Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Mexico City

Rating:
Summary: Rage Against the machine at their finest hour
Review: This DVD/VHS is truly rage at their best. Perfect timing just with the release of The Battle of Los Angelas. Plus, it was their first show in Mexico. The documentary was great, and it helped with them doing a show in Mexico city. I admit the VHS picture was better meaning in the DVD, Zacks head is cut in half, you can't see Tom Morellos head and his guitar at the same time, same with Tim C. And Brad Wilk looks like he's not hitting the cymbals at all. The DVD may have all the extra bonus stuff, but if your a true Rage fan, you look for quality concert footage, so I recommend the VHS. But all and all this is one of the best concert DVDs i have ever seen. Rage is a great band and will be lodged in history of rock forever.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid the DVD at all costs! Video gets 5 starts though
Review: This DVD has one shambolic flaw. To give a widescreen feel, 2 inches from the top and bottom have been slashed. What ...for? I don't know, but it is a fatal mistake. I mean, Zack's head is always in half (can't see his forehead), you can't seen Morello's head AND guitar at the same time (same for Commerford), and Wilk seems to by hitting cymbals too high for this cut-off picture to see. I've seen the video, and it does not have this insane flaw. Get the video, you'll see more which makes for much better viewing. And don't worry about losing extra features; do you want quality viweing of the actual concert? Or do you want to have 4 inches in hieght (accomponied by 40 inches in length) taken away, just to see a few pathetic extra features? Trust me, do not make my mistake.

The footage of the concert itself is fantastic. But then again, the video has that right? And with full viewing? Wow, this DVD is obselte! Progress? ...people just don't know when things are perfect. "I know, let's completely ruin the picture by halfing it's size!...

Rating:
Summary: Si eres de méxico, debes tenerlo
Review: si eres de México y te gusta el rock de los noventas, llamese: Audioslave, Smashing Pumpkins, Perl jam... debes tenerlo porque te gustará, además trae un documental con subtitulos en español de una visión desde afuera sobre la situación en mexico...
Fue hecho en un concierto en el que las condiciones con los zapatistas estaban muy graves; hasta se rumora que el sub comandante marcos estuvo ahí...
se testigo de uno de los mejores omentos de la historia del rock escrita en nuestro país

Rating:
Summary: The video has a better picture by far
Review: This DVD has one shambolic flaw. To give a widescreen feel, 2 inches from the top and bottom have been slashed. What the ... for? I don't know, but it is a fatal mistake. I mean, Zack's head is always in half (can't see his forehead), you can't seen Morello's head AND guitar at the same time (same for Commerford), and Wilk seems to by hitting cymbals too high for this cut-off picture to see. I've seen the video, and it does not have this insane flaw. Get the video, you'll see more which makes for much better viewing. And don't worry about losing extra features; do you want quality viweing of the actual concert? Or do you want to have 4 inches in hieght (accomponied by 40 inches in length) taken away, just to see a few pathetic extra features? Trust me, do not make my mistake.

The footage of the concert itself is fantastic. But then again, the video has that right? And with full viewing? Wow, this DVD is obselte! Progress? ... me, people just don't know when things are perfect. "I know, let's completely ruin the picture by halfing it's size! You can't see ... all then! Isn't that great?"

Rating:
Summary: Fuelling The Fires Of Rebellion
Review: This DVD is a visual example of how tight of a band RATM really is. From song to song on this set, Rage's fury spills out into the crowd. The intensity of the show is incendiary on this Mexican stage, especially given the political circumstances of Mexico at the time and RATM's conflicting political agenda
.
This disc also features some mini-documentaries of injustices performed by governments of The United States and Mexico, narrated by Zack De La Rocha. These only help to amplify the feeling of anger and rebellion you get watching the band pound out their revolutionary rhythms onstage. Some of the features of this disc that would take away from the five stars that I almost gave it are:

1) The annoying slow motion shots. They are distracting and really take away from the intensity of the show.

2) The fact that Sony censored out most of the 'Fxxx's and 'Sxxx's that are in the lyrics. This really takes away from the overall vibe of the disc and pretty much goes against the intent and message of Rage Against The Machine.

