Rating: 
Summary: Great Background noise, terrible video production.........!!
Review: "There is nothing like the Grateful Dead" This DVD was very disappointing. It is a good performance by the band and the sound quality is good, but the film lacks the widescreen viewing capabilities. When viewing on my widescreen TV, the band looks distorted and like a bunch of midgets! I have found this DVD makes for great background music while cleaning, reading, chilling etc, but to sit down for 2.5 hrs, FAHGETABOUTIT! I just saw the View from the Vault 3 in the store and it looks like it is recorded in the same format.. what a damn shame! Who would have thought a band so technologically advanced could screw up DVD production...I blame the producers.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to Complain
Review: After seeing the band over 100 times spanning the late 70's to the end, seeing this DVD made me realize just how much I miss this band. Yeah, it's easy to find something to complain about as it always seems critical people did at the shows. The boy's were far from perfect and I think this is what made them so elementally pleasing. This is a beatiful video of a pretty fine show. I do agree however with everyone else that the undesireable cheesy effects should be left out. But, maybe this really was the feed to the screens so to eliminate it would chop the video up. My advice is to buy this DVD and enjoy the closest, crystal clear view of the band as they play some wonderful tunes and just close your eyes, like so many of us did during the shows anyway,when those effects start up. Hey at least they don't show them in the first set!
Rating: 
Summary: Finally!
Review: Finally a complete show and then some. No lame special effects. View From the Vault documents the aural and visual wonders of one hot night (musically and meteorologically speaking) at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium during the Summer tour of 1990 (with a few tunes from Louisville's Cardinal Stadium show, from the same tour, thrown in). This video was produced using the master tapes from the original soundboard audio mix. What you hear and see is what the audience experienced. This show is definitely the best of all of them.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet!
Review: Finally a COMPLETE show without lame special effects. View From the Vault documents the aural and visual wonders of one hot night (musically and meteorologically speaking) at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium during the Summer tour of 1990 (with a few tunes from Louisville's Cardinal Stadium show, from the same tour, thrown in!). The video was produced using the master tapes from the original soundboard. What you hear and see is what the audience experienced. this by far the best one yet and I just hope it's the begining!
Rating: 
Summary: Keep The Effects In The VAULT!
Review: Firstly, I'm very excited that the Dead are starting to release some of their live shows on video. I've been waiting for this for a long time and am totally psyched. From the first instant that the DVD starts you just know it's going to be great. The video quality is absolutely crystal clear and perfect - especially noticeable at the beginning of the first set under the bright and hot July, Pittsburgh sun. The boys are all decked out in their summer finest - Jerry's looking bright-eyed and bushy-faced wearing shorts where you can see his cute little sun-tanned legs! The sound kicks in wonderfully. The vocals are all strong and clear thruout. The 1st set comprises: Touch>GreatestStory, Jack-A-Roe, Minglewood, (RowJimmy, Mama>Mexicali - all 3 missing from the VHS), TomThumb, LetItGrow. Beautiful.It's once the 2nd set starts that the alarm bells start ringing. Here we go again with that dreamy, solarized, special-effects overlay stuff that, IMHO cripples so many previous Dead video releases. These effects are not only annoying, they are cheap and amateurish and make you want to adjust your TV. I don't know what some of the earlier reviewers are talking about when they say there aren't any. Eyes of the World is utterly ruined by this and most 2nd set songs have at least some of it - especially during the 2nd-set-typical jams and lead parts. It's a real let down when you are watching a great and beautifully filmed Jerry lead get distorted into oblivion whenever it really gets going. And it simply becomes excruciating by show's end. The 2nd set comprises: Samson>Eyes>Estimated>Terrapin> Jam>Drums>Space> Miracle>WangDang>BlackPeter>ThrowingStones>Lovelite, HeavensDoor. Excellent nitetime performances. The DVD version adds 2 Louisville songs: Standing on the Moon and He's Gone. Really great show with perfect quality definitely worthy of 5 stars. But, I'm dropping 2 stars due to the special effects. Please, GD Merchandising people - drop the effects from future shows. They just don't stand up to repeated viewings. Keep Jerry and Bobby and Micky and Phil and Billy and Brent PURE!
Rating:
Summary: Great, and Funny..the real deal
Review: For those unfortunate enough to have never seen a Dead show..This is about as close as you'll get. The guys trying to remember to stand on those supermarket "open pads" to turn on their mics, Bob fooling around with his rackmount gear, Brent trying to get a sound level corrected..Thats what it was like every night!! The best part for me however was the bonus Louisville section. I was at that show, and the Standing into Hes gone blew me away then, and blew me away again when I got to see it on the dvd.
Rating:
Summary: Great, and Funny..the real deal
Review: For those unfortunate enough to have never seen a Dead show..This is about as close as you'll get. The guys trying to remember to stand on those supermarket "open pads" to turn on their mics, Bob fooling around with his rackmount gear, Brent trying to get a sound level corrected..Thats what it was like every night!! The best part for me however was the bonus Louisville section. I was at that show, and the Standing into Hes gone blew me away then, and blew me away again when I got to see it on the dvd.
Rating:
Summary: breath of fresh music
Review: How refreshing to see the start of what I hope is a continuing stream of dead concerts on DVD. To bad the music is only 2 channels. Can you imagine what this might sound like in a true 5+1 Digital surround sound! But the clarity of sound is good for the most part. The highlight of the video for me was the additional songs at the end. He's Gone and the following jam were fun to watch and listen to. I was expecting some of the graphics that were so prevelent in the second set. How some of these reviews can say they weren't there is a bit confusing. Perhaps they only watched the first set. It would be nice if they were absent in the future, but if these recordings are truly from the large screen videos shown at the concert, i'm afraid it's all we got. Overall, I've seen the band better, I've also seen them worse.
Rating:
Summary: Good Dead But Not 'Grate' Dead
Review: I am thrilled about the releases from the Dead vault, both audio and video. I totally agree with another reviewer, drop the special effects!! The disc starts great. The color is crisp and clear, Jerry is bouncy during the first set, all is good. With darkness in the second set, the special effects kick in. Granted, the dead were never much to look at, but they were more exciting to watch than the horrid special effects. Some tunes really rock here, especially Estimated. Wow. The additional footage from Kentucky is somewhat of a downer, including the awful 'Standing On The Moon' that Jerry groans through. The disc would have been better without it. Best to start with the excellent 'Downhill From Here' dvd and move on to this one.
Rating:
Summary: This Will Be On All Available Dead Videos
Review: I guess there are 2 types of fans of the Grateful Dead: Deadheads (really diehard types that would enjoy the video even if the quality was at a half a star, and the Dead were having an off night). Then there are non-Deadheads (casual fans that want the best concerts available of that group). I have all available Dead videos (didn't get GD movie - waited a little too long), and love them all (guess which type of fan I am). To the non-Deadhead fans, I would say get The Closing of Winterland, Downhill from Here, and (maybe because of Bruce Hornsby) View from the Vault 2. Then continue your quest for the perfect concert video (my personal choice is a toss up between The Last Waltz, and Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense).
Now. For the Deadicated, Deadhead fans, I would recommend anything & everything available (including Grateful Dawg). Forget the reviews from some of the others about the cheesie psychadelic effects, forget the comments of "this concert wasn't as good as", and forget the "it was better live becase they edited" comments. When it comes to Garcia and The Grateful Dead (in the illustrious words of Robert Hunter)"Like a Steam Locomotive Rolling Down the Track. He's Gone, He's Gone and Nothings Gonna Bring Him Back" so enjoy what's out there. Kudos to Monterey Home Video for making these concerts available.
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