Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVIE HAS DEPTH IN EVERY AREA.
Review: "Radio Days" presents many of Woody Allen's strongest points: there is a multitude of excellent actors, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Danny Aiello, Jeff Daniels, Seth Green, Diane Keaton and Julie Kavner, to name a few. Most of them are regulars in Woody's movies, and we already know that they are great actors, but the surprise in "Radio Days" is a very young Seth Green, he gave an energetic and charismatic performance as an Allen-esque boy.
The script is excellent, it's filled with stories, anecdotes, characters and creative scenes. The music is very good and diverse, each song contains a specific story, and most of them are very funny and interesting, my favorite is the one with the gangster (Danny Aiello) that takes a possible eyewitness (Mia Farrow) with his mother (Gina De Angelis), and they have a delicious diner while they discuss how he is going to get rid of the clueless girl, eventually instead of killing her, they get her a gig in a radio show.
"Radio Days" is one of the best movies that Woody Allen made in the 1980s, it's funny, touching and very creative. If you like Woody's movies, "Radio Days" is a must-see.
Rating: 
Summary: Not ANYTHING like I expected!!!
Review: Certainly a movie for the ages...but the CD offered only a fraction of the songs from the film, only 16 tracks, and none of the product descriptions provided a list except to say only a couple were missing...boy, was that ever wrong! Still, the music is top quality even though none have been re-mixed for stereo.Here's a list of titles from the CD...but you're going to be alot happier watching the movie for all the great music...
Rating: 
Summary: Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!
Review: Dramatic chords, and as the opening credits roll, you hear a classic (and HOT) jazz-age recording of Flight of the Bumblebee. The big band punches the tag, and then, in the darkness, Woody Allen narrates: "Once upon a time, two burglars broke into our neighbor's house in Rockaway." And you say to yourself, Hey, THIS is going to be a fun ride! And you would be correct.
This film is populated by much the typical cast of Woody Allen eccentrics, but here, they are somehow warmer and more human than usual, and if anything, that makes them all the funnier. There is the enthusiastic young lady who is dying to get into radio, despite her squeaky voice and a New York accent that makes Bugs Bunny sound like John Gielgud. And there are the parents of the young Woody Allen character, whose heated domestic arguments still manage to stay on this side of the line between loving sarcasm and real venom. Some of their dialogue actually reminds me a bit of the witty repartee between my wife of 13 years and myself:
She: You know, I could have married Sam Slotkin!
He: Sam Slotkin's DEAD.
She: Yes, but while he was alive, he was working.
And with the funny, lovable characters come many funny moments, including the classic opening scene with the burglars, and a dating couple whose romantic interlude in the parked car with the radio playing comes to a grinding halt as The War Of The Worlds comes on and the gentleman eventually flees the invading Martians in panic, abandoning both car and date. (You also, as Allen-the-narrator promises early on, get plenty of equally funny glimpses into the lives of the radio stars. Wallace Shawn is particularly notable, portraying the voice behind The Masked Avenger.)
But there are also moments of tenderness and sorrow as well. The father of the young Allen is angrily disciplining him when a radio news bulletin comes on about a little girl trapped in a well, and listening to the unfolding drama, father and son are soon in a tender embrace, anger forgotten. And, if I may be permitted one slight spoiler from later in the film, when you see Allen's Aunt Bea -- "Aunt Bea, who just wanted to get married" -- in the family kitchen, playing solitaire, on New Year's Eve, and you realize what that means for her, I defy anyone to not feel a twinge of sadness on her behalf.
Another thread that runs through this film -- and Allen, narrating, calls your attention to it specifically -- is the wonderful music. He describes each of the character's favorite songs, with a little remembrance or story to go with each one. Sometimes there are things that make you wish you were born in another era. I myself love trains, and I sometimes long for the days of the overwhelming power and grace of steam locomotives, and the magnificence of the old Penn Station. Well, this film's music will seriously make you wish to be back in the golden age of radio. Diane Keaton's supremely touching rendition of "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" is like a warm hug given voice. After many, many viewings of this film, hearing the end of that song still brings a sigh to my lips.
This film has no "plot" to speak of, yet it succeeds brilliantly, one of the few films I think you could really say that for. The thread of radio ties all of the assorted characters and their stories together very neatly. Radio was a real part of everyone's life back then, and if the humor and pathos of real, everyday life cannot drive a film, what can?
