Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I have not seen a Duran Duran concert ever! Though I grew up a "Duranie" in the 80's, I have yet to see them perform their hits live in concert. This DVD (I thought) will finally provide me w/ a sense of satisfaction watching every Duran Duran member live playing their hit songs. I would like to watch Nick "one finger" Rhodes play the synth one more time and prove once and for all that this band is not just a glam band but actual artists.
This DVD failed me. Every live song was interrupted by snippets of aliens and what have you - and totally ruined the live concert experience.
What a joke!
Rating: 
Summary: HOORAY FOR D2!
Review: I must say that I am so incredibly HAPPY that this video came out to DVD! But you must be a drop dead fan to enjoy this flick. If you are not, the movie will make no sense to you. I on the other hand, am a HUGE fan and enjoyed it VERY VERY MUCH!
Rating: 
Summary: Duran Duran - 'Arena:The Movie/Making Of Arena' (EMI)DVD
Review: I saw Duran Duran on this very tour,in early 1984 and one thing I remember was that it was one of the first concerts that had a ticket cost of $15.How things have changed.The live performance on this DVD is good.High quality sound,picture and cinematography through out.THAT said,there is far too many snippets/interruptions with the lame-ass sci-fi scenes of the mutated aliens making their way through the concert trail(or whatever).A little would've been okay,but this much is downright annoying.Believe that much of this DVD was the same concert that aired on MTV and maybe one other channel in the '80's by the title 'As The Lights Go Down'.Some of the classics I somewhat enjoyed experiencing once again were "Is There Something I Should Know?","Girls On Film","Hungry Like The Wolf"(my Duran Duran favorite),"Save A Prayer" and "Union Of The Snake".Even die-hards MAY not get that excited about this release.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT LIVE
Review: If this was live at all...I could't tell. The guys look like they're miming to the music, the vocal tracks don't match how the mouths move on numerous occasions. There are instruments in the mix that are not being played (and aren't electronic). Looks like the video was recorded at a live concert and then studio sound was used instead of the live sound. Or it's a straight off the soundboard recording with many an overdub. But, it didn't even look like they were playing what I was hearing, even the drum audio looked different (less) that what was being played. Disgusting.
Rating: 
Summary: "Nobody takes the name Duran Duran in vain"
Review: It was disappointing because of the interruptions. The whole song The Reflex was butchered to accomodate the Sci-Fi plot but Hungry Like the Wolf was great. Careless Memories was great too. Simon is hilarious dancing around like he's crazy or something. Wild Boys was basically the video (the unedited version with some nudity, I always thought the edited version was cleaner and more precise, if that's the word, and doesn't contain the nudity, I don't think). This is a live concert with stuff added in afterwards like clips from the movie Barbarella and hokey guys in costumes making fun of the band. It's quite amusing. It's not your average concert piece really. The extras include interview clips with Simon LeBon (his views on making videos is interesting), a montage of the different songs played in the concert and there is also a Making of Arena featurette that focuses on The Wild Boys video. Simon says some weird things (wanting to have the video show the band being tortured as "a metaphor for being in a band and having to perform".) Later when he says that he was glad The Wild Boys video didn't come out as he expected because he was thinking along the lines of cliches, I can only hope he was referring to the earlier remark I mentioned. Not that I know anything about the anguish of having to perform, but it kind of destroyed my vision of what the video represented but hey who knows what they were really thinking. On the positive side, I found out that it was a car John was chained to in the video. I always wondered why on the TV screen in that segment the words "car" and "girls" flashed before him. Now I know. His comment is funny. He claims that he gets to be tortured by being chained to a car and forced to watch girls on screen. Poor guy.
Overall, very good, though I'm sure fans might find the sci-fi clips very annoying. I find them kind of humorous.
Songs are Is There Something I Should Know?, Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer, Union of the Snake, Wild Boys, Careless Memories, Planet Earth, Girls on Film (kinda raunchy to say the least) and the ending credits roll during the performance of Rio. I might be missing something, I can't remember. I think that's it.
