Flawed,  but worth owning
929039
OK, so I have owned the VHS for about 8 years, and let me tell you it was extremely difficult to obtain back then and even a few years ago was almost impossible to find & or own.  I notice the price for this  VHS remains rather high too.  Well, about the story it is really confusing, and there seems to be a lot of different things going on including genre intermingling , but the premise, of a "dark side", "light side" of a plant, which are comprised of 2 different society types is great.  It seems that everything including the proverbial kitchen sink was thrown in this movie; themes that just don't develope that start from interesting situations, camera shots, verbal comments, or whatever and are dropped.  A lot more plot development and some more back story is needed to pull this movie together.  Regardless, this film is haunting and I love it.  Unfortunately I only watch it once every two years-it is VHS. It would be great to get this in a remastered DVD version "The planet Rusta, a white dwarf star light years from Earth in the year 3040". This film was actually produced by Francis Ford Coppola!! Directed by Peter Markle, written by Bruce Wagner.  The film is a mere 91 minutes long (My VHS through Cabin Fever, International, Inc) 4 stars only because of the issues mentioned.  Lets get people raving so we can get it in DVD! Kya
3594674
Just to be perfectly clear, I am reviewing this without having fully listened to it.  A friend has it and sent me a couple of the tracks, plus I have listened to the sound clips available on Amazon.  I have also looked at the timings on the various songs and based on my very deep knowledge of the score, realize that there has been some snip-snipping going on.  If I Love You plays out at about 12 plus minutes on stage, so the barely 10 minutes is going to be missing a bit here and a bit there, perhaps the oh so important dialogue, perhaps the codas at the end of sections.  No matter what, there is missing material.  I have heard the entirety of Billy's Soliloquy, also missing about a minute and a half of a complete performance.  Other timings suggest that almost every song has been mauled this way.  With all the Carousels out there, there is NOT ONE that is definitive, each and every one has at least one serious flaw.  The other major flaw on this version is the Billy Bigelow, he simply does not have the vocal chops for this pinnacle of male leading roles.  This Billy is not even close, he is flat out inadequate to the job on hand.  He may have cut a magnificent figure on stage and been a fine actor, but his performance does not translate to listening only.  The Julie and Carrie and decent, far from the best on recordings, but not awful.  The 4th lead, Enoch Snow is possibly the most listenable cast member, but then there are several memorable Enochs on recordings.  The two supporting parts, Jigger and Cousin Nettie are decently taken.  The conducting is reasonable as is the orchestral playing, but this recording lands toward the bottom of the heap of recorded Carousels.  My recommendations in order would ber:

1. Lincoln Center Cast with John Raitt and a superb supporting cast.  The flaw is that it is still missing chunks of important music.
2. 1994 Broadway Revival Cast (also played at Lincoln Center)--The cast is delightful, except the Billy is not quite the singer he needs to be.  The same version played in London with the same Billy, but the NY supporting cast is far better.
3. Barbara Cook/Samuel Ramey Studio Cast--Negatives are revised orchestrations
4. Enoch Light's studio version with Alfred Drake and Roberta Peters--Drake is neck and neck with John Raitt as a definitive Billy, but there are other serious flaws, such as major chunks of music missing.

All of these records have missing music, the closest to being complete is the 1994 version.

I am still waiting for a definitive Carousel.  The new DVD from the New York Philharmonic is almost that, but it contains the entire show which maybe not every one is going to want.
3833500
The Rentals seem to be one of those bands that alternates between amazing and dull, on a song to song basis.  This album hits highs and lows enough to where it might be worthwhile to find a way to listen to all the songs, and just buy the ones you like.

At least three of the songs are remixes of songs they did years ago (1000 Seasons, Song of Remembering, Seven Years).  I say "at least", because I don't know the band well enough to say if the rest are as well.  Unfortunately, while still decent in remixed form, they are considerably worse versions than the originals.  In fact, if you can find those three songs in original form from the Songs About Time compilation, I highly recommend them for dealing with breakups.

