Pink Floyd: The Wall (UK)

Ah those halcyon days of smoke filled rooms, watching The Wall slumped on the settee. Smoking a joint with friends and discussing what the Wall was about. My video copy of the Wall is a little worse for wear these days as it`s been played so many times. I remember being dumped by a girlfriend and watching it straight away, which is not a good idea! When I saw The Wall on DVD in New York last December I wished I had the twenty dollars to guy it which I didn`t. Thankfully, it has come to Region 2 in all it`s original glory and more. The DVD includes the movie (obviously) and some rather nice inclusions including a 2 part `making of` documentary with Alan Parker, Gerald Scarfe and the enigmatic Roger Waters. The documentary is very interesting and quite enjoyable to watch unlike the second documentary which looks like it was made around 1980 and has some very dated effects. On the audio side, the sound is fantastic as you would expect from Dolby 5.1. An obvious but nice addition to the DVD is the 1979 video for `Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)` which looks a little out of place sat next to the movie. The deleted sequence for the song `Hey You` (which is one of my favourites but was ultimately cut from the movie) is included on the DVD complete with restored footage. Also included on the DVD is the rather nifty audio setup guide for your speakers as is the underlining audio commentary from Roger Waters and Gerald Scarfe. Roger does tend to wander a bit in his commentary and it sometimes seems that he is lost for words. No DVD is complete without the original trailer (which sounds like it`s voiced by the Barratt Homes voiceover man) which is so dated it`s quite funny. Finally to round up is a little thing but a nice touch which is the menu. The menu`s titles are lifted from other Floyd songs like `Set the Controls..` and the DVD menu sequences feature music from `Wish You Were Here` and `Saucerful of Secrets`. This DVD has quickly become one of my favourites but then again I am a die hard Floyd fan and non-fans will certainly have a different perspective. I`m thinking of invited my mates around to watch the DVD and relive old times but somehow I can`t help feeling it just won`t be the same...

One for nostalgia freaks everywhere, and especially us 30 somethings. This is what DVD is all about, a re-mastered soundtrack, clean film copy and excellent extras. The background info is perfect - definitely still some needle between Roger & Gerald and Alan Parker, even after 20 years!
So let`s all sit back with a few bottles of Newkie Brown (or whatever takes you back) and remember when we didn`t need no education...
Bliss.

My videotape of The Wall has become very worn out.
So, when I read that this movie made it`s way to DVD, I got all thrilled. It promised to be something special.
Well, it IS something special.
You have to like the music and make some effort to understand the story that is told with this movie. And if you do, it`s great. It is a pure joy.
The image quality of the movie is absolutely perfect. They did a very good job on the transfer. The sound is also good, very impressive.
This DVD has a lot of special extra`s. All a good and worhty addition to the movie.
The setup for the speaker system is nice.

The DVD comes with subtitles in the movie only. In the documentary subtitles are not available. For me, being Dutch, it makes it sometimes difficult to understand and follow the interview. But, that`s minor.

I can only recommend, buy it and enjoy it!

Superb DVD. Plenty of extras, including some hidden sound samples and videos clips. Documentaries, promo videos and interviews are included as well. If you buy in the right place, its cheaper than buying the CD, so excellent value for money. This is what DVD should be about.

