Customer Reviews

Dire Straits: The Videos [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All the MTV videos that I remember from the 80's. The clothes look hysterical now but the music is just as great as it always was. If you need a kick in the pants to get your day started -- watch Walk of Life. Some great additions to this video are three Notting Hillbillies songs and a Local Hero video I'd never seen before. It will round out your collection of the best story teller and guitarist of the last 20+ years.

First, this is a sampling (key word) of the Dire Straits videos from 1978 to 1991.

The bad: #1) The video quality varies between fair and good. #2) Some of the songs are cut short.

The good: What a range of styles and creativity ! As much as we may yearn for DVD-quality, and access to the full recording sessions, this is what we have. I am quite thankful for the band's creativity, and that this collection was put together.

Here's a list of the tracks, with my annotations.

(Including previously un-released videos* plus "The Notting Hillbillies")

Track,start,length
01.(0:00:45) 4:25 Sultans of Swing*. Band on a sound stage with no audience. Song cut short.

02.(0:05:10) 4:23 Wild West End*. Band on a sound stage with no audience.

03.(0:09:33) 6:02 Skate Away. Dir. by Lester Bookbinder. MTV-style. Girl on skates, and "making movies".

04.(0:15:35) 5:40 Romeo and Juliet. Dir. by Lester Bookbinder. MTV-style. Actors, actressess, and a minimalist set pieces.

05.(0:21:15) 6:00 Tunnel of Love. Dir. by Lester Bookbinder. MTV-style. Girl in silver suit, with clear jacket.

06.(0:29:15) 5:45 Private Investigations*. Dir. by Tony Papa. MTV detective dramatization. Good close-ups on band and guitars.

07.(0:35:00) 3:25 Love Over Gold*. Dir. by Peter Sinclair. Live concert footage, with fog and lights. Mixed-in trapeze video.

08.(0:38:25) 3:25 Twisting by the Pool*. Dir. by Peter Sinclair. Music stage shots, mixed with pool video and underwater ballet.

09.(0:41:50) 4:00 So Far Away.. Dir. by Pete Cornish. Band on stage, mixed with aerial views of New York City.

10.(0:45:50) 3:45 Walk of Life. Dir. by Stephen Johnson. Sports bloopers, and band shots.(some candid).

11.(0:49:35) 4:35 Money For Nothing. Dir. by Steve Barron. Legos-style animation, mixed with video of band, with some video effects.

12.(0:54:10) 4:50 Brothers In Arms.. Dir. by Steve Barron. Charcoal sketch animation. Some transitions to Mark, singing. Mostly black-and-white.

13.(0:59:00) 4:40 Calling Elvis*.. Dir. by Steve Barron. Charcoal sketch animation. Some transitions to Mark, singing. Mostly black-and-white.

14.(1:03:40) 4:53 Heavy Fuel*.. Dir. by Steve Barron. Video of band on the road, with Randy Quaid as a roadie.

15.(1:08:33) 4:12 The Bug*. Dir. by Stephen Johnson. Young boys and a girl on tricycles,.Transitions to same people as adults at a NASCAR race.

16.(1:12:45) 3:32 Your Own Sweet Way*. Dir. by Neil Abramson. Band in 1930's style scenes. Beach and boardwalk videos.

17.(1:16:17) 4:23 Feel Like Going Home*. Dir. by Neil Abramson. Written by Charlie Rich. 1930's style scenes. A sweet song of old age, with farm-house scenes.

18.(1:20:40) 3:30 Will You Miss Me?* Dir. by Neil Abramson. Written by Steve Phillips. Travelling salesman, and a woman left behind.

19.(1:24:10) 7:12 Private Investigations (Live). Dir. by Peter Sinclair.

20.(1:31:22) 3:58 Going Home: Them from "Local Hero"*. Dir. by Peter Sinclair. Beautiful guiter work, and orchestration. Video flying over land and water, and a city at night. The band on stage.

21.(1:35:20) 3:00 <Credits>

got very many good songs here, while "money for nothing", " sultans of swing", "brothers in arms" , "walk of Life", is their more known. the other songs are superb too. i really like this, and this is one of the things a true dire strait- fan would buy, like me...for example. they are best live too.

The Dire Straits video collection is just excellent, I recommend everyone to have it.
However the technical quality of the tape is not real good. It is VHS Hi-Fi, sound is perfect, but video is not.
Too bad it is not a DVD.

This video is strictly for true Dire Straits fans or anybody who likes Dire Straits videos. You might, however, want to fast forward your vcr to get to the good videos or else skip this tape all together. The videos range from the period of 1978 through 1991 with a few Notting Hillbillies videos thrown in. The two best videos, in my opinion, are "So Far Away" and director Steve Barron's "Money For Nothing" from 1985. There are also a few watchable videos from 1982's "Love For Gold" period and some early performance videos from their debut album. Otherwise the rest of the videos on the tape are dull and boring to watch. Some of the videos from the 1980 album "Making Movies" are very dated and the quality is poor. I'm not sure what director Lester Bookbinder had in mind when he shot these videos, I don't think they have much in common with the songs meanings. The rest of the tape is watchable but there is nothing spectacular on it! I would probably reccomend instead a live concert video such as Dire Straits "On The Night" or Mark Knopfler's "A Night in London". I thought this vhs tape was very dissapointing and not worth the money.

please miss me the video of Dire Straits the videos(1993) in Italy(Sicily), my address is:VIA ROMETTA n*4 CAP 91100 TRAPANI(Sicily)

please miss me the video of Dire Straits the videos(1993) in Italy(Sicily), my address is:VIA ROMETTA n*4 CAP 91100 TRAPANI(Sicily)

please miss me the video of Dire Straits in Italy(Sicily), my address is:VIA ROMETTA n*4 CAP 91100 TRAPANI(Sicily)

please miss me the video of Dire Straits the videos(1993) in Italy(Sicily), my address is:VIA ROMETTA n*4 CAP 91100 TRAPANI(Sicily)

please miss me the video of Dire Straits the videos(1993) in Italy(Sicily), my address is:VIA ROMETTA n*4 CAP 91100 TRAPANI(Sicily)