Customer Reviews

Return to Waterloo/Come Dancing

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

 

 

I've always enjoyed listneing to The Kinks. More so it is the captivating and hypnotising lyrics found between the grooves of their recordings. "Return To Waterloo" sets the mood (as found throughout the lyrics by Ray Davies) as real, honest, dark, touching, twisted, and riveting. This movie I think is more then a simple rock opera or film but also a part of Ray which he gracefully chooses to let us explore. The film takes us on a trip with a man on his way to work and the many strange encounters he is subject too. The music is as usual enticing and true to what Ray Davies as always been to me; a great storyteller. I have been searching for this gem for over ten years and am now priviledged to own this wonderful film. To all Kinks and Ray Davies fans...... Don't go without this one.

Return to Waterloo is a terrific soundtrack but a somewhat strange, artsy movie. The second part of the DVD consists of late '80s Kinks videos: above average video, awesome music and some of Ray's better songwriting. Production quality is outstanding, and the music is wonderful. Watch the movie when you're pensive; watch the videos when you're in a party mood.

*Return to Waterloo* is a really good example of a strange film genre that appeared briefly in the 80's and then sadly disappeared: the rock video movie. These films were often surreal, and would incorporate rock music and music-video style sequences into the story. David Byrne's *True Stories* is a better known example of this type of film.

*Return to Waterloo* features some of Ray Davies best work from the 80's. A few of these songs appeared on the Kinks' last major album *Word of Mouth*. The film itself is very effective and well-acted, although it is very strange and non-linear. Davis clearly had great talent as a director, and it is unfortunate that this film did not get the recognition it deserved.

This DVD was not mastered very well. The picture and sound is decent video quality, and there are a few glitches in the audio and video. Hopefully it will be properly reissued before too long, as the Kinks seem to have gained wider appreciation in the past few years.

The videos are a lot of fun, especially *Come Dancing*.

I'm a huge Kinks fan and had never seen Return To Waterloo (although I had the album released by Ray at the time of the film's release). When it finally appeared on DVD I thought I should check it out. It's a dreary mess of a film notable only for an early appearence by actor Tim Roth. The songs are certainly very good (although not quite up to the level of Arthur or Village Green). RTW stands as an interesting failure.

The videos from the Kinks renewed popularity during the late 70's and early 80's are a hoot. Before MTV had reduced videos to little more than slick commericals, videos were amateurish enough to be fun. In this post MTV age they've become overproduced unimaginative messes (although thee are certainly a handful of worthy short "films" from the early years of MTV most are pretty bad now). Oh dear, I sound like a crabby old young
man!

Anyhow, the videos are fun and it's always nice to see the band performing even if its just lip synching and performances to backing tracks. I'd definitely rank Come Dancing and Do It Again at the top of the videos the Kinks made (the latter song is an underrated gem that borrows the opening chord from A Hard Day's Night and manages to return the favor the Who did for the band when they "borrowed" the Kinks sound early in their career).

Worth having just for the videos and seeing the band in more successful days. As for RTW I'd record the songs onto a CDR play that and ignore the film. 1 star for RTW and 3 for the videos average out to 2 for the package.

return to waterloo-by raymond davies-legendary kinks-proves to showcase a genius at best. the movie presents us with an everyday businessman-working classman-who lives day in and day out thru mystery,fantasy, and regrets..all taking place on train(waterloo station) with a great soundtrack of kinks(rays own) songs. a definate must watch for movie goers and fans alike.

"Return to Waterloo" is an hour-long music video featuring a number of Kinks songs and a storyline about an average, well-off Englishman. A feeling of possible impending horror is created by repeated newspaper images of a rapist on the loose, a man who closely resembles the hero of the story. However, the story never really pulls together. We follow our alienated hero is he ponders a young love and thinks about his wife back home. He boards a London commuter train and finds himself next to a group of people who represent different social tendencies in 1980s Britain - some business types, some old folks reminiscing, and some hooliganish young punks, one of whom is played by Tim Roth. The characters prance around, and sometimes it makes for very enjoyable viewing, but what is it really all about?

In part 2, "Come Dancing with the Kinks", you can watch several music videos of Kinks Klassiks or kontemporary 80s songs. Some of these make for good viewing, such as the funny "Predictable", or "Come Dancing", a story-song in the Davies tradition. There is also a nice live version of "Lola" which has R.D. all hyped up and running around the stage.

Take a look if you like. If you are new to Kinksdom, check out some of their 60s classics first, like the albums "Face to Face" or "Something Else". If you are already a fan (like me) you will probably get something out of this, and you may even want to forge ahead and read Ray Davies's "unauthorized autobiography" titled "X-Ray".

"Return to Waterloo" seems something of an indulgence. The mid-life crisis theme is murky but the feeling is unmistakeable. The Ray Davies magic comes through.
"Come Dancing" is a compilation of '80s music videos giving ample evidence that Davies is one of the world's great entertainers.
If they're not already in your collection on VHS, you'll want to have this one.

return to waterloo-by raymond davies-legendary kinks-proves to showcase a genius at best. the movie presents us with an everyday businessman-working classman-who lives day in and day out thru mystery,fantasy, and regrets..all taking place on train(waterloo station) with a great soundtrack of kinks(rays own) songs. a definate must watch for movie goers and fans alike.

I'm a huge Kinks fan (look at my screen name), and this film confirms why I'm a Kinks fan: The music is great, with Ray commenting on the disintegration of the British Empire to hard-driving rock melodies (and even though supposedly Dave Davies had nothing to do with this film, I hear his voice and believe I hear his guitar -- also, even though the RTW soundtrack is not available on CD, a number of its songs are on the Kinks' album "Word of Mouth" so don't tell me Dave had nothing to do with this). However, this film has little plot and no dialogue as we follow a commuter, the Traveller, into London. It has something to do with the Traveller loving his daughter a bit too much, leading her to run away (the song "Missing Persons"); meanwhile, the British Empire has fallen ("Not Far Away", "Expectations"); the Traveller has sold out his country to foreigners ("Sold Me Out"); and there's a rapist in London who is probably the Traveller (Ray's book "Waterloo Sunset" confirms that this is so). The music makes it all worthwhile for Kinks fans. Look for Tim Roth and a cameo by Ray.