West Side Story

Play trailer

West Side Story

1961

2h 31m

Musical

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

115 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated when a gang member falls in love with a rival's sister.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Buoyed by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen.

Read Critics Reviews

Louis Cook

Detroit Free Press

Dec 2, 2021

One of the lovely things about West Side Story is Rita Moreno, whose acting and dancing are elegant. Chakiris is darkly handsome and effective, and Tamblyn is great on the dancing.

Go to Full Review

Marjory Adams

Boston Globe

Dec 2, 2021

It roars with the hatreds of street battle. It twinkles with joyous motion which turns into fierce agitation as the stresses of misunderstanding speed the players into an uncontrollable maelstrom.

Go to Full Review

Stanley Kauffmann

The New Republic

Dec 2, 2021

It is Robbins' vision -- of city life expressed in stylized movement that sometimes flowers into dance and song -- that lifts this picture high.

Go to Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Feb 22, 2025

3.5/4

Most of the intricately choreographed dances still impress, and there are fine contributions by George Chakiris, Russ Tamblyn, and especially Rita Moreno.

Go to Full Review

Mark Johnson

Awards Daily

Jun 8, 2023

Loaded with innumerable and distinguished songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (each one an earworm of its own), West Side Story is a tale of race and social decorum and is an incredibly inventive adaptation of the legendary Shakespeare story.

Go to Full Review

Pauline Kael

Film Quarterly

Jul 29, 2022

This is a movie that pretends to deal with racial tensions. The lyrics keep telling us this is what it's about and the critics seem to accept the authors' word for it.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

kevin c

Nov 29, 2021

Classic. Don't see how Speilburg can make this better

See more

Michael

Nov 29, 2021

The film was great of course. But I want to thank Hawthorne 12 theater (Vernon Hills, Illinois) and Fathom for the presentation. Print of film was new beautiful, the colors were hot—-and there were no glitches. Well presented. Even intermission was handled well ( with time on screen)

See more

cathie

Nov 29, 2021

This is my all-time favorite movie that I’ve loved since I first saw it in 1975. I lost count how many times I watched this movie, and tonight was no disappointment. The seats are so comfortable and the theater was perfect for this movie.

See more

Hannah P

Nov 29, 2021

Loved the movie! My friend enjoyed it too!

See more

Paul

Nov 28, 2021

horrible. the theater couldn't log in to show the movie. received an error message that either the broadcast was unavailable due to maintenance or access was unauthorized.

See more

Steve C

@RT19610513 Oct 10, 2026

Starts off with ballet but progresses towards and ends with plain old acting

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Jerome Robbins

Director

Robert Wise

Director

Natalie Wood

Maria

Richard Beymer

Tony

Russ Tamblyn

Riff

George Chakiris

Bernardo

West Side Story: Official Clip - I Feel Pretty

2:45

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Challenge to a Rumble

2:04

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Killed By Hate

2:51

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - The Jets Own the Streets

2:04

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Love At First Sight

2:44

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Maria

2:34

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Cool

3:16

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - America

3:59

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Somewhere

2:28

Now Playing

West Side Story: Official Clip - Tonight

4:28

Now Playing

View more videos

Man of La Mancha

53%

71%

Man of La Mancha

Watchlist

Roller Boogie

0%

53%

Roller Boogie

Watchlist

Yentl

69%

75%

Yentl

Watchlist

Roustabout

56%

55%

Roustabout

Watchlist

Carousel

63%

60%

Carousel

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated when a gang member falls in love with a rival's sister.

Director: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Producer: Robert Wise
Screenwriter: Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Ernest Lehman
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: United Artists, Beta Productions, Mirisch Films
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 18, 1961, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 20, 2015
Runtime: 2h 31m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track
Aspect Ratio: 70mm

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings