ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars[new dvd] (1 Viewer)

[KevinJ]

i piced this up today and this has to be one of the best 5.1 mixes i've heard yet[i haven't seen the beatles anthology yet so...]and picture wise it's not too bad[blame the source as thet say]all in all a must buy imho

 

[Kevin Davis]

I agree, what a great improvement over the previous DVD release! Great package too. I picked up this, the new CD (also great packaging) and The Beatles Anthology...I won't be leaving my livingroom for a week!

 

[Dave Kalloch]

So I take it the bad customer reviews posted at Amazon reflect the earlier release? Might have to pick this up.

 

[Kevin Davis]

Dave - it looks like all of the reviews on Amazon refer to "other" editions of this film - note the "This text refers to the (fill in the blank) edition" at the end of each review. Amazon often does this - ports reviews written for other entiries over to listings with the same titles. Sometimes it can be hlpful, I suppose, but I think it often does a disservice to a newly released product. The one bad review on Amazon says up front that they've never seen or heard the DVD, but has the VHS.

 

[Rich Malloy]

i piced this up today and this has to be one of the best 5.1 mixes i've heard yet

Can anyone provide a comparison of some kind? Like, does it sound as nice as Criterion's "Monterey Pop" remix or "Gimme Shelter" remix? Or a bit duller, but good, like "The Last Waltz" remix?

 

[soop.spoon]

Saw it in the store yesterday... I was puzzled by the "FIRST TIME ON DVD" sticker.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Am I the only one who GREATLY prefers the album edit of "Width of a Circle" to the movie version? Man, does the middle of that thing go on forever here - it's badly bloated and tiresome. I love the tune on Man Who Sold the World and the original Ziggy Movie soundtrack, but keep the full-length one far from me. I think the new CD release includes that version - no reason for me to replace my old Ryko!

 

[ShaunS]

This may be old news but I picked this DVD up today (found it second hand).

The audio is pretty well done. I wouldn't say its up to the quality of the recent Led Zeppelin release. I find the bass quite a bit louder than the rest so I had to turn my subwoofer down a few notches. The crowd is pushed to the rear speaker and comes across very nicely. The sound is incredibly clear, in stark contrast to the video. The video is, what I assume to be, about as good as you could get it. It is pretty grainy and fuzzy at times, but this was how it was filmed (think Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps"). The one problem is that most of the time Bowie is bathed in red light against a pitch black background and I noticed a little edge enhancement where the two colors meet. Sometimes it seems he is in front of a blue-screen or something. Nothing too distracting.

As far as the actual film goes, I'd really only recommend it to the die hards. While it is great to see him live, the film gets somewhat monotonous after awhile. The songs are great, don't get me wrong, but the film itself is pretty bare-bones. Few shots of backstage and pre-concert crowds, but for the most part just hand held cameras following Bowie around on stage. Nice to play as background music, but tough to just sit through and watch. There's also a commentary which I've only flipped on once or twice. Sounds like it has quite alot of trivia and background info on Bowie's career. I look forward to giving it a thorough listen.

For anyone looking for Bowie on DVD, his recent 2-disc video collection is a much better buy. If you're like me, and have watched the first disc of it a million times and flipped through disc two once or twice, then you should probably check out the Ziggy Stardust dvd.

ShaunS