I enjoyed this 70's remake of the marvellous Judy Garland / James Mason classic from the 50's (itself a remake, film snobs) more than I expected without accepting that one isolated minute in it was better than its counterpart in the predecessor. A rocky update of the story is a decent idea and in fact lends itself well to the story-line and if the execution is a bit clunky and now dated, that's both pardonable and understandable.

Things I liked - well let's start with Kris Kristofferson who, with the more difficult part, certainly convinces as a hell-raising rock star, fuelled by drugs and alcohol, aware of tastes and fashions passing him by but with enough perception to see Streisand's Esther as the future. It's fun trying to pick out rock prototypes for his John Norman Howard character - I'm between Jim Morrison and Leon Russell myself, the latter married at the time ironically to sultry singer Rita Coolidge who herself gets a brief cameo appearance, while Howard's behaviour at Streisand's little night club where he "discovers" her recalls an infamous out of control episode in the "lost weekend" period in John Lennon's life, if memory serves. A pity they couldn't have trusted the writer of classics like "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and "Me And Bobby McGee" to contribute some of his own songs to the soundtrack and certainly his signature song here "Watch Closely Now" gets done to death.

I also quite enjoyed the soundtrack. I'm no fan of La Diva Streisand's singing or indeed acting but at least in her vocals she exercises some restraint and delivers a surprising variety of material demonstrating at least some versatility on her part, from the title-theme ballad "Evergreen", (the gorgeous music to which was, surprisingly enough written by her),light Labelle-type funk of "I Believe in Love" and the big torch ballad "The Woman in the Moon" which while beneath Judy's "The Man That Got Away", covers the same territory in a still acceptable way.

Things not to like - Streisand herself does a reasonable job and initially tones down her trademark "kooky" and "sensitive" personae a bit but you never really believe in her as a real person. Unfortunately as the film progresses so does her profile and we get embarrassingly lame scenes with the couple coo-ing at each other in various locations including a candle-surrounded bath scene, Streisand overacting furiously as she argues with a cassette-tape of Howard's voice after he's done his James Dean-type exit from the planet and worst of all that single long shot of her singing the finale medley, which is when you appreciate that yes, it's just another Barbie vanity exercise after all (especially when you see her name down as executive producer).

The dialogue is pretty rock-star cliché throughout and some of the situations come across very second-hand too (Howard snorting up before every show, his assaults on a critical dee-jay, Streisand's MOR music somehow wowing a crowd of rock 'n' rollers at a benefit gig) and of course the familiarity with the story reduces the surprise element of some of the plot developments.

All told though, long as it was, there were far worse films than this made in the 70's. By the way, what a pity they never released the version of "Evergreen" with Kristofferson harmonising on the middle section - it works a treat and adds to an already very pretty melody.

I did see this 1976 version not because of its reputation but because I've always really liked Barbra Streisand's voice and the 1937 and 1954 versions are very good indeed. Unfortunately I can't put this version in the same league. It is not a disaster, Streisand sounds absolutely heavenly and sings with such control, the songs Evergreen and particularly With One More Look at You are beautiful and really moving(Woman in the Moon is also lovely but not quite with the other two's impact) and Gary Busey makes the most of his too-limited screen time, even though he's only on screen for about 15 minutes his character is one of the more interesting ones. The scenery and technical aspects are also professional enough, liked the intimacy of how With One More Look at You. However, while Streisand's singing is top-drawer her acting isn't, at times she's too on-edge and in others she's too confident. Whether Esther was meant to be sympathetic or self-absorbed I never was sure as Streisand didn't convey either of those effectively. Kris Kristofferson looks out of his depth and gives the impression that he doesn't want to be there. His complete lack of chemistry with Streisand doesn't help, nor that his songs are too brash and done with zero emotion. The dialogue is continually corny and I never could invest in the story, the love affair between Esther and John was completely lacking in any kind of passion. No matter how technically good A Star is Born is, the lacking-in-finesse 70s fashion styling and terrible hair gave the film a rather dated look(not just now but even on release too). The choreography was overblown and didn't give us any time to connect with the characters or the drama, and Streisand's breakdown was so embarrassingly forced. To conclude, just falling short of average here, not terrible but very problematic and the least good of the three A Star is Born films(my personal favourite is 1937). 4.5/10 Bethany Cox

"A Star is Born" is one of the most frequently remade films in Hollywood history. Soon after the first version, "What Price Hollywood?" debuted, they made a very famous version with Janet Gaynor. And, then there was a even more famous version with Judy Garland, a TV movie version with Robert Montgomery and, recently, the Lady Gaga version! I've seen all but the TV version (since it appears to be unavailable) but clearly among the theatrical versions, this Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson version is the worst...by far. My recommendation is that you see one of these other versions instead!

The story is familiar---Esther is a talented up and coming singer who marries a rich and famous star who is set on a path to self-destruction. They marry. He buys the farm...she goes on to greatness without him. The end.

Unlike the previous versions, where the husband was an actor, in this one the anti-hero lead (Kristofferson) is a rock singer...something that was carried over to the recent version. I was surprised by this because Kristofferson was really terrible playing a rock star. It didn't suit his style of singing in the least...and he simply sounded terrible. So terrible, in fact, that you wonder WHY anyone would come to see his concerts....and here he miraculously fills stadiums. Had they had him singing more folksy-country music (his forte) it would have worked much better.

And, speaking of this, Streisand also is WAY out of her element. The woman has a gorgeous voice, no doubt about that. But the film begins with her as the singer for a group sadly called 'The Oreos' (with two black backup singers!)...and the song "Queen Bee" is just god-awful, as Streisand tries to sing like she was from the hood!! Later, fortunately, she sings a few lovely songs and "Evergreen" was truly mesmerizing to hear....and it's not surprising the song won an Oscar. Much of it, however, was pretty bad.

So is it any good? Not especially. Kristofferson's character was FAR more annoying and horrible than the Norman Main from earlier versions--to the point of being 100% obnoxious and unlikable. Because of that, there was very little chemistry between the leads that made any sense. You wondered how she ever came to love him...he was THAT horrible! It definitely should have been toned down significantly and he came off like a giant, spoiled baby who no one could have loved.

Overall, an overlong film with little to recommend it. I strongly suspect it's score of 6.1 is more indicative of the love of Streisand by her fans as opposed to the quality and watchability of the movie. A chore to finish this one, that's for sure!