Customer Reviews

Pink Floyd - The Wall

5 star:		(311)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

The movie itself - compelling, bizarre, incomprehensible (slightly less so once you listen to the director's commentary, but still a baffling story), and completely addictive. It's a film you won't be watching every week, but certainly once you put it on, you've pretty much committed yourself to falling under its spell for the duration.

But I'm here to primarily discuss the diffrences between the two editions of the DVD. If you have the previous edition of this DVD, don't bother getting this one thinking that you're upgrading. The "limited edition" disc itself is absolutely no different than the old one - same menus, same extras (nothing more, nothing less), same audio encoding and video transfer, even the same artwork on the disc. The packaging is the only difference here, and it's a beautiful slim digipak that looks more like "The Wall" album than the original box did. Of course, the original box mimicked the film's promotional poster, so if you're more of a purist in that sense, get that one. The box is then slipped into an clear acetate case with the movie's logo printed on the outside. Inside is a fold-out of the movie poster and a few photos.

What's odd though is that the "limited edition" is actually 5 bucks less than the previous version. Five bucks more just to get a standard plastic clamshell case? I think not! That in itself is what finally led me to purchase this movie, was the lower price!

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.

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!

"Pink Floyd the Wall" is what it was always supposed to be...a visual experience. The music from the original LP hit us hard enough, with such poignant tunes as "Hey You", "Vera Lynn" and "Mother", not to mention the showstoppers "Run Like Hell", "Another Brick in the Wall", and "Comfortably Numb". It was a natural progression that a movie came out, and I'm glad it did. The result is powerful. The film creates an eerie, sad, desperate and pervasive world that envelopes you, taking you in and down with the movie's anti-hero, Pink. His life is one of rebellion and loneliness, and he never quite comes to terms with himself until the end, when it's really too late. From his early experiences with bitter and sarcastic headmasters to his final drug overdose and near insanity, we get to run the gamut of experiences with him, and if it isn't always satisfying, it is certainly compelling. One of the most memorable, tragic scenes involves Pink's crew trying to get him ready for a gig, while he's whacked out on pills and whatever else is handy. As they drag him, wasted and near-comatose, to the show he must play, he hallucinates that he's literally rotting away, while the song "Comfortably Numb" drones ominously on the soundtrack. The result is frightening, and very good.

Not for the squeamish, this movie has many brilliant little moments like this, and as a whole, ranks as one of the more intense dramas ever made.

if there is one dvd that you must add to your collection, pink floyd the wall should be it. very few dvd videos out there offer so many extras to such a great film as this and not to mention you are already getting one of the greatest rock-n-roll operas of our time. or should i say one of the greatest films of our time period? in my life, i have never witnessed a film which successfully combine live drama, rock music, and state of the art animation such as the wall has done. bob geldof gives a truly amazing performance as pink who is slowly going crazy in his hotel room. guess what?? the viewer has the ultimate pleasure of taking this grand descent into madness right along with our lead character. through visions of war, godawful childhood memories, and a painful reminescence of a failed marriage we get a glimpse of everything which could DRIVE a person to complete insanity. pink floyd contains some of the most beautiful but insanely grotesque images ever placed on film and probability suggest few films can ever hope to rival the wall here. the wall is an emotional rollercoaster ride which everyone should take atleast once in their life if not many times. again, not a film that a serious dvd collector would want to be without so add this to your collection if you haven't already. i give this dvd my highest rating of five stars. please vote for me if this review was helpful to you and happy viewing.

I am partially biased to this film because I am a huge Pink Floyd fan, but I will put that aside for this review. This is one of the greatest "Rock Opera" movies I have ever seen (if you even consider it a rock opera). It has brilliant cinematography. Great effort was put in to attention to detail. In this film, everything is where it is for a reason. The story is wonderful. I believe that it is something everybody can relate to. Building up an emotional wall to attempt to combat the horrible things that occur in all of our lives, and the trauma that comes with the building of this wall. There is so much more to it than that though. So many references, so much deep symbolism in every scene. Some anti-war, anti-establishment undertones. On top of all of this, the DVD is wonderfully put together. Every menu screen has been put together with a different pink floyd song and scene from the movie. There are many great features, including director commentarys and makings of, interviews, cut footage (the "Hey You" scene that was cut out of the film), original trailers, production stills. It is wonderful. This is a wonderful DVD to own in my opinion. I have had it for a while now, and I still have not finished going through everything that is on the DVD. You won't regret this purchase.

For those reading this review who haven't seen or God forbid haven't even heard of this disturbing masterpiece: WHAT THE HECK ARE YA WAITING FOR? True, it's not exactly the most uplifting and cheerful movie ever made, but even if you see it just once in your whole life, you will remember it always.

Basic plotline: Rockstar Pink (semi-autobiographical embodiment of Roger Waters, Pink Floyd's bassist, vocalist, and chief songwriter) has had a rough childhood, a rocky marriage, a few too many pills, and few too many gigs. So, to cope, he sits in a hotel room in front of a TV showing English WWII movies and slowly loses touch with reality through flashbacks, paranoia, and nightmarishly surreal animation by Gerald Scarfe (these bits are my favorites!). There is very little dialogue, as the movie serves as little more than a ninety-minute music video of the 1979 masterpiece album of the same name.

