82 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Final Cut, December 16, 1999
Most clearly put, this movie is a spellbinding artistic masterpiece. It will evoke every possible emotion and leave you wanting more of even those that are "negative".
Roger Waters knew when the album itself, a masterpiece all its own, was made that he wanted to eventually make an accompanying screenplay. The fact that the music of The Wall forms a story on its own is a testament to Waters' vision. There is very little script in this movie, it is more of a visual aide to the music itself, and allows us to see what Waters really wanted us to see when the album was originally released. It is like an art gallery more than a movie, where each scene is full of both powerful meaning and subtle expression.
It spotlights the roller coaster ride of Pink's tumultuous life, who is reportedly based on several influences. From Roger Waters' own personal past, to his views on the influence of drugs on music and performance, to thoughts of the mentally unstable former member of Pink Floyd, Sid Barrett, this movie will both shock and move you.
I honestly cannot describe this movie and give it the justice it deserves. You simply must see it.
As for the DVD itself, the remastering is truly phenomenal. From start to finish the video is crisp, and the sound.. my god the sound. I dont know if I will ever find a movie which possesses equal richness of sound. This DVD uses both senses to their fullest potential.
Some person commented that the widescreen format meant losing a portion of the picture. Au contraire, widescreen is the only picture where you capture everything through the eyes of the director's camera. It is the full screen format which loses the sides of the picture by stretching and trimming to a (roughly) 4:3 ratio. Unfortunately however, being only available in widescreen format on this DVD, those viewers with small televisions might be faced with a vertically short, albeit complete picture.
The DVD extras and menus are incredible. This is the first DVD I have seen which has menus to configure your sound system for optimum performance (speaker position and test). And the sound.. did I mention the sound?
This movie and DVD version deserves far more than 5 stars, and is the definitive "Final Cut" of Roger Waters' vision.
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221 of 248 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pink Floyd: The Wall - Welcome my son....., November 9, 2000
I was a Pink Floyd fan throughout my younger years, but The Wall to me
is still one of the most wonderfully well-produced albums of all time.
I must have seen this film in the theater over 20 times during my high
school years. And now, seeing and hearing this film on DVD has
'remastered' my appreciation for this entertaining visual and audio
experience. At first sight, the graphics work on the package and the
disc itself is attractive. the animated flowers are beautifully
portrayed on the disc. The inner pamphlet is a simple mini poster,
with movie and DVD credits. I was hoping for a little more to read,
but I guess not this time. I popped the DVD into my player and was
immediately introduced to the main menu. You have 4 choices....the
movie, the extra features, scene/song selection and audio selection.
Let's first talk about the audio selection, titled "Set The
Controls". You have a choice of 5.1 surround and PCM stereo
surround. **TECHNICAL NOTE-If your DVD player has 3D sound
enhancement, you must turn this off for this disc. Having that
feature on will lower the sound quality from this disc** You also have
a "system set up" choice. It gives you specific sound tests
and directions on volume and surround elements. A nice addition, kind
of like the THX optimode on other discs, but slightly different. The
next menu button is titled "Any Title You Like". Under
this, you get to choose subtitles if you wish. Your choices are
Spanish, French or English. You get to choose scenes by song, of
course. Unfortunately, these choices are only numbered, there are no
descriptions of the scene or the song. So, it may take a few tries to
find an individual scene. You also have a choice to watch the film
with the song lyrics below the picture. This is pretty cool. It
reminded me of those "Pink Floyd Karaoke Parties" that I
never went to! Anyway, it would probably be taken more seriously to
those not too familiar with the lyrics. The final button, titled
"A Soucerful of Features", contain all the supplemental
material. You have your choice of two documentaries, titled "The
Other Side", "Retro Part One", and "Retro Part
Two". "The Other Side" is a piece produced around the
time The Wall was released, and it's great to watch. There is a lot
of behind the scenes footage. "Retro Part One and Two" are
recent documentaires containing rather new interviews with Roger
Waters, Alan Parker and others who worked on the film. Both of these
documentaires are fascinating because it is well known (to fans), that
Roger and Alan had very different views as to what the film is about!
A lot of behind the scenes stories and information. They are put
together very well and a pleasure to watch! You also have the choice
of watching the film with commentary by Roger Waters and Gerald Scarfe
(animation). These commentaries have great behind the scenes
information throughout the film. Roger Waters is especially a
pleasure to listen to because he laughs (which is rare), and he gives
the commentary a more personal experience since the film is
semi-autobiographical. He even mentions a story about Syd Barrett
(the founder of Pink Floyd). This commentary is outstanding. The
final piece of supplemental material is when you click a button titled
"Oddities". These pieces of supplemental material include
the trailer, photographs from the movie set, paintings from the film,
a music video of "Another Brick in the Wall-Part 2", and a
sequence of the song "Hey You" that was not in the final cut
of The Wall. That's all the supplemental material...well worth it
too! The only two complaints I have are these buttons that you can
press that give you 10 second sound bites from the film, and the
slowness of the menus. After you select something, you need to watch
10 seconds of video before you are allowed to make your next choice.
Menu design and graphics is pretty good, but should be MUCH faster.
OK, so I watched the film and the high definition transfer is
incredibly beautiful. Colors are deeply saturated with a sharp
picture and wonderful clarity. The transfer is very impressive!
Sound quality is a mixed bag. The production track sounds dated, not
too much range but not at all annoying, just noticeable. The music is
unbelievable! The soundtrack was remastered from the ORIGINAL MASTER
TAPES. If you've never heard The Wall on a surround sound system, you
are in for a big treat. The music sounds almost perfect, with some
hiss, but nothing to complain about. There were times I heard
instruments that I didn't remember from the album....incredibly clear,
wonderfully recorded music. I can't say enough about the musical
soundtrack, it comes alive on DVD. Pink Floyd never sounded better!
In conclusion, I recommend this DVD to EVERY Pink Floyd fan, and to
those who want to hear a unique, musical experience and watch a
beautifully photographed film. I must add that the animation is
absolutely wonderful. Gerald Scarfe has included his great creativity
throughout the film! The disc loses points ONLY for its slow menu
navigation. Other then that, Pink Floyds The Wall on DVD is
wonderful. Tons of extra footage, a beautiful transfer and
unbelievable sounding music. A great DVD to own whether you live
inside or outside the wall! Enjoy!
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