The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert [Blu-ray]

I fell in love with this film immediately, as I did with To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar. I have many friends who are trans, and some who are drag queens. I loved the actors in this one so much! I was already a Terrance Stamp fan before watching this, so this was a complete treat for me! It tells the story of three drag performers (one of them trans) headed across the Australian Outback to do a show. It's most definitely a road film, but some very genuine, sensitive, and beautiful moments add to the saucy dialogue and make this a journey of the heart. I cannot truly pick a favorite character, because I love ALL of them! I won't spoil it for you. I can just say that this film may help shed some understanding and inspire some badly-needed compassion for our LGBTQ+ community. Yes, it's a fun story with razor-sharp wit, sassy style, and a few naughty moments--but it is also a tale about loneliness, pain, isolation, and self-doubt. I recommend this for anyone who has felt isolated from society simply for being themselves. As Quentin Crisp wrote: “In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.” Welcome to the metropolis, Bernadette, Mitzi, and Felicia! It's good to see you!

One of our favorites movies. We have watched it several times, alond and with guests.

I watched this movie 23 years ago. I was young and naive and expanding my understanding of the world and the art. I thought it was a great movie back then. 23 years later, I think this is one hell of a film still.

Stunning movie. Visually spectacular. Fabulous, life affirming messages. So funny, so deep, so moving.

On September 19, 2009, in London I saw the new wildly popular cult musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" which is based on the Australia movie of the same name. The musical was extremely well-done, well-staged; innovative, all-in-all a hoot. The bus taking up most of the stage could be turned around to show interior and exterior shots. The principals did their own singing, and as far as I could discern, unlike the movie, there was no Abba. The fast-paced show delighted audience members, many of whom seem to have seen it before. In this film two drag queens and a transsexual (Terence Stamp, born in 1939) travel in a rickety, quirky bus from Sydney to Alice Springs to perform in a casino night club where one of the performer's ex-wife works. The photography of the Australian outback, the rock formations, the skies, the landscape is overwhelming and stunningly beautiful, almost worth the admission price. In the movie (1994) some of the staging of the musical numbers did not even pretend to be realistic. That bus couldn't possibly hold all of the costumes and props. The instantaneous changing of costumes in the Alice Springs number is mind-boggling. Some of the movie scenes are surreal and eerily transcendent. The two diva opera numbers atop the bus are beautifully done, but not in the least realistic. When the three divas are performing, they never get more than a lukewarm reception from their audiences except for the aborigine group they meet. In their long odyssey they have two homophobic encounters with the cowboy-types of the Outback. Terence Stamp's performance is spot-on, and he deserves high praise for his acting. The movie has brief flash-backs to the characters' pasts that really aren't necessary. The movie has a strong plot, good by-play among the various characters (Bernadette and Felicia are constantly spatting), and a sense of purpose that becomes apparent after a viewing. The London West End musical version cleaves very closely to the movie's plot, but seems more light-hearted. The movie is well worth seeing. It's a trip in every sense of the word.

This is the best movie about be gay ever made, because it isn't about being gay. It's about two men, and a woman who happens to be a post-op T/S, crossing the Australian desert in a bus. It's about three people who learned very early on in life that they're not destined to be what other people want them to be, and have given up trying, even in small ways. These people are kind, and as much as they bicker, take care of one another when you get right down to it. The film has messages about acceptance: when these people encounter resistance to whom they are, they overcome it most often by simply remaining whom they are, and also by showing their own acceptance of themselves and one another. The film isn't about messages, though, it's about fun. It's about dance, and music. It's a celebration of some of the worst music that ever topped the charts, and some of the worst dancing that is top of the line if you know it's supposed to be camp. This film is a literal laugh-a-minute, and I don't use the word "literal" unless I mean it. What's more, the lead actors give three powerful performances. We care about these three people. We are riveted to the screen, emotionally attached to Bernadette, Adam and Tony, wanting them to be all right, just because we care about them. Of a thousand films to come out each year, only a handful have performances like these three deliver. This is a great film about being gay, but it's not a "gay" film, in that such a genre exists-- it's not a coming out film, it's not Jeffrey: it's not full of inside jokes that straight people will miss. This is a film for everyone about claiming one's own uniqueness, however it manifests. Anyone can identify with this film. And anyone can roll on the floor laughing. I did. I know people who saw it in theatres, then had to rent it to pick up all the lines they missed, because the theatre audience drowned out half the dialogue with its laughter.

This has it all-great acting,awesome scenery [the Australian Outback, etc], and mindblowing costumes and song and dance numbers. An absolutely perfect way to escape,when life just gets too doggone dreary and humdrum. Great tounge in cheek, just plain old FUN. Get it-you won't be sorry. It's become one of my favorite 'funky mood, it's been raining forever, I need to escape' movies. Terrance Stamp is amazing-well, they all are, but the biggest scene stealer is the Australian Outback. Pick it up, pop it in the DVD player, and just lose yourself for a bit. If it hadn't been in widescreen, I'd have given it 5 stars-but that's just me-I like my movies taking up the entire 40" of my screen.

One of my all time favorite movies!!