Home :: DVD :: Music Video & Concerts :: Rock & Roll  

Biography
Blues
Classic Rock
Concerts
Country
Documentary
DVD Singles
General
Hard Rock & Metal
Jazz
New Age
Other Music
Pop
Rap & Hip-Hop
Rock & Roll

Series
World Music
Phil Collins - A Life Less Ordinary (Documentary)

Phil Collins - A Life Less Ordinary (Documentary)

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Misleading Labelling
Review: Although this documentary treds familiar ground for die-hard fans, it provides new insight into Phil Collins's personal life through home-movies, interviews with family etc.

The problem with this DVD is the misleading labelling. The back cover suggests the dvd includes 95 minutes of extras in addition to the 60-minute documentary. In reality, the total running time for the main feature and extras is 95 minutes. In addition, the back cover suggests there are performances of entire songs while, in fact, there are only very short snippets of the featured songs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: only for fans
Review: complet, and precise to know all about this great and famous songwriter.
this dvd show all of his life for that reason i'm like

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good for the casual fan
Review: For those "Phans" of Phil who may be hoping to garner new musical insight into Phil's songwriting, time with Genesis (or Brand X, or various other projects), this may leave you a little cold. It isn't that it doesn't cover these areas, but the focus seems to be much more on his emotional state, and how happy he currently is with his new wife and son (and how that relates to his relationship with his father and other children.)
These aren't bad things, especially if you're Phil, but if you're an old school Genesis fan, hoping to hear some stories in interviews from Gabriel, Banks, or Rutherford that you haven't heard before - you really won't find them here. It's the usual stuff: Melody Maker ad, Phil joins, Gabriel leaves, Genesis become more mainstream, Phil's marriage breaks up, solo success, Phil is everywhere, Phil's marriage breaks up, tabloids rip him a new one, Phil goes out of style... and right up to the present day.
It's the pop-music overview of his life, which again, I can't say is terrible - but I think the best thing on the DVD is the interviews which come as extra features. They reveal more than anything else.
All in all I didn't learn anything new from the documentary, except that somewhere there is excellent footage of a Brand X show (from the Product era) that I've got to find. Just when I thought I had everything!!!

The DVD is good for newbies, or casual fans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good for the casual fan
Review: For those "Phans" of Phil who may be hoping to garner new musical insight into Phil's songwriting, time with Genesis (or Brand X, or various other projects), this may leave you a little cold. It isn't that it doesn't cover these areas, but the focus seems to be much more on his emotional state, and how happy he currently is with his new wife and son (and how that relates to his relationship with his father and other children.)
These aren't bad things, especially if you're Phil, but if you're an old school Genesis fan, hoping to hear some stories in interviews from Gabriel, Banks, or Rutherford that you haven't heard before - you really won't find them here. It's the usual stuff: Melody Maker ad, Phil joins, Gabriel leaves, Genesis become more mainstream, Phil's marriage breaks up, solo success, Phil is everywhere, Phil's marriage breaks up, tabloids rip him a new one, Phil goes out of style... and right up to the present day.
It's the pop-music overview of his life, which again, I can't say is terrible - but I think the best thing on the DVD is the interviews which come as extra features. They reveal more than anything else.
All in all I didn't learn anything new from the documentary, except that somewhere there is excellent footage of a Brand X show (from the Product era) that I've got to find. Just when I thought I had everything!!!

The DVD is good for newbies, or casual fans.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Getting To Shake Hands With Phil Collins!!
Review: Phil Collins has been one of my musical heroes over the last 22 years. I personally have been a drummer for most of my life. Although it was Ringo Starr's drumming that got me started, it was Phil Collins that influenced me to stick with it.
What a pleasure it is to finally have a documentary released on this legendary talented figure. "A Life Less Ordinary" chronicles Phil's life-story from the time he was born up to the present day with his new wife, his new son and his latest album "Testify".
There are a few flaws with the documentary. Some important details are left out especially when discussing Genesis. Also, in the portion where Phil's child-acting days are discussed, nowhere is it mentioned that Phil was an extra in the Beatles film "A Hard Days Night".
However, the good outweighs the bad on this one. Besides interviews with Phil and his bandmates from both Genesis and his solo career, there are many interviews with Phil's family including his children, his brothers and sister, his mother and his new wife. In some cases, Phil's life story gets so personal, it's almost as if your there in the room with him. There are some very emotional moments such as Phil's family all being there when he won the Oscar for Disney's "Tarzan".
Besides this, there is plenty of Phil's music included here spanning his entire career from Flaming Youth, to Genesis, to Brand X, to his solo career, and the list goes on.
This documentary may be disappointing to some but it does provide an excellent overview of Phil Collins' life and music. Phil has truly been blessed with an extraordinary talent and has the success to prove it. With "A Life Less Ordinary", it's like finally being able to shake hands and sit down and chat with the man himself.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Misleading Labelling
Review: You have interviews with Phil's Mother, Children, Wife, Brothers and Sisters, Ex-Bandmates and lots of others so you will get something new out of this. I loved it and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What more do you want from a documentary?
Review: You have interviews with Phil's Mother, Children, Wife, Brothers and Sisters, Ex-Bandmates and lots of others so you will get something new out of this. I loved it and I highly recommend it.


<< 1 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates