Review of Breaking Glass

Introduction

Breaking Glass charts the rise of a band, oddly enough called Breaking Glass, right to the very top of the British music scene in the early eighties. Kate (Hazel O`Connor) is the lead singer of a punk band when she`s spotted by a small time wannabe band manager called Danny (Phil Daniels). Danny spots Kate as the only real talent and forms a band around her, eventually landing a record contract and getting to the top.

Everything doesn`t go smoothly and ultimately it`s a tale of tragedy as Kate is used and abused leading to the final climactic outcome.

With a great selection of songs from Hazel O`Connor herself I have vague memories of enjoying this movie when it was released (yes, I`m not THAT old quite yet) and was looking forward to watching the DVD.

Video

The anamorphic picture is a little bland throughout. The actually quality is ok considering the age and profile of this release however the flat colours leave you with a distinctly weak aftertaste.

Audio

The pro-logic track sounds more than a little harsh and scratchy. Whilst there is sound coming from each of the speakers the actual surround effect created doesn`t inspire. It sounds old, a real shame as I would love to have heard a high quality remastering for the sake of the music.

Of course a film about a band needs music and in this area I think the film excels. Hazel O`Connor is the musical talent here and many of the tracks were chart successes at the time of the movie`s release. I`m struggling to put a name to the style of music and I`ve seen that some other reviews have labelled it punk but I personally don`t think that`s an accurate description and may well see people not giving this even the slightest chance. There are some great tracks here including my favourites "Will you?" and "Eight Day".

This leads me on to my real big problem with the audio on this disc. At about 80 minutes in the running time the sound all of a sudden goes incredibly muffled and fuzzy. It`s damned annoying as it`s one of those major changes that first makes you think your hardware is on the blink. Having just got my Amplifier back from repair I wasn`t happy, until I played it on my PC. Fair enough, at 80 minutes it all goes muffled. It does recover a bit later on but you`re left with a niggling thought that the sound isn`t all it could be for the remaining 20 minutes of the movie, including though my favourite track.

Features

A trailer, some filmographies and some images. Not what you`d call exciting. I would love to have seen some more material about this movie and the music but alas we get nothing exciting.

Conclusion

I had found memories of the movie from my youth and after watching again on DVD I can see why. Not only is the soundtrack great but Hazel O`Connor is excellent in the role of Kate. She plays the part with a really fragility and you just know how things are going to turn out bad. Even when they do you can`t help but feel sorry for her.

What this DVD needed was a top quality audio soundtrack and unfortunately it hasn`t got it. This is still the best format you can own this movie in but overall it`s pretty poor quality, I wanted so much more than this.

Only recommended for big fans of the movie I`m afraid.