Rating: 
Summary: Great DVD w/cool bonus stuff - but die-hard fans get [...]
Review: I had been waiting eons for A&M to release this collection on DVD. As a fan of the band since Synchronicity was released (I was 6 years old in '83), the VHS collection was the only way to spark the nostalgia of being enchanted by the video for "Wrapped Around Your Finger" when it was released. However, aside from the bonus material featured (which is GREAT - especially the Police in Montserrat segment), those of us who have grown up listening to the band should feel jaded with the "new" audio mix featured on this collection. I am disappointed with the absence of the backing chorus in "Every Breath You Take", the removal of the intro synthesizer melody in "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (which defines the dark mood of the song), and several other changes to the original mixes of "Can't Stand Losing You," "Every Little Thing...," and "Walking On The Moon," among others. Some people may find these new mixes fascinating, but to Police purists like myself, there should have been some sort of indication that the DVD contained "alternate audio mixes" of the songs. I was going to sell my old VHS compilation on ebay, but knowing now that that tape is the only place to hear (and see) the true videos, I think I'm going to hold onto it. So to the Police fan buying this for the bonus material, it's definitely worth it, but caveat emptor - you won't be *hearing* what you would have expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Faded, scratched videos. Feel ripped off
Review: I hate it when things are re-released without the picture being cleaned up. We have the technology today. The people putting this collection together were obviously just too damned lazy and didn't care enough about the Police to use it. When I compare the picture quality of this to that of the pristine videos collected on my beautiful new Human League or Simple Minds DVDs, I feel very angry and ripped off.The Police in Monserrat segment is a real treasure, but the way it was so yellowed and faded really spoiled my enjoyment of it. About the only part of the content here which does look fantastic is the Old Grey Whistle Test footage. For this I am grateful, but it still does not offset the shabby treatment the rest of this DVD received. Now we'll probably have to wait another decade to see these properly reconditioned and re-released again, hopefully with the missing videos, a proper sound mix and the Old Grey Whistle Test interview footage too. The band deserved better than this. I can only hope that whenever the Zenyatta Mondatta World Tour documentary I dying to see released on DVD does get released, it will not look this bad.
Rating:
Summary: Crappy
Review: I like the songs of The Police very much, including their music videos, but whoever produced and mixed this DVD must have been smoking crack. I agree with Megan Foster from Hermance, Switzerland. A lot of the music videos included in this DVD had tracks missing (i.e. vocal tracks, guitar tracks, etc.). I thought I was the only one not hearing these things. I tried exchanging this DVD from the store I bought it from to see if it was just a bad DVD, but all the other copies I got were the same. About the only redeeming thing this DVD had was the documentary film from Montserrat. The videos on that documentary sounded better.
Rating: 
Summary: The Police: DVD of the classics and the best
Review: I picked up this DVD at my local DVD rental/sell store and having been a slight fan of the Police I was glad to purchase and watch this great band in action. This DVD is titled 'Every Breath You Take' and has 15 video clips and Bonus materials. This DVD has all of the hits of the Police in one place with great songs such as Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You, So Lonely, Don't Stand So Close, Every Breath You Take and Invisible Sun.
The bonus material has the Police in Montserrat with 5 songs including Next to You and Demolition Man. Well worth getting any fan of The Police or Sting.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, A Police DVD!!!!!
Review: I'm watching this DVD as I'm writing this review and so far, so good!!!! The early videos are so goofy and geeky - like so many other early 80's videos - with Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland defintely lokking like a punk/new wave band; while the later videos are more somber..and before this DVD came out, the only video I'd seen was for "Every Breath You Take". Those are the pros, here's the cons: the sound mixing is a little weird, they should have added the Synchronicity concert video on this DVD, and if they really wanted to make this a must have not just for diehard fans but for casual fans as well they should have packaged this DVD with the best-of compilation EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE: THE CLASSICS. Anyway, great DVD, but here's what should have been: CD
1. Roxanne
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. So Lonely
4. Message In A Bottle
5. Walking On The Moon
6. The Bed's Too Big Without You
7. Don't Stand So Close To Me
8. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
9. When The World Is Running Down...
10. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
11. Invisible Sun
12. Spirits In The Material World
13. Demolition Man
14. Synchronicity II
15. Every Breath You Take
16. King Of Pain
17. Wrapped Around Your Finger
18. Don't Stand So Close To Me '86 DVD
Music Videos:
1. Roxanne
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Message In A Botte
4. Walking On The Moon
5. So Lonely
6. Don't Stand So Close To Me
7. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
8. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
9. Invisible Sun
10. Spirits In The Material World
11. Every Breath You Take
12. Wrapped Around Your Finger
13. Synchronicity II
14. Don't Stand So Close To Me '86 Bonus Material:
1. Can't Stand Losing You/Next To You from OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST
2. Demolition Man, One World (Not Three), Spirits In The
Material World and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic from
POLICE IN MONSERRAT
3. STUDIES IN SYNCHRONICITY promo clip
4. THE SYNCHRONICTY CONCERT
Rating:
Summary: This DVD was worth waiting for.
