Customer Reviews

Cirque du Soleil - Solstrom - The Complete Series

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While the acts performed in Solstrom, a 13-part television series, are not always truly comparable to the acts on stage, this program has many amazing acts which never made it into a show but could, and should, have.

Some would have been quite difficult to merge into a show. One I remember, which was amazing, was a husband/wife team who juggled together, using their hands, feet etc. Perfect together, and amazing to watch, but I am not sure how that could have made it into a Quidam or another show......but that in no way takes away from what they did.

Some acts, such as Viktor Kee's other-worldly juggling, had poor lighting for the show compared to the Dralion stage he had. But they are all still memorable.

Some acts have actually added stunts, such as the acrobats at the end of Quidam. In one sequence in Quidam, two of the acrobats are jettisoned and one goes over the other. In Solstrom, amazingly enough, four now do what two did. It is incredible, and nice to see how Cirque is always tweaking and making the shows better, impossible as that may seem.

The show's story line admittedly was a bit contrived, but I do not think anyone tuned in to see the underlying story line. Cirque never ceases to amaze me. If you like Cirque, this is a must have.

According to the short documentary, the purpose of Solstrom was to reach an international FAMILY audience and NOT the hard-core Cirque fans. So the humor was broad and the theme simplistic. Limited to two takes because of performer fatigue, each episode took seven days to put together with the artists arriving the day before rehearsal. Actual filming was only four days, utilizing 150 people working almost 24/7 to put together 130 numbers in four months on a limited budget and time constraints. The customer reviewer that wanted Cirque to "go to Italy" just didn't get the premise of the "stage show" where no one cared if you saw the overhead lighting fixtures as the camera moved off the set. Really, how would they have rigged some of the acts if they had gone outdoors? With a crane? And taking the whole crew to Italy for ONE show? The purpose of the show was an experiment for televison, which is a cold flat medium. The "theme" for each show was usually held together by some of the clown acts from the Cirque shows who helped to move the dramatic storyline that framed the acrobatic acts. Not every episode worked but there are enough for those who enjoy "family-oriented" entertainment and are not the jaded jet-set Cirque fans. The show allowed 200 more acts to be seen besides the established Cirque performers. The Superbit version has excellent video and sound quality. Using the Closed-Captions option reveals some lines of dialog-comments that were not spoken by Fogus Punch. The series flows and plays much better without the interruptions of the commercials. If you have no imagination and have no sense of humor, don't buy this DVD.

Having seen actual Cirque Du Soleil shows myself, I'll tell you first off that you really have to be there in person to get the full effect of someone dangling 50 feet in the air above you, or having a performer do a double backflip almost into your lap, and engage you in a staring contest.

The little stories that are told in Solstrom follow the Cirque tradition, but that's the very problem. The way it's always felt to me, Cirque Du Soleil isn't really meant to be watched on TV. While it's great to watch in person, it feels all too much like a Saturday morning kids special, with computer-generated sparkles, and cheesy music.

As for the acts themselves, they're absolutely mindblowing, as I could only expect from Cirque Du Soleil. Some of the performers from the actual shows make appearances, along with other very talented people you may or may not have seen elsewhere, such as diabolo experts, jugglers of all sorts, and even professonal bubble blowers.

This would definitely be excellent to watch with kids, but adults may get a little antsy having to put up with the cheesy sound effects and scenery.

Acts get an absolute 5, but you'd have to be 5 years old to enjoy everything in between.

Cirque in all it's glory - these are acts that perhaps didn't make the final cut to be in a regular show, but I still appreciate the chance to see them and judge for myself.

I enjoyed every episode thoroughly, and I also enjoyed seeing Milla Jovovich - how could anyone NOT like her?

Good series if you are a true Cirque afficianado!

Although this doesn't compare to the actual Performance DVDs it's an interesting mix of acts from most of the Cirque Shows. The biggest bonus: performances from shows not yet available on DVD (Zumanity, Mystère, and "O"). If you're a big Cirque fan you will enjoy this DVD. Hopefully Cirque will eventually release DVDs of their resident shows in Vegas (Zumanity, Mystère, "O", Ka and Love) like they did for La Nouba in Disney. Let's face it, most of us could never afford to see all these shows live. :o)

This is a great collection for Cirque fans. You can see the "progression" of the quality and professionalism over the years. This is a good collection to have especially for folks not fortunate enough to have seen these 'live'. One DVD allows the viewer to select from different camera angles to watch. Neat addition! Sound and picture quality are very good. Glad I got it............Kevin S

My husband and I became Cirque du Soleil fans when we saw "La Nouba" performed live at Disney World in 2004. Since then, we've watched every Cirque du Soleil DVD available. When I saw this box set available at a bargain through Amazon, I ordered it with no reservations and was not surprised when it lived up to all our expectations. We have been delighted and thrilled by each of the performances. I highly recommend "Solstrom" to all Cirque fans.

I am a big fan of Cirque Du Soleil. I seen Alegria, Saltimbanco, La Nouba, Cirque Reinvente, Nouvelle Experience, LA Magie continue, Journey Of Man, A Baroque Odyssey, and Quidam. The other Cirque Du Soleil I have not seen. There are ten acts on each episode. Each episode is about 44 minutes in length. Out of the ten acts per episode 5 I recconize from the shows. The 5 acts on each episode that come from the shows are absolutely amazing. But then you have the other 5 acts on the episode which were not in any of the shows I saw. I know this because I have all the shows mentioned on DVD. Unfortionatly I only been to the show in Florida live all the rest I seen on DVD only.

The other five acts on each Episode are not up to Cirque Du Soleil standards. Those 5 acts per episode that are not in the shows are not bad acts. They are so, so acts not great but not bad either. I would give the 5 acts per episode not in the show 2.5 out of 5 stars. The five acts that are in the show per episode I would give 5 stars each. So to be precise I would rate this series 3.75 stars. Amazon does not have a rating system where you can put 3.75 stars out of five so I guess four stars out of five will do. Please keep in mind that the series contains 15 episodes and so far I have only watched 9 out of the 15 episodes. There are 3 episodes per DVD and their are 5 DVD's. So far I watched DVD 1,2, and 3. I have not watched DVD 4 or 5 yet. I feel that this makes a good purchase because of the number of 5 star acts. All the 2.5 acts stop this series from being a great buy but for $37.00 this series makes a good buy. Hope I helped with your buying decision and hopefully you enjoy the series as much or even more than I did.

Even though this is a series and not the actual live show, it is truly brilliant once you "get into it"! My younger children absolutely love watching these episodes over and over again. And as a parent, I'd say it's a much better thing for them to watch than a lot of the junk featured on TV! I loved this so much I even bought this for my grandmother and she simply loves it, too! The acts featured in these episodes are simply amazing!!!! Also, be sure to watch the "making of the episodes" segment on the last DVD, it's incredible how they filmed these all with only two takes per act! Overall, this series is a "must see" for anyone appreciates the circus arts!

When this originally aired on television, our family(husband, son 10, daughter 6 and myself) would gather around the t.v. set and eagerly await each Sunday night's episode. It was amazing and we looked forward to each episode. Here it is several years later, my son and I have gone to see Cirque du Soleil live, and have never forgotten watching it as a family and enjoying our family time. When my son recently received money, he asked me to purchase "Solstrom". The acts are incredible and the costumes and music are beautiful. Since this was a series, we look forward to seeing the same characters appear throughout the different episodes and it is as enjoyable today as it was years ago. In fact my children can appreciate some thing more now, than they did when they were younger. A must see!!!