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ABBA - The Definitive Collection [DVD] [2002]
 
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ABBA - The Definitive Collection [DVD] [2002]

DVD ~ Anni-Frid Lyngstad
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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ABBA - The Definitive Collection [DVD] [2002]
51% buy the item featured on this page:
ABBA - The Definitive Collection [DVD] [2002] 4.7 out of 5 stars (14)
ABBA - Gold [DVD] [2008]
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ABBA - Gold [DVD] [2008] 4.5 out of 5 stars (6)
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ABBA - Super Troupers [DVD] [2004]
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ABBA - Super Troupers [DVD] [2004] 4.8 out of 5 stars (4)
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ABBA - In Concert [DVD] [1979]
4% buy
ABBA - In Concert [DVD] [1979] 3.6 out of 5 stars (5)
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Product details

  • Actors: Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Jonas Bergström
  • Directors: Lasse Hallström, Kjell Sundvall
  • Format: Full Screen, PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Universal Island
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Jul 2002
  • Run Time: 168 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00006ALCH
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 12,756 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #60 in  DVD > Music > Pop & Dance > Adult Pop

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

ABBA were one of the first pop groups to exploit the promotional video as a vehicle for publicising their music across the globe. ABBA--The Definitive Collection provides an audio-visual timeline of how their promos developed over a 10-year period from the mid-1970s to the early 80s. The first ABBA videos were simple recordings of the band miming to their songs in a studio ("Waterloo" and "Ring Ring"); then, for "Mamma Mia" and "SOS", the style was replaced by something more adventurous, focusing on the four grouped together in rival pairs. As technology and the group evolved so did their promo films, with more recent examples shot on videotape and incorporating post-production special effects and outdoor locations ("One Of Us" and "Head over Heels"). Director Lasse Hallstrom has since made the transition from these relatively low-budget vehicles to Hollywood success with Chocolat and The Shipping News.

If ABBA’s early efforts look a little primitive compared to big-budget modern music promos, the songs themselves now sound even better than ever, having been digitally re-mastered in 24-bit format. As well as featuring the digitally re-mastered promos for the majority of their single releases, exclusive previously unreleased material is also incorporated here, such as the extended original mix of "On and On and On".

On the DVD: ABBA--The Definitive Collection on DVD squeezes in all 30 videos, plus five bonus tracks which include the promos for the Spanish-language versions of "I Have a Dream", "Happy New Year" and "When All is Said and Done". The video for the never released "When I Kissed the Teacher" is also included, too, as is a camp recording of "Dancing Queen" filmed at a gala tribute for Sweden’s King and Queen. The 20-minute picture gallery is an excellent and comprehensive photographic record of the group through the years. Background information about all of the material, is discussed in the accompanying biographical booklet.--John Galilee



Video Description

DVD Special Features:
20 minute picture gallery
Biographical booklet
Bonus Tracks: (1) When I Kissed The Teacher; (2) Estoy Sonando (I Have A Dream); (3) Felicidad (Happy New Year); (4) No Hay A Quien Culpar (When All Is Said And Done); (5) Dancing Queen (at The Royal Swedish Opera)
Picture: 4:3
Languages: English Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: None

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A full collection of ABBA videos, 11 Jun 2004
By MBC "insomnia_hr" (Rijeka, Croatia) - See all my reviews
This DVD is made with ABBA fans in thought. It contains "almost" every video ABBA ever made, but it does not contain some excellent ABBA TV appearances that sometimes look much better than the videos. It also contains their hastily made Spanish videos and their (not intentionally) funny performance of Dancing Queen for the Swedish, well, Queen. Also you can view the excellent slide show while the music keeps playing. For the "surprise of the DVD" part you can fall of your chair while hearing the extra verse in mono quality of On&On&On which is quite a treat.
This DVD is really excellent and a must. I owned Gold and More Gold on VHS but some videos were ruined with changed intros and stuff like that. I give this 5 stars, but i truly hope one day we'll have the TV appearances on DVD and solo videos of Frida & Agnetha (there are some funy videos like I Won't Let You Go). There is simply more DVDs that we would buy and I guess this marks a good start because I remember that it took forever to release first ABBA DVDs.
Anyhow, a great, great buy! Excellent quality, many videos and a picture gallery with a modest booklet. 9/10 if you will.
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Innocent And Uplifting Therapy, 27 Feb 2005
By John Heaton (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
There is no other DVD out there from anyone which can guarantee a wild swinging party than this one. Whether it's a party where you invite a few like-minded friends around and have a crazy sing-along or whether you want to freak out on your own in Bridget Jones fashion.

This band were the first to take the promo video and use it as the primary method of showcasing their songs to the world. Other bands might have released classic video promos before them, most noticeably The Beatles with those weird videos for 'Strawberry Fields' and 'Penny Lane' among others dating back to the mid to late 1960s. But it was Abba who made this artform the norm. They didn't perform their new single on 'Top Of The Pops'. They just produced a marvellous video. And this was before MTV was even invented.

