Product Description

Filmmaker Phil Joanou shows the Irish rock band on tour, in Harlem, at Elvis Presley's mansion and in concert, mostly in black and white.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10426 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 1999-11-23
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.com
Rattle and Hum is not a film for anyone looking for an introduction to Irish band U2's career in the 1980s, but it is a vibrant portrait of an established group making its musical pilgrimage through the America it has always imagined through blues, gospel, and early rock 'n' roll. Filmmaker Phil Joanou (Heaven's Prisoners), a veteran music-video director and maker of the distractingly kinetic Three O'Clock High, finds a suitable outlet for his high energy in this juggernaut of a journey, which finds U2 collaborating with a black gospel choir and B.B. King, recording inside the legendary Sun Records studio, dropping by Graceland, and in a moment of fearlessness, performing the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" to exorcise Charles Manson's sick claim on the song. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Into The Arms Of America
Rattle & Hum is a documterary of U2's 1987 tour of America. Director Phil Joanou follows the band to New York, Texas, Memphis, San Francisco, Denver and Arizona. The movie is shot in black and white for the most part until the end when a couple of concert sequences appear in color. The sharp contrast is startling and gives the film an added power. One of the more poignant scenes is the band's visit to Graceland and Sun Studios as the visit the cradle of rock 'n' roll. For four guys from Dublin, Ireland this visit is like a visit to the Holy Land and it is treated with justifiable reverence. While the interviews and look at the behind the scenes are nice, the meat of any rock film are the live performances and U2 does not disappoint. Their performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with a Harlem choir in a church is uplifting. The do a gut wrenching take on "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and haunting version of "With Or Without You". They practically explode off the screen with the rampaging "Bullet The Blue Sky". Rattle & Hum is a must for any U2 fan and now that fourteen years have past and the band has changed its image and look a couple of times, it is interesting to look at them in a simpler time.

U2's great & misunderstood rock film comes to DVD
I have always loved U2's "Rattle and Hum", both the movie, and the acompanying soundtrack album. Both managed to catch U2 at what I consider to be the height of their artistic powers. Now that this film has come to DVD, I now appreciate it even more! The sound and picture quality is superb - in fact you should listen to it through a good set of headphones if you can! While some have complained about the "grainy" black and white photography that dominates most of the movie, I find that it really sets a mood and adds a unique dimension - a song like the dark and imposing "Exit" just would not be same filmed with bright colors and flashing lights! The interview segments are nice, especially when we get to hear drummer Larry Mullen Jr. speak about his hero Elvis, but it is the music that is the rightful focus of the movie. Songs from "The Joshua Tree" are heavily featured, including an emotional version of "Running To Stand Still" that surpasses the studio recording. Ditto for the aforementioned version of "Exit"...Wow! Other highlights include the "Angel of Harlem" recording sessions at Sun Studios, a live performance of the anti-aparthied anthem "Silver and Gold", a powerhouse version of "Desire" taken from the tour rehersals, a dark and menacing concert version of "Bullet the Blue Sky", and an emotional re-working of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", which is perhaps the esential version of that song! Bono is an engaging presence throughout the film, and it is obvious that he really poured his heart and soul into these performances. (I really wish that Bono would take himself this "seriously" again, rather than performing that "rock star parody" character that he has taken to in recent years) If you love the music of U2, then just ignore the critics and buy this movie! Those narrow-minded critics simply didn't understand the premise of this film, or the band who inspired it! "Rattle & Hum" is the story of four guys who loved rock-n-roll so much that the dedicated their entire lives to it...it's a simple as that!

If you like U2, you'll like this DVD
This DVD is a slightly dressed up version of the VHS tape, with some introductory panorama shots overlaying the opening tracks. The sound quality is great, the "grainy" black and white is intentional as is the eventual transition to color toward the second half of the movie (I saw it in the theatre on 70mm...) If you already have the VHS, it is worth getting the DVD just so you can skip to your favorite tracks. There is no new material on the disk, even though it claims to hold "Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy for the Devil" - they have just put that down on the track list since Bono sings a few lines from those songs towards the end of "Bad". Like I said, if you like U2, you should own this DVD.