"Pink Floyd: The Wall" : My story/Review

My name is John Dyer, but you may call me Johnny D. I am 25 years old, and here`s my story of the first time I saw "Pink Floyd: The Wall" (with some added remarks). In the past, I wasn`t a Pink Floyd fan, and sadly enough, I payed the price. Here`s how I became a fan. I was first introduced by one of Pink Floyd`s greatest and most popular albums of all time called "Dark Side of the Moon". My older brother introduced me to this album, and fortunately, he just had the tape in his car and decided to play it. At the end of the album, I was amazed at the whole idea of what Pink Floyd was trying to get at from the audiences of all their live shows. Later on, in late 1989, when I was about maybe 13 years old, I was introduced to the movie "Pink Floyd: The Wall". I would like to thank my younger brother Rob for this one. Rob, who called me on the phone, said, "Hey John! I`ve got a movie that I would like to watch with you!" I said, "Well, OK! Bring it on over!" So, Rob came over, and put the movie in. (At this point in time, there was no such thing as a DVD player). After the movie was over, I thought, "Well, well, well! What a really awesome movie Rob brought over! It really kicked ass! I give it an infinate number of stars!" When all was said and done, I decided that I should buy this movie and keep it for myself, just in case I want to become a Pink Floyd fan. So, when the next day came, I went to the mall to check to see if the video store had the movie. I went to a place called Suncoast Video and seached the "Music Video" and "Special Interest" sections. Surely enough, I found the video, and get this, it was the ORIGINAL film!! However, to my lesser advantage, I didn`t have the money to pay for it. The next day I found $25 in my desk drawer, and went to the mall at 10 o`clock sharp! I went to the same video store to see if I could find the movie ... but, it wasn`t there! I searched and searched and seached for it, but, to no avail. Surely enough, I gave up searching for it everyday, because I just couldn`t seem to find it! I didn`t see or hear about the movie ever again since that time. I decided to become a Pink Floyd fan January, 1999, because I just didn`t want to miss out on anything. In between 1990 and 1999, I did not see Pink Floyd in concert. Bummer! But since January 1999, I`ve been buying Pink Floyd CD`s, Videos, and Posters. I don`t really have that much Pink Floyd "rare" stuff, but, ever since I became a Pink Floyd fan, I`ve spent over $4,000 in Pink Floyd memoribilia. In August, 1999, I heard that Roger Waters was doing a show in Hershey, PA, which was close to Bath, PA, where I live right now. So I went. His show was awesome! It was so awesome, the show sold out before the actual show started. After the show, I went home, and I though to myself, "Well, if Roger Waters is going to do another show next year, I`d better go! And hopefully the show is near to where I live again!" On November 23, 1999, a press release went out to all Pink Floyd fans, and here`s the exact release and what it said:
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the original music album, Columbia will release the deluxe DVD Video edition of Pink Floyd - The Wall on December 2.
This landmark motion picture, which was first released by MGM in 1982, was directed by Alan Parker based upon an original screenplay by Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters . The film features exclusive animation by Gerald Scarfe with music produced by Roger Waters, David Gilmour and James Guthrie. The new DVD has been produced with the full cooperation and support of Roger Waters and producer James Guthrie, who created two new soundtracks direct from the original master tapes.
"Pink Floyd - The Wall marks a new chapter in the rapidly expanding DVD music video market" states James Diener, Vice President of A&R / Marketing for Columbia Records. "Columbia is proud to be associated with this historic reissue, which we believe will come to be regarded as a landmark in this important new music genre."
Major Production Effort
Once the project was approved by Roger Waters, an extensive search commenced to locate the best material for use in creating the new DVD master.
From the beginning, it was determined that the DVD would incorporate only the highest quality components and the most state-of-the art production methodology available. Therefore, a new telecine film transfer of the motion picture from the original widescreen interpositive was done in high definition video at the Sony Pictures High Definition Center. This was then downcoverted to create the new master for DVD compression.
The DVD authoring was coordinated by Don Eklund, Vice President of Engineering for the Sony Pictures DVD Center, who also worked closely with the Roger Waters production team to secure audio tapes from the original mags. Pink Floyd technical consultant James Guthrie, one of the film`s original music producers, was responsible for restoring, reformatting, and remastering the new 5.1 channel Dolby Digital and PCM stereo soundtracks. The production team also retrieved other elements from the archives that were necessary to complete the reworked audio.
The Sony Pictures DVD Center, under the direction of Storm Thorgerson and James Guthrie, designed new artwork for use in the DVD menus. In addition, Thorgerson interviewed and directed members of the film`s original creative team -- including Roger Waters, Alan Parker, Gerald Scarfe and James Guthrie -- to produce an all new retrospective about the motion picture. Furthermore, James Guthrie recorded a running commentary by Roger Waters and Gerald Scarfe which was used to create the DVD`s audio commentary.