Their videos are not very sophisticated, by modern standards anyway. They were simple. But What An Impact they had at the time. And 30 years later they are even more irresistable. For several reasons. Their '70s clothing is obviously a highlight, and not as dated as you might think with massively flared trousers now returning triumphantly to the fashion parade. But fashion aside, these videos perfectly capture the glorious age which was the 1970s. When Abba were the biggest band in the world, when Bjorn Borg was Wimbledon champion for more than 300 consecutive weeks and Sweden could make a decent claim to be about the most important country on the Planet!

These collection of videos, especially on DVD with the related upgrade in sound quality are marvellously uplifting, almost without exception. Highlights are way too numerous to mention but if you need a few then quite apart from the all the hit singles on display here, we have superb promos for lesser known gems such as 'When I Kissed The Teacher' (Hilarious), 'Happy New Year' (Tear Jerking), and 'Eagle' (Serene). And even the lesser hits have such a charm and happiness about them: 'Bang A Boomerang' (1974) with Bjorn smiling wonderfully like a chesire cat throughout, 'I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do' (1975) with Bjorn and Benny on saxophone, and 'Head Over Heels' (1981) with Bjorn out shopping for clothes with Frida and Bored Out Of His Mind. I can relate to that!

And of the monster hits, perhaps the greatest videos are 'Knowing Me You Knowing You' (who can forget those heartbreaking farewells in the snow??), 'The Winner Takes It All' which is about as heartbreaking a record and video as that from Anyone. Then there is 'Chiquititta' with Frida almost cracking up with hysterics as the fake wind of that snowman landscape constantly blew her hair across her face! And the video for 'Name Of The Game' is so perfect, and heartfelt.

And if I haven't mentioned some it is simply because there are so many class videos here that it is difficult to fathom. 'One Of Us' is heartbreaking. 'The Day Before You Came' is a latter day Abba classic, with a video to match it, well ahead of its time. The final scene of their last single and video 'Under Attack' (1982) with the four of them walking out of that dark warehouse into a bright light is incredibly moving. And Sad.

The bonus tracks include a wonderful Spanish video for 'I Have a Dream'. Or whatever that is in Spanish. Never recorded in English, but I'll take the Spanish version and cherish it.

If you are an Abba fan and you (and your friends) need cheering up ever in this sometimes stressful and complicated world then there is No Better DVD out there. This band brought and bring such happiness to the world that it is about time it was officially recognised. Thank You! :-)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars ABBA Profiled, 23 April 2004
By Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
With thirty-five videos to view on one disc, this truly is the ultimateABBA collection. Although music videos were progressive in the seventies,these still look very dated. Most are just poor lip-synching with badsets, but that's okay. ABBA was about the music more than anything and thequality of the sound is fantastic. The video that truly stands out is,"The Day Before You Came". The song has always been under-rated and itseems like a lot of thought was put into this filming.
It's too bad this is not available on DTS Surround Sound, but maybe in thefuture it will be available on that and SACD! To top it all off, theprofiling against face-on head shots is hilarious. You know they had funwith those. In the end, however, it is all about what four Swedesaccomplished in a very short period of time. ABBA made a huge mark on theworld of music and this is a great way to celebrate it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best ABBA dvd.
I bought this dvd as a birthday present for my wifeAbba - Definitive Collection [2002] [VHS] She is a huge fan and had always wanted this disc, but for some reason had never got... Read more
Published 4 months ago by P. G. BURNS

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore ABBA Gold... this is the one to buy
This collection is now hard to get hold of in the shops, Polydor (for reasons only they know) happy instead to still be flogging the inferior ABBA Gold DVD with its 19 videos... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Vauxhall1964

5.0 out of 5 stars Abba...EXTRAORDINARY!!!
Well, I'm an italian girl and here in Italy I couldn't find anything about ABBA. When I found this site I was enthusiastic because here I could finally find something about them,... Read more
Published on 13 May 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars OOOOH YES!
This is so totally brilliant! I wasn't born when ABBA were famous, and all I had was a couple of compilations for a birthday and then Xmas two years ago. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2004 by claire_on_ice

5.0 out of 5 stars Video pioneers in action
A strong dislike of touring meant that ABBA had to find another way to promote themselves, so they opted for "promotional films" (as they were called back then). Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2003 by T. Kavanagh

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff
Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida were one of the most successful groups of all time. During the 70s they were dismissed by some sniffy types, but their music is still admired by... Read more
Published on 2 Jul 2003 by colinbaker6

3.0 out of 5 stars ABBA - The Definitive Collection, OK But...
It's says 2 hour 48 min, but 20 min out off that time is a picture slideshow.

On my ABBA GOLD and ABBA MORE GOLD vhs tapes there is a video called "lay all your love on... Read more

Published on 21 Sep 2002 by kml_dk

4.0 out of 5 stars Great DVD, never enough of this wonderful quartet.
The reason I rated this DVD 4 and not 5 , is because though it's Dolby Digital remastered Stereo only,
and not a true surroud sound 5.1 . Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars abba the definitve collection
I have been an Abba fan since the 70's. So many memories, so many thoughts of friends, many of them, sadly, no longer around. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2002 by elliot corbett

5.0 out of 5 stars THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC !!
How glad I was to hear that all the videos of ABBA were released in a "coffret" format !
It was like a dream becoming true. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2002 by millysw

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