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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Phil Collins-Serious Hits Live (1990)

Phil Collins-Serious Hits Live (1990)

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Released 13-Oct-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Booklet
Multiple Angles-With Camera Map
Gallery-Photo-Stage Construction Stills Sequence, With Text
Gallery-Still - Tour Programme
Gallery-Photo
Interviews-Cast-Phil Collins ( With Subtitles)
Notes-About This Disk
DVD Credits
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production 1990
Running Time 185:37 (Case: 184)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Jim Yukich
Studio
Distributor
Warner Vision
Warner Vision
Starring Phil Collins
Case Slip Case
RPI $59.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    I have been a part-time follower of Phil Collins for some years now. I first came to his music as a fan of Genesis (Phil is the lead singer and drummer for the group). I remember listening to the vocals on Follow You, Follow Me and being entranced. I continued to follow the group (sorry about that) through the Duke and Abacab albums and also enjoyed the solo songs that Phil Collins produced over this period.

    This DVD captures the earlier period of his career, as it was originally filmed in 1990 (so there are none of his later songs, such as the ones from Tarzan, represented here). As he was at his most prolific in the 1980s many of his most successful songs are included. I'm sure most people would recognize at least In The Air Tonight and Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now). A couple of his popular cover versions are also present, including You Can't Hurry Love and A Groovy Kind Of Love. For those of you who have been enjoying Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook, Phil even branches out with a version of Irving Berlin's Always which is not too shabby.

    The concert captured on this double DVD set is the Berlin show in his 1990 "Serious Tour". The audience numbers around 17,000 and they really get into the show, which adds heaps of atmosphere. Phil Collins and his group are also in fine form, with the vocals particularly good for a live performance. The guitarist is also very good (Daryl Stuermer who also joined Genesis at around this time).

    The running time of the set is generous, coming in at just over 160:00, plus an interview segment of 24:34, which adds up to the listed running time. The play list is also good; though a couple of the songs seem a bit like filler, there are enough tracks and enough variety to please most. I have no doubt that even casual fans (if such a term makes sense) will find a lot here to enjoy. The presentation of the set in a nice heavy card slipcase and with reasonable Extras is also attractive, though the asking price is a little on the high side.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Track Listing

1. Hand In Hand
2. Hang In Long Enough
3. Against All Odds(TakeA LookAtMeNow)
4. Don't Lose My Number
5. Inside Out
6. Do You Remember?
7. Who Said I Would
8. Another Day In Paradise
9. Separate Lives
10. Saturday Night And Sunday Morning
11. The West Side
12. That's Just The Way It Is
13. SomethingHappenedOnWayToHeaven
14. Doesn't Anybody StayTogetherAnymore
15. One More Night
16. Colours
17. In The Air Tonight
18. You Can't Hurry Love
19. Two Hearts
20. Sussudio
21. A Groovy Kind Of Love
22. Easy Lover
23. Always
24. Take Me Home

Transfer Quality

Video

    This concert was originally presented on television in 1990, and the transfer shows its pedigree as a result. While the picture is good, it is continuously apparent that you are watching a good television picture and not a good film source.

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced, which is its original aspect ratio.

    Overall sharpness is quite good, without being particularly outstanding. Shadow detail is also acceptable, though this is an outdoor concert, filmed between late afternoon and early evening, so that some of the dark patches are REALLY dark (see 11:05 on Disc 2 as an example). There is very little low level noise.

    The colour is variable, as is to be expected from a concert performance with a lot of variously coloured lights being used on the stage. When the lighting is good, so is the colour (see the guitar at 6:30 on Disc 1 for a nice, bright example).

    The print is in very good condition, with only a very few moments when damage is evident (the rare instances of damage stand out quite markedly as a result). The most notable flaw is a vertical line at 48:17 which only lasts a short time. There is also some minor aliasing on the keyboard at 25:17 on Disc 1, but there is none on Phil Collins' striped shirt, which is encouraging.

    There are no subtitles / lyrics, except:

    There are two layer changes. The one on the first disc is at 40:02, between tracks 6 and 7. The one on the second disc is at 57:37, between tracks 8 and 9. Both are brief, but cause a slight pause in audience applause.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The 5.1 Dolby Digital audio transfer on this disc is very good, which shows some attention was paid to it in remastering. It is good enough for me to wish that there had been a dts track provided as well.