The cool thing about the DVD (besides finally getting to see the footage intended to accompany the song "Hey You" which was deleted by Waters himself), is the audio commentary provided by Waters and Scarfe, who actually (gasp!) TALK ABOUT THE MOVIE! So many of the DVD's I've seen with this feature simply let the director, or whoever's talking, ramble on about politics or people they met while writing another movie altogether while a scene that you would have loved to have some of their insight to is playing...ARRRRGH! Here, the rather witty duo explain each scene's meaning, inception, and even trivia bits like trick camera work. There's a hilarious Mystery Science Theater 3000-ish bit of goofing around on Waters' part during the "Is There Anybody Out There?" sequence that was very surprising. I expected these guys, especially Waters, to be stuffy and dismal, considering the movie.

Secret trick by the way: the DVD has a LOT of interactive menus, and on all of them, save for the into/main menu, if you push the "9" on your remote, it will acitvate a different sort of sound byte. Nothing real exciting, but kind of amusing.

Other movies you might want to check out that actually have pretty good commentaries on them: Natural Born Killers Direct. Cut (Oliver Stone shows you all kinds of stuff you might never have noticed about the film). Clerks (Kevin Smith and members of the cast, including a very intoxicated Jason Mewes). Detroit Rock City (One of the commentary tracks is actually a series of interviews with KISS band members).

When buying a movie, whether on DVD or VHS, it is crucial that that movie be so provocative and intellectually stimulating that it begs the viewer to watch it numerously. If there is no desire for a viewer to watch a certain movie more than once, than what is the point of owning it? The Wall, by Pink Floyd (the second greatest rock n' roll band of all time), is a movie which cannot be watched merely once. It has so many layers to it that it astounds me. There are so many ways in which to interpret the bizarre experiences of Pink that you will have to see this movie a number of times before you relate Pink's experiences to your own life. However, once you have achieved this, you will only want to watch it even more, if, for nothing else, to enjoy the unbelievably powerful music that is contained within and what better a way to hear such strong melodies than with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Indeed, The Wall is an event almost made to be experienced through the medium of digital picture and sound.

The music of Pink Floyd is so incomprehensibly strong. They excel at powerful rhythms which serve to severely alter your psyche. It is this rock opera and album, The Wall, which is their most powerful work, and hence their greatest. It at the very least deserves to be a part of anyone's home video library.

The Wall is probably one of the greatest rock-&-roll movies of all time. It tells the story of a character named Pink(The name is sorta a joke about the name of the band Pink Floyd.). Pink's childhood was a traumatic one, his father died in W.W.2 and was raised by an over protective mom and was beaten by his school teacher. Later he became a rock star and got married to a wife that cheated on him. The movie shows how Pink completes his "wall" that he started as a kid. This "Wall" would shut him off from harsh reality and make him "Comfortably Numb". "The Wall is a stunning film filled with intense and striking visuals and animation. One such scene shows an anmated dove exploding into a german eagle or a British flag collapsing to make a bloody cross during the song "Good bye blue sky". It's amazing soundtrack will have a firm grip on you as you watch. The high ammount of symbolism will also keep you thinking. The interesting thing is that "The Wall" is based on the life story of it's composer Roger Waters. If you love the film "Tommy" you'll love Pink Floyds The Wall. -Ren

Unlike most people posting reviews of this film here, I had not seen it when I was younger, while on drugs, nor did I even know what Pink Floyd was. Rather I simply found a short clip from "The Wall" online, watched it, and was stunned. Needless to say, I hunted down the film, and watched it in one sitting, and when it was over?

I bought the original 2 disc album, and listened to it daily. Truth be told, the music itself tells a pretty good story, if dark and depressing for a good deal of it's duration. Had I heard the music before the film, I'd have known what to expect. Of course I didn't, but comparing the two is pretty stupid in my opinion. The reason for that is, while hardcore fans seem to take to heart the fact that the key factors in the production of this film weren't happy with it, they did in fact create a masterpiece of film and music fused into one giant story that has more layers and depth then most films I can name.

Trying to take "The Wall" and make a film from it, must have been as trying and difficult as Kubrick's direction of "2001", as both films are stretching and reaching to not only absorb you, but trap you in a world of sight and sound, where there is no escape till the credits roll. The problem with this film is, too many people are viewing it once or twice, and missing more complex metaphors to physiological viewpoints or at the bare minimum, the main point. Merging live action segments with animation, creating tripy and psychedelic imagery for a purpose. It isn't just random algimations here, we are seeing the inner workings of a mind that seeks to isolate itself from the world...and thus build a wall, to keep everything and anything out.

It's much deeper then that, but what must be said is, despite how bizarre or insane it might seem, it's a film that anyone can connect with, since it isn't about "Pink", it's about everyone, and everything, just as "2001" wasn't about outer space, it was about humanity and evolution. Everything you see is just window dressing for the real message-

"Tear down the wall".

This film introduced me to Pink Floyd's music, and to "The Wall", which stands as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. The film is the visual representation of that album...therefore?

It's one of the greatest films ever made, that doesn't require you to know the music, the band, or anything before going in. Just know you will be glued to your chair for the duration, and when it's over?

You will never be the same again.