Customer Reviews

The Movie Box, 1981-2007

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This box set contains four video programs by the Collins/Banks/Rutherford/Steurmer/Thompson line-up of Genesis, and finds the group touring behind the "Abacab", "Genesis"(1983), ""Invisible Touch" & "We Can't Dance" albums. There is also a VH-1 "Behind The Music" documentary, and empty spaces in the packaging so that you can install the renuion tour "When in Rome" 3-DVD set into the packaging. The musical performances & sound quality in the four concerts included are uniformly excellent, assuming that you like the later, more commercial part of the group's career.

First you get "Three Sides Live" a concert film/documentary that had been offered on VHS & Laserdisc, but never before on DVD. Unfortunately, the opening song "Behind The Lines" is slightly edited, and interviews & behind the scenes footage interrupts "Duchess", "Me & Sarah Jane" & "Man on The Corner", and there is nothing that can be done about this. The material was originally shot on film, then edited on videotape, and unfortunately, after an extensive search, the group was not able to find the raw film footage, therefore, it wasn't possible to re-edit the footage or add extra songs. However, you do get a newly remixed 5.1 soundtrack which sounds great, and it is a genuine remix, not some fake upmix. As bonus material, you get audio only surround versions of "Behind The Lines", "Duchess", "Me and Sarah Jane", "Man on The Corner", "One For The Vine", Fountain of Salmacis" & "Follow You, Follow Me". The video quality is slightly better than the original VHS & Laserdisc releases.

"The Mama Tour" also makes its' DVD debut, and regretably, the situation is the same as for "Three Sides Live". The material was shot on film and edited on videotape, and the raw film footage cannot be found, so all that is available to work from is the videotape master. Video quality is no better than the VHS release. Fortunately, it appears that the concert is being presented complete or near-complete, and you get an excellent 5.1 surround sound remix. There is a bonus of 79 minutes of home camcorder footage shot by Phil Collins during sessions for the group's 1983 "Genesis" album.

The 3rd DVD is "Live at Wembley"(originally titled "Invisible Touch Tour"), and the disc's contents are identical to the separately released DVD that most of us already have. This series of four concerts was shot on an early prototype Sony analogue high definition video recording system, of which only a few machines ever existed . When it came time to release this material on DVD, there was a question of there was still a machine in existence to play the original high definition tapes, to permit a properly mastered widescreen DVD(I.E. not a letterboxed 4:3 ratio disc). Fortunately one such machine was found in England, but the search for unreleased material had a sad result. In each of the four shows, the group played a 20 minute medley of early Genesis songs. Unfortunately, without asking or informing the group, in each of the four shows, the video crew used the 20 minute medley as a time to shut down their equipment and re-load their video recorders with more recording tape, so in all four shows, the medley was not recorded. As supplemental material, you get a tour documentary that was originally included as bonus material on a UK/Europe/Japan video collection "Visible Touch".

The fourth disc is "The Way We Walk Live",and this concert, recorded at London's Earl's Court Exhibition Centre is presented complete. However, for no apparent reason, this is a stripped-down version of the previously available 2-DVD set. The concert is complete, but this time, to facilitate a single disc, the alternate camera angles, commentary track, and supplemental features are all omitted. In a deluxe box such as this, fans deserved the full 2-DVD version. So, if you have the already released(now deleted) 2-DVD version, hold onto it. It will be a collectors item.

The 45 minute "VH-1:Behind The Music" documentary is fun to watch.....once, though it contains numerous factual errors. Phil Collins did not join the group on the album "Tresspass". He joined the group on the album "Nursery Cryme".(the late John Mayhew drummed on "Tresspass"). And when Collins auditioned for the three remaining original members(Gabriel, Rutherford & Banks), Banks says that they all felt that Collins was the best drummer. In fact, Tony Banks had previously admitted that he prefered one of the other drummers, but he was outvoted by Mike Rutherford & Peter Gabriel.

For those of you who complain about the lack of a Blu-Ray edition, here are the facts(which I've confirmed with the "World of Genesis" website operator). "Live at Wembley" & "When in Rome" could someday be offered on Blu-Ray, but there are presently no plans to do so. "The Way We Walk Live" was shot on 625-line standard definition Uk videotape. It cannot be upgraded for high definition. If the actual raw film footage for "Three Sides Live" & "The Mama Tour" is ever found, it could be presented in high definition, but it now appears that the footage was not saved, I.E. that it was discarded after the selected parts were transfered to videotape. No one envisioned that the raw film footage would have any future use.

I thank the group for not redundantly including the "When In Rome" reunion tour video. It was a lucrative nostalgia tour which showed the group past its' prime, with many of the songs de-tuned one and a half tones(3 keys) to reflect Phil Collins' late 50-ish vocal limitations.

