Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/03/2006

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15838 in DVD
• Brand: Uni
• Released on: 2002-12-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Best of, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 176 minutes

Customer Reviews

much better than the CD counterpart
I was somewhat disappointed with the CD 'The Best of 1990-2000' due to the revisionist remixes of all the songs from 'Pop' (1997), as though the band needed to apologize for a decade of experimentation. However, for a serious U2 fan who missed half of the U2 videos in the 1990s, this DVD is excellent and complete. The following is a list of the videos (in chronological order):

1. "The Fly" (our first glimpse of U2 chopping down 'The Joshua Tree' and a preview to the imagry of the ZooTV tour to follow)

2. "Mysterious Ways" (to match The Edge's liquid guitar sounds, the entire video is appropriately shot with a shimmering lens)

3. "One" (two versions for a song with multiple interpretations)

4. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (successfully capturing the imagry in the song)

5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" [Temple Bar Edit] (mostly a compilation of some live video footage combined with some studio shots of Bono singing)

6. "Until the End of the World" (again, more of a compilation of live video footage from the ZooTV Tour)

7. "Numb" (multiple versions - one used as video on the ZooTV tour and the other more infamous version with The Edge being assaulted/adorned, the latter of which is probably the band's best video)

8. "Lemon" (including the introduction of Bono's character "MacPhisto")

9. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" (directed by Wim Venders, this one has excellent cinematography and follows along the story-line of the movie for which the song was penned)

10. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" (although this wholly-animated video could have been better without all the gratuitous tie-ins to the 'Batman Forever', it is entertaining nonetheless)

11. "Miss Sarajevo" (a beautiful song with a somewhat unmemorable video)

12. "Discotheque" (the source of much ire surrounding the 'Pop' (1997) record, it is worth it to see the band having fun)

13. "Staring at the Sun" (nothing particularly memorable in this video, as U2 don the Miami-look)

14. "Last Night On Earth" (although deliberately conceptual, getting the band to actually act is always a questionable proposition)

15. "Please" (an underrated song and an underrated video, although the latter does not quite catch the political bent to the lyrics)

16. "If God Would Send His Angels" (on this one, the conceptualism works as the top half of the screen displays Bono singing on a bus seat while the bottom half displays the person sitting (or not sitting) across from him)

17. "Gone" [Live] (this is a live video taken from the 'PopMart Live in Mexico City' VHS, which IS better than the studio version included on the 'Pop' record)

18. "Mofo" (using a remix of the song, this one is simply cuts of live video footage)

19. "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" (good video for a movie promo, complete with Salmon Rushdie, who wrote the lyrics)

20. "Beautiful Day" (if you haven't seen this one, then you've been living under a rock - NOTE: for an alternate version, get the double-CD version of 'The Best of 1990-2000' which includes the History Mix DVD)

21. "Stuck in a Moment" (two versions - one more serious and the other more humorous)

22. "Electrical Storm" (Larry Mullen makes his acting debut with Samantha Morton - visually quite nice)

23. "The Hands That Built America" (just a studio performance)

With most of these videos comes commentary from the director, as well as an interesting mini documentaries behind the videos for "One" and the 1997 Sarajevo concert. All in all, this is a great package as far as a collection of videos goes. I only wish they could add similar extras to "The Best of 1980-1990" DVD counterpart, which is yet to be released.

Two Shots of Happy and One Drop of Sad
Quick Overview: This DVD is both an excellent survey of U2's music during the past decade and a fascinating anthology of music videos, both conceptual and performance. Musically, it contains all of the songs from the regular release of the CD "U2: The Best of 1990-2000", with the exception that "For the First Time" is replaced by "The Fly". In addition, it contains seven bonus tracks, songs lamented by many for not being included on the CD. Cinematically, it boasts both performance and conceptual videos of varying quality; with the inclusion of intriguing director commentaries, many of the videos merit multiple viewings. Alternate videos for "Even Better Than The Real Thing", "One", "Stuck in a Moment...", "Staring at the Sun", and "Numb" are provided to yield a total of 28 music videos for 23 songs. As a special treat, three documentaries are included. All in all, this is an amazing DVD.