This is arguably one of Woody Allen's best films, and though there are others that I enjoy, this is probably my personal favorite of his output. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of Woody'sVERY best!
Review: Everything about this movie gives it classic potential.
Rating:
Summary: His funniest?
Review: For my money, this is Woody's most accessible work. The opening scene to the movie is a classic that establishes for any who doubt it, that Woody Allen is indeed a comic genius. The movie itself is basically a series of vignettes set during the depression in New York and the boroughs, moving in and out of the lives of a radio-addicted boy growing up in Coney Island to a young woman trying to make it in show business, to the more glamorous lives of entertainers during that time. It's all held together by the boy, who tells his story along with anecdotes about show business personalities from the radio or local gossip. At times, it hilariously contrasts his innocently starstruck interpretation of celebrity gossip and radio shows (he talks in voiceover) as the scene before you is what was more likely the truth! It's beautiful as a period piece. I remember this film being a huge hit and don't understand the reviewers who say it was misunderstood. It's such straightforward comedy that I don't see how anyone would misunderstand it. And, most of the people I know count this as one of their favorite comedies of the 20th Century.
Rating:
Summary: Cry Like a Baby...
Review: I am not really a Woody know-it-all, but he created a masterpiece in the form of a sweet film about the "Greatest Generation." I found myself feeling nostalgic for a time twenty-five years before I was even born. The years before reality television, Britney Spears, obnoxious advertisements...Were these times really as sweet as they are portrayed here? I don't know, but the people to ask are fading away fast. This movie is a fabulous tribute to them all.
Good job, Mr Allen.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Woody Allen film of them all.
Review: I love Woody Allen and his crazy sense of humor. I know that some people find him (at times) a little far out, but this movie should be loved by everyone with a family and a radio. The music is the background of the WW2 generation and their children. It reminds me very much of my parents and all my relatives. It is little episodes in the life of a 8 year old boy but told in a way that all of us can relate to. I live in Florida, and a few years ago on my birthday, we were under a Hurricane watch.........a whole crew of my family of all ages gathered at my house to wait. Trying to find something to entertain everyone was a real challenge. After a bunch of false starts on other movies everyone was getting edgy until we put on Radio Days. It calmed everyone down and cheered them up, made them laugh--the movie was a hit ( and the hurricanne missed us). The casting was great. All of Woody's regulars and some other talents too. I love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good music, but missing some great songs.
Review: I purchased this soundtrack because it contained some really great music. However, my favorite song, September Song, was missing. If you saw the movie, it was the song that reoccurred numerous times, starting with the wind-swept rainy scene of his home, Rockaway Beach, near the ocean. Not only that, but that song is near impossible to find now, as I've spent hours searching on the Internet with no luck. Still, there are many other titles I like on the CD. I just wish that were one of them, considering its sort of the theme song that reappeared so many times. Really disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Great film
Review: I saw this movie when it was on HBO in the late '80s or early '90s. My father who was about the same age Seth Green was during the war, lived in a suburb of Boston that had many of the same attractions this section of NY had. I can count the number of times I had seen him cry on one hand until he sat down and watched it. He said the movie was so close to what he experienced during the same time in history. He remembers watching for Nazi U-Boats from the beach, and the neighborhood and family interactions. Most of all he remembers listening to various shows on the radio such as the Green Hornet, Dragnet, Fibber McGee and Molly, and This is your FBI. This was a very touching movie and gave me some insight into what it was like being a young child at the start of one of the most important times in history.
Rating:
Summary: Nostalgia...ah, yes...
Review: I'm a huge fan of Woody Allen (even his "clunkers"), but this is my absolute favorite Woody film. All of his films are personal, but none as personal and revealing as this...and ABSOLUTELY entertaining. Seth Green, Woody's young character, is perfect, justifying his current success. Wonderful performances from Woody's usual stock troupe (Kavner, Wiest, etc) are all in tune with the goings-on. Mia Farrow, in particular, is a hoot, especially her scenes with Danny Aiello. Woody even managed to squeeze a cameo from Diane Keaton at the end ("You Be So Nice to Come Home To"). Lovely and sweet. It's too bad the Academy eliminated the category for "Best Adapted Score", cuz this woud've won, no question. The greatest songs of the period (1940-1945) were lovingly presented, and anyone who sees this film can't help but be left with a wistful, soft and nostalgic feeling. Yes, this is my favorite Woody film.
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