Rating: 
Summary: Pop video pioneers
Review: This DVD has embodied the work of a group who took hold of the world @ Eurovision in 1974 and didn't let go until disbanding in 1982. This collection, proves remarkably, that ABBA were the forerunners in the video industry; far before MTV had even been thought of. By making what they called, "promotional films", they were able to capture the essence of their "masterpieces" and send them to parts of the world that they had vitually no time to visit; thus starting frenzies worldwide. With classics like; Dancing Queen( which also features a performance of this song for the KIng and Queen of Sweden), Waterloo, Mamma Mia, Take A Chance On Me, and The Name Of The Game; to the later more advanced, "storylines" of The Winner Takes It all, Happy New Year, and the eerie, yet, magnificent....The Day Before You Came.The group even lets you see their attempts to capture a Spanish speaking audience by releasing(for the first time in most countries)videos that coincided with their spanish album, "Gracious Por La Musica"; which was a brilliant attempt to present their songs in Spanish. In addition, this collection, shows a band from Sweden that went on to be infamous, and accumulated a music video catalogue,that provided more than any present day pop star could. This collection is exactly what the title suggests,ABBA"The Definitive Collection", if ever a collection defined a group; this certainly not only defines, but, immortalizes the stunning career of four Swedes called
ABBA!!
Rating:
Summary: IMPRESSIVE - TO SAY THE LEAST
Review: Any true ABBA fan will know that there was never a video containing more than 15 of ABBA"s videos. This is a brilliant DVD containing 35 songs including some rare videos. I have seen nearly all these rare videos before, but not the Spanish versions of 'I Have A Dream' and 'When All Is Said & Done'. The video also contains the Remix version of 'Ring Ring' which was released in 1976 in Australia because the original 1973 version was too weak. There are a couple of hits missing off this DVD but that's because there were no videos taken for these songs - I refer to 'Happy Hawaii' (a B side hit in 1977), and 'Lay All Your Love On Me' (a 1981 European dance floor hit). But overall, this DVD allows any ABBA fan to have 35 videos on one disc - what more could you really ask for? Well, maybe a few bonus Agnetha and Frida solo hit video's (eg. Can't Shake Loose, I Know there's Something Going On). Oh well, the DVD is still perfect. BUY IT NOW...
Rating: 
Summary: Great content, poorly produced
Review: The video and audio quality of this DVD should be shamefull to ABBA when compared to the usual sterling quality of the group's releases. Compared to the various old VHS recordings of the same performances, Universal Music obviously invested very little effort in order to produce this, figuring ABBA fans would buy it regardless. The video levels are too contrasty, blacks are cut- off and whites saturate. In between, the video is grainy and pixelated. If you don't mind adjusting your video monitor especially to view this DVD, perhaps you can live with it. Universal states that all clips were remastered from the original negatives, which is clearly a lie because a few clips display artifacts which could not be original, otherwise they would also appear in the old VHS recordings, which they do not. Univerwsal also states that the DVD video is synchronized with 24 bit remastered sound. The synchronization is so poorly done that in some sections it looks as though Agnetha and Frida must be singing some song other than what we are hearing. In both video and audio quality, better recordings of the performances here are available on ABBA's old VHS releases.
Rating: 
Summary: good value, but where is the 5.1 mix?
Review: This has got to be one of the best values in dvd-video music collections. This has a video for every hit Abba had (and then some). The audio is high-quality stereo which has been re-synced with the video (sometimes the singing doesn't match the video on screen, but this may have been the case in the original videos, too).My only complaint is that there is only a stereo mix. I could accept only stereo tracks for their earliest songs -- there might not be multitracks available to make good surround mixes. There have to be multitracks available for most of their biggest hits, though. It seems like Universal never puts effort into creating surround mixes for their dvd's, even for 80's artists like Janet Jackson. Sony, meanwhile, was able to create surround mixes for Sade's and Cyndi Lauper's biggest hits. Then again, Universal has yet to jump on either the SACD or DVD-A bandwagon, and Sony is obviously pioneering SACD's. Perhaps the head honchos at Universal still think that consumers aren't interested in surround sound for music.
Rating:
Summary: Two hours of ABBA goodness!
Review: The face of music was forever changed in 1981 with the debut of MTV. Suddenly, artists who had not been exposed to a wide audience were being seen -- and heard -- by millions. The music video format did not begin with MTV, though. Prior to MTV, bands created what were then known as "promotional clips." This was not a particularly common practice, although groups like The Beatles took advantage of film as a promotional tool. ABBA, a band not fond of touring, were early pioneers of the music video format. "ABBA: The Definitive Collection" gathers a decade's worth of these videos as released by the band and its label, Polar. The bulk of the clips were directed by Lasse Hallstrom ("My Life as a Dog, "The Cider House Rules"), and are now finally available collectively on DVD. The budgets for most of the clips were miniscule. Time has not treated them well, and the DVD format only reveals those flaws. But that's beside the point. This is not a DVD for the video purist. Although the packaging states the videos were re-mastered from the original negatives, it's hard to tell at times. Grainy with artifacts and washed out colors, this is not the DVD to pop into your new progressive-scan player to impress your friends, unless your friends are all ABBA fans. Still, this is probably the best these clips have ever looked, and given the production values, some of them look pretty good. The colors in "SOS" are actually pretty vibrant, and "The Winner Takes it All" also looks great. Director Hallstrom, unfortunately, shot many of the videos against a white background, which when presented with the clarity of DVD, is fairly blinding. Starting with 1974's "Waterloo," and concluding with the group's last video, "Under Attack," "The Definitive Collection" is a must-have. Almost all of the songs have been remastered to 24-bit sound (according to the packaging), so while the video quality is poor, the sound quality is pretty good. I'm assuming Dolby Digital 2.0, as the songs don't sound like 5.1, nor is that fact mentioned on the DVD packaging. It's also a kick to see the 1970s wardrobes on display, which range from almost normal to the bizarre. It's all part of the ABBA package. Nearly all of their singles are here (with the exception of "Lay All Your Love on Me"), as well as a few Spanish-language clips intended for the South American market, and an appearance on Swedish television, in period costume, performing "Dancing Queen" for Sweden's King Gustaf. The DVD extras are sparse, the usual band biographies and still photographs. The liner notes booklet is actually very well done, about 17 pages, with lots of photographs and background information on the clips. It doesn't make up for the lack of a director's commentary track, but it comes close.
