Rating: 
Summary: BBC version has a different narrator!
Review: I saw this originally on PBS and was thrilled to find it on an online auction. It's the same as I remembered in the early 80s except the narrator is NOT Burt Lancaster! The American actor who did the narration was horrible! It is most assuredly distracting. I've checked and he's not even given credit, which is probably a good thing. When I'm rich I'll purchase the set again, but only if I'm assured that the brilliant narration is done by the brilliant actor Burt Lancaster. Still gets 5 stars in my book!
Rating:
Summary: BBC version has a different narrator!
Review: I saw this originally on PBS and was thrilled to find it on an online auction. It's the same as I remembered in the early 80s except the narrator is NOT Burt Lancaster! The American actor who did the narration was horrible! It is most assuredly distracting. I've checked and he's not even given credit, which is probably a good thing. When I'm rich I'll purchase the set again, but only if I'm assured that the brilliant narration is done by the brilliant actor Burt Lancaster. Still gets 5 stars in my book!
Rating:
Summary: The Life of Verdi
Review: I was very glad when I found this Video in Amazon.com. I adored this movie of my foremost favorite Maestro. However, I am NOT buying because I have been waiting for this movie to be released in DVD. In other words I like to preserve the maestro in the best Technology available. VHS is a dying technology. One may find a hard time finding the VCR in stores in the next 10 years. So I wonder why they don't they release this in DVD. I bet the DVD release of this masterpiece may rival the sale of the Lord of the Ring (Just kidding). I would have given this movie a 6 stars rating if I can based on the show I watched in PBS in the late 80's. I believe this movie is extremely closed to the book and events in the life of the great composer. The singing was great and as well as the scenes and dialogs. I do not understand what is the problem of the first gentleman who first reviewed this masterpiece and gave it a one star based on "ACCENTS". I speak Italian with American accent because I am an American, So what is the big deal if the actors have American accent? Of course they have since they are Americans. What really matter here is the story and how it is presented and not how it is accented. The late Burt Lancaster did a great job in the narration of the story and one can tell his passion and love for Opera and for the great master. I salute Ronald Pickup for his portrayal of the great composer and I do not know anybody can do a better job than he did except the great Verdi himself. BRAVO!!!! BRAVISIMO.!!!!!
V I V A V E R D I .
7 Stars actually.
Rating: 
Summary: fine accomplishment but poor transfer
Review: On all counts the original presentation of "Life of Verdi" was a well-conceived and well-executed treat on all counts. What fails us now is Kultur's amateurish transfer. First of all, viewers can't skip past Robert Peter's introductions (which could easily have been omitted but at least she, unlike Burt Lancaster on PBS, could pronounce "Verdi"). Second, the transfer is from a flawed video tape. Tracking problems occur occasionally which they wouldn't had Kultur bothered to go back to the originals. How cheap!! Now watch them remaster it and us who have it forced to decide whether to get a whole new set of something that should have been done RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!
Rating:
Summary: fine accomplishment but poor transfer
Review: On all counts the original presentation of "Life of Verdi" was a well-conceived and well-executed treat on all counts. What fails us now is Kultur's amateurish transfer. First of all, viewers can't skip past Robert Peter's introductions (which could easily have been omitted but at least she, unlike Burt Lancaster on PBS, could pronounce "Verdi"). Second, the transfer is from a flawed video tape. Tracking problems occur occasionally which they wouldn't had Kultur bothered to go back to the originals. How cheap!! Now watch them remaster it and us who have it forced to decide whether to get a whole new set of something that should have been done RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!
Rating:
Summary: Even with all the flaws, it is worth it.
Review: One can easily see that this film was made for Americans. Strange since they probably appreciate Verdi the least. It should have been Italian all the way, with appropiate subtitles for other languages. Likewise, the mispronunciation of proper names by Burt Lancaster as narrator is deplorable. Especially noticable is his pronunciation of 'verdi' to sound like 'birdie'. Also no dirty linen was brought out, especially about Strepponi and her abandoning her children at birth as unknowns, and never making any effort to ever see or contact them at anytime afterwards. The film also never raises the question as to why Giuseppe and Giuseppina produced no children of their own.Ok, it's not the ideal film that I would make. But, hey, it is amazing that this film even exists. By the last hour of the film, you begin to feel almost privileged that you had the opportunity to see a great, great man and musician, and a great, great woman live out their life togheter in unconventional ways. Especially touching is the funeral march at the end. Too bad that there aren't any Verdis around today.