Despite those problems, I still gave this record 4 stars, because I found myself listening to it several times in the first couple days.  And that's a good sign.
3507961
Is this release worth purchasing? Yes. As commented on in many reviews, the main flaw, and part of the reason this isn't a five-star product, is Paramount's decision to begin breaking the DVD release of shows like "Dynasty" down into separate volumes and then proceeding to charge the price of what one entire season used to sell for. For a fan of the show, it's disappointing to have to wait months, and then having to shell out more money, for one entire season of the show.  Another flaw with this release is that even at the hefty price (especially since it seems to have been a limited-time release and hard to find) there are no extra features! All you're getting with this release is indeed 12 episodes. Now, don't worry, there is some good.

"Dynasty" season 3 is just as good as the previous seasons plot-wise. This is quality t.v. and the era of "Dynasty" before the outlandish, stereotypical 'soap' plots. If you're looking for a good drama with actors who can actually act and make you forget you're watching a prime-time soap, this show and release is for you. Season 3 continues the plots began in Season 2 with Alexis (Joan Collins) stirring up trouble for Blake (John Forsythe) by entering into the oil business ring. After dealing with Krystle's past in earlier seasons (Linda Evans) always dogging her current marriage, yet another past lover shows up - her ex-husband who brings news that rattles Krystle and Blake's now solid relationship. Steven's gone missing, another Carrington son has now shown up at Blake's doorstep, Fallon and Jeff are still on the outs and the set ends with the return of Sammy Jo and yet another new addition to the Carrington clan. With all this drama, it was nice to see the character being challenged and pushed emotionally and nothing really felt sensational or 'unbelievable' as in the later season. Each episode ends with some sort of cliffhanger to keep you coming back for more, including the final episode of the 3-disc set.

Quality wise, the transfer to DVD, as seen in the previous release, was great. The colors are vibrant, the sound is wonderful. The only thing that really holds this set back is the fact that it's incomplete and you have to dish out another twenty- or thirty-some dollars to complete it. That and the fact that there are absolutely no extra features, even with there having been a "Dynasty" cast reunion with interviews shot a few years ago that aired on ABC, Paramount still makes no effort to beef up the release, leaving the audience with just episodes, half a season, to feast on. Besides that, this was truly great television and it is nice to see it getting the DVD treatment, even if it is slow and now prolonged with split season releases. Definitely worth buying, even with it being a truncated release.
2479252
The performance is killer and there are a gazillion other reviews here that attest to it so I'm not delving into it any further. What I want to do instead is bring attention upon some flaws that almost ruined this DVD for me :

1- For a 2005 video, this does not seem to have been mastered from a great def source. First off and oddly enough, the aspect ratio is 4:3. I personally love the vintage format and maybe it was shot that way on purpose but I know most people said WTF when their flatscreens exhibited black sidebars. The variable pic bitrate hovers closely around 7 Mbps; not bad for standard resolution but I have seen 2-hour dvds with 9-11 Mbps. Again, maybe the source did not call for a better mastering because it was limited by original quality. I watched it on a big CRT TV and still could spot minor artifacting here and there.

2- The PCM audio mix : Weak; little bottom end (and I have a big sub I had to crank A LOT to get punch from the drums). Also the guitar on the right channel is HALF as loud as the one on the left one, which forced me to switch to mono for an even soundscape. This was effective but the twin-axe attack was weakened in the process. At times, esp when both guitarrists were riffing without their volume pedals engaged, the guitars were a faint drone at the back of the mix. Same with Rob's voice; pity, coz he's still reaching those impossible highs after all these years. All in all, this can be made to sound pretty good despite the flaws, and it's the Priest FFS !!! They managed to put out a MASSIVE wall of sound anyways !!

Well I'm glad I was given this as a present or I would be very angry. It is a piece of history and a keeper anyway. Buy at your own risk or get it very cheap.
2556822
Powell's score is a noticeable improvement on the previous two scores, but it still has a few minor flaws which prevent it from being truly great. As a previous reviewer stated, the score works best when viewed with the movie. A select few of the tracks can't quite stand on their own on a purely musical standpoint, but do well as background music for some of the slower scenes in the movie. Others are best listened to in sequence.