Rating:
Summary: Jam packed collection !
Review: Okay...so the videos and there are a bushell of em.....or close.. are a bit grainy and campy by todays standards...they are fun and the music is amazing. One of the fun features is the PHOTO GALLERY, which presents a ton of very high quality and little scene photos while the music of ABBA plays on ....an option I find myself selecting when I am reading or working on the computer. Others have gone on and on about the content but I think this bonus feature deserves a nod.
enjoy
Rating:
Summary: IMPRESSIVE - TO SAY THE LEAST
Review: Any true ABBA fan will know that there was never a video containing more than 15 of ABBA"s videos. This is a brilliant DVD containing 35 songs including some rare videos. I have seen nearly all these rare videos before, but not the Spanish versions of 'I Have A Dream' and 'When All Is Said & Done'. The video also contains the Remix version of 'Ring Ring' which was released in 1976 in Australia because the original 1973 version was too weak. There are a couple of hits missing off this DVD but that's because there were no videos taken for these songs - I refer to 'Happy Hawaii' (a B side hit in 1977), and 'Lay All Your Love On Me' (a 1981 European dance floor hit). But overall, this DVD allows any ABBA fan to have 35 videos on one disc - what more could you really ask for? Well, maybe a few bonus Agnetha and Frida solo hit video's (eg. Can't Shake Loose, I Know there's Something Going On). Oh well, the DVD is still perfect. BUY IT NOW...
Rating:
Summary: Never mind all the criticism!
Review: After reading a few of the reviews here, I was hesitant to purchase this DVD. Finally I bought it because curiosity was killing me. I'm glad I did. The first thing I will address are the reviews stating that the picture quality is grainy for several videos. In fact, at worst the picture quality is very good to excellent. The first few are slightly grainy, but c'mon, these are nearly 30 years old for crying out loud. It's amazing some of this footage still exist. Two others, 'The Name Of The Game' and 'Happy New Year' are as they were when they were originally released. In fact the only technical flaw I could find was during 'Thank You For The Music' when the picture flinches a couple of times. It's barely noticeable. One review stated that the audio was out of sync with the video footage. I can't speak for their copy, but this was not the case at all with mine. The audio quality is superb and in perfect time with the stock footage. An underrated bonus on the disc is the picture gallery. I expected maybe 5 to 10 minutes of the same old picures we've all seen. Instead it was over 20 minutes of several dozen images. Note on the audio selection you can choose from over 6 different soundtracks! There a few pictures that repeat in different forms but the majority of them range from various stages in ABBA's history and are not just the same 'ol same 'ol. This is an excellent collection with a very user friendly menu. Even if you have 'ABBA Gold' on video or the 'Definitive Collection' on cd this is a very worthwhile purchase. If just for the videos 'That's Me', 'Bang-A-Boomerang', 'Ring Ring', 'The Day Before You Came' and 'When All Is Said And Done'. This DVD is a testament as to why ABBA is one of the most admired bands in all of music.
Rating:
Summary: ABBA Profiled
Review: With thirty-five videos to view on one disc, this truly is the ultimate ABBA collection. Although music videos were progressive in the seventies, these still look very dated. Most are just poor lip-synching with bad sets, but that's okay. ABBA was about the music more than anything and the quality of the sound is fantastic. The video that truly stands out is, "The Day Before You Came". The song has always been under-rated and it seems like a lot of thought was put into this filming. It's too bad this is not available on DTS Surround Sound, but maybe in the future it will be available on that and SACD! To top it all off, the profiling against face-on head shots is hilarious. You know they had fun with those. In the end, however, it is all about what four Swedes accomplished in a very short period of time. ABBA made a huge mark on the world of music and this is a great way to celebrate it.
Rating: 
Summary: On and On and On
Review: Three first videos are with white background but the rest of the videos are "live performances" or basic videos---more or less. I like the videos "S.O.S.", "Money Money Money", "Eagle", and "That's Me". This is a great collection for ABBA fans but not for music video fans who are not ABBA fans. Track list:
1. Waterloo [2:46]
2. Ring Ring [3:05]
3. Mamma Mia [3:31]
4. Sos [3:18]
5. Bang-a-Boomerang [3:02]
6. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do [3:18]
7. Fernando [4:16]
8. Dancing Queen [3:50]
9. Money, Money, Money [3:07]
10. Knowing Me, Knowing You [3:59]
11. That's Me [3:17]
12. The Name of the Game [4:56]
13. Take a Chance on Me [4:06]
14. Eagle [3:50]
15. One Man, One Woman [4:32]
16. Thank You for the Music [3:49]
17. Summer Night City [3:45]
18. Chiquitita [5:26]
19. Does Your Mother Know [3:11]
20. Voulez-Vous [4:14]
21. Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight) [3:22]
22. On and On and On [4:12]
23. The Winner Takes It All [4:57]
24. Super Trouper [4:12]
25. Happy New Year [4:27]
26. When All Is Said and Done [3:13]
27. One of Us [3:56]
28. Head Over Heels [3:46]
29. The Day Before You Came [5:47]
30. Under Attack [3:45]
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