The Genesis Movie Box finally sees the release of the much sought after concert videos for 1984's The Mama Tour and 1982's Three Sides Live along side of the previously released DVDs for and The Way We Walk and Live at Wembley along with a bonus DVD featuring an updated version of VH-1s Behind The Music and an empty case to insert the discs for Genesis' When In Rome 2007 3-DVD set (which was released the year prior and must be purchased separately). Here are my thoughts on these discs:

THREE SIDES LIVE - First time on DVD and exclusive to this box set! First off, the 5.1 audio on this release is superb! Nick Davis does an outstanding job on the audio for this release. WOW! As an added bonus (and probably because many people complained about the failure to include it on the Genesis Live 1973-2007 (8 CD/3 DVD) box set), you also get some bonus 5.1 surround sound audio on this DVD taken from the 3 Sides Live album. The video quality is only so-so. Apparently, the video master was lost, so the quality is only as good as the old VHS tape you may have lying around - although at least you have it in a relatively current digital video format now.

THE MAMA TOUR - First time on DVD and exclusive to this box set! Again, the new 5.1 surround mix on this one is fantastic! Once again, great work by Nick Davis on the mixes. Sadly, like Three Sides Live, the original video master was lost for this concert film, so the video quality is only so-so. I'm glad to have it on DVD, but I'd be lying if I wasn't a little disappointed with the picture quality. Its watchable, but not as crisp and clean as you might hope it would be. There is a great addition on this DVD worthy of mention, the bonus footage taken from the making of the Mama album in 1983. Phil Collins, using his first video camera (new technology in 1983), shot footage of the band recording the album which is fascinating to watch as a fan. You see the creation of what are now Genesis classics and get a "fly on the wall" look at the band in the creative process. Again, the video quality is not perfect, but its as good as you can expect from a home video from 1983. Its worth the price of admission for this footage alone if you ask me!

LIVE AT WEMBLEY - Unfortauntely, this is a straight copy of the commercial release put out a few years ago on DVD. If you already purchased it, you won't be too excited with rebuying it here. The video quality is a clone of the prior version. The surround mix is still very good and the video quality is fine, but the picture is not as good as you might expect from an HD video (keep in mind that it was shot on now outdated equipment and the band struggled to even find a machine that could transfer it to digital, so it appears to have lost some quality in the transfer process). As a bonus, you get a tour documentary that was originally released in 1987 on a VHS/laserdisc called Visible Touch.

THE WAY WE WALK - Again, the video is identical to the old 2001 DVD release, except there are a few minor changes. First, there is a new DTS audio track (in addition to the Dolby Digital option on the old version), and they actually REMOVED the multi-camera angle option available on the older edition. Why? It ensured that it fit on a single DVD (the old version on Gut Vision in Europe and Pioneer in North America was a 2-DVD set). It does have a great 5.1 remix by Nick Davis, and to be honest, losing the multi-camera angle option is not a major loss. While its a cool feature when you first watch the DVD, after playing with it once or twice, it loses its novelty anyway.

WHEN IN ROME 2007 - Although not included in this set, it does include packaging to transfer your old When In Rome 2007 3-DVD set into this box set (which saves you from needing you re-purchase it all over again). This was necessary, because this box set has the DVDs packaged in standard CD style cases (and the old When In Rome packaging which is in a standard DVD sized box, would not fit in this collection).

BONUS DISC - Probably the biggest disappointment of the entire box set. The bonus disc is an updated version of VH-1's BEHIND THE MUSIC documentary on the band. The original broadcast version originally aired on TV in 1999. This updated version is only modestly different from the original, but they added new footage to the end that takes it through the 2007 Genesis world tour. Frankly, this documentary is among the more bland documentaries ever done on Genesis. I understand why it was chosen - it needed the least amount of work since it was only done a few years ago. That being said, the Genesis - A History documentary from the early 90s is far superior (but it would have required far more time to update and complete).

What's missing? First off, the doucmentary on the bonus disc is just over and hour, so there was plenty of space for additional bonus features. Some pro-shot quality items that immediately come to mind that could have added to this release are the Genesis Songbook DVD from 2001 that is mysteriously missing, the 1992 Genesis We Can't Dance Tour TV documentary Opening Night 1992 (which aired on Fox TV in 1992), the Making of documentary on the "I Can't Dance Video" (which was previously released on laserdisc), and the "Carpet Crawlers '99" music video (since all of the other videos appear on the other box sets, this would have been nice to complete the set). All in all, a nice collection and certainly worth owning as a Genesis fan, but there are a few things that could have been done to make this collection of professional videos a bit better.

I'm very happy for the inclusion of the long elusive DVD of the MAMA Tour from '83. I remember watching this on MTV when it actually showed videos instead of endless, mind-numbing hours of 'reality' TV. It brings back so many memories. I agree that Blu-ray would have been nice, but let's consider the quality of the source material for, say, 3 Sides Live. It couldn't get any better on Blu-ray than on DVD (in my opinion). Just like old movies; they are just as good on DVD which is good enough for me. My major concern was the sound quality which in itself, blew me away!! The video quality is a little 'cloudy' on the MAMA DVD but the DTS was awesome.

