Freaktana
A Major Disappointment
Tymon Sutton
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Chantel Contreras
It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.
jovana-13676
"What is exhilarating in bad taste is the aristocratic pleasure of giving offense." - Charles Baudelaire I like 'bad' taste just as much as I like 'good' taste. This film seems like a bad performance piece - strange and exotic location, OVER over- the-top costumes, just so that you would see the artists running around slurring words, falling across the floor, yelling, screeching, hissing... only this time it's fun because Burton and Taylor had more talent and charisma in their pinky finger than most artists of today could ever dream of having. And they were drunk, so I forgive them. They probably drove Joseph Losey nuts.
csmreck
As a 24-year-old back in '68, I thought Liz and Dick were gauche, but time has mellowed my judgments (particularly after seeing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe" for a 2nd time and really appreciating it this time around.) So, given the chance to see "Boom" for the 1st time, I said "Sure!" Well, Boom got ole Granny all shook up! I LOVED it! If someone disparagingly says "Camp!" to describe this movie, it isn't me. I watched the movie with complete seriousness, took the story and characters literally, and came away from the experience very moved! Liz Taylor is at her luminous, beautiful best. So she's a little chunky. I was mesmerized by her famous deep purple eyes and thick black eyelashes. But it was her acting in this film that really knocked me out. Yes, her accents vary - but that is Liz being true to the character. Sissy Goforth is a grand lady now, but her lapses into vulgarity suggest humbler beginnings.I think Liz' acting is superb throughout. After all, this character IS over-the-top. Liz goes from grandiose viciousness to moving pathos and I found her believable at all times.As for Burton, that sexy devil/angel - who cares if he was a little old for the part. To this 62-year-old, he looked delicious, and that mellifluous voice really m-o-v-e-d me.The spectacularly beautiful scenery of Sardinia and the magnificent mansion provided an awesome setting - and Liz' costumes and jewelry were to drool over.What a treat to see Noel Coward. Who cares if this movie was beneath him. He looked like he was having fun! Of course there's a "message" to the movie, but to me it was secondary to all the glorious glamour and glitz (Oh. Did I just describe "camp?")
patherto
I have an awful pan-and-scan videotape of "Boom!", and I want to see it in all its widescreen glory. So I voted "1" and hope you will too. Together, we can pull this movie down into the pits of cinematic dross, and hope that someone will see an opportunity for BIG MONEY in releasing "Boom!" in its Director's Cut Extended Version. The movie is one of my howling favorites…you just look at the people involved, the director, the actors, the cameraman, and you say to yourself, "Yep, I guess you can fool some of the people for a lot of time." Producers considering the DVD release of "Boom!" should note that, everywhere it's been shown, there have been sellout crowds in the theaters. But it hasn't been up to Frostbite Falls yet.
Donald Casey
When this film opened in 1968, most patrons at the cinema either walked out or stayed and scratched their heads. I came back to see it several times. Everything about it is delightfully overdone. Elizabeth Taylor, while too shrill, is wonderful to watch. I am not sure she understood the role she was playing, but she attacked the film with a lot of gusto. This signalled the end of the big Taylor-Burton films of the 1960s, and would be the death knell of Elizabeth Taylor as number one at the Box Office. In the 1970s, I managed to see this film several times on television, and I remember finding additional delights on re-viewing. I recommed this to all Elizabeth Taylor fans.
