Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene in Moscow [DVD]

So why the reserved 3-star rating? Jarre concerts have always been difficult to capture on film - his canvas is nothing less than the skyline. But this film seems to completely avoid this challenge altogether by focusing on close-ups on stage. Views of the vast, painted, building-scape are occasional. This documentation of the concert stands in stark contrast to what the live audience surely experienced - a unique fusion of architecture, music, and pyrotechnics. And although the Young Bolshoi Dancers are listed as part of the concert, they are not seen on this video.

The soundtrack is solid but unexceptional. No high-quality PCM audio track is available - only the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0. The balance matches the film, focusing on close-up sound rather than capturing the pyrotechnics-music combination that the audience must have heard.

The documentary will turn out to be far more interesting for many fans. Again, for US fans, this is the only chance to catch a glimpse, however brief, of footage from other concerts such as Docklands (London) and La Defense (Paris). This 53-minute piece traces Jarre's entire career, with particular attention placed on the evolution of his ground-breaking concerts.

Now for this DVD... what we have here is edited concert, what could be also explained with the word 'Oxygene'. For example, we have about 6 minutes of Rendez-Vous 2, and in the concert a 9-minute edit was played. Since the DVD is Oxygen in Moscow, they have scrapped f.ex. 'Ethnicolor', 'Equinoxe 7' and 'Equinoxe 4', and even more is missing. And many of the other tracks are edited, and like previous reviewer said, the sounds don't sync.

Like previous reviewer also said, the laser harp seems like it hasn't no sensor or no trigger. During the concert, the laser harp was mailfunctioning a little (some notes sounded strange), so it wasn't really fake. But in this DVD, IT SEEMS LIKE ONE!

First I would have given 5 stars to this DVD. Like it first seemed to be. Good music and great performance (althought I would like to see something else than the players since this is a Jarre-concert...). But I take one star out because many of the songs were left out or then edited (excerpt of Chronologie 6 in the end doesn't make me feel better...). Again one star out for not bothering synchronising the drums/laser harp/etc. One star out for not having any extras (like the better Brazilian edition). So 2 stars for the DVD. But I'll add 1 star for the DVD because of 'Making the Steamroller Fly'-document. It is great to view for people who don't know a rats arse about Jarre, nice document.

And this is the only Jarre DVD that exists, what is very sad to me. I would like to see 'Paris La Defense', 'Destination Docklands' etc. via DVD. But then again, we could have the edits of the concerts. However, as this is the only Jarre DVD, it is very nice bonus to Jarre-collection. But it has it's flaws...