However, Powell did succeed in providing two extremely memorable themes: the action-oriented main X-Men theme in "Bathroom Titles" most prominently, which shares similarities with Ottman's score, and the Phoenix theme, which ranges anywhere from a moderate pace with a lighter overtone in "Whirlpool of Love", to a more threatening tone in "Dark Phoenix's Tragedy", to a downright apocalyptic rendition in "Phoenix Rising", a major highlight of the soundtrack. A 3rd theme, present in "The Funeral" and "Angel's Cure" most noticeably, ranges from a fanfare to a romantic/love theme, and complements the other two themes nicely. "The Last Stand" starts out very mellow, but eventually evolves into a collection of all of the themes, and flows from one to the other very well.

There are also several other themes that appear briefly in tracks, mainly a quick theme from 1:19 to 1:43 in "Meet Leech, Then Off to the Lake", a great theme that apparently only appears in that one section unfortunately, but is worth mentioning. There are others just like this one present throughout that give a nice contrast to some of the weaker tracks. For the most part though, the majority of the slower tracks have low women's choir present, supported by percussion accents. If you like that kind of music, you will definitely find something to enjoy here.

Final verdict is that this soundtrack is worth buying just for the main themes, which are awesome, especially if you are not a hardcore fan of soundtrack music. But if you like a lot of slow, dark, ambient music, you will certainly find a lot more to enjoy than others will.
1835330
Five great songs was half way to a near-perfect album.  Too bad half of it was remixes.  As an avid fan and critic, I won't kid you in saying this album is a must for everyone.  As an artist, I think remixes ruin the original intent of a song, and as a rule I don't own them. But for five new MJ songs, I had to ignore the remixes.  Therefore, my review is based on the quality of a single song which makes this album worth owning.  "Morphine" is a song aimed at the intelligent and the artistic listener. As a poetic ballad about the dangers and desires associated with drug addiction, this song makes for intersting listening. It is combination hard rock, and tender ballad mixed into one confusing and disfunctional bag.  Obviously written as a healing step to overcome his own addiction, it shows how even the most pious and charitable of celebrities can fall to the ills of the common man.  The glimmer of hope is, no matter how lost you may be, you can find a way to escape the intoxication associated with an addiction. For the artistic value of this single alone, I would say this album is worth owning.
2811466
This is a decent novella with an excellent story. Honestly, this could be developed into more. However, it's a flawed gem. By the time I reached the second page, I found errors that should have been caught in editing (e.g. "...giants. While...," has no space between the period and the first letter of the next sentence). This isn't a huge deal, and somewhat commonplace in self-publishing, but the work contains quite a few of these editor-misses.

The narrator voice fluctuates between casual and near-high-fantasy; the characters sometimes behave inconsistently; the major twist was needlessly telegraphed some chapters earlier; some characters are unceremoniously removed from the story after making a big deal out of them earlier.

Also, and this is my personal preference, but the novel also contains some worn out tropes that have been used time and again. For example, the beginning of the books tromps out the worn dwarves-are-great-smiths trope that doesn't serve the story.

But, like I said, I enjoyed the story and the premise. I think everything that bothered me could be fixed, the story expanded and this could graduate into an excellent full-blown novel.
2018445
Being the Cash fanatic that I am, I was thrilled to hear that this was being released. After all, the American Recordings series was the best of Cash since the prison albums. However, I did have my reservations -- was this simply a ploy to cash in on the morbid selling power of his recent demise?
Well, I can't speculate as to the intentions of this release, but I can state that it is a phenomenal collection showcasing some of the best of late Cash. Particularly great are Pocahontas, Heart of Gold, Wichita Lineman, Redemption Song, Cindy and I'm a Drifter. Disc 5 is an American greatest hits, so obviously Hurt, Delia's Gone and the like are great..
However, this IS a flawed anthology -- as any collection of unreleased songs would ostensibly be. Disc 4 (My Mother's Hymn Book) is exactly what its title would dictate -- Cash singing songs from his mother's hymn book. While it is moving and, at times, beautiful, I personally find it boring. It only warranted a few listenings, but perhaps I'll revisit in the near future.
Furthermore, Disc 1 (Who's Gonna Cry) is uneven with only a few standouts, notably The Fourth Man in the Fire. Luckily, that is where my complaints end. Disc 2 (Trouble in Mind) and Disc 3 (Redemption Songs) are virtually flawless and probably could have stood on their own as American Recordings releases.
From these 5 CDs, 2 great CDs of new materials can be extracted. And for that alone, it's worth it for any true Cash fan.
4227642
I thought this CD was interesting, but unfortunately has quite a few flaws that detract from it.

