Customer Reviews

We Will Rock You [VHS]

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

A must for all serious Queen fans. This DVD presents the images and sound of Queen in a new light. The sound from Brian's guitar
on " Love Of My Life " leaves you looking for him playing it in your lounge room as the sound is so unreal. The clarity of the picture makes the concert seem like it's no where near as old as it is. Even though we only see Queen up to and including the " Hot Space " album,it does allow vintage Queen like Roger Taylor's " I'm In Love With My Car " which is so raw and pure.
Also features a great version of Brian May's guitar solo ( Brighton Rock )which this crowd needed to rev them up somewhat because the crowd tended to be a bit tame. Freddie sounds great as usual and " Save Me" and his guitar effort on " Crazy Little Thing Called Love " are highlights to remember. O.K enough said now go out and get it all you serious Queen fans.

As a long time fan of Queen (I saw them live in the early 70's) I was dissapointed with this title. The sound quality was poor even for the 80's and the look of the film makes me believe that it was originally shot for television rather than the big screen. The biggest mistake however, was made when synchronizing the vocal with the video. I believe that Queen played this venue two nights in a row with both shows being recorded. But the producers seemed to take audio from both nights (the best bits I guess) and dub them over the video so ,many times I could hear Freddie singing but could not see his mouth move. Overall I think the Queen performance was very good, but add to the mistakes listed already with a less than enthusiastic audience (why did they choose to shoot the film here anyway?)and poor camera work, it leaves me feeling a little ripped off. There are thousands of Queen fans in the US who are starving for more Queen video/music, and I know that there is a lot of much better material out there than this. I am suprised that Queen put it out in the first place, and this coming from a guy who, several years ago bought a laser disc player just to watch a collection of Queen live videos not available on tape. Give us live at Earl's court, live at Hammersmith or live at Hyde Park, but not this.

When I first saw this at the store, I wondered why it was released on DVD. This has always been the worst of the Queen live videos, but that's not their fault. Queen play as well as ever, but it seems that both the audience and the audio engineers were asleep for the whole show. Even in 5.1 digital audio, the sound is horrid. The drums and bass are completely lost throughout, as if you're listening to it through a drive-in theater speaker. And the audience...good Lord, they don't even know the words to "Love of My Life" (as Freddie dejectedly points out during the song). More than once he tries to coerce them to stand or even clap their hands, but to no avail. So avoid this one, as much as I hate to say it, and start bugging Hollywood Records to release Live at Wembley or Rock in Rio...tapes that do Queen justice.

I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be given the old Queen 'We will Rock You' DVD as a gift just when my new DTS Queen DVD arrived in the mail from Amazon. So I was able to directly compare the old and new DVD.

The new 'We will Rock You' DVD is far superior to the old version and has been completely remastered. The new DVD has high definition video in Widescreen anamorphic (approx 1.85:1) and, on my DVD, both DD5.1 and DTS sound tracks. The new DVD also has worthwhile extras including a commentary that provides some insight into what Queen really was like. See Michael Allred's review for a full description of the new extras.

The sound has been remastered and remixed and is about as good as you will get for a 1985 concert recording. Vocals and instruments are now clearly defined across the sound stage with a full, real sound that was lacking in the old mix. Freddie's vocals have been brought out of the background to now be clear and powerful as they should be. The surrounds were almost non-existent in the old DVD but in the new mix they are used well to support the front sound stage, especially in Bohemian Rhapsody when we get a brief taste of what the new 'Night at the Opera' DTS DVD will be like.

Previous reviewers have commented that the DTS track is very poor or non-existent. This maybe because, while the DD track is 5.1, the DTS track is only 5 channel, not the normal 6 channels. Some DVD players or audio systems may not cope well with this without changing settings. I had no problems with my system and both sound tracks were excellent. There are subtle but noticeable differences between the DD and DTS tracks, the DTS track providing a crisper and more open sound together with more use of the surrounds, and the DD track having a slightly fuller bottom end. Whichever one you choose, you won't be disappointed as the remaster has produced a well balanced, high fidelity audio recording.

