Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
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Movie Reviews of Live Aid (4 Disc Set)
Movie Review: Pop in the DVD and it all comes back to you!
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember the live aid event very well and how special that entire day felt. Received (and gave) this DVD set as a Christmas Gift and have had so much fun watching and remembering that special day. Some of the omissions were noticed but the booklet's explaination makes it clear that we are very fortunate for what was captured. Some amazing standout performances and everybody did it live folks! No sign of the plastic fake popular musicians that have become the norm today, in this DVD we see it all...mistakes made live, musicians with big noses, bad teeth, goofy clothes and everybody plays their hearts out, for real! Stand out performances for me were Style Council, U2 (who literally jumped on the rocket to superstardom during their performance!), Queen (nobody like Queen, it felt so good watching them perform again), Bowie, Paul Young, ok, ok....I love them all!
The bottom line is, if you are passionate about the music...you need this DVD in your collection. Hang on to your old VCR tapes to document the day as it was and make this small investment. I know that the DVD quality sure was better than my old tapes! The fact that it goes for a great cause is a bonus, the price very reasonable considering 4 DVDs, and the overall quality is fine. Put it on and turn it up LOUD....and DANCE...and SING....and REMEMBER the day!
Movie Review: Brilliant fun.
Summary: 5 Stars
Dusty tapes... missing footage... boxes of MTV 'B roll'... Imbedded commercials... Power outages... Equipment failures... From this (see the liner notes), we now have available over 600 minutes/4 DVDs of music and video of a cobbled-together, never-meant-to-be-recorded event that is possibly the most important concert since Woodstock. And you know what? Warts and all, it sounds and looks great!
Of the two venues London and Philadelphia, the Wembley footage stands out. I'm not sure if it's because of what the producers describe as the BBC's better-quality video and audio recordings or what was IMHO London's superior lineup and more animated audience -- probably a combination of the two. But there are some really great musical and cultural moments. Queen reigned and there can be no doubt as to why U2 is still great and why Adam Ant is... well... retired :) Remember Phil Collins' brilliant little stunt of playing both venues in the same day with a little help from two helicopters and the Concorde? Captured. And some of the presenters... what on earth was Chevy Chase wearing?!? 80s... fun.
Don't be put off by it being incomplete because of technical glitches or petty politics... For the great music, for the nostalgia, and for the historical value -- definitely a keeper.
Movie Review: Missing stuff yes BUT there's a good reason for that!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes there there are a handful of performers and a bunch of performances that are missing from the show. The whole concert was about 12 hours long, the DVD however is only ten hours long. The reason for this, as explained in the DVD booklet, is that much of the footage was either destroyed or otherwise unusable. It seems that Live Aid founder Bob Geldoff had requested that the concert NOT be recorded or even shown again. Over in England the BBC recorded it anyway. In the US it was NOT recorded but someone at MTV kept all the alternate camera angle footage and locked in the vaults. In some cases the performances were never shown at all. The Who for instance blew up the generator and therefore only people at Wembley stadium saw half of there portion. In other cases the sound or picture quality was so bad it wasn't worth putting out. So even though there is stuff missing what is there is the best they could do. There is a performance by Ashford and Simpson that was believed to be totally lost. However at the last minute someone at MTV found it in an unmarked can, it still has the MTV graphics on it, but it is the only known footage of that performance. So all in all it's pretty cool to have what is here. For anyone who remembers the concert or just loves the music of the mid 80's you will love this DVD.
Movie Review: Born to Rock
Summary: 5 Stars
For the record, my son Fred Scott, was born in Stockholm, Sweden on that day in 1985 when all the world was watching the biggest extravaganza in rock history. Since then the child has become a man, well 19 anyway, and has his own rock band in Norfolk, Va. Although he's a student at Old Dominion University, he finds the time to play his music. He says he really digs The Police and U2. So the DVD is something of a thrill for him to watch his idols in their past glory.
Watching the DVD I am reminded of the emotion I felt that when on arriving homne a few hours after his birth at 2 pm (Stockholm),The Cars were singing "I want to drive you home." The producers put on scenes simultaneously from Ethiopia showing emaciated mothers digging holes in the ground with sticks to bury their dead fly covered babies who had died of starvation. I compared my own child with those poor dead infants who never had a chance, and broke into tears of remorse for such tragedy. This DVD is a wonderful reminder of the fact that the plight of so many people still plagues us and that it is up to all of us to try to relieve the unbearable suffering of the millions who are slowly starving or dying of other malignant causes. Buy the DVD, rock on and remember the unfortunate. We can help. All of us.
Movie Review: How about actually LISTENING TO the DVD before reviewing?
Summary: 5 Stars
I just read through all of the reviews for this DVD, and one thing is glaringly obvious - no one has actually seen/heard the thing! I have an advance copy, and it's funny to hear people pontificating about something they have never seen - I particularly enjoyed comments like "Phil Collins doesn't perform 'Against All Odds' on this DVD". Hmm. I rather enjoyed the performance that I just watched.
Folks, it's a 20-year-old television broadcast that they've remastered in beautiful surround sound that shows off all of the performances, warts and all, and it sounds AMAZING. Branford Marsalis' haunting soprano sax rings through like a plaintive siren in the night. Yes, there are some glitches, and some out of tune harmonies - the Beach Boys segment alone has some that are cringe-worthy. But again, that segment illustrates the beauty of the set - there they are, Brian up with the rest, Carl singing his heart out, Mike Love as nonplussed as can be, all doing it for a wonderful cause.
Each of the 4 DVDs is over 2 hours in length. That's a lot of music. Yes, some performances were left off. But please wait and whine until after you've actually had a chance to hear/see what a remarkable job these folks did with this set.