Rating:
Summary: Even with all the flaws, it is worth it.
Review: One can easily see that this film was made for Americans. Strange since they probably appreciate Verdi the least. It should have been Italian all the way, with appropiate subtitles for other languages. Likewise, the mispronunciation of proper names by Burt Lancaster as narrator is deplorable. Especially noticable is his pronunciation of 'verdi' to sound like 'birdie'. Also no dirty linen was brought out, especially about Strepponi and her abandoning her children at birth as unknowns, and never making any effort to ever see or contact them at anytime afterwards. The film also never raises the question as to why Giuseppe and Giuseppina produced no children of their own. Ok, it's not the ideal film that I would make. But, hey, it is amazing that this film even exists. By the last hour of the film, you begin to feel almost privileged that you had the opportunity to see a great, great man and musician, and a great, great woman live out their life togheter in unconventional ways. Especially touching is the funeral march at the end. Too bad that there aren't any Verdis around today.
Rating:
Summary: A superb TV series. Unacceptable DVD setup . PIRATED work?
Review: Some years ago, I had watched the original TV series that is superb, and left me with vivid memories. This is one of the very best biographies of a great artist that I ever watched on TV. A landmark. Definitely 5-star. I have great admiration and respect for the quality and authenticity of all the works of director Renato Castellani. So I was really happy to find that I could buy this biography of Verdi in DVD's. However, this company KULTUR and its staff deserve to be taken to the woodshed -- maybe to court? From a user point of view, there are several problems: (1) the quality of the recording is poor, video tracking pops-up from time to time. Images of large scale views such at the stage in La Scala are not sharp. It is readily apparent that this DVD series has not been made from the original tapes from some copy: this is conspicuous at the start of Episode 2 where the introducer's blue dress "bleeds" startingly on the screen. [I have not yet found the time to watch the last three episodes. Maybe there are surprises there too. I hope not.] (2) Switching from one episod to another is a true hassle because the programing is not set up properly. The episodes do not load on their own and start only after repeated clicks. Left unattended, the opening trailers at the start of each episode keep cycling endlessly. (3) There is also no background information about the series on paper: not on the cover box, not in a simple paper flyer inside the CD containers. The cover box only carries a quote from a review in a source named as "Booklist". The only basic information on how the series were made is embedded in the original PBS introductions to each episode. Disappointedly, but not objectionable there no additional information inside the CDs in the form of video interviews of the director or actors, nor segments deleted from the original movie, which a very common value- added item in DVD movies, particularly expected in a 4-DVD series. The strength and beauty of the original work is such that once the action gets started we are immediatly absorbed in Verdi's life and music. But not thanks to Kultur. Commercially, could it be that Amazon.com is selling a pirated product? I am suspicious, but I am not a professional in those matters. Why suspicious? because, I was looking for the release date of the original TV series, but I could not find it anywhere. To my astonishment there is no reference to the date of the movie nor any listing of main actors on the box, or inside. On closer scrutiny, I then noticed also that there is not copyright statement on the cover box. I distincly recall also that such statements -- and the date of production again --are absent from the end trailers of credits at the end of every individual episode I have watched so far. Is this KULTUR outfit legitimate? or were these DVDs made in some US or Asian garage? Conclusion: a superb biography of one of the greatest opera composers of all times that is worth being part of a permanent DVD collection. But, a flawed and suspicious DVD transfer by KULTUR.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for content, *1* star for dvd quality
Review: The greatness of Verdi is detailed meticulously in this brilliant miniseries/documentary. If you're a Verdi fan, this is definitely a must see. However, the DVD transfer is horrible. It would seem like that the source of the transfer is an old VHS tape. There are sections where the entire screen and audio are chewed up. This problem occurs frequently in episodes 3-6. Would it have killed Kultur to remaster the source?
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for content, *1* star for dvd quality
Review: The greatness of Verdi is detailed meticulously in this brilliant miniseries/documentary. If you're a Verdi fan, this is definitely a must see. However, the DVD transfer is horrible. It would seem like that the source of the transfer is an old VHS tape. There are sections where the entire screen and audio are chewed up. This problem occurs frequently in episodes 3-6. Would it have killed Kultur to remaster the source?
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