Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii [DVD] [2003]

Fascinating to watch how they made some of the sounds, but many of the video effects are very dated!

I bought this DVD for two reasons. Firstly, my wife and I visited Pompeii only recently, and secondly it provided a reasonable excuse to replace my old VHS version bought several years ago. Knowing pretty much what to expect the DVD is not disappointing although understandably dated in places. How does forty years treat this? Musically, the band perform with energy and verve, undimmed by modern retrospection, a time capsule of what it was like in the early 70s when the boundaries of what constituted the more adventurous horizons of popular culture were pushed to new bounds.The director rightly points out some reasons for some perceived shortcomings in the production. Drummers might disagree, but there is a little too much Nick Mason in places, when other band members do not feature so heavily. The concept of setting up in the empty amphitheatre was a an absolute masterstroke, the lack of audience simply added gravitas.Whether to watch the Director's Cut or the original version matters not a lot in my opinion - the original take just shades it simply for being condensed and has the best parts anyway. Also, it showcases the band as they were, soon to conquer all with DSOTM and WYWH. Johnny Rotten may have 'hated Pink Floyd' but the Floyd's music has endured, adored by many more fans old and new - and this DVD sets the scene for their classic era.Enjoy with a good sound system and a glass of Chianti!

Quite why Adrian Maben decided to revisit this film and make a "Director's Cut" is beyond me. He tries to justify himself during the interview which is included on this release (which, to be fair, is interesting in parts) but fails.As others have pointed out, the computer graphics are terrible, distract from the film of the band playing, and don't fit in with the rest of the shots showing the surrounding area of Pompeii. The "interviews" with the band are OK but you don't learn any real insights since they're obviously taking the micky (and are stoned). The other footage is just them having lunch, which is pretty pointless, and running through some bits for Dark Side of the Moon - which is a bit of a disconnect from the stuff the band is playing in the amphitheatre. These sections would be alright as an extra but not as an addition to the original film.Nothing of real importance is added; there is no "missing footage" or extra tracks - the (music) footage in the original film is all that exists. So do yourself a favour and watch that (which is included on the disc).The biggest travesty though is the final shot. In the original film, as the last sounds of Echoes can be heard, Richard Wright is to the left of the camera, almost our of shot, and is looking at the sunset behind the other three who are looking at him (facing the camera). In the Director's Cut, Dave Gilmour has been replaced by Hayden Christensen...

I have to admit that I found the extended version tedious to plough through. However, the original concert hidden amongst the extras made it all worth while.That concert was in 4:3 aspect ratio, but played at an amusing 16:9 on my kit until I told my tv to display it at 4:3. My expectations on the audio were not too high, but I was very pleasantly surprised when playing it on good kit.A worthwhile purchase.

I was just updating some old vids to DVD so knew what the film was, I almost come here fuming till i see the origanl version was here hidden in extras.I had the very old version once with no darkside of the moon added & that i think was best of all as you stayed in the perfect metal state during the whole film but did make handy tea making times & on dvd i new i could skip easy.This new Directors cut version seem horribal to me, sound is good but suddly going from the classic location to a train or abbey road just makes no sence & some added parts of the same greek stuff but in a museum with totaly diffing filming quality. also space ship cuts in echos all so badly added & pulling your mentaly in all direction, this version should never have been allowed & is just poor work that never needed doing.Still you can have that as a freebie since the old version is there also, thats the real old without even the darkside cut witch are in the other version, awsome.Anyone who loves the music of the era should maybe also try " Led Zepplin, The Song remains the same " if you aint already :)

Was a problem with delivery initially but all sorted as it was a Royal Mail strike, the dvd is amazing with lots of bonus features

Nice to revisit this "concert", was the first visual thing I ever watched by the Floyd back in the '80's, though even then it looked from a different era. The Director's Cut is mostly awful ,as mentioned, the whole computer graphics of Voyager going through the solar system etc.., is pants, so grateful there is the original version on the DVD.However, it's worth buying just for Gilmour's guitar solo on Echoes, though it's all very dated now. Only one track is unwatchable; "Mademoiselle Nobs" which is a blues riff with Waters on Gilmour's guitar and Gilmour playing the harmonica and a stupid mutt howling into a microphone. Fast Forwarded it in the '80's, now at least I can get past this rubbish quicker with the DVD..Would really, really love to have a BluRay version of this as I can't help feeling that my original taped off the tele VHS version and CRT TV from the 1980's had a better quality then our 21st Century LED flatscreen and DVD player....Hmmmmm....

Un most pour quiconque aime Pink Floyd,

Gillar inte den nya directors cut utan den gamla filmen. Dock finns originalet med i meny. Coolt när dom står och lirar i den gamla teatern och bilderna från vesuvius. Dock så får man ta med i beräkningen att PF vid den här tiden var som dom var. Mästerverk blandat med olyssningsbart oljud. Som t.ex Saucerful of secrets som är snudd på olyssningsbar. Men inledningen med Echoes part 1 är helt magisk. Som sagt, högt och lågt.

hangs motionless above Pompeji ....und wieder ein Director's cut, den man nicht braucht ... der neue Schnitt mit den eingefügten Bildern ist - mit Verlaub - blödsinnige Spielerei. Was hat Pink Floyd mit einem Raketenstart zu tun? Und dafür wird das langsame Zoom-in auf die Band in der Arena teilweise geopfert!?!?!Warum dann 5 Sterne? Ganz einfach: Im Menue gut versteckt findet sich der "Original-Concert-Film". HURRA! Nur die Musik, ohne die Schnipsel von Dark Side of the Moon ... damit ein wesentlicher Fortschritt zum Original-Film.Die Musik ist natürlich großartig, was jetzt aus Pompeji stammt und was aus dem Studio sei mal dahingestellt. Die Musil paßt jedenfalls gut zur Stimmung in den Ruinen - im krassen Gegensatz zu Gilmours Pompeji, das man auch bei uns in Xanten in der Arena hätte filmen können ...Der Director's Cut ist auf 16:9 umgeschnitten, der Original-Film ist etwa 4:3.Der Klang ist - verglichen mit meiner ersten Audioaufnahme (Mikro vor dem Mono-Fernseher) - hervorragend. Ansonsten Dolby Stereo 2.0 ohne Spielereien ... ganz wie die Musik.

むかしむかし、TVで見た当時の懐かしい記憶がよみがえりました。すばらしい。ギルモアのギターをかきむしる姿が記憶に残って永遠に忘れられない感動を呼び起こしました。

À force d'écouter leurs albums cultes en boucle et de surfer ici et là sur youtube pour voir le Floyd en action, j'ai décider d'acheter ce fameux live de 71. Ayant déjà vu quelques extraits je ne pouvais qu'être satisfait. Et quel bonheur, deux versions du live dans un seul dvd, des morceaux d'anthologie entrecoupés d'interview, d'images du groupe en studio, en pause dej, etc... En plus j'adore cette ambiance, les voir jouer leurs titres au milieu des ruines et sous le soleil de Pompei, ou parfois dans l'obscurité de la nuit, sans public. Un voyage musical d'une pure authenticité ! Idéal dans un moment de déprime, d'ennuis, de fatigue ou même juste pour le plaisir des oreilles, ce DVD est un vrai diamant. À force de me le passer il m'a rendu accro aux premiers album du groupe de Saucerful Of Secret, à Meddle, sans oublier leur tout premier avec Syd.Alors par contre ce film est de 71, ne vous attendez pas à des standards comme Money ou The Wall.