Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii (Director's Cut)

This is Pink Floyd...the best of the best in their music genre!

This dvd comes with a widescreen directors cut and the original short 4:3 film. The film was originally released on video years ago as a long version and a short version. Until now, I'd never seen the short version so maybe it was only released in Europe. The short feature doesn't have any interviews with the band or shots of the band recording dark side of the moon. And the long version (not included here and probably the one you rented from your local video store years ago) was intercut with all the extra scenes. The included directors cut is similiar to the original long version but has been rebuilt from ground up. It contains all the original scenes, interviews plus lots of weird scenes of moons revolving around strange planets, space ships taking off, plus new footage of Pompeii, etc. Most people have never seen the original short or the directors cut. And like a lot of purists here I watched the original short verson first and of course my first observation was the lack of scenes like Nick Mason complaining about the crust on his apple pie. I didn't mind the lack of interviews and such, and frankly, the original short plays just great the way it is. It sticks to the Pompeii theme and I like that a lot. As a bonus the directors cut also includes some extra interviews which have never been previously released. There is one very funny scene of a very stoned Roger Waters giving the director a very hard time during an interview. It also contains new footage of Pompeii plus lots of scenes of space ships taking off, and moons revolving around strange alien planets. It's kinda weird and you may not like it much at first, but it certainly grows on you and it was all done very well. So my advice would be, if you're a purist, stick to the original short and then simply skip through the directors cut to see the interviews and studio scenes. And also, the sound quality is just fantastic and the video quality will just blow your socks off. It's just that good. It's amazing considering the original negatives have all been lost. And last but not least, the director Adrian Maben interview is also very interesting. All and all, the entire package is simply fantastic and for the price of about $16, you'd have to be crazy not to get one.

I own the VHS, but no longer own a VCR. I was searching for a Blu-ray version, but it doesn't exist. The director says during the interview on the DVD that all the original materials (negatives) are lost (!!!) which is a huge shame - probably should not expect a high quality Blu-ray version... The DVD upscaled on my 4K TV looked surprisingly good - much better than the HD stuff on Youtube. Content-wise, this is such a special film, such a special event, and such a special portrayal of the band at a key point in the history of their development. I would even go so far to say that this film captures a key point of development in the evolution of the human race, as we embrace technology as a huge component of the human experience, and do so in the shadow of ancient history & technology in the form of the forum at Pompeii... The director also says during his interview that the in-studio stuff with the 70's rear-projection technology is the least successful component of the film, and he's right, but he also says that pretty much all the usable recordings from "The Floyd" playing at Pompeii is already included. This means the film would be very short without these Paris recordings, and I don't mind how they're interspersed with the on-location footage. The slow-pan & zoom shots of the forum with the Floyd rocking out, together with (I think it's Waters' silhouette) banging on the gong along with the high-tech/low-tech Floyd theme of the 1970's is a gorgeous juxtaposition and surprisingly relevant to this moment (2020).

I have bought this DVD a few times. To me it was their best concert

OOPS! My mistake. I ordered this by mistake. The mistake? I already owned it. I guess I need to start making a list and checking it twice before I buy more music. That said, I love this music and actually listened to it recently pre mistake order. HA. Who'd a thunk? Being a child of the 70s where all great music was born, I say, If you love PF then by all means get this one.

I ordered this DVD from Amazon about 8 years ago. I watched it once when I first got it and have been too busy since then to watch it again. Now that I have seriously updated my concert DVD library and organized them so that each is much easier to find, this one came up to watch on a Sunday morning. I had seen the original 1972 concert several times at midnight movies back then and that version did have dialogue. When glassy-eyed David Gilmour's response to a touchy subject with something like "You just have to trust us", the whole theater always burst into laughter. Old time fans will know exactly what I am referring to here! The songs on this Director's Cut are usually a bit longer than on the original versions, but many are totally out of sequence. The songs were taken from their 1969-1971 albums with previews of then upcoming the Dark Side Of The Moon album. There is some added video of trippy scenery that was obviously filmed with much later technology such as drones. It will be obvious on how 1972 technology could not have made some of this footage. I think that this ADDS to the overall effect and think that this Director's Cut with Extras is an improvement over the original movie. As for the boiling hot mud pits, this was all originally filmed near the dormant volcano that destroyed Pompeii in 79 A.D. This DVD also has the original concert uninterrupted with dialog as one of the Extras. So for all of those whiners about this not being available, just check your Extras. As for being playable, my desk top computer is hooked up to my stereo with big speakers on each side of it. This is my home concert set up which is much better than real concerts these days. My computer automatically recognizes which region each of my DVD's is from. I do have a few PAL region DVD's that play just fine. I have not tested this one on my other DVD players and I won't even try. So why only 4-stars? The first half of A Saucer Full Of Secrets can only be described as cacophony and a bad trip. Then the second half is absolutely beautiful. What a major contrast! But that first part is so irritating while watching them just beat on their instruments that I cannot give this one 5 stars. For the original movie, I had thought that Mademoiselle Nobs as the second to last song was nothing but a waste of footage. This is Richard Wright placing a microphone next to the mouth of his large dog to sing along to harmonica playing. Now that I have a lovable dog, I find this one to be heart warming. But on this Director's Cut, it has been moved to the fourth to last song. And for any Floyd fan who proclaims this song to be their favorite, they love dogs more than music or have been tripping way too much.

When this performance took place, I was 12 and several thousands of miles away. I had the luck to see the recent release in an IMAX theater and its more than rekindled my admiration for Pink Floyd. The director's cut is even better.

I got this to replace my old copy that was on VHS. I foolishly loaned it to someone who wound up selling it along with their old VHS tapes.

Great entertainment. Takes me back to my Hay day.

I bought this DVD for two reasons. Firstly, my wife and I visited Pompeii only recently, and secondly it provided a reasonable excuse to replace my old VHS version bought several years ago. Knowing pretty much what to expect the DVD is not disappointing although understandably dated in places. How does forty years treat this? Musically, the band perform with energy and verve, undimmed by modern retrospection, a time capsule of what it was like in the early 70s when the boundaries of what constituted the more adventurous horizons of popular culture were pushed to new bounds. The director rightly points out some reasons for some perceived shortcomings in the production. Drummers might disagree, but there is a little too much Nick Mason in places, when other band members do not feature so heavily. The concept of setting up in the empty amphitheatre was a an absolute masterstroke, the lack of audience simply added gravitas. Whether to watch the Director's Cut or the original version matters not a lot in my opinion - the original take just shades it simply for being condensed and has the best parts anyway. Also, it showcases the band as they were, soon to conquer all with DSOTM and WYWH. Johnny Rotten may have 'hated Pink Floyd' but the Floyd's music has endured, adored by many more fans old and new - and this DVD sets the scene for their classic era. Enjoy with a good sound system and a glass of Chianti!

Gillar inte den nya directors cut utan den gamla filmen. Dock finns originalet med i meny. Coolt när dom står och lirar i den gamla teatern och bilderna från vesuvius. Dock så får man ta med i beräkningen att PF vid den här tiden var som dom var. Mästerverk blandat med olyssningsbart oljud. Som t.ex Saucerful of secrets som är snudd på olyssningsbar. Men inledningen med Echoes part 1 är helt magisk. Som sagt, högt och lågt.

Parfait👍

Grandiose!