Rating: Summary: KISS fans deserve better from a concert film!! Review: With the exception of some of the slower acoustic songs from Act 2, the concert footage is darn near impossible to watch because of the rapid-fire, MTV-style editing. Many others in this review forum have said it already, and they are RIGHT!! I don't know who chose the Editor for this project, but both he and the Editor need to be strung up by their heels and sent back to Filmmaking 101. There is a HUGE difference between the way you edit long-form concert footage and the way you edit a 3 1/2 minute video. The rapid-fire editing in this DVD is so painful to sit through that I just had to turn it off. I was hoping this DVD would be a "keeper", a concert I could watch over and over and over again over the years. But there is no way in Heck that I could even sit through just ONE uninterrupted viewing -- how distractingly amateurish and misguided the editing is! Shame on Gene and Paul for letting this one slip through their fingers. Surely they must have seen at least a rough cut of concert footage before signing off on the release. KISS, sad to say, already have a history of shooting themselves in the foot now and again. And they have done it once more.Gene, Paul, I love you both -- but you guys blew it. There is now no way in the world anyone watching the DVD can get the "concert experience" from this. The Editor made sure of that.
Rating: Summary: BEST ALL TIME DVD !!! Review: Simply the DVD I expected...The one which was in my foolest dreams...An emotionnal experience with the best rock band in history doing the BIGGEST show in the WORLD... A fan from FRANCE who did a big mistake : staying at home on 2.28.03,the day of this magic show at the other side of earth...
Rating: Summary: Kiss fan? Buy This. Period. Review: After reading the negative reviews, I had to add my 2 cents. In my opinion, the fast editing is mostly isolated to Act I(without the symphony) and after that it is not as bad as what's been mentioned. Also, about the mixing or overdub issues about live cds/dvds: I'm sure this one has it but I only noticed it in 1 or 2 places which is not bad for a 2 hour concert. If you have the Kiss Konfidential home video from 1993 then THAT is a very bad live video because the mixing/overdub is so blatantly obvious it's embarassing to watch(and the "Animalize" home video has a few glaring overdubs too...check out 'Lick it Up'), but this DVD is not as noticable as far as that goes. The behind the scenes(approx. 33 minutes) is very good but I was hoping for more. There's a few comedic moments in the show: Gene and Paul playing around with the kid choir during 'Great Expectations', Paul's microphone droops from the stand and he says 'this microphone needs Viagra' (and Gene grinning and going "yeahhh") and another moment where a fan shouts out for them to play "The Oath"(during the unplugged segement/Act II) and Paul says 'This song is.. *noticing a fan shouting*.... no, it's not The Oath. How many out there have The Elder? *paul seems shocked by the strong applause* and then says... 'Well, this song is not from The Elder.'(laughter ensues). The band looked like they truly enjoyed themselves. If your a big fan of Kiss, then you simply have to buy this, it's well worth it. The negative reviews seem over the top in my opinion. I can't imagine any Kiss fan being let down by this DVD. True, it's not perfect: Act III on both disc? Why?! the beginning of Gene's drooling blood bit is horribly filmed at the beginning but it's for only about half of the blood/bass solo, a few songs out of order from the back of the DVD cover box(but corrected on the DVD chapter list), Gene's blood and makeup around his chin appearing and disappearing during 'Great Expectations.' I am amazed that they did NOT perform 'A World Without Heroes' or 'Everytime I Look At You' those 2 songs would have been great to hear with the MSO. And judging from the track listing, they should've just done the whole DESTROYER album in order(they only left out 2 songs from that album...!). A very good DVD overall and great packaging. It's not like the lame overdubbed riddled 'Konfidential' home video from '93 on the REVENGE tour. Now stop reading this and go buy it! Gene needs the money(ha ha)
Rating: Summary: KISS at their very best Review: Firstly I admit to being very disapointed by the depature of Ace and was adamantly against KISS continuing without him. Having said that, this DVD proves me very wrong ! This is KISS as they should always have been, great performance, great show, superb sound and visuals. I admit to having tears of joy watching this and realizing that KISS still has it. I enjoyed the views of the audience who appear to be a great mix of men and women, adults and kids. No other band works as hard or has the mix of excitement and great catchy songs as KISS do. I will agree to an extent that there are too many flitches between camera angle, but this is more about adding to the excitement and experience than covering anything up. After a while you get used to it. This is well worth 5 stars and well worth the price. Get it now ! P.S Still wish Ace would come back and get his act together though.