The concert itself (the reason for buying this DVD!) includes most of the classic Queen hits but with the added power and artistic interpretation that only a great live band like Queen can produce. Freddie's performance is superb, and every member of the band adds some 'zing' to make this live performance better than any studio recording could hope to be. It is a great pitty that the audience act as if they would rather be somewhere else but ignore them - you will have a great time!

This DVD is a must for Queen fans and anyone who likes their music. Make sure you get the new version (it has the whole band on the front cover). Unless you have a particular preference for DTS or can get the DTS version for the same price, the DD5.1 version is all you need for a great Queen sound and video experience.

Highly Recommended

I got this DVD expecting the full, rich sound Queen os known for. I was seriously disappointed. Don't waste your money on this one.

Most people write these reviews with opinions dominating the scene. I try to keep it factual for a bit and give the reader something tangible to make a decision about the product. That crap being said, THIS ROCKS!! :)
Okay, so this was filmed in the early 80's (1980 or 1981) before the release of the Hot Space album. It was filmed in Ontario, Canada in front of about 15,000-25,000 people. It's about 80 minutes long and has only one disc. Not too many special features to talk about here.
The lighting on this tour was genius. Guitarist Brain May once callled it the "pizza oven" lights. They follow the mood of the songs almost perfectly. The show starts with a fast rendition of "We Will Rock You." Then they wind it down a bit. I have to agree with some people when they say Freddie played the piano more on this tour then the 1986 Magic Tour (Also very much worth checking out.) But, people have to realize the tours to follow were PACKED. It's kind of difficult to get 70,000 people to feel like they're virtually part of the show when the frontman is sitting at a piano.
Now, there are some high points and some not-so-high points. My favorite song has to be "Somebody to Love." What an amazing, beautiful piece of work. Freddie is just stunning. Also worth mentioning is the fact that they FINALLY let drummer Roger Taylor sing his kick ass song "I'm in Love with My Car"! 'Bout time! Some not so great points are "Get Down, Make Love" (not so powerful, very studio-like) and the fast version of "We Will Rock You."
The worst feeling of this DVD is the lack of audience participation. Anyone who knows Queen knows they get their audience to sing the songs with them (ie: "Love of My Life"). Here, they don't really sing along too much. Maybe just a lack of truly knowing the songs, I don't know. Still, Queen itself are at the top of their game.
So, now you should have enough info! One more side note: This is just one of many DVD's you can buy from Queen. Now, they're coming out with another concert! Remember, they are a band with many moods. This concert is more of an intimate mood (if that's possible to say when they're singing to thousands), so if you don't like this one, don't stop looking! Try Wembley, or Live at the Bowl. But, I think you will be happy with this one!

The quality on the VHs was amazing, on the DVD it's simply jaw-dropping. The one reason that makes this such a great concert is that the cameras don't stay on Freddie the whole time!!! I have nothing against him, but even the official concerts seem to be on Freddie too much. There are an unlimited amount of camera angles that were filmed...AND IT SHOWS!!! This DVD really give you a feeling of the band being "a band" not just a singer.

What also makes this great is the era it was performed in. This concert was recorded while they were playing new hits like "Another One Bites The Dust", "Under Pressure", and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" yet they still play FULL versions of older classics like "Killer Queen", "Now I'm Here". "Sheer Heart Attack", "Tie Your Mother Down", and of course the FAST version of "We Will Rock You".