    There are two audio tracks on these DVDs. The best of these is the Dolby Digital 5.1 track encoded at 448 Kb/s. The other audio track is a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track encoded at 192 Kb/s, which is adequate if you can't play the 5.1 track, but sounds flat in comparison. I listened to all of the 5.1 track and most songs with the 2.0 track as well.

    The dialogue (well, singing) quality is very good, with Phil Collins' distinctive voice rendered to fine effect, with excellent audio sync. Try Against All Odds as an example of how good he sounds here.

    The music is excellent, and each of the instruments sounds very good. The only exceptions (surprising given the fact that Phil Collins is a drummer) are the two sets of drums, which don't sound as full as they might. I should also mention that the lively star only occasionally plays the drums during the concert. At other times he is at the front of the stage whipping up the crowd or on keyboards (the drums are mostly played by Chester Thompson).

    The 5.1 track is a sound transfer with excellent ambience and dimensionality. While listening you really feel a part of the crowd, with the music nicely placed across the front of the soundstage and harmonies and instrumental flourishes fading nicely from front to back. The only negative element is that at times the placement of the instruments in the soundfield is a little vague. The 2.0 track sounds flat by comparison (listen to the drums at 16:37 on Disc 1), but only because the 5.1 track sounds so good. If you can only listen to the 2.0 track you should still be satisfied.

    The subwoofer shows good presence in most of the tracks, without perhaps being as full as it could be.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    There seems to be a growing trend towards providing a few Extras on music DVDs, which is "a good thing". The ones here are notable more by their quantity than by their quality, but they are not too bad as a package.

Menu

    The menu is animated, and allows you to go to the feature, the audio selection, the camera selection screen (more on this later), the song selection screen (12 on each disc - songs 10 and 11 on Disc 1 are a medley), the Extras (some on each disc), and a disc information screen (including DVD credits). The Extras are listed below by disc.

Multiple Camera Angles

    Most of the songs (with only two exceptions at the start of Disc 2) are available with multiple camera angles. This is quite a nice feature, as you can see what is going on with the various members of the band, which is not always apparent from the main picture. The flip side is that this can sometimes be a rather poor picture as it has often been rejected by the director as not being worth inclusion in the main presentation. The available camera angles vary from track to track and are listed in the disc information screens. It would have been nice to have this information available in the booklet as well.

Booklet

    This is a four page leaflet which shows each of the band members. It would have been better if it also had a bit of background on the songs, or the performers, or both (but it is nice to have it anyway).

Programme (on Disc 1)

    A 15 screen reproduction of the tour programme. A nice touch, though a bit hard to read on your TV.

Gallery One (on Disc 1)

    16 photos from the concert (see also Gallery Two, below).

The Stage (on Disc 1)

    A text description (4 pages) with 16 accompanying diagrams and photos of the construction of the stage.

Documentary (24:34, on Disc 2)

    An interview with Phil Collins in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. While the discussion is quite informative and articulate it is padded out with a lot of music repeated from the main show, so that it probably actually runs for 5-10 minutes. Phil was obviously very excited to capture such a good show with such a great crowd reaction on film.

Gallery Two (on Disc 2)

    17 more photos. I'm not too sure why this was split off from the gallery on the first disc - perhaps to make it look like there are lots of extras on both discs? (sorry to be so cynical).

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 version of this DVD set appears to be identical to the Region 4, so that the Region 4 version is preferred because of the PAL picture.

Summary

    This is a very enjoyable concert performance by a popular and talented star, backed by a nice team of musicians. The sound is very good, which is a key factor on a music DVD, and the picture is also in fine shape. The Extras are reasonable, and the whole package is nicely presented in a clip box inside a slipcase. While the recommended price is a little high, I have seen it discounted below $45, at which price it is an attractive proposition. Phil Collins fans in particular should go out and buy this now.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Robert Davison (read my bio)
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba SD-K350, using Component output
DisplaySONY VPL-HS10 LCD projector, ABI 280cm 16x9 screen. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderKenwood. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationKenwood
SpeakersKenwood

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