My Review:
The DVD of "South Pacific" is digitally enhanced but the video is of fair to poor quality. Some of the scenes have unnatural colors, perhaps due to the original filming or due to the lower quality of the video. The movie begins with the overture and digitally enhanced stills of the island and water. Some of the stills have unnatural colors but most are bright and clear shots. The film then switches to a black screen and then to the movie's credits along with video shots of the film. Again, the colors in many of the scenes are unnatural. The sky colors are too dark and too strong, especially in the sunset scenes. The opening scene of the movie has Lt. Joe Cable in an airplane, and this scene has clear, bright, natural colors, but the sea color is too rich in one shot. The colors keep changing in other scenes, such as the "Bali Ha'i" number, where the picture becomes unclear. This use of special color filters was criticized in original reviews of "South Pacific."
The sound volume on the DVD of "South Pacific" could be louder. The volume is uneven, especially in dialog scenes.
Most of the movie was filmed on the island of Kauai, but it appears that some scenes were filmed on several different days because the backgrounds are uneven. For example, in the "Bloody Mary" number, the sailors are singing with a sunny background but then it changes to partly cloudy. When Joe Cable enters, the background becomes cloudy and it is completely cloudy for the next number, "There is Nothin' Like a Dame."
The theme of racial prejudice is introduced early in "South Pacific." When Joe Cable asks who Bloody Mary is, Luther says, "She's no one. She's Tonkenese."
The film is filled with songs and the first 15 minutes of "South Pacific" is one song after the other (three songs in 15 minutes).
The poor video quality and the original "changing colors" effect of "South Pacific" detract from the enjoyment of watching the movie. Also, the changing sound volume interferes with the total enjoyment of some of the numbers, such as "Cockeyed Optimist."
"South Pacific" has a wonderful story with some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best songs, but the film version of the hit play is mediocre. The casting was good except that it is obvious that John Kerr did not sing, especially in the "Younger than Springtime" number. Unfortunately, the direction of Joshua Logan could have been much better, especially in terms of the visual aspects of the film.