Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rated by buyers PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Type of bind: DVD
EAN num: 0736991378797
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: New Concorde
Manufacturer: New Concorde
Quantity: 1
Publishing house: New Concorde
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 22, 2002
Running Time: 91 minutes
Sale Popularity Level: 63962
Studio: New Concorde
Theatrical Release Date: June 28, 2000
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
A made-for-TV movie originally broadcast on VH1, this film bio of the Monkees casts look-alikes as the very first made-for-TV rock band (today's equivalent: O-Town). Told in broad strokes that hit the highlights, the film recounts how a TV producer (played by Colin Ferguson) decided to create a TV version of the Beatles by casting cute actors (musicianship was only a secondary requirement) as rock stars for a weekly comedy series. But surprise--producer Don Kirshner (Wallace Langham) was able to manufacture musical hits and the mock band became a rock band with musical ambitions of its own. The actors who play the Monkees look (but don't sound) like their characters, as do actors who were hired to play the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, among others. Still, with the exception of a little pot-smoking, there's nothing particularly juicy in a tell-all that doesn't tell nearly as much as you'd like. --Marshall Fine
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I saw this movie on VH-1, and I was pleasantly surprised. To be perfectly frank, I thought the movie was going to feature Davy, Davy, Davy, and more Davy (sorry folks, I'm not really a big fan of Davy). I was surprised to learn that Mike had a pretty big part in this. I'm also surprised they included a character of Mike's very first wife, Phyllis.
I was very disappointed when I bought the DVD. I had taped it off VH-1 the night it premiered, and then I bought the DVD for a better quality copy. For some reason that I can not begin to figure out, some of the scenes were edited. I had read the rating for this. It was rated PG-13 for drug references, but most of them were cut out. Why they did that, I have no idea.
Rated by buyers -
well, that's what happened when I watched the movie and listened to the commentaries.
Anwyay, it was a great movie, well done, and very interesting. An excellent Bio-drama. I've always been a monkee fan since I was little (during the "revival" in the 80's). I thought I was going to stop breathing when I heard they were putting this out in the summer of 00. LOL. .
Here's my take on the actors potrayal of the mOnkees
Jeff Geddis as Mike Nesmith: Acting: Great. Had the personality, did a good job. People are probably right though when they say he should have had a heavier texas accent. Looks- #1 dead ringer. The only difference was his frame. Nesmith seems to me to be much finer-boned and "scrawnier" than Geddis. But of the four boys, he looked most like his Monkee. Overall a great job in all aspects of potraying Nez.
L.B. Fisher as Peter Tork: I was pleased. Great acting, great potrayal of the REAL Tork (not the one we saw on the show, which was really nothing like his real personality). Looks: Definitely #2 closest look-alike in the show. Great performance. Too bad they couldn't have somehow given him killer dimples. Sigh.. oh well... guess makeup can only do SO much, right?
Aron Lohr as Mickey Dolenz: My favorite potrayal in the movie. Yes, he doesn't look that much like Dolenz, but how easy would it be to find a ringer for Mickey? I mean, come on, Dolenz had one of the most unique faces I've ever seen! You can't really expect them to be able to find a dead ringer. Alot of people complained about the inaccuracy of the hair (season 1 vs Season 2) They say DOlenz should have not been potrayed the whole time in wild curls. I for one am not gong to blame the producers of DDB. I mean, when i was little I thought of Mickey as the "not so good looking" monkee. I now know I was mostly thinking of season 1. His earlier hair style was NOT flattering at ALL. I for one am not going to blame them for not reproducing it. Dolenz's natural wild curls (potrayed in the movie very realistically) were MUCh more suited to that unique face. Anyway, have to say he's #3 in he look-alike ranking. But his acting and potrayal of the Zany monkee is so perfect that you forget his looks and really believe your watching Mickey. Just listen to Dolenz's commentary and you'll see that Lohr got the personality spot on. Sorry Peter, if Mickey had've looked like Lohr, he would have DEFINITELY been my favorite Monkee heartthrob. LOL
Stanchev as Davy Jones. sigh.. That choice is the one thing I wish I could change about this movie. Surely there is SOME cutie short 17 year old (the age Jones actually LOOKED when he was a Monkee) in England that can act as well as Stanchev, and look a whole lot more like Jones. Stanchev did nothing for me. He looked over 30, and as I said, Jones as a monkee could've passed for 17. He wasn't cute at all. You'd think Davy's breathtaking looks (the thing he was so famous for) would be a HIGH priority in casting, but they let us down here. I give him Kudos for replicating Davy's dancing, and that's about it. I guess I got ENOUGH of an impression of shortness from him. too.