Rating:
Summary: "Nobody takes the name Duran Duran in vain"
Review: It was disappointing because of the interruptions. The whole song The Reflex was butchered to accomodate the Sci-Fi plot but Hungry Like the Wolf was great. Careless Memories was great too. Simon is hilarious dancing around like he's crazy or something. Wild Boys was basically the video (the unedited version, I always thought the edited version was cleaner and more precise, if that's the word). This is a live concert with stuff added in afterwards like clips from the movie Barbarella and hokey guys in costumes making fun of the band. It's quite amusing. It's not your average concert piece really. The extras include interview clips with Simon LeBon (his views on making videos is interesting), a montage of the different songs played in the concert and there is also a Making of Arena featurette that focuses on The Wild Boys video. Simon says some weird things (wanting to have the video show the band being tortured as "a metaphor for being in a band and having to perform".) Later when he says that he was glad The Wild Boys video didn't come out as he expected because he was thinking along the lines of cliches, I can only hope he was referring to the earlier remark I mentioned. Not that I know anything about the anguish of having to perform, but it kind of destroyed my vision of what the video represented but hey who knows what they were really thinking. On the positive side, I found out that it was a car John was chained to in the video. I always wondered why on the TV screen in that segment the words "car" and "girls" flashed before him. Now I know. His comment is funny. He claims that he gets to be tortured by being chained to a car and forced to watch girls on screen. Poor guy.
Overall, very good, though I'm sure fans might find the sci-fi clips very annoying. I find them kind of humorous.Songs are Is There Something I Should Know?, Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer, Union of the Snake, Wild Boys, Careless Memories, Planet Earth, Girls on Film (kinda raunchy to say the least) and the ending credits roll during the performance of Rio. I might be missing something, I can't remember. I think that's it.
Rating:
Summary: this is not a standard concert film
Review: just a quick note from one duran fan to other duran fans, including the ones who've already reviewed this DVD and missed the boat...
this was not a concert film, nor was it ever meant to be a concert film...it was an experimental film/video/concert project that was just meant to be something different. the concert footage was shot in oakland and the band/director shot additional stuff w/a really random (and loosely scripted) plot.
this is also NOT the concert film that was shown on cinemax in 1984/1985, the concert film was actually titled "as the lights go down" and was cut differently (using some additional video shots but not anywhere as much as "arena"). if you are looking for a simple concert video/film like "as the lights go down," this is not it.
so the critiques about the band not syncing up visually with the audio are weak, if you can get your hands on a copy of "as the lights go down," you can see the band playing everything just like some of the other reviewers wanted out of this DVD. they were (and still are) quite capable musicians that could always put together a good show. but this wasn't meant to be a concert film...this was something different. you might argue that it does (or doesn't) work as far as a film/art/video project, but it was never meant to be a simple concert film.
Rating:
Summary: Old stuff ; New Touch ; but still the Best
Review: leave a good memorize , when they released wedding album , and getting " back in not a good situation : with someone else not me and electrical barbarella ; (...) duran really play an agresive movement to huge their fans again ; this DVD ( with Sing Blue Silver ) is prove what they did before . Like usually , (...) Duran movies always best and artistic, and for Arena we cold add Wild, Nasty, and rought but still Romantic ; people just waiting their new album and world tour ...............anyway Welcome Back "The Fab Five"
Rating:
Summary: arena
Review: ok, if your a hardcore fan,like me, your gonna get it anyway. - but i never liked this. not as a vhs or dvd. its just kind of corny. definetly very dated. i mean, im sure the idea behind it was meant well but everytime you get into a song its interupted by midgets or retarded aliens or just some other nonsense. the only thing i enjoyed about this was the making of arena-because it included some interviews with the band. so go with sing blue silver. thats a much better dvd.
Rating:
Summary: An absurd notion...indeed
Review: Sadly that part of the title is just a hint of things to come. I don't know what the hardcore Duran Duran fan will make of this DVD, but I was very disappointed. I expected this release to be a full, uninterrupted concert of some of their best songs. At least that's what it looks like reading the back of packaging. Instead you get 2/3 music along with stupid vignettes of aliens running around the building. DURING the songs. Not just one song, but every song performed during the concert drops out so we can see rejects from Star Wars running around behind the scenes. I guess the person who directed 'Thriller' decided to bring the production to a live concert. This was very annoying. You only get one full, uninterrupted track, 'Save A Prayer' in the bonus section of the DVD. Hardly what I would want to pay $30 for. This gets 2 stars for good picture and sound quality. Strong recommendation to avoid. I am taking this back ASAP.
|