The disc also features a number of interface enhancements to enrich the end user`s experience, including special audio and video content developed specifically for the disc`s navigation system. A special audio "test section" is also included to allow enthusiasts to calibrate their surround systems for optimal listening.
The entire project, including DVD compression and authoring, was completed under the direction of the Roger Waters team to insure there was no compromise in either video or audio quality. The completed master was then sent to Sony Disc Manufacturing for DVD replication.
Extensive Marketing Support
To support this extraordinary effort Columbia Records/Columbia Music Video, in cooperation with Sony Electronics, has developed a number of promotional ventures that will be launched in early December.
This includes a series of print advertisements that will run in major entertainment, enthusiast and trade publications. Columbia Records will also conduct a multifaceted radio promotion on AOR stations located in the top 20 markets.
In conjunction with this, special Pink Floyd merchandising displays will be provided to all major music accounts. In addition, a variety of value-added promotions are being planned with key retail national chains.
The definitive DVD edition of Pink Floyd - The Wall will be available on December 2. A repackaged video will also be available on VHS.
On exactly December 2nd, 1999, I bought the DVD edition of "Pink Floyd: The Wall". Can you imagine? I`ve waited a long 10 years for them to finally put this movie on DVD. In fact, to make ends meet, I bought 3 "Pink Floyd: The Wall" movies: 2 on DVD, and 1 on VHS. When the year 2000 came along, in April, all the Pink Floyd fans got their "Pink Floyd: The Wall" on either DVD or VHS. I was surprized, though, I thought, for a moment, when I bought the VHS version, that it said the movie was widescreen, but it`s not. Ever since April, I was happy. At this point, I was only half-way though buying all the Pink Floyd albums. Then, I heard, Roger Waters was doing another tour. This time I went in July, and saw Roger Waters at the New York Metrodome. My God! What a spectacular show! This was the first show of 2 New York Metrodome shows that Roger was doing. Both shows were sold out (I can`t say the second one was, because I wasn`t there for the second show). I went all by myself, and had a blast! Bought a Roger Waters signed poster ("That`s cool!"), and recently had it framed. When November came along, I still was living with my family in Bethlehem, PA, had a nice Thanksgiving, and so on. But in December, 1999, my Mother died (yeah, it`s sad). I couldn`t face up to much of anything after that incident. After all that, in January, 2000, I decided to build my own wall and have a depressed life, not only that, but tell people that doctors say that I have something called "Internal Severe Depression" from too much LSD, which was how I felt, but I never took LSD. So, for a very long time I coped with this "depression". However, later on, in mid-2000, my Dad took me to see a councelor for this matter. This councelor helped me cope with my Mother`s death, my depression, which I no longer have, and my wall, which in the mind, still stands, because I`m afraid that, if I tear my wall down, I will no longer be a Pink Floyd fan. Anyways, I kept on seeing the councelor, and I kept on going to see my friends at "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (which is a whole different story, altogether). I finally finished my collection of Pink Floyd CD`s (which is just CD`s, and only 1 rare CD), a bunch of Pink Floyd posters (but, not all of them), a few Pink Floyd books, and 3/4ths of the Pink Floyd videos (which comes out to nearly over $4,000 in Pink Floyd merchandise, already mentioned). And to this day, I am still trying to add to my Pink Floyd collection. The only thing that I would love to do, if Pink Floyd gets back together again, is go to see Pink Floyd in concert (and it doesn`t matter where). Because I only saw Roger Waters in concert twice, which was awesome, but, I feel that I want to be a part of the Pink Floyd community, who actually went to see a real Pink Floyd concert in the 70`s, 80`s, or early 90`s. I hope Pink Floyd changes their minds and get back together again, seriously. They can`t just break up and be enemies all of a sudden, because that`s not how Pink Floyd works. I would just like to say to the band: Please, get back together! Talk it over! I think it`s about time you did another tour. I am pleading for my life here! Before I go insane, and ask Pink Floyd 999,999,999 trillion times, I am saying this for your own good, for all the Pink Floyd fans out there, and especially me because I am willing to pay anything to go see a Pink Floyd concert, just reconcider regrouping back together as a band again. I am saying this for Pink Floyd`s good: it is bad enough that Pink Floyd broke up, but if they got back together again, they would shine on for the rest of their lives! I am not giving up hope for Pink Floyd, I am still going to be a Pink Floyd fan for the rest of my life, but before I die, I would just like to see a sparkle of light in the sky, not only for my sake, but for Pink Floyd`s sake! My final message: I would like all Pink Floyd fans to keep shining on, there is still hope (and lazer lights) for Pink Floyd, in the near future.
- Johnny D. (Pink Floyd Manager)
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