I think it was awefully nice of them to include a double disc jewel case for the inclusion of the When In Rome DVD set (although mine was damaged; hence the 4 stars). It even has a nice cozy little spot in the book for the Come Rain or Come Shine disc. Mine will actually stay in the eco-pak it originally came in. This particular DVD should have a Blu-ray counterpart!!

Hopefully this will appeal to those that are in it for the sound, nostalgia & sheer showmanship than the picture. Of course the video quality will be far better with Live From Wembley & The Way We Walk so don't be too concerned. I think this is well worth it for the long awaited DVD debut of MAMA & extended In The Cage medley featuring In That Quiet Earth. Superb!!

I admit, I have not watched every disc in full yet. I jumped first to my two favorite rare live tracks encompassed by this set: Keep It Dark and It's Gonna Get Better from the MAMA tour.

Where are the high notes in Keep It Dark? Apparently, Phil did some cheating in post production on the mix for the VHS release. Were these overdub tracks not available for this mix, or was the mix guided by some ideal of authenticity and honesty? For me, I love it with the high notes dubbed in, and wish that, at least, they had used the original stereo VHS Hi-Fi mix for the stereo audio option on this DVD.

Visually, as others have reported, this show is rather murky, low in contrast and color saturation. Again, regardless of the source, these issues could have been addressed in re-mastering the video for this DVD, but again, I suspect there was a guiding principle of authenticity and honesty to the available source materials.

In a word: bah! Authenticity has been so trampled in the many remixed releases (eg. the remixed Lamb destroyed much of what was groundbreaking and unique about the original, especially on Back In NYC), why get all honest about it now? Go with what sounds and looks best, please. Cheating with dubs in post has been the norm for live releases forever, and many a great album and video has resulted. These measures are almost necessary to approach the subjective re-creation of the experience of the real show.

To summarize, I am very glad I have taken very good care of my VHS Genesis concert collection, and I am very glad to own this new box, worth the price for the bonus additions alone.

Life long Genesis fan of all eras, I thrive on live performances and I enjoy them even on DVD. I am dissapointed, however, that there is nothing from the Gabriel era and Hackett era...I feel this is due to the perfection that runs rampid with these guys and they probably did not feel the earlier stuff was up to par. They should have more confidence with the fact that a fan is a fan and we would enjoy any performance in any form or fashion. Mike Rutherford has stated that he was glad that they did not record the reunion performance in the early 80's that was to benefit Peter's WOMAD foundation because it wasn't their best moment...however, I would literally trample my mother to have gotten my hands on that one! All in all, worth the investment for the real Genesis fan.

If you are a fan of Genesis you will get this box set no matter what the reviews! How can you pass up these live shows. My review is going to be a bit critical even though I am one of the biggest Genesis fans there are.

Three Sides Live is a direct transfer from the VHS. The original film has been misplaced, which happens quite often with other Genesis' material. They were planning on having a full concert and then all the interviews separate but, has the original was lost the concert is chopped up with interviews as its original release. The sound quality on the video DVD and audio extras are SUPERB!

The MAMA Tour video is a direct transfer from VHS too. So, the quality is not much better than you have seen on the TV or on your personal VHS. But here again, Nick Davis has just done another great job with the sound. The "Fly On The Wall" video from Phil Collin's personal camcorder during the making of the Genesis album is a must see. Many fans on the [...] thank the band for finally releasing that material.

Genesis Live at Wembley looks and sounds great but, here as with the original the sound and video is out of sync just a few seconds. A bit of annoying that this wasn't corrected this time around.

The Way We Walk just fantastic if you were still a fan during these years. I was and still am.

And last, there is an empty slot for those who already purchased "When in Rome 2007" filmed during the 2007 Tour of "Turn It On Again". If you do not own that on DVD make sure to purchase that along with the box set. The highest quality of sound and video with one of the best set list Genesis could have come up with before calling it quits, for good, this time.

This item, the last one of a Series of Five completes a marvelous gift to every Genesis' fan.

The only point that can be graded as negative is the lack of materials encompassing performances of Peter Gabriel and Ray Wilson.

With this, we would have the chance of having available,The Movie Box, 1981-2007 videos of each phase of Genesis formations, each one of them with their own characteristics.

We are still waiting for the completion of this material, translated by performances counting on these two lead singers of this awesome Group.

If you are a true Genesis' fan, do not lose the chance of including this box on your colletion.

This is an awesome live movie box. Four live videos, a bonus disc including the VH1 Behind the Music (Revisited), and an empty jewel case for When In Rome 2007. I do have the When In Rome DVD because I bought it, and it is awesome! So I decided to put the discs into the empty case.

All the DVDs are remixed and reissued in Stereo, Dolby 5.1 & DTS 5.1 by Nick Davis.

The Movie Box, 1981-2007


On April 27 I recieved The Movie Box and it is amazing.

Loved The Movie Box Set, even though disapointed with one dvd left out and thought older dvd's would be abit more comprehensive. Great all together.
deepseakelly of CA.