13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great artist, lousy presentation., June 4, 2003
This review is from: Mike Oldfield - The Art in Heaven Concert (Live in Berlin) (DVD)
Like the other reviewers, I've been an Oldfield fan for many years. I'm glad to finally get a legal copy of one of his live performances. However, I wish it could have been better. The audio mix is good, except for one or two points where it fades out momentarily for no apparent reason. The video editing is very amateurish: It cuts to long shots and crowd shots that are obviously very out of sync with the audio; There were fireworks, somewhere, but you hardly see them; They hold shots for way too long on vocalists who are obviously lip-syncing their parts (for production reasons). The 'Art in Heaven' segment looks like something you get from a rookie editor: Continuous crossfades and keyed images with no syncronization to anything actually going on during the event. Overall, the entire DVD is more of a 'resume piece' for the director, who happened to also be the lighting designer for the live event. No, the lighting wasn't that impressive either. Buy this DVD for your collection, buy it to support Mike Oldfield's endevours, but don't expect to be impressed by it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
At Last...Mike Oldfield on DVD in North America, May 21, 2003
This review is from: Mike Oldfield - The Art in Heaven Concert (Live in Berlin) (DVD)
I have been a fan of Mike Oldfield since I was in high school, and Oldfield was a young, but talented, composer/musician who had the extreme good fortune to have an excerpt from his premier album included in the movie "The Exorcist". The minimum wage was [much lower], and I took my first paycheck from my first job and bought a copy of the aforementioned "Tubular Bells". Unfortunately, Oldfield's popularity in the US has never been as high as it was then, even though his best work was still several years in the future ("Ommadawn").
Very popular in Europe, Oldfield has several concert videos available in PAL VHS and Region 2 DVD, but never before has a Mike Oldfield concert video been available that we fans in the US could easily view. This video is definitely worth the wait. I am only giving it 4 stars because of its relatively short length, and the fact that many of Oldfield's classics are not included.
The first part of the concert consists of older works, including a very abbreviated "Tubular Bells", which some may know as "Theme from the Exorcist", the folksy "Portsmouth", and the pop tune "Moonlight Shadow". The second half are selections from "The Millennium Bell" which, as I understand it, were premiered at this concert. Inexplicably, the culminating piece of the concert, "Art In Heaven" is included as a separate selection from the main menu. Oldfield is joined on stage by the usual assortment of vocalists, and musicians, plus a string orchestra and large choir.
It is obviously very cold (the concert was filmed on New Year's Eve 1999 in Berlin), and the music is accompanied by the sounds of fireworks from the audience, but it is still great to see Oldfield play guitar for the first time. He has a very distinctive sound, and it was very interesting to finally see how he plays.
Oldfield fans will not be disappointed, but they will be left wanting more. Hopefully this DVD will sell well enough to convince the powers that be to release Oldfields other concert videos on Region 1 DVD.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Oldfield dvd finally!, June 1, 2003
This review is from: Mike Oldfield - The Art in Heaven Concert (Live in Berlin) (DVD)
I've been a huge fan of Oldfield since the original Tubular Bells. This show is a New years eve affair shot in Berlin 2000. Mike looks cold and unhappy.
The first half includes mediocre versions of his "classic" work, while the second half is new stuff ("new-agey" new stuff). The Art in Heaven piece is pretty good.
What Mike needs to do now in his career is release some dvd of his great shows from the 70's and 80's, material that's been circulated on ... bootlegs for years. This would really please his fans and hopefully inspire him to write some new music...let's face it, his last good work was Tubular Bells 2, way back in 1992!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