First of all, the singer is very talented. She's got a great voice and often writes very good lyrics. The drummer is also great. I was most impressed that they managed to get almost Steve Albini-like drums without Steve Albini. Unfortunately, the guitarist really ruins it a lot of the time, whether he's slipping into painful modern metalisms on the Evanescence-echoing "Kitty Collar Tight" and the flyleaf-like "Siamese Almedia" or bludgeoning you with a hideous, over-processed guitar sound (on almost everywhere it gets "heavy"). What is amazing about him is his ability to mimic heavy and hard without ever achieving it due to the album's production and the fact that his guitars are so processed they actually almost do sound like white noise, which is a description thrown around way too often. And no, I'm not afraid of distortion. Try listening to "Pretty on the Inside" by Hole to hear it done right.

The only song I really, really like is "For I am the Way" because somehow the hideous guitar either works with it, or the song is strong enough to ascend above it. Either way, it's a great song. The rest are mostly very good, but are brought down by the fact that the guitarist constantly strays way too close to radio metal territory. Too bad, because this band has a lot of potential.
4701784
Kino's transfer of "Metropolis" is absolutely gorgeous. Aside from a few scenes here and there (together with the caveat that entire sections of the film have been lost forever), the images are pristine. Sure, choosing to include the original German intertitles would have made for a nice feature, but their absence is more than compensated by the success of the restoration.

As for the film itself, "Metropolis" absolutely deserves to be watched. "Metropolis" is my least favorite of the Lang films I've seen -- and yet its brilliance makes it an important addition to the collection of any serious film buff. Its photography is beautiful, its actors are convincing, its sets are ornate, and its story is interesting -- particularly viewed within the proper historical context. The message behind "Metropolis" is decidedly social democratic / democratic socialist: the slave-workers are forced to toil beneath a nightmarish urban landscape to preserve the luxiorous existence of the opulent few who live in a utopic garden-community in the sky, utterly shielded from the misery their existence inflicts on others. Obviously, an indictment of capitalism, at least as it existed in the industrialized world (e.g., Germany) in the early part of the twentieth century. Along comes Maria, a beautiful peasant woman who inspires the workers with hope by arguing for nonviolent resistance and reconciliation with the capitalist class, and that a mediator is needed to bridge the divide. That mediator turns out to be young Freder, son of capitalist Fredersen, who sympathizes with the plight of the slave-workers and quickly falls in love with Maria. To subvert the nascent labor movement, Freder's father, who learns of the plan, convinces a talented inventor to create a Maria-like android, who incites the workers to violence -- providing the capitalists with a pretext for crushing the workers through force. Clearly, Lang is suggesting that advocates of anti-capitalist violence (e.g., the Communists) serve the interests of the capitalists.

