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Live Aid [1985]


RRP: £39.99
Our Price: £14.50 (subject to change)

This is not just a Live Aid DVD. Amazon Sort it out!!!!
Review date: 2008-03-25 Rating: 10 out of 10

The reviews on this DVD seem to be from the Live Aid DVD available elsewhere. This DVD is "Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid", the Live Aid bit lasts around 15 minutes and is Queen's set in the afternoon and Brian and Freddie playing "Is this the world we created?", there are also the odd interview and some rehearsal footage here, these bits however should be seen as "extras", the main event is the 2 concerts filmed in Montreal in 1981.

Any one who is a Queen fan, probably has the "We Will Rock You" video or DVD, well this is the exact same film, but the quality in High Definition is astounding. The band apparently did not enjoy making this, they also did not own it, apparently they now do, and this HD DVD is a Queen Production. If you need any proof it is created by Queen, listen to the commentary supplied by Taylor and May, to get an insight into the 2 concerts and the events surrounding it.

Like I said previously the quality is astounding, the picture has been greatly improved, this was always one of my least favourite videos of Queen as I thought the quality was quite awful, this has been more than resolved. The sound quality is also now excellent.

So in summary, if you have the old version of this release I would advise you to definitely buy this version to get a true feeling of the concerts. It has been turned from something I would probably have never watched again into a truly great Queen concert experience, and for that it gets 5 stars.

Cheers!!

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Reviews


Just Brilliant... I only wish I'd been alive to see the real thing
Review date: 2008-01-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

Whatever made Bob Geldof think he could do this again with Live 8? This is possibly one of the greatest concerts ever, it's just a shame it didn't happen in my lifetime.

Well, I don't know what to say.....
Review date: 2007-05-07 Rating: 6 out of 10

Like so many other reviewers, I devoted the day to watching this, put the radio through my band's PA in the garden, bought in about 4 barrels of Beardoe's Old Weasel (which went pretty quickly), invited a gang, fed all the livestock early for once and put the TV in the window so that we could all watch. Even farming had to stop for a day.

And what a mixed bag it all is. I do not agree with the last reviewer that it is "dross" but there is a lot of truth in what he says. Like 'em or loathe 'em, Dire Straits and Queen showed everybody the way home, closely followed by B B King on quite magnificnet form, beamed to our TVs. In fact, a lot of our guests had only the vaguest notion of who B B King was, but after a few numbers they all knew very well who he was. I find it almost beyond belief that his performance is hardly ever mentioned. There were some real horrors, such as the now-famous debacle with Dylan, which was unspeakable, and our gang found U2 pretty unbearable, but at least they could cut it.

There is no point in reviewing all the acts, but this DVD picks up a very great deal of it. Nobody in their right minds could sit through all four DVDs (you need 6 pints of Beardoe's Old Weasel for that), but you can pick at it. The bottom line is that it veers from very good to beyond parody, sadly with more acts heading towards parody. I suppose the wonder is that like the bumble bee, it flew at all. If only Bob had managed to get Eric Clapton and, even better, Rory Gallagher, then it would have started to become an event to remember for the music rather than for the event. Very flawed, but interesting.

A capsule in time in the history of rock 'n roll
Review date: 2007-02-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

The day was July 5th 1985, and at the grand old age of 11, and having an avid music fan for a father I sat down and watched in awe as the biggest rock 'n roll event of all time kicked off. Status Quo started with the only song that could have opened a show of this scale "Rockin' All Over The World". Between midday (London time) and when the sun went down, I watched as much as I could, as well as playing over the park on my BMX!! What followed was what can only be described as a day and night of the who's who of music acts at that point in time. At Wembley the standouts undoubtedly were Queen, U2, Bowie, Dire Straits, Sting and Elton John. Over in Philly I feel personally it was more of a mixed bag, not the performers on show but the performances. Madonna jumped about for 15 minutes entertainingly, Simple Minds were at their peak, The Beach Boys just about got away with it. Ozzy and Black Sabbath rocked and later into the night Mick & Tina were embarrassing, and the less said about Keef, Ronnie and Dylan the better. After reading some of the other reviews I totally agree that the flow of the show is slighly up and down, and time hasn't been too kind to some of the 'stars' of the '80's. But that's part of the charm for me. Also it ought to be noted that some of the original tapes have gone missing between 1985 and 2004 when it was decided to re-master and finally release it to the public. At the time both of the gig both the BBC in the UK and MTV in the states who broadcast it simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic, were actually told by a certain Sir Bob Geldoff that they were not to record it as he feared bootleggers would profit from it. Luckily they ignored him so I think we should be thankful for any footage that has survived. Yes Led Zeppelin's set is not here, and other artists did perform longer sets than on offer here, but given that no-one had attempted a concert on this scale previously I think they pulled it off fairly well considering the technology available at the time. It is, simply put a capsule in time and will always be fondly remembered by myself and despite what the cynics say I think it's great. Buy it, you won't regret it.

A Magic Day
Review date: 2006-07-18 Rating: 8 out of 10

Just when it seemed the idealism of sixties youth was gone forever along comes Geldof to stoke it up again. The price this DVD is now retailing at makes it one of the biggest bargains in recorded rock music and will make a worthy addition to any collection. There are a lot of quality performance but my favourite is probably U2 who were just about to go mega on the back of this performance. I think each year I'll try and keep a day aside for celebrating this event again - there is so much good karma about it. At the present price buy it without hesitation knowing your buying into a piece of musical history and feel good about doing so at the same time because you are also helping the Live Aid causes with your purchase.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
George Michael (II)
Jim Kerr
Bob Geldof
Tracey Ullman
Griff Rhys Jones

Creators:
Bob Geldof (Primary Contributor)
Griff Rhys Jones (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Music Vision
Manufacturer: Warner Music Vision
EAN: 0082564618952
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, Compilation, Live, PAL,
Release date: 2004-11-08
Universal product code (UPC): 082564618952
Number of discs: 20041108
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Exempt
Region code: 2
Running time: 560 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1985-07-13
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

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