Tim Kidner I have an old recording of the original Alan Parker film, brilliant but quite dour and depressing and certainly not for all occasions. It was whilst checking online for a DVD replacement that I stumbled across this gem.With the international line-up (you know who they are, by now!) how could I resist? I think at the time, it was quite expensive to buy on Amazon but I did find a cheaper, brand-new alternative, on a well known auction-style site...The staging is audacious and spectacular, with loads always going on, a feast for the eyes and a good imagining from the original. The (now) familiar music just spills out from it and into the night air and it must have been a real goose-bumped experience for anyone actually there, especially bearing in mind the significance of a big Wall in Berlin tumbling down, brick by brick (which it does!).Yes, it's a Korean release, with indecipherable writing on the case and it wants to play with English subtitles by default - but turn them off and it looks good, when considering it's a relative oldie and is in 4:3 ratio. Sound I found better when tweaked a bit, my oldish Panasonic DVD player having 2 'virtual surround sound' settings, engage the second one and it comes alive, adding a spatial bigness about it all, that helps match the total OTT'ness that you expect with any Pink Floyd/Walters live show.It is odd that I'd never heard of this Live version and I'm so glad I bought it - anyone who even remotely enjoyed the album, or original film will find this immensely enjoyable and more importantly, entertaining. Great Show!

Walter Five It *sounded* like a good idea. But the cast reads like a series of "Where Are They Now" episodes for VH1, and their performances are truly terrible. Waters still had *some* of his voice left, and it's a shame that he didn't use his own pipes more, Joni Mitchell is truly wretched; this project is the biggest loser she's been involved with since she used to date David Crosby! Sinead O'Connor shows why she was a one-hit wonder, the Scorpions seem to have been thrown in to appease the Kraut-centric Berlin audience, Bryan Adams (who?) is totally forgettable. One also finds it hard to believe that Jerry Hall knows how to act based on her performance here...I *will* give this show an extra star for Snowy White's outstanding guitar work, it's the only thing that kept me listening all the way through. His performance is far more than a mere imitation of David Gilmore.An actual performance (several, actually) of the *real* Pink Floyd performing "The Wall" at Earl's Court is available through various fan-trading clubs and bit-torrent sites. They are a *little* dark in places(the reason an edit was never commercially released) but they beat THIS suck-fest hands down! The best of the bunch is described here: http://www.harvested.org/DVD006/index.html

christopherborne In 1979, Roger Waters (with some help from David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin) wrote _The Wall_, a rock opera album about a rock star's descent into madness. In 1980-1981, Pink Floyd toured the show.In 1989, The Berlin Wall fell. Waters, who had left the band some years before, decided to stage the concert on the ruins of the Wall.The fact that this isn't PINK FLOYD becomes glaringly obvious. Key Gilmour moments, such as Pink's part in "Comfortably Numb" or "Young Lust" have been handed off to "guest" stars, such as Van Morrison and Bryan Adams. Some Waters moments, such as "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II", are also handed off. Cyndi Lauper should die for her butchering of "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II." Other than the performances of Lauper, Morrison, and Jerry Hall, who performed the groupie's part in "One of My Turns", the guest performers fit well with their songs.Fans of the album will notice some differences, such as the absence of "Outside the Wall" and "The Show Must Go On". The "Empty Spaces" that appears in the DVD menu is not the "Empty Spaces" of the album, but rather the "What Shall We Do Now?" of the film _Pink Floyd The Wall_.The song "The Trial" is done as a Broadway performance by Tim Curry, Al Finney, Ute Lemper, Thomas Dolby, and Marrianne Faithful. Although good, it doesn't quite match up to the Gerald Scarfe animation, which luckily plays in the background.Any fan of the album ought to watch this DVD at least once. All in All, not a bad concert de rock.

bdh1967 I will agree with the reviewer that this is a poor performance, but anyone who thinks that The Band is a B or C list artist really shows their lack of musical knowledge.The Band is one of the greatest American bands in history and to be shrugged off so casually is an insult.Maybe the reviewer should go back and watch The Last Waltz to truly appreciate the greatness of The Band.But I guess Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, Ronnie Wood, Martin Scorsese are used to paying tribute to B or C list acts.