How To Watch The Original 'A Star Is Born' Before The New Release

Guys, the highly-anticipated remake of A Star is Born — featuring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga — is almost here. The movie drops in theaters this weekend, officially premiering on Friday, Oct. 5. (So be sure to order your tickets now!) In the meantime, those who are planning to catch the movie on opening weekend can pass the time by watching (or re-watching) the classic 1937 version. So let's take a look at how to watch the original A Star Is Born.

The original version starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March came out in 1937, according to PopSugar. This was eventually followed by a remake in 1954 starring Judy Garland and James Mason, along with another remake in 1976 starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kirstofferson. For the record, the 1976 version actually took home Golden Globe awards for best musical or comedy motion picture and best original score in 1977. Clearly, the classic story of successful musician Jackon Maine discovering and falling in love with a struggling artist named Ally — ultimately leading to her career taking off and his fizzling out — has withstood the test of time. So these older films are definitely worth checking out, whether it's before or after you catch the Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper version this weekend.

Let's take a look at how you can get a hold of the previous versions before Oct. 5, shall we? There's ...

Netflix

As far as Netflix is concerned, it doesn't look like there's a way to directly stream any of the versions. If you're willing to go the old-fashioned route, however, you are able to add the 1937, 1954, and 1976 versions to your DVD queue. But I'm guessing the chances of actually having them to watch before this weekend are slim to none.

Amazon Prime Video

The good news is, if you're an Amazon Prime member, then you can actually stream the original 1932 A Star is Born via Prime Video. (Woo!) If you want to catch the 1954 or 1976 versions, however, it looks like you'll either have to pay for streaming access — $2.99 to rent or $9.99 to buy — or purchase the physical DVDs and hope the free, two-day shipping pulls through.

In the meantime, if you haven't watched the official trailer for the 2018 version, please do yourself a favor and tap, "play" below. For this being Lady Gaga's acting debut, it looks like she's going to be amazing, right? And Bradley Cooper's singing voice —who knew?

So far, it seems the reviews shared on Twitter agree. One person tweeted, "Was a bit s(k)eptical of all those 5 star reviews but holy hell does A Star is Born live up to the hype. The chemistry between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is electric. They don't just act. These are grind your soul in the dirt until it bleeds performances."

Another Twitter user wrote, "I just watched a star is born and i........ have no words ......"

Joe Morgenstern with The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The simplest thing to say about 'A Star Is Born' is that it’s all right. Not all right as in OK with a shrug, but thrillingly, almost miraculously right in all respects."

Admittedly, I've never seen any version of A Star is Born. Ever. (I know, I know, I live under a rock ...) But with its 95-percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — combined with the epic movie trailer and captivating interviews — I'm definitely tempted to get a babysitter this weekend to see Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in action. Or, at the very least, I'll catch it on DVD within the next year or so. Because, you know, #MomLife.