Rating: 
Summary: David Byrne & Jonathan Demme, A Match Made In Heaven
Review: I am not much of a rock music fan but seeing this extraordinary concert film of the Talking Heads in performance in 1983, when it first came out, sent me rushing to the record stores where I bought every CD of the Talking Heads ever made! The two most significant people behind this event were David Byrne, the front man and composer for the group, and director Jonathan Demme, who would go on and on to ever bigger heights in the film industry. Byrne crafted some of the most amazing offbeat lyrics with music of vast appeal to those who see themselves as Outsiders. Additionally, the numbers are all sung by the one person capable of delivering these strange new sounds: himself. Byrne also has extraordinary stage presence, which hits its crowning moment when he appears in the "Big Suit," a huge suit made by his then girlfriend and now wife, Adele. If Byrne were a visual artist instead (and he was when he was studying at the Rhode Island School of Design where he met the rest of the band), you would call his work Absurdist and Minimalistic. He makes it all work and with Demme filming the show, it is all caught perfectly. There are other fans who appreciate the other Talking Heads (3 members of the band) as much but it always seemed to me that there were many other musicians who could have filled their shoes. Byrne has continued to grow as a musician and a composer in the years since the band broke up. He quit the rock scene as a younger man's game and went on to compose soundtracks and then expand into other musical genres as well, including Latin music.
Rating:
Summary: Very peasant surprize
Review: Heard one of the Talking Heads songs the other day and thought to myself how good and different it was so I ordered the Dvd Stop making sense. What I found after ordering it was how well it was produced and how great the sound was. For anybody who likes this band this is a must to have and a very peasant surprize!!
Rating: 
Summary: Would Be Brilliant, Except....
Review: I purchased this DVD and had to return it because I thought that it had a manufacturing defect. The first 4 tracks did not have the audio and video synched. The second copy of the DVD also was not in synch on the first 4 tracks. Since all of my other DVD's play perfectly, it seems unlikely that my DVD player is the source of the problem. I can forgive the bonus tracks being poorly transferred, but I can't forgive the second-rate, bush-league, synching on the first 4 tracks of the movie. What a let down. Didn't anybody else have this problem????
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Concert Film Ever Made.
Review: In 1983, after months of meticulous planning and preparation, Jonathan (Melvin and Howard, Silence of the Lambs) Demme began filming three nights of ingeniously staged concerts at Hollywood's Pantages Theater. There had never been a concert film like this ever before. A film which would quickly be dubbed after it's 1984 release, one of the greatest rock movies ever made. It is but liking the Talking Heads is necessary to enjoy the film.I guess you could say the Talking Heads began by combining elements of art school pop with punk, new wave, funk and even disco and then through subsequent albums explored musical elements (jazz, experimental, african,) from around the world integrating as much as they could into their music, while still retaining some of the awkwardness of their upper middle class white-ness. There had never been a band quite like this ever before, so it is fitting there's never been a film quite like this either. If you were to look at David Byrne (in the late 70's and 80's) you would think he was a Hollywood Casting agents' idea of a photogenic computer geek. If you talked to him, he would seem nervous, shy, and wound up much too tightly. To hear him sing, was like hearing a teenager trying to keep his voice from cracking, and when it did crack it would switch octaves and stay in tune as he continued to sing the song. He would make strange noises, he would find left handed ways to phrase his lyrics, around the beats while weaving it through the music accompanying him. The geekiness, the awkwardness, the shyness, the weirdness and the seemingly un-ending energy that David Byrne brought to his live performances (particularly in the 80's) was different from what most had ever seen before. He was forever challenging himself to come up with ever more interesting ways to entertain, amuse and serve up the rich music and smart lyrics that made up a Talking Head song. He wanted to be artistic, but not overly pretentious or inaccessible. He wanted to be weird and different, but not out of touch or overly serious. Like the music itself, the film is layered. The opening image is of shadows and light on a concrete floor as credits appear over the image in complete silence. Then we see the shadow of the neck of an acoustical guitar on the floor, we hear the sounds of a crowd getting louder and louder. We see the feet of Byrne walking across the stage. He's wearing bright white canvas sneakers. He sets down a boom box on the floor. The crowd is cheering. "Hi I got a tape I want to play," says the thin almost too delicate voice of Byrne. Then with a flick of a hand, the boom box if flipped on, and a loud beat begins. A single guitar chord is struck,and a nervous, man begins singing Psycho Killer. Not merely singing the song, but performing it from inside out on a bare stage, under a stark stage light. And from there song by song the film slowly builds. Backdrops are rolled into place. Band members begin to join David on the stage. Lighting moods are established. Stage hands wheel out platforms, drums, keyboards, percussion. Backup singers join the band. They will eventually taunt David into awkwardly, imitating native African dancing. The music becomes richer and fuller. Slide projectors project huge words on a simple backdrops. Words which take on new meanings when presented in such a manner. We're treated to great performances of: Slippery People, Burning Down the House, Life During Wartime, Swamp and more. David's energy builds and builds until he is running around the stage like a marathon runner. He begins the concert as a stiff, uptight middle-class white guy by the time it is over he has lost his loses his stiffness, and let go of all of his inhibitions. The music and lighting shifts from stark and simple, to complex. At times the mood gets ominous and dark. Witness the look that is attained for 'What a Day it Was' in which the spirit of Edvard Munsch's The Scream seems to have been channeled into the concert. And then suddenly the stage becomes warm, and a vintage 50's/60's free standing floor lamp becomes the focal point for the warmest song David and the Talking Heads ever wrote, Naive Melody: This Must be the Place. David conjures up Fred Astaire in dancing a bit with the lamp at the end of the song. These wonderful shifts in mood, created by lighting and camera angles aren't just the work of Demme and Byrne but also (the great, late) cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth. Jordan claims he likes this film and his work in it even more than his work in Blade Runner. That may be over-generous of him , but regardless what we as viewers take as simple, was quite a complex and a technical challenge to pull off. David leaves the stage for a few moments , and the Tom Tom Club (original T.H. band members' side band) takes over ( with their biggest hit Genius of Love -which Mariah Carey has now sampled into two hits). Then suddenly David is back with his funny Big Suit. A suit three times bigger than he is, engineered to stay on his body. A suit that moves a few split seconds after he does creating a strange effect. A Japanese influenced costume which made the ordinary business suit look utterly ridiculous through a bit of exaggeration. There's so much more to be savored and enjoyed from this film that I've only scratched the surface here. The DVD is a wonderful package of material that includes odd interviews, story boards which let you see how Byrne's concept was realized by the film-makers and the songs that were deleted from the original theatrical film. The music (even 18 years later)still sounds fresh and innovative and the presentation remains the best concert film ever made. Chris Jarmick Author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder - A steamy cyber thriller available January 2001. Please order it today. Thank You
Rating:
Summary: The greatest rock film ever!