Why is this expressionistic masterpiece my least favorite Lang film? The reasons are hard to pinpoint, but "Metropolis" has a vague "Hollywood"-feel, which I regard as unfortunate. More importantly, the ending is overly sentimental. If a person could own only one Lang film, "M" or "Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler" would certainly be the better choice. But who would want to live in a world that prohibited people from owning more than one of Lang's films?
4730534
If you are a Steely Dan fan, which you most likely are if you are reading this, then this good buy since it's really the only live Steely Dan DVD out there. If you have surround sound, then the buy is worth it even more since the audio is mixed rather nicely. In general, the band gives a solid performance especially considering how difficult Becker and Fagan's compositions are.  Fagan sounds very similar to the way he did in the 70's.  HOWEVER, the downfall of this DVD is that at times it's hardly watchable, which is ok because you can just listen.  But, the camera work is shaky and there are some very strange angles that make no logic. Some of the shots leave about 85% head room on the screen. And, the editing is relentless. Every few seconds there is a new cut.  It rarely gives us a chance to sit and marvel at Becker's guitar playing or Bumpus's sax playing. Bottom line, buy it for one the rare opportunities to see Steely Dan play live, but there is a good chance the camera work and editing will distract you from the stellar music being played.
3630839
It is worth the small cost.  But most movies are marred by poor visual and, more annoying, bad audio.  A few gems (Strange Love of Martha Ivers is one such) make it a worthwhile buy.  But you'll Have to sift out the chaff.
2287967
This two-disc anthology provides plenty of worthwhile music from the great '70s band War (I know: it goes through 1994; more on that later), but the collector looking to update his vinyl as well as the relative newcomer to the band's work can do better elsewhere, especially for the price.
The breadth of representation on the discs is fine. We get tunes from their productive collaboration with British rocker/bluesman Eric Burdon (including, of course, the superb "Spill the Wine" as well as a fine interpretation of "Tobacco Road") and plenty of representation from their heyday in the mid to late '70s, during which they created a series of stellar albums. For those that are interested, there is also ample representation of their work after bassist B.B. Dickerson and others left the group. I feel the quality of the music fell off significantly after that point, but the label wanted to present an anthology. It's a choice, but not the best one, in my opinion.
It's not the presence but rather the quantity of later material included that is a major drawback for me. War's best material was a heady blend of rock, jazz and Latin music with a sprinkling of doo-wop and even gospel influences. The work from '76 on may have produced some hits ("Why Can't We Be Friends?", "Low Rider" and "LA Sunshine") that still garner significant airplay, but it also reduced the drive and the urgency of the music in favor of mass appeal and an unfortunate occasional nod to disco. To accommodate the second disc, representation from the great releases "All Day Music," "The World Is a Ghetto," and "Deliver the Word" are all seriously trimmed. If the point of an anthology is to highlight the band's strengths, this one doesn't deliver.
An even more serious drawback is that three key extended jams, "The World Is a Ghetto," City, Country, City," and "Gypsy Man," are each cut by half or more, obviously to accommodate the later material on disc two. Big mistake. War was at its best when it stretched out and hit a groove that displayed the member's serious instrumental chops. These truncated versions are pale imitations of the originals.
My recommendation is to pick up full versions of each of the aforementioned albums, plus "Eric Burdon Declares War" and "Platinum Jazz," which is uneven but includes some excellent material not represented here. Failing that, seek out other collections and carefully check the times of the tracks listed. If you see a four-minute "City, Country, City," put the disc back in the bin or click to another Web page.
2613758
The bargain price, excellent sound quality, rarity of the repertoire, and  the use of an instrument tuned to the antique style of "mean  tone" temperament on this recording make it attractively tempting.
A  frustrating drawback, alas, is that the playing is very wobbly with tempo  and rubato fluctuating almost continuously.  While the latter approach is  appropriate to the Prelude-like movements on the program (after all,  Couperin wrote these without specifying rhythmic or metrical values!), it  is neither required nor appropriate at all for the dance movements.
4907602
I recently received the Blu-Ray, but this review applies equally to the Miramax DVD of "A Hard Day's Night."  (In fact, the Blu-Ray is made from a video transfer of the DVD, as opposed to an original film source, and so preserves the digital "jutter" that comes with transferring film to video.  If you have the DVD, it is truly not worth the investment to upgrade to Blu-Ray.)

