Customer Reviews

20th Century Masters - The Best of Donna Summer: The DVD Collection

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Once again, labels assume fans wil rush out and buy anything sub-par just because it's on DVD format - yes, it's nice to have a mere FIVE videos on DVD for posterity, but these are clearly my least favorite of Donna's videos/hits - where are here videos/live/TV performances from here "Bad Girls" era? Instead of releasing these to cash-in on Donna's popularity, why not do a deal with ABC and release her amazing, long lost 1979 one-hour TV special she did featuring live versions of "Dim All the Lights," a special promo of "Bad Girls/Hot Stuff," "Sunset People" and more! I remember as a kid begging my parents to let me stay up late so I could watch - and once I did, I was TRANSFIXED by Donna's beauty and sheer vocal talent! If you look at other "best of" DVDs out there (like BOWIE's, THE JAM, THE CLASH, etc.) that feature stuff from the vaults, the LACK of old 70s clips is pointless to purchase for true fans - heck, even the more recent MELODY OF LOVE from "Endless Summer" VHS isn't here, WHY?!! Donna did a slew of early TV appearances singing her old disco hits LIVE - where are THOSE? Until then, I refuse to buy these cheap, exploitive DVDs!

This compilation may only have five videos and is very short, but if you're a Donna Summer fan like me, you will undoubtedly enjoy this budget-priced compilation.

What is very striking about this compilation is how well Donna made the transition from disco/radio phenomenon to video star. Many stars in the '70s had to adjust to becoming video stars, and some made that transition better than others.

It helps, of course, that Donna is a beautiful woman, but her ability to emote well for the camera suggests that she should perhaps pursue more acting. She's strong and independent in "She Works Hard For the Money"; makes a striking transition from frumpty headmaster into sexy teacher in "Unconditional Love" and convincingly plays a war bride in "There Goes My Baby".

As a reviewer remarked earlier, "This Time I Know It's For Real" and "Love's About To Change My Heart" really show Donna in a fresh light. She looks stunning in these videos, playing up the "dance goddess" image without being sleazy or made-up. She looks the most relaxed ever at this point in her career, even dancing freely for the camera, and sadly after this point, Donna would pretty much make sporadic public and chart appearances.

It's a great little video to play at parties or if you just want to see Donna in her '80s heyday.

A very good, low budget collection of 5 videos of Donna Summer.

The quality is very good and the videos here take one back memory lane; She works hard, Unconditional love (with that shiny dress), There goes my baby, This time, and Loves about to change...

I hope more Summer videos are put on DVD, and here's hoping we get more videos now Summer is reviving her recording career!!!

I got your love Donna!

This DVD is rather brief: 5 videos by Donna Summer, but well worth the low price you pay for it. All 5 singles cracked the Billboard 100, with `She works hard for the money' hitting no.3, and `This time I know it's for real' hitting no.7 and both certified Gold.

First up is `She works hard for the money' which was nominated for an American music award for best video (lost out to Michael Jackson). The storyline features a harassed working mother of two, and features a scene where she gets pinched on the butt by Bruce Sudano (Donna's husband). The climax is the fab dance scene on the streets with a growing crowd of onlookers gawking at the unexpected sight of Donna Summer dancing up on a balcony. One of her best videos.

Next up is `Unconditional love' which was a UK top20 hit. The video was shot in London and features Donna as a dowdy school teacher who transforms to a big haired glamour girl who then takes the entire school for a romp in the playground. The UK group Musical Youth also featured in it.

`There goes my baby' begins with a domestic tiff between a couple (Donna and Bruce Sudano). Then hubby goes off to war and a pencil thin Donna spends the rest of the video anxiously awaiting news from him. Very good acting from Donna.

`This time I know it's for real' (a no.3 UK hit) is a very cheery, delightful video with a bunch of guys doing the running man (a hot dance craze back then) all around the world and a stunning looking Donna featured in an array of hats.

The last video, and my favourite of the lot is `Love's about to change my heart' (a UK top 20 hit). It is Donna's most joyous, relaxed video, with Donna hamming it up for the camera, and dancing freely.

I look forward to more compilations of Donna's work put on DVD; More videos (`The wanderer', `Romeo', `Love is in control', `The woman in me', `State of Independence', `Supernatural love', `Dinner with Gershwin', `All systems go', `When love takes over you', `Melody of love', `Whenever there is love', and `My prayer for you' for example..), and how about her 1980 TV special (that featured Twiggy and Robert Guilliame), and numerous other magical clips from the 70s.

Donna Summer's is one of the Best Vocalist ever to me&also very Prolific. sad thing is this Compilation doesn't highlight Her He day 70's run."She works hard for the Money" is the best&Only clip here that stands out.the other ones just don't cut it years later.hopefully one day She will get a better Career DVD/Video Retrospective.

Donna Summer is a musical legend who has transcended trends and whose career has outlasted many of her contempories. This is a short dvd compilation of some of her 'arguably' better videos from the 80's, but its so sad that an artist of her stature has yet to receive the full dvd career retrospective treatment encompassing her groundbreaking 70's work (yes there are clips availble) ALL her 80's and 90's music videos and more. In 1994 a vhs collection of videos (also incomplete) entitled Endless Summer was released and at least it was a half hearted attempt to capture some of her video work on one collection. This is only for the non fans who want a cheap collection of 5 videos.

Well, what can I say. We know that Donna Summer is the 'Greatest Hits' diva on cd's in the last decade. This dvd is a poor try to achieve the same with her videoclip career. Only five (yes, it's a complete dvd single) clips are collected here and nothing more. It's a must have for Donna fans because there is nothing more to find on dvd than the 'Live And More Encore!' concert. That's the only reason. I know fans like me are waiting for a complete videoclip collection on dvd like 'Endless Summer' with the clips we're still missing everywhere like 'The Woman In Me' etc. Of course with clips 'Melody Of Love' and 'I Will Go With You' included. That would be the perfect collection! This is only a give-away, nothing special. Further it still sad not to have any visual stuff from Donna's supreme disco days. She did quite some wonderful performances and tv shows so there must be something left in the vaults to make a dvd which would do Donna Summer justice. This is a sad summer indeed...

DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!
I bought it expecting about 20 of Summers Best. What I got was 5 TV-Videos of which only 1 qualified - "This time I know its for real".
I can understand the situation of "The Industry", but in this case, they ask for it. Paying 26$ handling and toll....
This is a rip off - no more no less!
Buy something else and be sure to check the titles - I didnt!

Hans Christensen

what's good is getting 5 songs i love instead of 30 songs and only 5 songs i love.since 1991 i have wished i had a donna summer"another place and time" four video dvd so this was heaven and mum knows the older songs.

This DVD may only have 5 videos and is short, but being a Donna Summers fan, I enjoyed this budget priced compilation! #602498617274