Product: Ziggy Stardust [VHS]
Rating: 5.0
At last, a stellar sound mix pushes this movie up to 5 stars
For years the concert film "Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders FromMars" was infamous for its grainy visual look and absolutelyabysmal sound mix, which was particularly bad on the first foursongs. Which was a shame, since the concert was clearly excellent, featuring Bowie at an early performing peak with his "Ziggy" concept. Now, at last, with this 2003 rereleasethe film has been given a just sound remix by DA Pennebaker, whoexplains why the sound had always been so bad on previousreleases in the accompanying booklet.The difference between the old and new versions is literally night and day. Now the sound is spectacularly loud and clear,in 5.1 surround--I never knew it would *ever* sound this good.This increases one's appreciation of the concert 500%, and shows The Spiders From Mars to have been a great backing group, with Ronson of course a particular delight on his solos for classics like "Moonage Daydream" and "Width Of A Circle". The entirefilm is an homage to the glory days of glam-rock, when fanatical UK audiences would dress up in the glittery makeup and outfits of their rock idols and act out each line of the songwith them; the audience is truly a sensational thing to beholdin this film, as they seem completely mesmerized, almost as if they were under hypnosis (on the other hand, Angie Bowie's briefcameo at the beginning shows her to have been a supremelysuperficial, self-serving and annoying presence!).Every song is a classic, with some like "All The Young Dudes", "My Death" and "White Light/White Heat" that never made it onto a Bowie studio album, and others like the climactic "Width Of A Circle" that were greatly expanded. Bowie's androgynous outer-space image--replete with lightning-quick costume changes and some lurid interplay between himselfand Ronson (kneeling and licking the guitar during a solo, and so forth) was a phenomenon at the time and still pretty legendary, although in actuality the spectacle was relativelymodest compared to the concurrent antics of Alice Cooper orGabriel-era Genesis. But it is the audience which probably lingers on the most after every viewing--the like of which has never been seen since.The film also comes with a bonus poster, although personally I would've taken it without, at a lower price.