So, I reccomend this movie to any Monkee lover or biopic fan. IT's really well scripted, and except for the casting of Jones, it's a great movie anyway. The commentaries are Great. I was always in love with Peter, (to this day I have a thing for killer dimples and a boyish innocent grin) but after listening to all the commentaries and getting an idea of their real personalities, I think I would have enjoyed being around Dolenz alot more. I LOVED his wacky comments, and the way he kept saying "What a great looking kid! Wow, where did they find this kid" in reference to Lohr. LOL one of the other real monkees even said "Mickey must be happy with his casting." Yes, Lohr was kinda hot as the high-energy monkee. Yes, cuter than the Real M.D. But if Dolenz had always had his hair natural, he'd have been alot cuter too, so I'll give him some credit.
Rated by buyers -
I agonized over what rating to give DAYDREAM BELIEVERS, because while it's fun to watch, it has some serious shortcomings too. To start with some of the positives, it's an enjoyable and decently produced film, and the actors playing the Monkees certainly look and act their parts well. I like too that the decision was made to use the original audio recordings of the group when the actors re-created their musical performances.
However, if you listen to the commentaries on the DVD by the director and three of the Monkees - Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones - you discover that there are a lot of inaccuracies in the film. Some are minor, such as showing all four Monkees together almost all the time, when in reality some were absent in certain situations. But some errors are unforgivable, such as taking a moment of major conflict between Jones and Tork, which actually happened, and creating a totally fictional background for it! However, the consensus seems to be that despite the inaccuracies, the overall gist of the Monkees' story shown here is true. Also, at 91 minutes long, there's a rather rushed feeling to DAYDREAM BELIEVERS, so it mostly just hits the highlights.
The interviews of Jones, Dolenz, and Tork on the DVD are interesting too, and give updates on what the three of them have been up to since the Sixties. The film itself is weak on this, and should at least have dealt with the breakup of the group in 1970, rather than tacking on a fictional "happy ending" and stopping there. In sum, thanks to the commentaries and interviews I recommend this DVD, but without them I would hesitate to. So does it really deserve 4 stars? OK, so it's not a CASABLANCA or a 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, but still it's a fun nostaligia trip if you care at all about the Monkees.
Rated by buyers -
This movie is full of cheese, but cheese that you can enjoy. It even has cheesy characters in it including the bad impersonations of The Beatles and Jack Nickolson. The die hard Monkees fans would be able to spot all the inacuracies, a lot of them being in the scene where they do the video for Daydream Believer. But the biggest inacuracy in the movie is, who in the world is that Van guy? The guys who portray The Monkees do a great job at re-inacting parts from the show. However their personal portrayal of the guys goes as following: horrible Davy, ok Peter, great Micky, and a spot on Mike. Any one would agree that the cheesiest part of the movie is the cheese-filled happy happy happy 60s beach party movie type ending. If you know The Monkees history at all you'd know that the Monkees story didn't end nearly that happy, or happy at all for that matter. The over all movie was pretty good since it did do a good job at telling the true behind the scenes story of The Monkees. All in all if you're a Monkees fan at all and you enjoy cheese then this is a good movie to watch.
Rated by buyers -
I began watching the Monkees back in the mid 80's when MTV re-aired their 2 wonderfull seasons. I was hooked. I bought all their albums, books, posters you name it. Anyhow the story played well to what I learned over the years. The actors were perfect. I wish Mike though had been a little more accepting of the situation and just went about there short career as a great way to make a living. But it seemed that his anger passed on over the rest and 2 seasons of The Monkees was all we got. I understand the music issues of wanting to play and to get Kirshner out of there but I really think they could have finished out the decade. The movie shows the Monkees right up to the Movie "Head". What I didn't like was them on the beach laughing like "oh well what a ride but it's over" because it wasn't that way. They did their 33 and 1/3 Revolutions TV show and then Peter split. The movie really doesn't finish up anything. I was expecting to see words on the screen explaing what happens after "Head" and they didn't. Anyone watching this bio would think everything was just peachy after the show ended. I didn't get it at the end there. I did like all the actors like Nicholson and Hendrix. The Beatles were pretty accurate too.
I was always a big Mike fan but that movie really made him look like a jerk. His songs are still my favorites. Too bad "Head" wasn't advertised as a Monkees movie or it may have done better. That's pretty much what killed them. As for this movie it's a great bio of the band and well acted but the end really dissapoints.
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