Rating: 
Summary: Excellent rare footage, let down by MamaMia hype
Review: If you are looking for a true ABBA history DVD, then skip this. Unfortunately there is no true ABBA history DVD around, so keep waiting. If you can't wait, this one will provide you with some very rare footage of the band in their early days, including solo projects. For example, Anna rehearsing for a part in the Swedish version of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. But this 'documentary' was clearly made to tie-in with the London premiere of the musical 'Mama Mia - the Musical', and focusses alot on that - obviously a marketing exercise (yawn!). By the way, I didn't enjoy Mama Mia the Musical as much as I expected to.
Rating: 
Summary: i loved it!
Review: If you like Abba, you will love this. Of course, the documentary could have been a bit more insightful into the psyche of the various members, but overall, Abba was a great band and this is a great presentation of their wonderful talents.
Rating:
Summary: i loved it!
Review: If you like Abba, you will love this. Of course, the documentary could have been a bit more insightful into the psyche of the various members, but overall, Abba was a great band and this is a great presentation of their wonderful talents.
Rating:
Summary: This is the one to have!!
Review: If you, like me, feel somewhat cheated in having missed the Abba era, then this is the video you will want to watch. I can't think of anyone who has not been influenced by, or has never heard any of Abba's hits on the radio. This is definatly the video to have if you are a fan or if you just love their music. While this video does not have full sound tracks on it, it does have enough good music and video that shows the power and history of the group from start to finish, the end of an era, in my eyes. After watching this video I felt a loss, not from the video, but, from not having experienced more from Abba. This one is a must have for anyone that loves music. Abba's music has touched all of us at some time or another. I reccommend also purchasing "Abba, The definative Collection" also on DVD, a collection of their music videos.
And just in case anyone from Abba reads this I just want to say "Thank you for the music"!! If they ever decide to create another CD I know I will be first in line to buy it and would spend days in line to get a ticket for a concert.
Rating:
Summary: The true ABBA-story
Review: In their own words. New footage of all four members !
Rating:
Summary: A pleasing documentary
Review: It is important to be aware that this is a career-spanning documentary, not a collection of Abba videos or concert performances. There are snippets of videos and concert footage, but the major portion of this DVD is a history of the band - before, during, and after their heyday - with extensive interviews of the four members. This documentary was produced for television as a promotional tie-in with the musical "Mamma Mia", so there is coverage of the conception and preparation of that show. Extra footage, about 30 minutes worth, not shown on television is included here. A fine keepsake for fans. Still waiting for the collection of videos, but this is a nice place to start.
Rating: 
Summary: The Winner Takes All
Review: The worst part is that the video is not great in parts and second it lacks 5.1 Dolby Digital but for anyone whoever enjoyed ABBA, this is a definite keeper. It will bring tears to the eyes of us who can remember and better yet it explains just how complex the music was which is quite a bit different from todays "music." Music is meant to lift the spirit and this DVD provides just that.
Rating:
Summary: ABBA: Behind the Music!
Review: This was the story I always wanted to see as an ABBA fan... what was REALLY going on. Little did I know that those songs told the story.... "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "The Winner Takes it All" take on a new significance now that I've seen this documentary. My heart broke for Agnetha, and I cried as I watched it. The old footage is too precious, and those songs.... oh, there's just nothing like ABBA ever!!! This DVD is a must-have if you're an ABBAphile... I was so glad I got it!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Retrospective of the ABBA Phenomenon
Review: Through interviews with the members of the group, this DVD does a good job of showing the rise of one of the greatest pop groups of all time. Songwriters Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson take you through how the group got its start, how they wrote the songs, and talk about some of the strife near the end of their run. The only member who doesn't appear on screen for her interview is Agnetha Faltskog (the blonde). She does a voice over of scenes of her walking near her home. She's pretty much a recluse now. The brunette, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, provides some interesting insight into how the girls saw their role, and their relationship to each other. The DVD also goes into the current stage play "Mamma Mia", which Ulvaeus and Anderson re-arranged the ABBA songs for. This is not a "greatest hits" DVD, as I see another reviewer was looking for, but rather a career retrospective.
Rating:
Summary: Something of a disappointment
Review: Viewers expecting a "Behind the Music" style documentary with "The Winner Takes It All: The ABBA story" will undoubtedly come away disappointed. "The Winner Takes it All," in fact, seems to be more of a tie-in to the musical "Mamma Mia" with just a dash of ABBA history thrown in. ABBA fans will, of course, already know the band's history; "The Winner Takes it All" adds nothing to this history. However, the DVD is worth the purchase for the incredible footage of Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Frida, from the 1960s to 1999. ABBA fans will be familiar with Bjorn's early band, The Hootenanny Singers, and Benny's band, The Hep Stars; "The Winner Takes it All" has footage of both bands performing, in addition to early appearances of both Frida and Agnetha. In addition to the incredible footage of the band, present-day interviews are conducted with Benny, Bjorn and Frida; the publicity-shy Agnetha is heard in voiceovers and seen in some very brief footage, but she does not appear on camera in an interview. Perhaps 90 minutes is not long enough to do the ABBA story justice. As I noted earlier, anyone who knows the band's back-story will not find anything new here. Despite a decade's worth of potential material to draw from, there isn't much "story" to the history. ABBA's success in the United States and elsewhere is barely mentioned; instead, the focus is on ABBA's popularity in Australia. In addition to the interviews with the group, there are interviews with ABBA's inner circle. U2's Bono is interviewed; curiously, no one else in popular music is interviewed about the band. We hear from director Lasse Hallstrom, who directed many of ABBA's early, ground-breaking "promo clips," but, again, learn nothing of the history behind the clips. A lot of time is spent on the production of the musical "Mamma Mia." Again, "The Winner Takes it All" feels more like a tie-in to the musical, rather than an in-depth biography of the band. It is worth the purchase price for the great footage and the present-day interviews.
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