Rating: Summary: A mixed bag Review: Like a lot of other Police fans, I eagerly anticipated the release of this DVD so I could stop wearing my old VHS tape to death. And while certain features are great--the Montserrat documentary, the Old Grey Whistle Test footage--there are also a lot of disappointments, and a lot more that could be included.For instance, why not include the "red room" videos for "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You"? These have never been officially released anywhere. Why not at least attempt to clean up some of the video footage? There are still some of the same scratches and faults in the picture that are on my old VHS tape. And why the new audio mixes of each track? While some are interesting from the standpoint of presenting a new way to hear old, familiar tracks (and I quite like the "Walking on the Moon" mix that really brings the drums up front), it's still distracting and one wonders why there was a need to "mess with success". All in all, I still recommend it for any Police fan (if only to finally have the Montserrat documentary), but don't toss out that old VHS collection yet, either. Also, there is so much great Police footage out there that has *never* been officially released, at least not in the US, how about seeing some of that get put out instead of just remixing and re-releasing what we've already got?
Rating: Summary: Great DVD for any Police fan Review: Listen to daneep70! If you play the videos in stereo, the sound is awful. Listen to it in 5.1. It makes a WORLD of difference! Other than the minor audio issue, its a great DVD.
Rating: Summary: Crappy Review: Nice try, but no cigar. Yes, it's nice to have them on DVD, no they don't seem much more than a glorified VHS tape. And why isn't it complete? The Red background Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You are sorely missed (legend has it they--Sting, that is--didn't like the "video" look and preferred the look of film.) Plus, where are all the rest of the videos? I have a VHS tape with Bed's too Big Without you and Bring on the Night. Why aren't they on here? There are other promos for Demolition Man and One World in another section on the dvd, but not "on the menu". Guess they need you to hunt. The BBC OGWT stuff is very nice, but the show's host also did a brief interview with the boys, which they decided to edit out (shame) The "Monserrat" and "Studies in Synchronicity" are nice, but I taped both of those from MTV back in the day.. nothing new. And my old VHS doesn't look much worse. Doesn't anyone have a pristine quality tape or film somewhere? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have the dvd, but the fans once again get shorted. Sting, Stewart and Andy were on top, but decided to fizzle rather than go out with a bang. I dumped a lot of money and time into that group. I loved their music and I loved their videos. It's a shame I have only a lame dvd to show for it.
Rating: Summary: Every Buck you Make! Review: Nice try, but no cigar. Yes, it's nice to have them on DVD, no they don't seem much more than a glorified VHS tape. And why isn't it complete? The Red background Roxanne and Can't Stand Losing You are sorely missed (legend has it they--Sting, that is--didn't like the "video" look and preferred the look of film.) Plus, where are all the rest of the videos? I have a VHS tape with Bed's too Big Without you and Bring on the Night. Why aren't they on here? There are other promos for Demolition Man and One World in another section on the dvd, but not "on the menu". Guess they need you to hunt. The BBC OGWT stuff is very nice, but the show's host also did a brief interview with the boys, which they decided to edit out (shame) The "Monserrat" and "Studies in Synchronicity" are nice, but I taped both of those from MTV back in the day.. nothing new. And my old VHS doesn't look much worse. Doesn't anyone have a pristine quality tape or film somewhere? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have the dvd, but the fans once again get shorted. Sting, Stewart and Andy were on top, but decided to fizzle rather than go out with a bang. I dumped a lot of money and time into that group. I loved their music and I loved their videos. It's a shame I have only a lame dvd to show for it.
Rating: Summary: Flawed but worthy Review: OK, so first off, I will recommend this DVD - it's a great collection of videos from one of rock's greatest bands ever. But as a purist, I do have issues with this release. First off, the "new mixes" are clumsy, uninspired and utterly pointless. The DTS versions are better than the regular 5.1 mixes, but many of them are NOT the original. For shame. (And why is the intro omitted from the 5.1 version of "Synchronicity II? It's there on the DTS version. Sloppy, slopppy, sloppy.) There's another video for "Roxanne," where is it? Certainly the technology exists for including more than one version of a video on a DVD. Did a Police fan actually compile this thing? Are they unaware that multiple versions of "Every Breath You Take" exist? There's a version to match each of the three colors representing particular band members on the Synchronicity album cover. It would have been so cool to be able to switch to different versions each time I watch the disc, but alas, no one cared enough to make this happen. Oh well. I suppose most fans won't care about these details. Go ahead, buy this disc. You won't regret it (but you may have some issues...)
