Pure 80's: The DVD
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Movie Reviews of Pure 80's: The DVD
Movie Review: Great Quality, WIth One Exception
Summary: 3 Stars
For the collector and those nostalgic for a better zeitgeist than the present sorry one, this is a worthwhile showcase of music video baubles from the era that made the form famous, featuring excellent quality transfers to DVD. The one sour note in this otherwise sweet symphony is the clip of Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You", which is not the one familiar to veteran vid viewers of the 1980s, who remember actor Stoney Jackson and a backing group lip-synching the song on a stage, punctuated by dandy Motown-style dance moves. Well, what we're given here is a heavy dose of authenticity...too much, actually. For shown rendering the song in this rather stolid version is the person who actually wrote and sang it, the late great Dan Hartman himself, who, in point of fact, never appeared in the original release of the video (nor the feature film "Streets Of Fire," from whence that original on-stage video was largely excerpted). The result is something akin to promoting on the slipcase the inclusion of a video by Milli Vanilli and then showing a clip of the individuals who REALLY sang their numbers, not the two bogus yet magnetic performers who actually appeared in the videos and whom one associates with the music. All of which proves that sometimes we're better left with our illusions, rather than exposed to the harsh glare of reality.Movie Review: It's hard to go back
Summary: 3 Stars
I had been away from home and had no access to a television from 1979-1981. When I came home, my parents had cable, and I discovered MTV.This was before Michael Jackson electrified the nation. The VJs played a lot of Madness and clips from Elephant Parts. My first favorite video was the Little River Band's The Night Owls, but I digress.
Perhaps Pure 80s should be called "Mid 80s New Age." Most of the videos in this collection of the post Madness/Pre George Michael variety.
As fairly early attempts at a new medium, the videos in Pure 80s are flawed. The music and production values in the two Tears for Fears selections are great, but videos are dull. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a great song, but watching the guys sing and drive cars...
There are no breakthrough videos in this collection, no Billy Jean, no Jenny I've Got Your Numbers, no Jesse's Girl--all videos that helped shape the art form. (I claim not expertise--just deep nostalgia.)
Many of the songs in this collection bring back good memories, however, so it is hard to complain.
If you want a random sampling of good songs, this is the perfect collection. If you want something more, keep waiting. MTV has to release a "Year's Best" collection some time... I hope.
Movie Review: I'm begging!
Summary: 2 Stars
I rate this 2 stars because it is just not enough to make me happy, I want more!
Why is it so hard to find classic 80's mucic videos on DVD? The few collections that are out there are not enough. I'm begging you MTV, please release some really nice definitive collections that include the great songs that were always on when you were the greatest channel on TV. My memories of the 80's almost always include the time I spent watching MTV all hours of the day and night. I remember waiting and waiting for my favorites to come on. Eurythmics, Adam Ant, Men at Work, Thomas Dolby, Flock of Seagulls and Duran Duran. MTV introduced me to New Wave and made me crave it and now they keep it from me. I know that the cost of paying royalties probably has something to do with the lack of product out there. There must be someway of creating these collections.
I have an idea about a format that I would like to see. How about making a documentary about each year and talking about the trends and the music that MTV helped to establish and have the full unedited version of the top 15 or 20 videos from that year. You have already done something like that on VH1 with the "I Love the 80's" series. You could just concentrate on the music more and leave out the movies and historical events. You could interview the original VJ's and even bands themselves. VH1 has done a show where they try to reunite bands, this only makes me want to see the original videos even more. The demand is there MTV, when will you supply? Ok, if you won't do the documentary thing, just release the videos in seperate volumes for each year.
It just seems unfair that I can own every episode of my favorite TV shows from the past but I can't watch or own the music videos that were so much a part of my life. I WANT MY MTV!!!!(the way it used to be)
So there it is, I'm hoping that some big shot from MTV will see this and start working on putting the history of the first Music television channel on DVD so that the people who witnessed their birth can relive those times again by watching the videos that made MTV what it is today.
Movie Review: I Want My MTV!
Summary: 2 Stars
If MTV was smart, and they used to be, along with funny, relevant, and entertaining (they even played music videos all the time!) It was on all day in my house, and you could always count on the VJs passing along some wacky facts, or artists dropping by who could actually speak coherently. Anyway, MTV could make their massive video catalog available to the public. You could browse online and choose the videos you wanted, pay $2-$3 each and MTV would either create a custom DVD for you and send it out, or you could download them and make your own DVDs. I would gladly pay to have several DVDs that contained only the videos I wanted. And there are about 100 I want, just off the top of my head.
As it is, I am happy to watch my old and fading copies made back then and occasionally catch an old great on VH1 Classic, rather than have someone else pick out 10 videos, 4 of which I may want, the rest I don't. This one did nothing for me. Luckily it was a gift. I never would've bought it for myself.
Movie Review: YUCK
Summary: 2 Stars
I love the 80's, have a huge collection, used to host a 80's music radio show, and have a fairly large video collection. This DVD stinks. First its one of those funny discs that wont play in every player. Second, titles, if I pay this much for music videos I want them clean. And third the quality is poor. I have most of these songs elsewhere and the quality there is much better. I know that video quality in the 80's wasn't always the best, this DVD is worse than the originals. Its a nice collection, but save the cash and buy it on VHS instead.