Review: 3.The Who - Tommy 2.Pink Floyd - The Wall And number 1 is... Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense This is the the rock film. Demme who would go on to great commercial success with films like Phiadelphia along with the genius of David Byrne create a funky, funny, creative, entertaining, cool, and amazing film. A rare chance to here Big Buissness a track never released on a Heads album(Byrne in his solo carrer did lay down a studio cut of this) is included in the special features along with the Fear Of Music masterpiece Cities and the worst heads song I Zimbra. One of the only on screen appearences for the Heads and definatley the best. This was the Heads tour and we are all blessed that we get a glimpse of it.
Rating:
Summary: do you remember
Review: well......i was there....the MANN MUSIC CENTER in Philly for the tour..in the balcony(suspended on wires)...by the time THEY GOT TO"BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE", THE BALCONY WAS LITERALLY SWINGING. when i popped this DVD in , it all came back to me. Demme is a cinematic genius, and quality wise, there is nothing lacking on this DVD. iF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH dAVID bYRNE AND THe hEADS, DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND START HERE. MAYBE ONE of the greatest live bands ever, and this DVD proves it.I cannot watch this film without "shaking all over"
Rating:
Summary: Discovery and Education
Review: Until I saw this video,all I remembered about The Talking Heads was "Take Me To The River".How much I had to learn! Since seeing the DVD,I have bought all of their albums and gained a real appreciation for the musical genius of David Byrne and company.This is a wonderfully produced movie which touches all of the senses,especially in a home theater environment.Unlike some of the other classics,like"Woodstock" and "Gimme Shelter",there is no empty space or meaningless footage.Something great is happening every second.
Rating:
Summary: Add this to your collection
Review: What a great performance---wish I'd seen this one live---thank goodness for DVD's crispness and superior sound capturing the experience of The Talking Heads in what has to be their finest hour. The show opens with David Byrne performing "Psycho Killer" solo; band members join the show progressively and the setting is built by stagehands in the same manner. Very effective build-up to a well-correographed show. Highly recommend this keepsake of the 80's; very energizing to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Trust me. TRUST ME!
Review: I'll cut to the chase: Do yourself a BIG favor and get this DVD. Even if you've never considered yourself a fan of Talking Heads, "Stop Making Sense" is worth watching and will probably give you an appreciation for band that you never had before. That's just what happened to me. Until I saw this film I was under the impression that Talking Heads was just another quirky art-punk outfit, perhaps because of their association with the early days of CBGB's in New York City. My few exposures to Talking Heads' music back in my college years (1977-1981) frankly left me scratching my head. In retrospect, however, I think the demise of this band leaves a void in the world of popular music that may never be filled. Talking Heads created some of the smartest, funkiest sounds in the first half of the 1980s, and this film shows them in their finest form. Much of the credit goes to director Jonathan Demme for focusing our attention on the band and David Byrne's wide-eyed stage presence, while tipping his hat to the audience only at the end of the concert. Occasionally Demme comes up with a shot that is so utterly sublime in its balance and power that the viewer can only whisper, "Wow." Credit also goes to Byrne for the minimalistic set design and the particularly clever touch of assembling the set (and the band, for that matter) during the first four songs. And extra-special credit must be given to some of the COOLEST backup musicians (Steve Scales, Edna Holt, Bernie Worrell, Lynn Mabry, & Alex Weir) I've ever seen onstage. "Stop Making Sense" is unarguably the best concert movie ever made. My partner Greg & I first owned this film on VHS, but the DVD is so much, MUCH better! The blacks are BLACK, the reds are SMOOTH, and the transfer is just as crisp as you please. The optional audio commentary by all four members of the band is a wonderful feature and an education about this band unto itself. We have shown this DVD to many friends of ours, and almost invariably they come away with a much deeper appreciation for Talking Heads. It's great that the four members of this band could put aside their differences long enough to collaborate on this DVD release. Now if they could just regroup for ONE MORE ALBUM .....
Rating: 
Summary: An Anti-Concert movie
Review: With Stop Making Sense, David Byrne & company set out to deconstruct concert films. Instead of the entire band coming onstage at once, they enter one-at-a-time, song-by-song - until there are close to a dozen people onstage. Not only does the number of people onstage grow, but also does the intensity of the music. The only low point is a not-so-good performance by the Tom Tom Club, but hey, it's after that that David walks out in the, now infamous "big suit". The audience is only show once or twice in quick, panning shots. A great finger in the face of every other concert film ever made. This is what happens when the geeks in the Audio/Visual club form a band and set out to conquer the world.
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