Rating: Summary: Seemed Great,But...... Review: I was looking forward to this concert,as I have the CD,which sounds awesome,But the DVD seems to be jumbled.Too many fast changes between scenes,you can't focus on any one person.Too much time spent on audience.You never have the camera on long enough for a whole song!It almost made me motion sick.It sounds awesome,but whoever edited this needs to find another line of work.Disappointing..
Rating: Summary: Better than the reviews here indicated. Review: After reading the reviews posted here I expected to be dissapointed by the KISS Symphony DVD. On the contrary, I found it to be a great document of the show that is exciting, fast paced, and covers every aspect of the performance including the symphony musicians, the audience, and of course KISS themselves. The format is not just "you are there" but more like "you are everywhere." I've never seen KISS look or sound so good in the 25 plus years I've been a fan.
Rating: Summary: True Legends !! Review: I must say that after reading some of the reviews on here about this DVD i wasnt sure if to buy it or not but as this happens to be one of my all time favorite bands i whent ahead and bought it. And WOW !!!!! i was totally blown away, The show just looks amazing and better yet the band sound incredible backed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Kiss is definetly at there finest here. So my advice if your a Kiss fan or just a fan of great music you should definetly get this DVD let me just put it like this it will blow your ass away ! KISS ROCKS they are just bigger and better than ever before god bless!!!!!!
Rating: Summary: Is this really LIVE????? Review: The new KISS DVD starts off great. There's an excellent documentary that tells the story of how this whole event came about. There's a ton of behind-the-scenes stuff that demonstrates just how much work went into pulling this concert off. This part of the DVD gets an A++. HOWEVER, when the live show starts, I've got a few complaints. First of all, I really wonder if this is truly LIVE. It almost goes without saying that bands these days "touch up" their mistakes before releasing a live CD (or DVD in this case). I've read on NUMEROUS websites that fans who were at the show in Australia have commented that what's on the KISS Symphony CD is NOT what they heard at the live performance. It strikes me as more than a little fishy that the camera shots on this DVD change so quickly, like rapid-fire, that you really couldn't tell if what you're hearing and what you're seeing are actually 2 different things. In other words, the camera never stays on one person long enough to tell if they're even playing in time to what you're hearing. All you get is a random cymbal crash from Peter or part of a vocal line from Gene or Paul before the camera shot changes. Add to that the fact that most of the shots of Paul or Gene when they're singing are from DIRECTLY in front of the mic, so that you can't really see their mouths as they sing. Second, there are WAY TOO MANY CROWD SHOTS during the concert. I bought this thing to watch KISS, not a bunch of audience members with their fists in the air. All in all, the DVD is MUCH better than the CD, and not only because you can now SEE the show as well. Listening to the CD, I found it rather difficult to hear the symphony in certain parts, to the point where I almost forget they're even there. On the DVD, the symphony is much higher in the mix, which makes for a much more enjoyable listening experience.
Rating: Summary: So Great yet So Bad Review: in synopsis.....this DVD looks and sounds UNBELIEVABLE....the editor should never work again....I'm really not interested in the women that attended the show....I bought this thing to watch a concert...It is such a let down because of how great the quality is yet you never get a shot of what you would actually be looking at if you were at the show....all reviewers are right when they say that this DVD will give you a headache....or just plain agitate you...but the set list for acts 1 and 3 is fantastic....with the exception of Going Blind...set 2 is for teenage girls...I would buy it again...but instead of watching this concert often...I probably will only throw it in once or twice a year
Rating: Summary: Camera Man/Editor must have A.D.D. Review: After reading the reviews, I still bought it because, hey, it's KISS! Anyway, I agree with the first reviewer. It could have and should have been an awesome DVD. The sound, picture quality and content was great. However, I think the person editing this DVD thought they were doing a series of KISS video's for MTV. Got to jam pack as many shots of everything in sight into each song. Slow down! Just as you get a shot of something you'd like to see, it's snatched away from you - on to something else. Sometimes you don't even have time to focus on what you're looking at. At best you get a 3 second shot of something. After watching and listening to it, at the end I still feel like I haven't seen the concert. There are no good shots of the whole stage, and things just don't stay focused enough on one thing long enough for you to enjoy it. It's unfortunate, but true. I'm surprised that Gene & Paul gave it the OK.
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