Pink Floyd - The Wall (Limited Edition) [DVD] [1982]

It's just how The Wall was meant to be watched - but the technology didn't exist to do it justice. But with the advent of home cinema systems this DVD just brings the film to life.

What tops it all off for me are the special features included on the disc - which are so numerous it puts other DVD's to shame. Documentaries, music videos, unreleased footage of the film, interviews, trailers, sound set-up sections - it's got it all.

If you've got The Wall on video and can't see the point in upgrading - ignore those voices and buy this DVD! The transformation from VHS to DVD really is amazing.

For years Floydies have had to put up with a muddy pan and scan print of Alan Parker's great experiment. But this disc boasts a new high definition film transfer from the original wide-screen interpositive (that's the holiest of holies when it comes to clean, virginal prints) and a re-mastered 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack that bursts out of your speakers like it's throwing you a surprise party. Gerald Scarfe's animation is given a stunning makeover and Peter Biziou's photography, always murky on the VHS, is clearer and crisper than ever.

There are few directors who would have the nerve to take on a feature length movie version of an already successful double album, with no dialogue and a thirty-five page script written by a rock star based only on his lyrics. But Alan Parker has never been one to allow himself to be pigeonholed. This is the man who, in musical cinema alone, has given us Bugsy Malone, Fame, The Commitments and Evita.

The film follows the fortunes of Pink, played with a dazed glaze by Bob Geldof, an amalgam of rock's greatest victims including Keith Moon and the Floyd's own Syd Barrett, as he reflects on his life from a trashed hotel room in Los Angeles. One of the problems of the film is that Pink spends so much of his time stoned, staring into space or smashing televisions that you find it difficult to feel sorry for the poor millionaire rock star. But for all the failures of the narrative, The Wall is a film of great moments, most of which come from Scarfe's animation; the marching hammers, the rather rude flower dance and the superb climax of The Trial.

The disc is just crammed with extras. The animated menus are gorgeous and are accompanied by snippets of music from the Floyd's classic seventies albums. There are two documentaries. The first, The other side of the Wall (25 minutes), was made at the time of the film's release and sadly, the years have not been kind. The picture is all flicker and grain and the sounds wobbles to and fro making the 'Gravelly-voice-over-man' sound nauseous. But the film includes rare concert footage from The Wall concerts (although the music is drowned out by the voice-over) and the haircuts sported by Parker, Waters et al, are hilarious. The second, more revealing 45 minute documentary Retrospective comes in two parts and was made last year. Waters, never the prettiest member of the band now looks like Richard Gere (not necessarily a good thing). He, Parker and Scarfe all talk frankly about their often tumultuous relationships and the difficulties in making the film. Waters admits the film lacks humour and is never entirely sure what the film's about. Parker describes trying to direct vast crowds of skinheads who got a little too involved in the fascist rally scenes and Scarfe reveals his astonishment when a scribbled doodle on the back of an envelope became a very expensive set at Shepperton studios. Other contributions come from cinematographer Biziou, producer Alan Marshall and sound engineer James Guthrie who all provide excellent anecdotal dialogue; Biziou particularly enjoys recalling trying to attach a camera to a pendulum for the swimming pool scene. Sadly, the other members of the band, who admittedly had little to do with the film, have been written out of history after their falling-out with Waters and are glimpsed only briefly in the first documentary and in the gallery of productions stills. Still, it would have been nice to hear from guitarist Dave Gilmour who co-produced the soundtrack and made major contributions to the original album.

However, you do get a running commentary from Waters and Scarfe, who can be a little hard on Parker at times and take a long time to warm to the film (there are some long gaps where you suspect they may have nodded off). But they can be informative and funny; Waters' diabolical impersonation of Geldof has to be heard to be believed, and Scarfe describes the painstaking detail that went into the animation. There's also a trailer, the aforementioned production stills, and a gallery of Scarfe's original drawings. They also throw in the original video for Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), which was hurriedly cobbled together by Scarfe when the single got to number one. Finally there's a wonderfully anorakish Technical Sound Set Up guide, which advises you to buy a sound pressure level to find the optimum positions and levels for your speakers. The only downside is the scene/song selection menu which lists the chapters only by numbers and the inclusion of special 'Secret buttons' which are so secret I have yet to find them.

But this is the kind of disc your machine was made for and if you're a Floyd fan without a DVD player, you owe it to yourself to buy one. Altogether now: "We don't need naaa edjucashun..!"

Pink Floyd have always been self indulgent and Roger Waters has an ego that needs careful handling (something that the excellent director Alan Parker found out a bit too late) and some of the extras are therefore only for die hard fans.

This is an excellent film that has been given another boost. If you liked it on video then buy the DVD - you'll love it.