Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great commentary from the master himself finally makes this movie work!, 12 April 2006
It has taken over 30 years for this movie, in its original version, to finally be officially released! and what a special gem this is, but...
WARNING - i must suggest that ANY new viewer of this movie should firstly watch this movie WITH Alice Cooper's commentary, otherwise you most likely will not fully enjoy it, may even hate it and may never give it another chance which would actually be a pity. why?...
firstly... hard-core Alice fans, who have endured many years of watching average quality versions of the 2nd version of this movie (which saw limited theatrical release in 1974 and had most of the 'comedy' story parts replaced by Alice press conference footage and clips from old Hollywood movies - overall, aside from the live footage, not a very enjoyable viewing experience) and watching dire quality versions of this original version, will certainly marvel at the quality of this release... and everyone else may complain about the at-times sketchy print, dull picture, or crackly sound. it's sharp and completely watchable, but be prepared for imperfections - this release is from movie prints that have sat unplayed and decaying in some vault for over 30 years! it may as well be antique...
secondly... the live footage, though too darkly filmed, is superb and effectively captures the meyhem of the Billion Dollar Babies show and Alice Cooper's character as a drunken socialist punk of the times. but the movie as a whole - with a 'comical' story line, weaved between the concert footage, of a mentally-deranged German film director (Herr Director) out to seek revenge on the "Cooper gang" for trashing his film set and walking out on him leaving all hopes of him making a brilliant ground-breaking movie to trash - just doesn't work. it's not that funny, badly directed, badly edited (due to hardly any editing done so the story parts go for way too long), and for some can be rather painful viewing...
HOWEVER... what makes this movie an enjoyable watch is watching it with Alice Cooper commentating through it. he laughs at the absurdity of it (even the bad acting), points out the meanings of the scenes, the inside jokes, the cliches, the "art" of his live act, is startled himself by the onstage grossness, and most interestingly, talks about the band members and characters including what 'Alice Cooper' meant in America at the time (completely different to Cooper's present onstage character). he managed to turn what seems like a tragic attempt of film-making (which it is) into a deep, dark, and crazy package capturing the essence of a truly decedant time for the band!...
Alice Cooper himself gives you the sense that this movie was made for the band's own pleasure - the band and friends making it 'got it', but no one else did - but now we get to be on the inside and can finally have the chance to understand it and laugh with it, and better understand Alice Cooper too...
2 stars for the story parts...
4 stars for the concert footage...
5 stars for Alice Cooper's commentary...
and 4 stars for the many extras which includes a 'Play Concert Only' option, outtakes and deleted scenes, excerpts of Alice Cooper's charming press conference interview, and the omitted live footage of Unfinished Sweet featuring the frisky onstage shenanigans!
4 STARS ALL-UP! Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper (get it?)
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7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A dissapointed die hard fan of the original band, 17 Feb 2006
As the song goes - I've been waiting so long for this thing to come! I am a fan of the BAND that was known as Alice Cooper as opposed to the singer who fronted the group. I turned onto Cooper when I was 12 & Schools Out hit the charts. Due to my age I missed seeing the original Alice Cooper group so when this DVD was released I was eagerly anticipating seeing Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Neal Smith & Dennis Dunaway play live (I have seen Alice himself many times) but what a dissapointment - the camera remains focused on Alice right throughout the gig - even during a wonderful guitar break from Glen Buxton RIP, during "I'm 18", the camera remains rooted to the singer! Maybe its just the way it was edited & deliberately put together this way - I know Alice has always tried to hide away the talents of the other band members! There are only occasional flashes of brilliance from Mike & Neal (Neal Smith must be one of the most underated drummers of the past 30 years)
The rest of the 'film' sequence is utter trash in a similar weird way in which the Beatles films were put together.
I still wait for the day when there will be released, a DVD that actually features the guys in the band.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, 27 Feb 2009
Great video footage of the Billion Dollar Babies live tour. A real treat for Alice Cooper fans, great to see the original line up and Alice on top form as he was back in the early days.Easy to see why he was considered so shocking in those early days.
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