Product Details

• Actors: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Keith Richards, Bobby Keys
• Directors: Bruce Gowers
• Producers: Danny O'Bryen, Jackie Kain, John Diaz, Linda J. Kanner, Michael Cohl
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 1998
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305161925
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,513 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > The Rolling Stones

• For more information about "The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like any good brand, the Rolling Stones know to preserve the formula even when updating the package, and this long-form concert video underscores that market strategy. As with each of their tours since the early '80s, the quartet, augmented by a discreet auxiliary of backup musicians, gives the fans new eye candy while dishing up a familiar set list spiked with Mick Jagger's lip-smacking vocals and Keith Richards's signature guitar riffs. The visual twists are at once spectacular and conservative: a cyclopean main stage design with massive pillars (presumably the Babylonian connection), a vast oval video screen (shades of Big Brother), and a hydraulic bridge enabling a midconcert sortie into the audience, with the Stones playing a more stripped-down, intimate set on a small satellite stage.

That huge physical setting doubtless made the live shows eye-filling rock spectacles, but the video crew necessarily accepts the limitations of the small screen, focusing more on close-ups of the band, rapid cuts, and racing, hand-held tracking shots to convey excitement while keeping the viewer close to the action. The evening's repertoire sticks to the band's most familiar hits, and if the Glimmer Twins occasionally slip their masks to let the routine show, the real wonder is how effectively they keep the playing focused. During the first half of the program, the band's newest songs (especially "Saint of Me" and "Out of Control") elicit conspicuously higher energy from the band, if not the audience. But just as the show seems doomed to a certain anomie, the escape onto the smaller, no-frills stage pumps up players and crowd alike, particularly when they launch into "Like a Rolling Stone," a cover that winds up sounding like a great idea too long deferred. --Sam Sutherland

Product Description

ROLLING STONES-BRIDGES TO BABYLON (DVD/FR-SUB/ST/1

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid performance from the greatest of bands ..., January 22, 2002

By	Rudolf Spoerer "dowadiddi" (Weston, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Although I am not a 'wild nut' type of Stones fan I saw this concert at the Orange Bowl, in Miami, and Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, et. al. are THE consumate professional showmen giving the audience more than their money's worth performance. Even though Mick may be getting a little long in the tooth for rock concerts (aren't we all) and rumours have it that Keith Richards is really dead, you could see and feel that this band loves performing, and would put together a 5 hour show if they could.

The band shows up on time, (something very unusual now a days for rock star wanna be's) and rocks your socks from beginning to end, non-stop.

The DVD brought back memories of that performace and did not fall short in any respects. The video is crystal clear, sound is exact and sharp, and the editing absolutely fabulous. The director seemed to know where one would be looking during the concert and it made me feel as if I was back there again.... some of the editors of concert videos that I have seen had no clue as to where and when to focus attention during the concert .....

Although I would give 'Voodoo Lounge' concert DVD a slight edge, (I mean a very very slight edge) over Babylon, trust me, this is a must have DVD that will, like Voodoo, go out of print and you'll be buying the DVD for 50.00 bucks just to have it in your collection......

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE, September 13, 2003

By	K. Ellis "kjjcellis" (Central Coast, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a MUST HAVE if you like the Rolling Stones. This DVD has excellent sound quality and visual quality. This is the best Rolling Stones DVD on the market. This covers 40 years of hits with today's dvd technology.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far more than a nostalgia act, October 9, 2001

By	Susan Nunes (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews

The Rolling Stones, thirty years after their prime, are still the best live act in the world, bar none. This concert, which was originally telecast as a pay-per-view concert in December 1997, is indisputable proof. They still have their edge, they still give it everything they've got in live performance, and their sell-out concerts are proof of it. All music acts should look at this concert to see how hard work, huge talent, and impeccable professionalism is done. The Rolling Stones are the masters of live performance.

I spent the twenty dollars it cost for the pay-per-view telecast and even taped it over the air. I have seen it at least 60 times and still love it. What struck me is, despite his age, Mick Jagger still has tremendous energy to play so well in front of an audience (and this concert was late in the evening, finishing after midnight). It takes a great deal of energy to be able to go back and forth on a stage about the size of a football field and under those hot lights. Not only that but he looked the best he ever looked in his life. About 25 pounds heavier than in his youth, Jagger was filled out, and, for being a member of a band not known for pulchritude, actually looked almost attractive. The rest of the band was in fine form, too, and contrary to some reviews, Keith Richards does not looked bored here. He was very much animated and seemed to enjoy himself.

The concert consists of a mix of both old hits and more recent songs, with three of the original concert tunes cut out of the DVD version ("Corinna," with Taj Mahal--not a high point of the show; one of Keith Richards' songs; and "The Last Time," which should probably be the last time for this tune as Jagger and company can no longer hit the notes). What remains is still great, with the second half of the concert being slightly better than the first half. Highlights include "Saint of Me," "Gimme Shelter," "Honky Tonk Women," "Jumping Jack Flash," "Start Me Up," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and a rousing finish in "Brown Sugar." Personal favorites of mine include Keith Richards' "I Wanna Hold You," featuring Keith duelling guitars with the underrated Ron Wood (in super form here), and an absolute killer version of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" performed during the small stage sequence.

There is only one complaint I have about this disk which others have said elsewhere, and that's the sound quality. Where in the world were the microphones set up for the soundtrack? It sounds as if it had been recorded clear in the back of the building. Jagger and his backup singers sound like they are in a cave. The sounds of the audience should have been muted by having the mikes put in an appropriate place. I still have my tape of the original pay-per-view telecast, and the sound quality on that is perfect with NO distortion. I strongly recommend the makers of this DVD get hold of the original soundtrack from the pay-per-view telecast and replace this dreadful one.