Review: I've been a big Sting and Police fan for about the last five years, and I bought this collection right when it came out. I did not waste one penny. First of all, I never knew that the Police had such a large collection of music videos. Of course most people ahve seen "Every Breath You Take" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" at sometime or another, but I had no idea they'd been making them as early as their debut album. I'd say each one is very enjoyable and humorous in its own right ("Invisible Sun" is the only video that the group intended to be very serious, in its portrayal of the British-Irish conflicts). My personal favorite is "So Lonely," which features the group walking around talking on handheld radios and Stuart Copeland irritating everyone by hitting every object he saw with his drumsticks. Classic. Also included are some session videos and interviews, entitled "The Police in Monserrat." For the music performances, they just lip-synched and jumped around a recording studio to "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "Demolition Man," "One World (Not Three)," and "Spirits in the Material World." The interviews (which are interspersed between the studio videos) are easily the best selections on the entire DVD. All three members of the band are interviewed separately during the "Ghost in the Machine" era sessions and explain some of their writing, recording, and playing techniques that they've employed in the album and in their music as a whole. Copeland, Summers, and Sting are all absolutely fantastic musicians and these interviews bring their individiual originalities and geniuses to light in a very introspective light. My only complaint about the DVD is that there aren't nearly enough live performances. Included are only two from the same British show called the Old Grey Whistle, which are "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Next to You." I hope to watch them reunited in concert one day. Finally, the DVD contains "Studies in Synchronicity," which is an interesting video short featuring musical bits from the Synchronicity album, and a discography. This collection was easily one of the best DVD/musical investments I've made in a long time. In my opinion, nothing in the collection is filler and anyone who enjoys this band should purchase it.
Rating:
Summary: Some surprises, some disappointments
Review: I, along with many others, have waited for the release of this DVD for quite some time. The official videos are the same ones (even the same order) included on the VHS tape released in the mid-80's (at the time the group remixed "Don't Stand '86" for a greatest hits album). Having nearly worn out my copy of that video from dozens--if not hundreds--of viewings (and memorizing the quirks and facial expressions of Andy, Stewart, and Sting in every single video), it's nice to have these videos on a digital copy. Like the reviewer from New Jersey, though, I was shocked and somewhat disappointed with the audio remixing of the videos. While there are some audio surprises (such as the echo effect of Stewart's drums on songs like "Can't Stand"), some of that "Police sound" has been distorted, muffled, and/or flat out eliminated in the remastering. Andy's wonderful ethereal guitar work on songs such as "Message in a Bottle", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Every Little Thing She Does...", and "Walking on the Moon" (that wonderful jangling chord that introduces each line in the verses) has been minimized or removed entirely. Sting's vocals are too loud, echo-y, and overshadow the work of his band members (for example, in "Every Little Thing" or "Every Breath"--in the case of the latter, his fadeout vocals are completely gone). Stewart's drums are at times too loud and tinny; at times his wonderful drum fills are missing completely. Overall, the sound has a more hollow and sterile feel, and the goal to create a crisp digital sound has taken away the warmth of the evenly-mixed masterpieces this trio created in their all-too-short career. The standout among the "extra features" is the Monserrat special hosted by Jules Holland. Though the videos included in the special will be familiar to many (including "Every Little Thing" and "Spirits"), Holland's conversations with each band member are the most interesting, shedding light on Sting's songwriting process, Andy's guitar effects, and Stewart's adaptation of world percussion rhythms. Everyone also should have a copy of the Police's "Grey Whistle" performance, featuring Sting with a large pair of sunglasses (Stewart's), the remedy for hiding eyes irritated by an aerosol spray prior to performance. Buy this DVD to have a digital copy of the Police videos (as well as for the extras); keep your old videotapes of their videos for the true Police audio that we all know and love.
Rating:
Summary: DVD has plenty of 're-watch factor'
Review: If you enjoyed the 80's, chances are you liked the Police. Here we have a collection of most of their 80's videos - although as others have stated, some are missing or are alternative videos to what we're familiar with. The missing videos are:
- Bed's Too Big Without You
- King of Pain The videos that have been replaced with alternative versions are:
- Roxanne
- Can't stand losing you Besides all this, it's nice to see many of the Police videos - most of which I have not seen in a long time. We should be grateful that some of the videos haven't been replaced with live footage - such stuff is best left for concert DVD's. Many reviewers have voiced their opinions about the odd 5.1 remix. Yes, it does sound strange in parts - but the good news is, the original stereo 2.0 option is also included, as is DTS (for people who want surround sound at an impressive level). While the DVD is not my favourite music DVD in my collection, it definitely has plenty of re-watching in it - such an important factor with any music DVD. Why bother buying a music DVD only to watch it once??? So, if you're a Police fan then grab a copy, you won't be disappointed. Sting remains one of the greatest songwriters to grace our earth
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: if you love the police, you will love this. sounds and looks awesome.
Rating:
Summary: Great SURROUND (hint, folks) mixes. Nice extras
Review: Just want to point out to the people who wrote the first few reviews: The reason the mix sounds so strange is you probably aren't hearing it in true surround. I thought something was strange with songs like "Spririts In The Material World" with no keyboards, or "Synchronicity II" without the opening guitar feedback, until I realized I had it setup in the STEREO mix, but not the 5.1. Make SURE you listen to this in 5.1! Certain instruments/parts have been "relegated" to their own channels.
As far as the videos go, I've seen these millions of times, having owned the original video of this collection. Same feeling many others have--the early videos are cheesy; goofy, and the later ones are superb. The transfer is great--very clear! Would've been nice to find the original negatives of the early videos and clean up a bit of noise, but the color transfer and clean up is nice. The extras are GREAT. Monsterrat documentary--A+; Old Grey Whistle Test, same. "Can't Stand Losing You" sounds closer to the record than how it developed live over the years. Let's keep rolling out more Police DVDs. I see the Hatfield concert is coming out; How 'bout that Synchonicity concert with bonus material next?
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