall I really loved this show and it helped give me a greater appreciation for the musical part of Les Miserables, but I think seeing the film first really helped as I knew what was happening in the story and so could just sit back and enjoy the singing, Nick Jonas aside.

Red_Identity More than anything, as far as entertainment goes, 2012 will be the year I discovered Les Miserables. Anne Hathaway impressed me in Rachel Getting Married, so I found out about Les Mis through hearing she would be in it. So I gathered more and more interest for it as the months went. I then read the novel to prepare myself for the film adaptation of 2012. By the time I saw the film, I was in love with the music, and so this was the first real musical version I saw besides the new film. Yes, I saw it on Youtube, but what a beautiful, magical event. I feel like it's so much a part of me now. It's such an emotional experience that nothing I say can describe what it is to watch it for the first time.