Prismark10
Concert films tend to be rated highly by fans of the band or performer. To non fans its just a concert film, even some highly regarded concert films such as Talking Heads 'Stop making sense' are a tad overrated as far as I am concerned even though I actually like the band.This is the concert film shot in London and the last to feature David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona. Some fans might say this was at his pomp although Bowie has made good music since and at this time he was experiencing serious drug issues, bit churlish to say he was at the height of his powers when he was so drugged up.The footage contains some of his early great songs that even non fans would know, although some songs are rather dark. There is great showmanship from the thin white duke, costume changes and interplay with his guitarist Mick Ronson.It certainly looked shocking 40 years ago especially the way Ronson and Bowie cavorted on stage looked daring and camp, but of course now its largely dated. Bowie is now just a guy with heavy makeup and dated costume, so its reliant on his songs and stagecraft.However the concert is not that well filmed, its not well lit, the backstage footage is not that interesting. It is a historical record of an era for Bowie, a period he himself does not remember well because of his hedonistic lifestyle but there is still some power in those classic songs of his and great guitar from Ronson.
Red-Barracuda
This concert film is probably most famous for capturing a pivotal moment in music history. It is the last show that David Bowie performed under the Ziggy Stardust persona and the last time he was on stage with his backing band The Spiders From Mars. Seemingly his announcement near the end of the show stating that this was the final appearance was not only news to the audience but to the band as well!The film takes the form mostly as straightforward concert footage. There is also some backstage material interspersed throughout which I think it would have been good to have had more of, seeing as it revealed a little bit more of what Bowie was like behind the mask. But as it was, the vast majority of material is taken from the concert. The approach taken is very stripped down and basic. There isn't really a lot of imagination in the approach but I guess the idea was to let the show speak for itself. Perhaps though it might have been better for a live performance by such a flamboyant performer as Bowie to be presented with a little more imagination. Sometimes, it's the audience reactions to the show that are truthfully the most interesting, seeing as some of his fans seem to be almost hyper-ventilating with emotion. Some of the costume changes now provoke a chuckle or two; although, in truth, I have always found the fashions of the 70's glam rock era to be absolutely catastrophic. But at the end of the day it is a time capsule film and in this sense it is interesting. Even if Bowie does feel the need to do a mime artistry routine.The concert itself? One for Bowie devotees especially I would say, of which I am not one I have to admit. But I thought Mick Ronson was very good on guitar and they all do knock out the tunes with some energy. It was also interesting to hear a good version of The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat close the show.
Twins65
...just way too much of it on film.I just finished watching a tape of ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS, but it wasn't "easy". This is obviously not Pennebaker's best work, even if it was only supposed to be a documentary of Bowie's "last" show. Well, maybe his last show as Ziggy, anyway.There appears to be several cameras set-up the concert, but we only get massive doses of Dave & Mick Ronson. The other two guys in band (Trevor & Mick Woodmansy) are shown ever so briefly, and where the hell is the sax player featured on "Changes"? Even the set list skimmed a few key cuts from the Ziggy album, and Ronson's guitar "noise" jam used to fill time while Dave changed duds certainly wasn't a decent substitute.So don't run out of your way to catch this, but it's not a total waste.
Anonymou-4
I still love David Bowie, and still very much would have loved to see one of his Ziggy Stardust shows... but this video is a cruel teaser. I couldn't understand why a videotape book I saw called it "practically unwatchable, and unlistenable"--now I know why. Bowie does his best to put on a good performance, but that's not the problem here--the problem is that this may very well be the WORST filming of a concert ever made. The cameras, obviously handheld, are constantly refocusing themselves and forgetting their places, they are shaky, the quality is no better than your typical home movie, they all too often focus on the audience for far too long when we wish we could see the changes going on on stage in the show instead, the sound quality is hideous, and worst of all, we only get an IDEA of what the concert was like (I still have no idea what even the full STAGE looks!). If it weren't for the fact that this is a legitimate release, I would swear that it was an illegally-filmed movie made by a group of fans who snuck cameras into the concert. It's THAT bad. It's really terrible when the cameras are so set on awful closeups and are so shaky and unsteady that you can't even understand most of what's supposed to be going on on stage. After watching it, I felt like I had only been given a hint of what one of those Ziggy-era shows was like... and I still have no more of a full idea of what the experience was like than I did before sitting down to watch this. It's terribly, terribly sad that this is apparently the only footage shot of one of those shows--because we Bowie fans who weren't there would STILL love to see the show in its entirety.
AD