This is probably the one concert that I could say is for a Queen fan of ant generation

GO BUY IT NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I'm suprised at the amount of criticism this DVD has been getting here. Yes, I admit the crowd is anemic at best, and yes there are "better" Queen concerts yet to be released (hurry up already! LOL)...but truthfully, I prefer this over Live at Wembley. It's an occasionally bumpy ride, but the RAW POWER of this performance overrides it all. For example, songs like "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Now I'm Here" fly out of the gates at an amped-up pace, where I thought the Wembley versions showed more polish & restraint. It's also a plus seeing Freddie handling all the keyboard duties (except for part of "Save Me", courtesy of Brian), which he doesn't do on Wembley...and speaking of keyboards, there's no candy-floss synths sprinkled about in this show, unlike the Wembley performance. It's Queen, warts and all, and it's a raw & honest kick-ass show. If only the audience had even half of the intensity of Wembley's, then that would've been the icing on the cake. Finally, if you've already seen this, BUT it was the previously issued version, you owe it to yourself to check out this upgraded release...better sound, and MUCH more colorful picture, which gives the performance better justice than before.

First off, the packaging is new. Instead of that generic silhouette of Freddie, the new DVD has a very nice shot of the band on stage.The tracklisting is identical to the previous DVD release.Putting in the disc we see a nice animated menu with Queen playing in the background. Starting off with the video/audio presentation...The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen finally giving fans the chance to see the film in it's intended ratio. Afterall, the film was originally shot for an IMAX type show on a 5 story tall screen.This is a completely NEW video transfer, this time in high-definition. The differences between this DVD and all previous home video releases are very noticable. The new DVD shows so much more detail, the clarity in some shots was stunning. It also gave much more depth to the lighting Queen used on stage. All specs of dirt, scratches, hair, etc were removed. This is the BEST "We Will Rock You" has ever looked.The audio is a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and again, it's something to behold. You will never hear a better sounding Brian May guitar solo, the mix is that good. (There is also a seperate DTS release of the disc for those that have DTS receivers.)Concerning the extras, there is a informative audio commentary track by the film's director, Saul Swimmer. He shares plenty of anecdotes such as how the members of Queen insisted on screening the film seperate from each other, that Roger poked fun at the way Freddie held his hands at the piano and how Brian basically ignored all the cameras insisting that his performance was for the fans at the concert and nothing else. One odd thing Swimmer said was calling Queen a "cult band". They were coming off their biggest success ever in North America at the time and that equals cult status?There is an extremely easy Queen trivia quiz to play (though there are some mistakes as calling "The Loser in the End" simply "The Loser" but these are minor quibbles.)Also included are bios of the band and for each seperate member. You can also check out a Queen discography, complete with album covers, tracklistings and how they did in the charts (they only refered to the UK charts for some reason.)Then there is a virtual tour of Queen landmarks in England where you take a subway to each location (such as Kensington Market, the Queen fan club, etc) all the while hearing subway announcements like 'please watch your step' which made it fun.All in all this is a no-brainer purchase, even if you own the previously released DVD. The new widescreen hi-def transfer and audio mix is worth it alone.

The sad thing about Queen is that their best concerts are not commercially available on video format, be it VHS or DVD (or on CD for that matter...). To Queen standards they perform a mediocre set in "We will Rock you", though Freddie Mercury is in brilliant voice. Audience is downright pathetique and there is no trademark explosion of energy between band and people.

Sound is OK I guess, but seem somewhat "boxed". The terrible unsync editing between picture and sound (desperately painful in "Killer Queen")destroys any potential build up of the sensation of "being there".

Queen on a bad day was still pretty much unsurpassable, and there are plenty of good moments with stand out energetic versions of "Tie Your Mother Down" and close to speed metal "We Will Rock You". "Bohemian Rhapsody" is also more than adequately done. Overall though, I don't want to recommend this video neither for die hard Queen fans nor to people new to Queen.

For being arguably the best live band ever to grace the face of this earth, it is a shame that Queen is yet to release a live album or video to do them full justice. I advise you to wait until you see a Queen release of truly magical concerts such as: Unedited versions of Hyde Park -76, Earl's Court -77, Houston -77, Rainbow -79, Milton Keynes -82 or Knebworth -86.