As to the film itself, I would like to address the sound issues discussed by previous reviewers.  Yes, in an age where we are all used to hearing the digital upgrades to the studio recordings on modern sound equipment, the sound will seem muddy.  When a source close to the project said "blame Apple," he meant that the Beatles' licensing company had insisted that, from now on, the soundtrack must be authentic.  The 5.1 soundtrack on the DVD and Blu-Ray does modify the sound (and previous calls for an alternate original mono track should be heeded), but is made entirely from the original film track.  When songs begin, the sound is moved off of the center channel and out to the left and right channels.  A very slight delay is added to the rear channels to provide a sense of depth, but it does not come off as added echo.  (The reverb added to "Tell Me Why" was also on the original soundtrack album - along with a good deal of left to right panning!)  Basically, the tracks remain in their original mono, and, more importantly, in their original movie mixes.

Aside from the obvious single-tracking of Paul's vocal on "And I Love Her" and John's in the intro to "If I Fell" (which, by no intent of the Beatles, became the mixes used on the U.S. single of those two songs), there are other, more subtle changes in the mixes made to accommodate the film.  (Guitars are brought forward when the camera is on them, the drums when it moves in on Ringo, and so on.)  There are also sound effects which were lost when stereo versions were substituted (such as when John knocks over the music stand during "And I Love Her.")

In short, the sound may not be up to the albums we listen to at home, but it is what we heard in theaters in 1964 (if we could hear it at all over the screaming!)

As to the picture, the widescreen video does cut off a small bit of the top and bottom of the picture we saw on the VHS tape, while showing a silght bit more on the sides.  It should be remembered, though, that the film was shot and framed for widescreen viewing.  (Note how the credits are placed far from the top and bottom of the screen.  There is also no feeling of cut-off heads or action missed offscreen.)  Widescreen was the norm in theaters in 1964, and most theatrical prints were made to accommodate them.  We did not watch a square picture in theaters when we saw the film in 1964 - we watched the Beatles explode across the wide screen!  The square picture on the MPI VHS version was a nice accommodation for square TV's, but the widescreen on the current release is far closer to the original presentation.  And plugging in the stereo versions of the songs may have been a sonic upgrade, it was a move away from what the producer created.

I wish that the Blu-Ray had been an actual 24/fps transfer from a film source, and I wish that an alternate "true mono" soundtrack had been provided - but all in all, it's an excellent presentation the original film in its original form.  Yeah, yeah, yeah!
2991568
Having obtained `For Lack of Honest Work' several weeks ago from a mailorder place, I've listened to all three and a half hours and three CDs of this set.  It's mostly high quality live recordings, bootlegs that range from 1971 to 2006, more or less sequenced in chronological order.  There's a gap in time, though, with nothing at all from '96 to '02 (not necessarily an essential period from the artist) and a few other years missing along the way.  As you might expect, the sound quality improves as you go along.  Some of the early recording are spotty, but just about everything on discs 2 & 3 sounds great.  I'm assuming the producers of this 3-CD set sorted through many more hours of live recordings before choosing these particular 43 performances.  By and large they did well at selecting really good stuff.  I especially liked the solo acoustic "Love of the Common Man" (FL '03) and the a cappella group backing Todd on "Real Man" (NYC '78), plus there are some amazing electric guitar solos, as on the mind-blowing instrumental "Mister Triscuits" (London '75).  Unfortunately there are a few duds mixed in too, such as the chaotic messes made of the "Sunset Blvd" medley and "Black and White."  I could have done fine without ever hearing those two cuts, and some of the Broadway things on disc 2.  Overall, though, the good FAR outweighs the bad here, leaving a rich bounty for Rundgren fans.

One important note on the packaging.  This set suffers from a problem that also plagued the recent ELP 4-CD box.  (They were released by different record labels, but they both appear to have used the same packaging company.)  The individual cardboard trifold sleeves for each disc were apparently glued with bad glue, or the glue wasn't allowed to dry completely before the CDs were inserted.  Some of the glue dried onto the CD surfaces!  My thanks to customer reviewers who noted this problem with the ELP set and offered solutions. (Goo-Gone worked well for me.)  The release date for this set was delayed repeatedly, so maybe the delay was to correct this problem?  For the sake of other buyers, I hope so.