Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Stereo)
• Subtitles: None
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sexy Intellectual
• DVD Release Date: April 25, 2006
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000ENUL84
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,213 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The music of Don "Captain Beefheart" Van Vliet is like certain works of literature: lots of people talk about how great it supposedly is, but relatively few have ever actually heard (or read) it. That could change with the release of Captain Beefheart – Under Review, an absorbing, comprehensive, and lengthy (nearly two hours) overview of this idiosyncratic character's career that serves as the musical equivalent of a Cliffs Notes for, say, James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Van Vliet retired from music in the early '80s in order to devote himself to painting, his first love; a disclaimer lets us know that neither he nor anyone in his immediate circle authorized this British-made film, and although there is lots of Beefheart music to be found here, the Captain himself is not interviewed. Plenty of others are, including many of the musicians who populated Beefheart's Magic Band over the years. Along with a host of critics and other "experts," they cover all the bases, from his earliest recording (a performance of the semi-hit "Diddy Wah Diddy" from the '60s teen TV show Where the Action Is is just one of the extraordinary number of video clips included) to his last (the 1982 album Ice Cream for Crow). The consensus: Beefheart's sound, though obviously rooted in the Delta blues (especially Howlin' Wolf's), was unlike anyone else's. With Trout Mask Replica, he blended a surreal sense of humor with dense, fragmented, seemingly chaotic (but painstakingly rehearsed) music; many others followed, including a few ill-conceived attempts at a more commercial sound, but that 1969 double album is still considered his masterpiece, a work that "reinvented conventional song form." Some of the filmmakers' choices are preposterous: drummer John "Drumbo" French is interviewed in a tree, talking into a telephone, while pompous Brit critic Alan Clayson holds forth from a church pulpit. But by and large, Captain Beefheart – Under Review is, as the Captain's himself put it, "fast and bulbous." --Sam Graham

Product Description

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART:UNDER REVIEW - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a decent documentary, not a collection of videos or concerts, October 4, 2006

By 

KV Trout (Centerville, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Captain Beefheart: Under Review (DVD)

Most of the complaints among reviewers here are that the performances are not long enough. Well, this is a documentary, folks, and that is the way documentaries are made. Documentaries almost never contain complete performances, go watch some and see for yourself.

This is a relatively low budget documentary about a guy who is surrounded in controversy, who would not cooperate in the making of it, and whose bandmembers also did not all participate. So getting footage was not easy and getting interviews and info was limited. Combine that with the low budget, and I think the documentary makers did a very good job here!

First of all, unless you are a hard-core collector, this dvd has quite a bit of rare footage, and a lot of info and opinions I had not heard before.

It moves well, you don't get bored because they include snippets of music every so often, and yes, that is what music is for in a documentary. Okay, I agree, they could have left some of the performances a little longer, but for me it was about the Information, not the music. I have enough Beefheart music in my collection. This is a good overview of Beefheart and his rise to fame and his going into (intentional) obsurity.

I am one of the world's original Beefheart fans, having bought Trout Mask the day it came out, (okay, I know some of you were around since Safe As Milk, but still, Trout is early...), and I consider him one of the world's living musical geniuses.

I enjoyed this documentary and am glad I bought it. It's all we have unless someone comes along with more money to spend on one, and gets Don's cooperation. Unlikely.

Some day you will see a documentary about Don Van Vliet, the PAINTER, as his fame and respect in the art world grows. Chances are it won't be until after he dies. So enjoy this for now.

Meanwhile, go to youtube and beefheart dot com and find all kinds of rare footage and music.

36 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Waste of Money, April 29, 2006

By 

Sherringford Clark (Mayor's Income, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Captain Beefheart: Under Review (DVD)

This DVD was quite disappointing. None of the musical footage is presented in its entirety, and sometimes people are talking over the music. Also, even though a good number of Magic Band members are interviewed and a good number of anecdotes are provided, the interviews frequently contain such insights as, "It did what it did" (Elliot Ingber commenting on "Alice in Blunderland" solo).
In addition, the manner of interviewing people is really tacky: John French on a telephone in a tree, Eric Drew Feldman in a toy truck, Elliot Ingber in a parked car, Gary Lucas in bed with some weird blue nightlight. This method of marketing the Magic Band as freaks just detracts from the content of the interviews. Overall, the production is gimmicky, with annoying graphics for each band member that go on far too long. The opening image is just so tasteless, and really says it all about this DVD: the Captain's voice issuing from a doll's head.
Yet, the biggest problem is that there is simply too much talking and too little music. I found the DVD to be actually kind of boring, with many of the interview segments going on far too long.
So, I wouldn't advise anyone to buy this film, but rather to seek out a bootleg copy of the vastly superior BBC documentary "The Artist Formerly Known as Captain Beefheart" as well as a bootleg disc of actual live footage of the Captain and his Magic Bands.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The fans deserve more !, May 24, 2006

By 

Mark E. Brehm "W C Mark" (Cactus AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captain Beefheart: Under Review (DVD)

Short & sweet; I was thrilled that this DVD was made and it looks very professional but with Beefheart subject matter I feel the fans deserve more. Its unfortunate that the producers spent the money to (as John French puts it) fly 1/3 across the world to interview him (in a tree) but they don't include any extras worth watching like any complete performances ( why can some one just compile the concert footage and slap it on a dvd, that what we all want anyway). Any one who is a true Beefheart fan is not one simple because of the oddity of the band and its leader, they are folks that think "out side the box", folks that appreciate art and like to have there minds stimulated. I find it disconcerting that the producers found it necessary to interview the ex Magic Band members in such corny non artistic staging (ones in a tree, ones in the back of a grocery store kiddy ride, ones in a car in a garage, the list goes on). I find this a little insulting to what Don Van Vliet is about. If Beefheart fans buy this watch it for what it is and if your some one who is wanting an introduction to the genius that is Captain Beefheart I suggest you view a copy of a wonderful documentary called "The Artist Formally Known As Captain Beefheart" which is not legitimately available in American commercial release as far as I know at this time.... Hope this helps.