Details, Shot One ("Conceptual Videos"): The most successful conceptual videos are "Numb" (Godley version), "Please", and "If God Will Send His Angels". The "Numb" video bluntly demonstrates the cause of The Edge's numbness--it's also quite funny and disturbing. "Please" and "If God Will Send His Angels" are probably my favorites. Bono's performance in "Please" is poignant, and the gimic employed by Corbijn works well here. The use of split screen and altered film speed in "If God Will Send..." effectively communicates that awful out-of-sync feeling of being alone among people, even among friends.

"One" deserves special mention. Three videos were made for this. Pellington's version, employed in concert, emphasized buffalos, images of which adorn both the CD and DVD; sadly, this video was NOT included on the DVD. The other two videos are here, and they are interesting. Corbijn's version is notable for having Bono's father playing a major role; in addition, you get to decide which member of U2 would make the most attractive woman--I don't think it's Bono.

Details, Shot Two ("Performance Videos"): What would U2 be without footage of them on stage? Many of these videos, including conceptual ones, feature perforance footage. Some, like "Gone" and "Mofo", are essentially concert videos; I prefer watching these songs on the Zoo TV and PopMart videos. Others, like "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "Mysterious Ways", and "Staring at the Sun", utilize novel filming techniques to
bolster the song's mood or message. Some are more successful than others. For example, at first boring, the strange effects in "Staring at the Sun" (Scott version) become almost revelatory at the end. In "Please" and "One", expressions on The Edge's face at key points of the video are very telling and make the inclusion of performance footage mandatory.

One Drop of Sad: These are minor quibbles. 1) Navigation is sometimes frustrating. You click on the director's name and you get either the video OR the video with commentary. If you click on the triangle beside his name, you definitely get commentary. If you have the same trouble, keep trying; eventually, you will get the straight video. 2) With "Mofo", I had to try accessing the video several times before I heard the soundtrack. "Mofo" was the only video with which I had this problem. 3) Although the box claims subtitles in five languages, I did not find Japanese subtitles actually provided for the songs I checked, and I checked most of them. 4) Some songs, like "Beautiful Day" and "One", had alternate videos. It would have been nice to have ALL versions. (This is a BEST OF anthology, so maybe they only included the best of the alternates?)

Extra Tidbits: The DVD booklet provides interesting, albeit short, notes on each song. The DVD package provides storage space for the U2 The History Mix DVD, that came with the special edition of "The Best of 1990-2002" CD.

In Summary: This is an outstanding DVD. It contains most, arguably the best, of the singles from 1990-2000 with their videos, all of which contain something of at least passing interest and some of which are very powerful. The director commentaries are fascinating and provide valuable behind-the-scenes information. The documentaries are a nice addition. I highly recommend "U2: The Best of 1990-2002"; it's one of the best DVDs I've bought this year.

Even Better Than The Real Thing...well almost.
U2's new DVD ("The Best Of 1990-2000") is a great addition to any U2 music collection. It mirrors the CD of the same name in sound quality, plus you get to see the band as well. Oh, let us not forget the seven bonus tracks for a grand total of twenty-three video tracks.

If you like U2 at all do yourself a favor and get this DVD, you will enjoy all or most of the video tracks. Here is the track list: Even Better Than The Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, Electrical Storm, One, Miss Sarajevo, Stay(Faraway So Close), Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Gone, Until The End Of The World, The Hands That Built America(Theme From "Gangs Of New York"), Discotheque, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, Staring At The Sun, Numb, and The Fly.

The bonus tracks are: Please, If God Will Send His Angels, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Lemon, Last Night On Earth, Mofo, and The Ground Beneath Her Feet.

There are also Three Mini-Documentaries: U2 Sur Mer, A Story Of One, and Missing Sarajevo for a grand total of 2 hours and 56 minutes worth of U2 audio-visual. Is it worth it, why it's even better than the real thing...well almost.