Back in the late 16th century, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet debuted. Arguably the author’s most enduring property, that story has earned umpteen adaptations over the centuries.

1957 brought a modern-day riff on the narrative via a stage musical called West Side Story. This reached movie screens in 1961, where the much-acclaimed live production became a much-acclaimed film.

It seems like folly to remake a flick that won the Best Picture Oscar and that also remains beloved. Perhaps in search of a challenge late in his career, Steven Spielberg threw down that gauntlet and produced his 2021 version of Side.

Set in New York City circa the late 1950s, the story gives us differing races and backgrounds as acted out through two gangs, the white bread Jets and the Latino Sharks. The Jets resent the presence of the immigrants from Puerto Rico and battle for the same small part of the slum.

Against that backdrop we find Jet founder Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of head Shark Bernardo (David Alvarez). They’re two young cuties who meet and quickly – and I mean really quickly - fall in love. Not surprisingly, this interaction doesn't sit well with the others, and the dissension intensifies as the film progresses.

As I implied at the start, the decision to remake a classic seems like a questionable one. It makes more sense to re-adapt mediocre or bad movies with potential, as they offer room for improvement.

That doesn’t really exist with the 1961 Side. Regular readers of this site know my general disdain for musicals, but even I needed to admit that Robert Wise’s take on the property worked well.

Not that I adored the 1961 film, as I respected it more than I truly enjoyed it. Nonetheless, it came with enough positives that I could recognize its objective high quality.

This set the bar high for Spielberg, a factor complicated by the fact he’d never made a musical. 1979’s 1941 included a few scenes that leaned in that direction, as did the opening to 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but neither broadly embraced the format.

At the age of 74 during production, Spielberg seemed awfully old to branch out in this way. Still, if anyone could do it, you’d think it’d be a legendary talent like Spielberg, right?

Maybe. As represented by the final product, Spielberg certainly doesn’t embarrass himself with his first musical, but he also fails to demonstrate real affinity for the format.

Going into the 2021 Side, I found myself perplexed by Spielberg’s decision to remake it, and not just because the 1961 flick remains a classic. If Spielberg really tried to update the property, the new version might make sense.

However, Spielberg hews pretty closely to the source. Granted, he takes a mix of liberties in a variety of ways, so no one should expect a shot-for-shot recreation of the Wise production.

Nonetheless, Spielberg keeps the tale set in the same era, and he adopts a visual style that largely seems reminiscent of that period’s look and feel. The 2021 Side does embrace the modern teal ‘n’ orange palette to an unfortunate degree, but otherwise, little about it seems like a flick made in this part of the 21st century.

I don’t get this. Like I mentioned, if you decide to remake a classic, you need a hook, and Spielberg doesn’t find one that really allows his production to differ notably from the original.

The 2021 Side plays into the racial animosity a bit more than the prior flick, and it exhibits Trump-era reflections of that topic. It also comes with more profanity and explicit content that didn’t fly in 1961, though “explicit” doesn’t mean graphic or anything to get knickers in a twist. This remains a conservative movie, but it simply pushes those boundaries a bit more than its predecessor did.

Everything about the 2021 film feels wholly professional and competent. However, it lacks the exuberance and spark of the prior movie, and as I watched, I could never quite figure out why it existed.

Again, Spielberg doesn’t adhere slavishly to the Wise version, but his flick feels like a museum piece. He maintains such respect for the source that it feels like Spielberg lacked the nerve to take chances.

This remains a major issue for me, as I still don’t get why someone would create a new Side that acts as such an homage to the original. A remake with some guts and daring might not really work, but at least it would demonstrate more purpose than this stiff recreation.

Can I find anything overtly wrong with Spielberg’s Side? Not really.

The 2021 flick offers more than competent acting with more than competent pacing and production values. As noted, everything here feels totally professional.

Unfortunately, this Side fails to sing. The many production numbers come across as precise but joyless, and that corresponds to the rest of this stiff, unemotional film.

Ultimately, I find the 2021 Side to offer a generally well-made but dull piece. The movie never does much to justify its need to exist, as the 1961 version remains superior in almost all ways.

West Side Story appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an appealing presentation.

Overall definition looked positive. Softness never became a problem, as the film appeared consistently well-defined.

No issues with moiré effects or jaggies materialized, and I witnessed no signs of edge haloes or source flaws.

Expect a distinct slant toward amber/teal, so the movie went with subdued tones. Though not memorable, the disc reproduced the hues as intended.

Blacks seemed dark and dense, while low-light shots offered good smoothness and clarity. Ultimately, the image came across as pretty terrific.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack suited the material. Unsurprisingly, music dominated the proceedings, and the many songs used the various channels in an involving manner.

Effects had less to do, as they focused mainly on ambience. Given the emphasis on music, that was fine, and the sides/surrounds provided enough material to succeed.

Audio quality also pleased. Again, music became the most dominant aspect of the mix, and the songs/score boasted fine range and impact.

Speech came across as natural and concise, whereas effects seemed accurate and realistic. Nothing here dazzled, but the track worked for the movie.

Only one notable extra appears here: a 13-part documentary called The Stories of West Side Story. It fills a total of one hour, 36 minutes, 53 and brings notes from director Steven Spielberg, producers Kevin McCollum and Kristie Macosko Krieger, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein’s daughters Nina and Jamie and son Alexander, associate producer David Saint, screenwriter Tony Kushner, choreographer Justin Peck, production designer Adam Stockhausen, historical consultant Virginia Sanchez Korrol, supervising vocal producer Jeanine Tesori, dialect coaches Victor Cruz and Thom Jones, Robbins Rights Trust trustee Ellen Sorrin, associate choreographers Craig Salstein and Patricia Delgado, costume designer Paul Tazewell, director of photography Janusz Kaminski, executive music producer Matt Sullivan, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, sound mixer Tod Maitland, property master Diana Burton, casting director Cindy Tolan, music arrangements David Newman, stunt coordinator Mark Fichera, set decorator Rena DeAngelo, and actors Mike Faist, Kyle Coffman, David Alvarez, Jacob Guzman, David Guzman, David Aviles Morales, Kevin Csolak, Kyle Allen, Ben Cook, Daniel Patrick Russell, Brian d’Arcy James, Ariana DeBose, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Ana Isabelle, Sean Harrison Jones, Ilda Mason, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Sebastian Serra, Juliette Feliciano, Edriz E. Rosa Perez, Jess LeProtto, iris menas, Josh Andres Rivera, Garett Hawke, Kevin Higgins, Harrison Coll, and Rite Moreno.

“Stories” looks at Spielberg’s decision to remake the property and its path to the screen as well as story/characters/adaptation, cast and performances, choreography, sets and locations, various design choices and photography, music and related topics.

With more than 90 minutes at its disposal, “Stories” comes with plenty of space to explore the film’s creation. It traces the production in the order of the movie’s scenes and digs into a good mix of topics.

Alas, “Stories” comes with one persistent weakness: an awful lot of superficial happy talk. “Stories” includes more than enough quality information to make it worthwhile, but it falls short of greatness.

The disc also provides a section called The Songs, which I thought might give us featurettes about the movie’s tune. Nope – it just lets you access the flick’s 16 production numbers. It just becomes a form of chapter search.

Steven Spielberg remade a classic via his take on West Side Story. This feels like a mistake, as the 2021 edition falls far short of its 1961 predecessor. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio along with a long documentary. Fans of the project should stick with the vastly superior 1961 film.