Music for Montserrat (1997) |
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Music for Montserrat (1997) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Music | None | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1997 | ||
| Running Time | 112:00 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Programme | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Jon Blow |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Vision |
Starring |
Phil Collins Arrow & His Band Carl Perkins Jimmy Buffett Mark Knopfler Sting Elton John Eric Clapton Paul McCartney |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | Various |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | 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 | ||
Music for Montserrat is a benefit concert designed to help raise money for the people of the Caribbean island of Montserrat which was devastated by volcanic activity in 1995. Montserrat happened to have a number of respected recording studios on the island and many of the greats of music had recorded there. This concert, MC'd by Sir George Martin, contains many of the artists that had spent time on Montserrat. Their feelings for the place are evident in this concert, which was recorded in the Royal Albert Hall on September 15, 1997. None of the artists accepted payment for this concert and a percentage of sales of the DVD will go to the Montserrat Foundation.
After the introduction from Sir George, the music begins. All songs are performed in front of a packed and appreciative audience. There are few DVDs with such a plethora of talent all evident in the one concert.
There is a very positive spirit evident throughout the concert. All the legendary performers get together for the last few tracks fronting a band packed with the biggest names in the industry. The quality of the performances is first rate and thoroughly enjoyable.
| 1. Introduction-Sir George Martin 2. Phil Collins-Take Me Home 3. Arrow And His Band-Hot, Hot, Hot 4. Carl Perkins-Blue Suede Shoes 5. Jimmy Buffett-Volcano 6. Mark Knopfler-Brothers In Arms 7. Mark Knopfler-Money For Nothing 8. Sting-Message In A Bottle 9. Sting-Magic 10. Elton John-Your Song | 11. Elton John-Live Like Horses 12. Elton John-Don't Let The Sun Go... 13. Eric Clapton-Broken Hearted 14. Eric Clapton-Layla 15. Eric Clapton-Same Old Blues 16. Paul McCartney-Yesterday 17. Paul McCartney-Golden Slumbers 18. Paul McCartney-Hey Jude 19. Paul McCartney-Kansas City 20. End Credits |
Music for Montserrat is a fine modern production shot on videotape. Overall, this quality 1.33:1 non-16x9 enhanced production is free from any criticism.
The luminance portion of the transfer is of very high quality. The transfer was very sharp with lots of detail. Darker parts of the picture looked great. Shadow detail was fine and there was no low level noise.
The DVD is very colourful, like many such stage productions that use lots of strong lights of various colours. Despite all the strong colours, there were no problems with the colour in the transfer.
MPEG artefacts were also not a problem. The transfer to DVD has been done well.
This is a single layered disc with no layer change.
All-in-all, there are no real problems with this very high quality transfer.
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| Shadow Detail | |
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Music For Montserrat is about music and here the DVD delivers. This is a great soundtrack!
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well recorded and used in a discrete manner which ensures a fine natural sound that makes the DVD a joy to listen to over and over. There were no sync problems with the disc.
The surround mix favours the front speakers with the surrounds being mostly used for ambience and crowd noise although they were almost constantly active.
The bass in general is nice and tight, although with a few exceptions (such as at the start of Brothers In Arms) .1 channel use is reserved.
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| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
Nothing. I do not count a menu as an extra.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This is a Region 4 PAL DVD. I own the Region 1 version and can say the two are identical in sound and picture quality. The local version's back cover does not mention all the songs but apart from that there are no differences. Even the menus are similar. There is a DTS version available of this concert which I have sampled which sounds slightly better but is otherwise identical. Even the running times on the R1 and R4 versions are the same at 112 minutes. Our version is going to cost you less and thus is the one of choice.
You just have to look at the list of musicians and the music they perform on this disc to know that you will be in for something special. The transfer to DVD of this concert does not let things down. I highly recommend this DVD.
| Video | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba 2109, using Component output |
| Display | Toshiba 117cm widescreen rear projection TV. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Rotel RSP-985 THX Ultra certified surround pre-amp. |
| Amplification | Parasound HCA-2003 3x300w THX certified power amp, NAD 208THX 2x300w power amp. |
| Speakers | Velodyne HGS-18 1250w 18” servo-driven subwoofer, Celestion A3 front speakers, A2 rear speaker (full range) and A4c center channel speaker. |