RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Great Balls of Fire
Great Balls of Fire

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Great Balls of Fire (1989)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
65 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:15

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Film biography of rock 'n' roll hellraiser Jerry Lee Lewis, concentrating on the years 1956 to 1959, when Lewis rose to stardom. It was also during this period that Lewis married his third wife... Film biography of rock 'n' roll hellraiser Jerry Lee Lewis, concentrating on the years 1956 to 1959, when Lewis rose to stardom. It was also during this period that Lewis married his third wife Myra, who not only was his second cousin, but only 13 years of age at the time. This action nearly killed Lewis's career, and the uproar and controversy created by the wedding while they were in England forced Lewis to cancel his tour. Other aspects of Lewis's life are examined, including: his relationship with his brother, evangelist Jimmy Swaggart; his competition with Elvis Presley; and how his "devil music" was inspired by what he saw and heard at black dance halls. The score contains many of Lewis's songs, among them "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Real Wild Child", and a rather fiery rendition of the title tune. [More]

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Lisa Blount

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Lisa Blount, Lisa Jane Persky

Director: Jim McBride

Director: Jim McBride

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jun 4, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Great Balls of Fire

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety

Average biopic.

comment Comment
09/21/05
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

An outrageous bio-pic with Quaid over the top as Jerry Lee Lewis

comment Comment
06/20/03
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

No review available.

comment Comment
12/06/02
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

Fire is a fascinating, often terribly compelling failure. Much like Lewis's life, I suppose.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
08/26/09
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Caryn James
Caryn James
New York Times

Dennis Quaid is amazing, this could be the film of his career

comment Comment
09/17/02
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

No review available.

comment Comment
02/08/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
06/19/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eve Zibart
Eve Zibart
Washington Post

Vastly entertaining biopic.

comment Comment
04/08/05
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/04/05
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

Quaid is surprisingly good and has plenty of fun in this musical biopic.

comment Comment
11/15/05
James Plath
James Plath
DVDTown.com

Not a total success, but it does have a sense of style

comment Comment
01/12/03
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
02/20/03
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

comment Comment
11/18/05
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

Dennis Quaid actually manages to make Jerry Lee Lewis likeable.

comment Comment
06/17/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Great Balls of Fire

December 29, 2006: Kasdan, Apatow & John C. Reilly to Introduce "Dewey Cox"
How many musician-centric biopics do you have to sit through before you start clamoring for a nice juicy parody of the sub-genre? Well, one's on it's way, courtesy of director... More...

December 08, 2006: The Weekly Ketchup: "Spider-Man 3" Teasers, "Pirates 3" Pics And Rumors, "Transformers" Images, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, we just can't get enough of those tidbits from the upcoming third installments of "Spider-Man" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
77% 77% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
82% 82% Paranormal Activity
57% 57% 9
44% 44% Jennifer's Body
58% 58% A Perfect Getaway
62% 62% Carriers

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Critics' Best & Worst

Critics' Best & Worst

RT's critic friends offer their choices

Total Recall

Total Recall

We list 10 New Year's Eve-themed films!

Awards Tour

Awards Tour

Stay up on the latest awards and noms!

Forever After

Forever After

Celebrate Shrek's return with this trailer!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • New Moon Tops Moviefone's 2009 List Source: Hollywood Reporter
25
  • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
19
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
111
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
26
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin Team Up To Break Records
316
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
177
  • RT Editors Choose Their Favorite Films of 2009!
97
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
37
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
34
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
28
  • Critics Choose Must-Sees and Worsts of 2009
28
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
10
  • Total Recall: New Year's Eve Movies
8
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
72
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Great Balls of Fire at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.