Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46242 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2003-10-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Best of, Color, DVD, Explicit Lyrics, Full Screen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
Timed to coincide with the CD collection In Time, presents 15 years of innovative videos from alternative pop pioneers R.E.M. Throughout the ups--the multi-platinum success of 1991's Out of Time--and downs--the abrupt 1997 departure of original drummer Bill Berry--of their Warner Brothers years, R.E.M. has consistently illustrated their music with something more substantial than simple performance promos. In View boasts 22 videos, 16 interview and performance snippets from throughout their career, and three songs recorded live in London in 2001. Highlights include the Western movie motif of "Man on the Moon," introspective traffic jam of "Everybody Hurts," and fanciful animation of "I'll Keep the Rain (starring a sleepy-eyed, button-nosed pup with crown of gold). Bonus points for the cameo by punk priestess Patti Smith in "E-Bow the Letter" and hipster actor Richard Edson (Stranger Than Paradise) in the faux Italian melodrama of "Bittersweet Me." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

This is more of an item description than a review....
Contains 16 music videos, plus 6 rare music videos and a 3-song live performance. Also includes short interview pieces from 7 documentaries filmed from 1988-2003.
From the WB website: The simultaneously released DVD com- panion to In Time:The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003 ,the band's first greatest- hits album from its most successful years (which spans its ongoing tenure on Warner Bros.),is also R.E.M.'s first best-of video compilation from the period.Featuring 16 video clips,includ- ing the acclaimed classics Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts, the DVD brings together several compelling performances from 2001s South Africa Freedom Day concert in London's Trafalgar Square and fascinating excerpts of EPKs from throughout R.E.M.'s history.

Good but incomplete.
R.E.M. experienced explosive commercial success thanks to its "Losing My Religion" video, so it's a natural move to release a collection of videos from throughout the band's career.

But as far as retrospectives go, I expected this DVD to be comprehensive and it is far from that. Where is "Drive", a subversive, moody masterpiece of expressionistic photography which fit the sepulchral majesty of the song perfectly? Where is "Shiny Happy People" which, despite being saccharine and musically uninteresting, nevertheless represents a vital side to R.E.M.'s career (in the same way as "Stand")? And I could be dreaming, but I remember "Fall on Me" having a video. This was one of the band's best songs and if there were a video, I would've liked to see it here.

What does get included is still prime R.E.M. material. Reflecting the decline of music video since the mid-'90s, the late-'80s and early '90s material is the best. "Losing My Religion" was one of the most bizarre hit singles ever made, and the Tarsem-directed music video (which swept the 1991 MTV Music Video Awards) retains its strange, provocative, yet humorous edge. "Man on the Moon"'s gorgeous black-and-white photography picks up where "Drive" left off, continuing the stark vision of the Automatic for the People album; "Everybody Hurts" expresses a highly cinematic vision; and "Stand" is a dumb piece of bubblegum pop, an exaggeration of what the song aimed to be.

Out of the bonus material, the concert performances in Trafalgar Square grabbed my attention the most. Michael Stipe sounds a little offkey on "Losing My Religion", but the band performance is superlative, especially Peter Buck's shimmering mandolin, and the shooting manages to avoid the hyperactive camera-move-obsessed concert shooting that plagues modern music video. This director actually seems more concerned with capturing the onstage action than with moving the camera (eg. Metallica's 'St. Anger' DVD), and the result is a good, solid piece of concert performance.

There's enough good material on here to make this worthwhile for the R.E.M. fan and music fans in general. All I'd say is that you won't get the entire R.E.M. canon here, but you won't be disappointed in what you do get.

REM Scores with this DVD
REM has changed dramatically through the years in sound, style and meaning, but has never given up the essence that makes the group one of benchmark performaners in American music.

The DVD has the option of playing the videos with interview snippets between the takes. While short and relatively benign to most long time fans, the clips do provide glimpses of the band member's thoughts on the songs to newer fans. The 5.1 sounds incredible with the proper equipment.

A little about my favorite videos:

The DVD starts out with REM's "Bad Day" video, which is probably one of the funniest and best shot video concepts on the scene to date. The band takes the persona of the "Morning Team" with Michael Stipe as an anchorman and Mike and Peter as satellite reporters.

There are supposedly 2 versions of the DVD release, one that carries the warning "Explicit Material" which is due to the extended version of "Nightswimming" which contains female and male nudes. These shots are tastefully done and convey the innocent nature of the song. The imagery does not overpower the feeling of the song.

Other highlights include the video from "The Great Beyond" which has been edited slightly different from the version on "Man in the Moon" to include actual footage of Andy Kaufman rather than Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman.

There are also several bonus videos, including "Tongue" which is a nice treat for hard core fans and casual listeners as well.

Perhaps one of the best features of the DVD are the 3 bonus live performances. REM is one of the few bands that can truely deliver an amazing live performance. The energy on stage is electrifying and makes it hard to stay in your seat.

Overall this DVD is excellent and I recommend it for hard-core fans, even if there is overlap in your DVD collection. For casual listeners, this is a collection of REM highlights with very well done videos. This is the perfect DVD to put in the home theatre while having friends over- the videos are intelligently done and provide a great conversation piece that is also entertaining. The range of emotions the selection brings, from getting up and doing the "Stand" dance to the more thought provoking and stirring "All the Way to Reno" "Everybody Hurts" and "At My Most Beautiful" makes this the perfect DVD to add to your musical collection in Dolby 5.1.