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Filmed in black and white against the streamlined art deco stage of the since-demolished Coconut Grove in downtown Los Angeles, the concert is buoyed by a remarkable cast of A-list Orbison fans who signed on as his accompanists. Under the direction of producer T-Bone Burnett, the stage band thus includes Jackson Browne, Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Jennifer Warnes, along with the rhythm section from Elvis Presley's fabled late 60s and early 70s touring band. That astonishing line-up is all the more noteworthy for the restraint with which they collaborate--it's evident that those superstars came to honour Orbison, not upstage him, resulting in a gratifying cohesion to the performances.

Orbison himself sounds as powerful as ever, his soaring falsetto cresting as dramatically as it did on the studio versions of the hits that inevitably dominate. Those songs meanwhile confirm that his blue-chip admiration society came as much for the calibre of his writing as for his ravishing voice: if he remains best known for the jaunty come-on of "Pretty Woman", Orbison was first and foremost a rock balladeer, capable of bringing lumps to our throats with such classics as "Crying" and "Only the Lonely", or conjuring romantic trances through such gentle charmers as "Dream Baby". On this night, he handled all of them with fervour and finesse. --Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com
Pure Orbison Bliss, 2008-03-06
One of the main strengths of this films that it is not peppered with dialog and odd celebrities that evidently never saw Roy, describing his life and works.

The presentation, recorded live at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, moves quickly from one song to the next. And even though the visuals are good it is the music that makes this well worth the purchase. If you have a favorite it is here. Songs are more than disembodied entertainment. As with most people they bring back memories or create new memories that are associated with them. We can see that they are more than just songs to Roy also. My favorite is "It's over".

Director Gavin Taylor's omnipresent cameras, including stunning aerial views, also remind us of the glories of the now-defunct stadium and its signature towers, such a perfect venue for Queen's epic staging, with their massive video screen and dazzling light show.

The second night playing to a capacity crowd saw the band at the peak of their form, riding high on the popular success of their recent string of hits: "A Kind of Magic", "I Want to Break Free", "Radio Ga Ga" and "One Vision" all feature here alongside earlier favourites from "Seven Seas of Rhye" through "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Will Rock You" to "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Under Pressure". In short, a veritable greatest hits collection--all performed with larger-than-life gusto, boundless exuberance and impeccable musicianship. In a period when most new bands were content to mime along to weedy synthesised backing tracks, Queen were simply bigger, bolder and a whole lot more fun than anyone else. Freddie Mercury's extraordinary stage presence is likely to remain forever unsurpassed.

On the DVD: Queen Live at Wembley Stadium is a superb memento of this memorable night. Disc 1 contains the entire Saturday gig (almost two hours) remastered in vivid DTS 5.1 or PCM Stereo. The second disc collects both contemporary and brand-new material, including new interviews with Brian May and Roger Taylor. "A Beautiful Day" is a good documentary made at the time. More exciting is the wealth of unseen footage, both from the Friday night show and the band in rehearsal. There are "Queen Cam" views of each band member, and a photo gallery. Most poignant is a time-lapse short, "Wembley Towers", showing the philistine destruction of these national monuments. It's a fitting epitaph for this great live band. --Mark Walker
probably one of the best bands that the uk has ever graced there shores., 2007-11-15
my only regret is i was never fortuate to see this great band live and sadly i never will but this dvd is the next best thing the uk should embrace the fact that they have had one of the greatest front men of any band in the history of world music a man with dignity who held all fans with great esteem buy this dvd with confidence and see what i mean,he may be gone but should never be forgotten,als to be a great front man you need a great band,which they excelled,thanx for the memories.

On the DVD: the DVD contains all 13 episodes of Bod. Five of these are extended, as originally broadcast, to feature animal identification games, counting songs, Bod snap and Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band.
bod rules!, 2003-12-16
oh my god... "here comes bod!!" i totally loved bod as a kid although i could never really make out if it was male or female.. (erm... does anybody actually know??) actually none of it made sense but i still loved it all the same.. in fact i still do! the guessing of albertos milkshake always made my day.. i always seemed to get it right!! and i used to copy the noises he made drinking it (in public) much to the annoyance of my dad! and u really cant beat bod snap.. what excitement!! it may be boring and even weird to some of u but bod certainly used to make me happy as a kid!! hehe *smiles*

On the DVD: This two-disc set duplicates the original single-disc release of the film which included a handful of cast and crew interviews, and adds an additional disc with more interviews, two brief behind-the-scenes featurettes about the production design and the post-production digital colouring of the film, a couple of storyboard-to-scene comparisons and a music video of "Man of Constant Sorrow". There's also a 16-minute documentary to promote the companion Down from the Mountain concert. Frankly there's not a lot here to justify spreading it across two discs: a more pleasing not to say generous offering would have been to cram all these extras onto Disc 1 and give us Down from the Mountain as the second disc. --Mark Walker
Best film I've seen for years, 2008-09-01
This is cinema of the highest calibre. Just like most Coen brothers films, it's not the millions spent on sets, or special effects (they're low to mid budget all the way) but the human touch that sets this apart. Homer was a good place to start, as it could be said that the Homeric poems laid the foundation for secular western literature. Add the genius of the Coen Brothers, and the old-fashioned "cinematic magic" qualities of Clooney, and you have a product that will not age. I've watched it only once so far, but I have half a dozen timeless quotes, for anyone willing to listen, including "I don't want Fop, goddammit. I'm a Dapper Dan man"
Se it for yourself. Five stars aren't enough.