3) The hype on the back cover of the case. If you are going to hype up the show in this manner, you should include the pictures of the crowd outside and how high the tensions actually were. When watching the video, they show none of this which was (a very brief) let down.

I was very glad to see that there were no backstage interviews after the show. I think the way they left you with the intensity of the closing of 'Freedom' was fitting for a band that pulls no punches.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected...
Review: Although I consider myself to be a big Rage fan, I have to say this DVD was not all that I hoped it would be. First, the description on the back of the cover talked so much about the scene outside on the streets of Mexico City. I was dissapointed that there wasnt any footage of it. Next, during the actual concert footage, there were a lot of slow-mo special affects added in (by Sony's decision I would assume) that kinda took away from it. I mean, seriously, its a concert, not a high-budget action movie. Keep everything the way it happened. Next, it seemed that some of the songs were censored. Im not completly positive about this, but there are times when swear words are muffled. This is a product that would be purchased by Rage fans only, and I think they wouldnt be shocked by what they heard. Lastly, (my copy) didnt come with a booklet. At least some pictures of the scene at Mexico City would have been nice. The DVD is called "The Battle of Mexico City" but for all I know it could have been filmed at any LA sound stage. Nonetheless, it was a Rage concert, and there was a good mix of songs, so this DVD still gets a 3-star rating. There is also some good commentary by Zak and also some great internet links to great information.

Rating:
Summary: Si eres de méxico, debes tenerlo
Review: si eres de México y te gusta el rock de los noventas, llamese: Audioslave, Smashing Pumpkins, Perl jam... debes tenerlo porque te gustará, además trae un documental con subtitulos en español de una visión desde afuera sobre la situación en mexico...
Fue hecho en un concierto en el que las condiciones con los zapatistas estaban muy graves; hasta se rumora que el sub comandante marcos estuvo ahí...
se testigo de uno de los mejores omentos de la historia del rock escrita en nuestro país

Rating:
Summary: Great performance, bad DVD...
Review: Come on, why can't somebody figure out how to make a good DVD by now. The sound is lacking and hollow and the visuals are pretty banal. I recommend it, but only to Rage fans. It probably won't be a big hit.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome concert-with-documentary
Review: [April 29, 2003]
First it starts with the opening of the show, "Testify" and "Guerrilla Radio". You may have read in other reviews that songs are censored, and that is mostly false (read below). A "song" is censored, namely "Guerrilla Radio". I was disappointed, but it's not really a big deal that all that's audible is "Turn that .... .." when every other song is completely uncensored. I have no idea why, but it might have been a condition set by the label for them to even have the show, and is made up by everything else. For other songs, it can be hard to make out some words because this was a LIVE SHOW.

Then the first documentary (of 4) starts, and they are well done, sometimes giving essential background information for understanding the songs. I had no idea who Emiliano Zapata was or what the Zapatista movement is about before watching this DVD.

The rest of the songs and documentaries continue without disappointment. The slow motion thing going on after a few seconds of close-up on band members is annoying, but not worth mentioning except that other people have.

There are some "bonus features" to look forward to after watching the whole thing:

Zack interviews Noam Chomsky.
A Mexican guy named Marcos talks about globalization and the importance of independant news media.
Both of those are good.

Tom Morello goes on a tour of Mexico, which isn't all that great.
Tom Morello dominates the footage of the band getting ready for the show, with a few appearances by other members of the band.
Files you can access with a computer about everything they talked about in the documentaries. They actually care about this stuff, which is great.

[Added on May 2, 2003]
I was playing it on my computer, and realized that there's another audio track! In that one Guerilla Radio is uncensored. The whole show actually sounds better in that one too.

Rating:
Summary: A must buy for any RATM fan
Review: Words can't describe how great this DVD is. One of the best bands of the 90s, RATM know how to rock. The documentaries in between the songs are cool too, and very informative. This DVD helps get some good insight into the band and the way they think. The songs are awesome too- I can't pick a favourite.