88 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great videos, no extras!, October 14, 2002
This review is from: Blondie - Greatest Video Hits (DVD)
Blondie made some great videos (particulary their earlier ones). Content-wise, this disc is great fun. But for collectors, it's a major disaopintment.. It only has about 16 of the band's 25 videos, is not culled from original source material but rather a pre-edited compilation that came out in the '80's, has virtually NO packaging (there's not even a sheet of paper where a booklet could have been) . It's a slap-dash affair.
First of all, whoever put it together did not go back to original source materials as I've stated. No digital remastering here. Worse, it's copied from an '80's VHS compilation called "The Best Of Blondie" and still has all the dated footage of a NYC cabbie riding around town and running into Blondie blaring from TV screens and radios betweeen every song--in most cases, cutting off the beginnings of the videos to accomodate the hackneyed wraparound. It even says "Blondie is managed by Shep Gordon" at the end, which hasn't been true since 1982! No attempts were made here to update or improve this presentation. It was just dubbed off with a new title slapped on. It was done with minimal effort, and it shows. Too bad, too. Blondie is certainly worth a better product than this.
The DVD follows the playlist from "Best of Blondie" and adds as "bonus tracks" two oldies:"The Hardest Part" and "Atomic" as well as 1999's "Maria". The good news here is that this version of the "Maria" video is slightly longer than the one on "Behind the Music" DVD and has the alternate, original ending where the team of guys spying on Blondie through a window actually attempt to assasinate Debbie by shooting a bullet through the window, which she catches in her hand, still singing!
Absent are most of the videos from "Eat to the Beat" (like Shayla, Eat to the Beat, Accidents Never Happen, Slow Motion, Die Young Stay Pretty, Victor, Sound Asleep & Living in the Real World). I was most disapointed to see that "In the Sun" from the first album was not included. The Cathay Che bio on Debbie Harry makes reference to an un-named "fourth" video that was made at the same time as "X Offender", "In the Sun" and "In the Flesh". Whatever it was, it's nowhere to be seen on this compilation.
All fans should own this, as it's currently the only chance to have the band's vids on DVD, but I hope someone goes to the bother of releasing a quality, comprehensive collection down the line! Something along the lines of what Abba just did, with their complete collection of remastered vids and deluxe packaging/booklet etc.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Listen to the Others -- Just Buy It, February 25, 2004
This review is from: Blondie - Greatest Video Hits (DVD)
Lots of buzz-kill types are complaining about how the sound hasn't been remastered and how the video looks too grainy. So what? -- These were low budget videos made in the 70s. What else would you expect? The point is, it's great that these are finally available on DVD. These are fun to watch. I can't believe I almost didn't buy this just because of some of the bad reviews I read. Ignore them -- if you like Blondie, you need to buy this. You're never going to get anything better. It's not like they have some 75mm films of the band shot by Scorsese lying in a vault somewhere, just waiting to be unearthed and remastered. This is it, folks.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
C'mon already! It's Deborah Harry!, November 19, 2004
This review is from: Blondie - Greatest Video Hits (DVD)
OK OK, so the picture on DVD is no better than the home video. And yes the cab scenes are pointless. By the way, do NY cabbies really drink beer in a bar on lunch break? But look at what you do get, the sexy, slinky Debbie Harry pulsating her way across your TV screen. If her outfit in "Detroit 442" doesn't drive you crazy, you must be comatose. And what about 'Denis' she hopping around in a bathing suit man! Who wouldn't want this for their home video collection.
Of course the 'Rapture' video set the stage for all new wave early 80's video. Dig the man from Mars in his white ducktails and top hat.
Hey the songs are great, the videos are great. Youget Union City Blues with Debbie looking like a folk singer (playing guitar too), to the farmhouse nuclear trashbag outfits in 'Atomic'. From bouncing cleavage in 'Dreaming' to the skin tight dress in 'Heart of Glass'.
If you love Debbie, you got to got to got to have this.
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