Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A master showman's finest hours, 13 Oct 2008
How does he do it?
There is a bit in Derren Brown's book where he makes a point often made by magicians, illusionists, mentalists - call them what you will: you don't really WANT to know how it's done. Usually the trick is so simple and straightforward that it's profoundly disappointing to know the secret. The real trick, of course, is the breathtaking showmanship with which it is executed.
All the same, I really WOULD like to know how he did these! These are some of his most audaciously-executed one-offs and fans have been waiting for them to come out on DVD for some time. His Russian Roulette stunt got the whole country talking. Some people seemed genuinely surprised that there was any element of trickery involved at all ('What, so he was never in any real danger of blowing his own head off? Aw!') but whatever your perspective, it plays brilliantly with your expectations and creates real tension.
As for The Seance, despite the fact that he TOLD everyone it was trickery and nothing supernatural was going on, it became one of Channel 4's most complained-about programmes because loads of people thought he was meddling with dark forces. This reveals just how convincing his stunts are.
I was once asked, in my capacity as a psychologist, to be in the audience of one of his other specials, The Gathering, but it wasn't one of his classics. How I wish I'd been in one of these four instead! Mesmerising stuff!
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome shows, Lame DVD Release. A missed opportunity., 5 Feb 2009
First of all, the positives. These shows are awesome. For those unacquainted, Derren Brown is an illusionist, often misconceived as a psychological trickster. He uses a fusion of various techniques, including psychology which is what he's best known for. What sets him apart from others in his field is the openness with which he admits that he's nothing but a scam artist, though an exceptionally clever one at that.
What we have here are four of the 'specials' he made for Channel 4, in order of transmission: Russian Roulette, The Seance, The Heist and The System. The specials showcase Brown's unique artistry brilliantly. What's wonderful about Brown is that his illusions are as much about the human condition, and the ways in which we're programmed to behave and think, as it is about magic or showmanship. As such, what you have here are four incredibly insightful shows that make you wonder as much as they'll have you picking your jaw up from the floor. Derren Brown is a true pioneer in the field of progressive illusionary art.
Sadly, these DVDs are a missed opportunity. This being a review for the product not the shows, a review would be amiss were it not to mention that Channel 4 have put out a wholly minimal product here, with absolutely no extras whatsoever. Also missing is Brown's special entitled 'Messiah', far superior to 'The System' and notably absent from this set (presumably because it's inclusion would have meant the set would run from two to three DVDs). Inside the box are two cases; each with a single DVD and no inside artwork or information. Given the extent to which Derren goes to ensure his shows are packed with mind-boggling footage and spurious explanations, these DVDs are a disappointment and feel like a real missed opportunity to release something amazing.
Suffice to say, they're a must-buy for any Derren fan, but having these in your collection would have been a whole lost sweeter if a little more care and effort had been made by those responsible.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mind trickery exploded and yet still mysterious, 20 Oct 2009
Derren Brown's specials are more than simple illusions. He sets out to make an argument for how we view the world around us and tries to explain why we are susceptible to these tricks. There is a fundamental problem here though, in that has to strike a balance between explaining and entertaining. Tell us too much and the 'magic' is gone. Pretend it's real magic (or hypnosis or whatever) and the whole concept is fundamentally undermined especially when much of what he tries to expose is fundamentally odious. Most magic tricks are actually quite simple but the misdirection and dressing makes them appear mystifying. Derren Brown's feats are often much more complex (though not always) but the same dressing is applied.
The discs contain four episodes:
Russian Roulette is a feat worth seeing, though by now of course you know that he survives, which does take some of the excitement out of it. The psycological conditioning of his subjects combined with his selection procedures and explanations thereof makes for pretty interesting tele but mostly you just want to see if he gets shot.
The seance was the third most complained about TV show in British TV history and is to my mind the best of the episodes. Derren Brown creates a seance on the site of a mass suicide in the style of Victorian mediums. If you believe in this stuff then this might be quite frightening and I can see why some religious people became enraged. However, he makes it clear that this charlatanry and that he doesn't believe in any of it. He even explains some of the tricks to the twelve students he has invited as he goes and yet they are still terrified and convinced they are experiencing psychic phenomena. This is a really interesting examination of how people process information and how they will willingly play along with something that rationally they know to be false. This does go a long way towards explaining Derren Brown's views on religion and spiritualists without getting too preachy. (That's probably the real reason why the religious types got so upset.)
The heist is the second best of the four episodes. Through a series of triggers and implanted suggestions a group of middle-managers (not all of whom are entirely likeable to start with) are slowly programmed to be willing to commit a robbery. The denoument of the show is placing four individuals in a position where they can conduct an armed robbery but there are plenty of interesting experiments along the way. The results are varied which is at least a little reassuring.
The system is a fascinating idea and Derren Brown conducts some really interesting tricks along the course but somehow it feels like cheating when compared with his other work. It also has an ever so slightly preachy edge towards the end of the programme.
The series gives a fascinating view of how susceptible and how predictable humans are. This might be depressing but it becomes clear that there are enough people who break with the pack to keep even Derren guessing. Sadly, he can predict which ones will buck the trend and how they'll choose to do it. Every episode is well worth watching (even the system). It is worth getting his book at the same time as it gives greater depth on how some of the tricks work for example cold reading, hypnosis and suggestion all used in a relatively short space of time in the seance. A really good buy. Could do with some extras though.
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