Rating: Summary: Flawed but worthy Review: OK, so first off, I will recommend this DVD - it's a great collection of videos from one of rock's greatest bands ever. But as a purist, I do have issues with this release. First off, the "new mixes" are clumsy, uninspired and utterly pointless. The DTS versions are better than the regular 5.1 mixes, but many of them are NOT the original. For shame. (And why is the intro omitted from the 5.1 version of "Synchronicity II? It's there on the DTS version. Sloppy, slopppy, sloppy.) There's another video for "Roxanne," where is it? Certainly the technology exists for including more than one version of a video on a DVD. Did a Police fan actually compile this thing? Are they unaware that multiple versions of "Every Breath You Take" exist? There's a version to match each of the three colors representing particular band members on the Synchronicity album cover. It would have been so cool to be able to switch to different versions each time I watch the disc, but alas, no one cared enough to make this happen. Oh well. I suppose most fans won't care about these details. Go ahead, buy this disc. You won't regret it (but you may have some issues...)
Rating: Summary: GOOD BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! Review: Okay, I'm torn between anger and glee about this DVD. I'm really pissed about the missing instruments in some of the songs, particularly, Wrapped Around Your Finger. Yeah, they're the videos, which are great, but how could STING and the others let those people screw it up?! If you listen to Wrapped Around Your Finger AND you love the song like I do... you'll most surely notice the missing synthesizer. I just saw the fricken video on VH1 Classic and heard the synth loud and clear. What's up w/ that crap!? Man, I could just go download the video the way it should be FOR FREE!!! I expect nothing less than a new corrected DVD in the near future. When you change those songs... you mess with peoples' fond memories over years of time. Changing them is just wrong: Sting + P. Diddy = :( Break out your CDs... listen to some others... you'll hear stuff missing. Why? Oh yeah, and the videos are okay. (the music is more important) I vaguely remembered a girl being in the old Don't Stand So Close To Me. Either the Police guys couldn't stand not being on camera the whole time or the director was going through a lazy phase. I think showing Sting driving up to a rainy bus-stop when he sings about it would've been cool.
Rating: Summary: POLICE FANS NEED TO BUY THIS Review: Police fans please do yourself a favor and buy this. First off some of the audio for the videos were remixed so that songs like Message in a Bottle, Every little thing, and Wrapped around your finger sound a little different than the original recordings. I didn't like this at first but it actually is nice to hear a slightly different mix on a few of the songs. The sound and picture clarity is excellent. The real treat is the interviews and songs from Montserrat. All the interviews were great and gives the fan an inside look at Andy's guitar playing, Sting's songwriting for Invisible Sun and Message in a Bottle and Stewart's unbelievable drum playing. The clips for One World and Demolition Man were great too, Stewart's drum playing on One World is the best. What a band, too bad we don't have any one today to replace them. We can only wish for a reunion tour...
Rating: Summary: ROCK N' ROLL HALL OF FAME Inductees! Review: THANKS God for the ROCK N' ROLL hall of fame for bringing focus back on one of the finest POP GROUPS in history....THE POLICE! The DVD is the BEST thing coming down the pike BECAUSE it does have the MONTSERRAT Special that aired on MTV in the US back in 1982. It has been captured on VHS by collectors and it has been circulating BUT I am sure the quality of this will blow that away! This is a GREAT DVD because it does have extras! Why did A&M re-issue their CDs with a DIGI-PAK cover and that is it??? What happened to the interviews, demos, RARE tracks, etc? Oh well, at least we have this DVD.
Rating: Summary: Awesome sound and new mixes! Review: The first thing that stood out to me was just how clear and crisp the sound is. I haven't bought any of the new SACDs re-releases but I can't stress the sound quality. What's even more interesting is that there are new mixes of each song on the videos. For example, there are no background vocals at the end of "Every Breath You Take", and decending keyboard riff in "Wrapped Around Your Finger" is missing, and there's a lot more echo from Sting's voice in "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". Background sounds and vocals on various songs are heard more prominently in the mix as well. You'll see what I mean but its a fresh take on songs that are very familar. The documentary is a hoot too. The host seems a little too goofy at first but asked all the questions I would to the band at the time. Watching Stuart show the history of drum styles is great too. I disagree with him though that drumming is the easiest thing in the world. All in all, if you're a Police fan, a Sting fan, or fan of just great music, check this out!
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