Product Description

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 11/18/2008 Run time: 115 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5886 in DVD
• Brand: A&E HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2008-11-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com
The eternal fascination with all things Beatle pretty much guarantees an audience for any offering from the group and its respective members, and that will likely be the case with Paul McCartney: The Space Within US, a documentary recorded during his 2005 world tour (and broadcast in truncated form by A&E). Not that it's by any means bad. McCartney and his crack four-piece band are seen performing a variety of Fabs faves, from the delightful trifle that is "I'll Follow the Sun" to the genuine masterpiece that is "For No One" (the latter is a solo job, as are "I Will," "Yesterday," and others); as Apple computer poo-bah Steve Jobs, one of the many talking heads on hand to sing Macca's praises, points out, just hearing these classics played and sung by the guy who wrote (or co-wrote) 'em is a treat, and the great sound and high-definition video certainly don't hurt. On the minus side, the camera spends a lot of time in the audience, capturing their rapturous and often quite touching responses to the music. There are also bits focusing on a Beatles-obsessed family from Columbus, Ohio, all three generations of which are excited, to put it mildly, when Sir Paul pays them a brief visit before going onstage, and on two astronauts on board the International Space Station, for whom McCartney plays "English Tea" (from his 2005 CD Chaos and Creation in the Backyard) through a live feed from his Anaheim, California gig. These tangents may be distracting to fans who just want to watch McCartney and company at work, but considering that this was dubbed "the Us Tour," they should hardly come as a surprise. Same goes for the disparate line-up of celebs and others, ranging from Bill Clinton and various academic types to Tony Bennett and Eddie Vedder, whose comments punctuate (and occasionally interrupt) the music. Bottom line: there are better McCartney concert videos (like Live in Red Square), but this is a Beatle we're talking about here. For many, that will be more than enough. --Sam Graham

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Customer Reviews

Want to see Paul not the audience
I have all of Paul's concert DVD's, I saw him on his 2005 tour but I do not know if I will buy this DVD after watching the A&E special. There were way way too many shots of the audience and the constant changing of camera angles was very annoying. I was looking forward to having video of some of the songs he had not performed before. Instead the TV special had endless shots of people lip syncing, dancing,hugging, wiping a tear from their cheek and mugging for the cameras, people holding up their children and even one airhead waving her cell phone around. Hey I get it, seeing Paul in concert is a very exhillarating and emotional experience. Don't hit me over the head with it. Other concert videos show the audience in concert without destroying the performance. Check out the Moody Blues Live at Red Rocks. Lots of audience shots but not this level of distraction.

I feel bad for people who did not get to see him in concert who buy this DVD. Unless you spend 50-60% of your time watching the audience instead of the stage, you will not get the concert experience. I want to see Paul and his band and keep the camera in one place at least for short interval.

Disappointed!!!

MACCA ROCKS!!!
I've been a major Beatles/Macca fan since 1967, and I've seen one show from every U.S. tour Paul has done except for the last one, so I was very pleased when I heard about this DVD. Unlike some fans, I actually enjoy the audience shots. It's great to see them enjoying the show as much as I do. I also like the backstage scenes, fan comments, etc. But, I wish they were located in the 'special features'section. It would be great if Paul's concert DVDs covered the entire concerts from beginning to end. But, we live in an imperfect world, don't we? Here's the setlist from the DVD,,,,"Magical Mystery Tour""Flaming Pie""Let Me Roll It""Drive My Car""Till There Was You""I'll Get You""Eleanor Rigby""Maybe I'm Amazed""Got to Get You Into My Life""Fine Line""I Will""I'll Follow The Sun""Good Day Sunshine""For No One""Fixing A Hole""Penny Lane""Too Many People""She Came in Thru The Bathroom Window""English Tea""i've Got A Feeling""Follow Me""Jenny Wren""Helter Skelter""Yesterday""Get Back""Please Please Me" At the conclusion of "Let Me Roll It," the band launches into an instrumental version of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxey Lady." It's a pleasant surprise and lasts about 45 seconds or so. I guess the highlights for me would be "Please Please Me" and "Till There Was You." Rusty's guitar work on the latter really makes the tune. The 'special features' include three tunes from the soundchecks. Paul does a neat cover of "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On" that would make Jerry Lee proud. The ten minute opening film from the tour is shown in its entirety and there are also a couple of other niceties thrown in for good measure. "Helen Wheels" provides the soundtrack for one of them, and the re-mastering is first rate. The DVD comes with a nice little booklet with photos and commentary. IMO, "The Space Within Us" is a 'must have' for Macca fans. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this DVD. The entire running time is approximately two and a half hours. Not a bad investment for 15 bucks! For those fans who don't care for the fan comments, backstage shots, etc, you can program your DVD player to play only the songs. This will give you almost 30 full-length tunes to enjoy.

Is a Concert DVD Impossible?
Wouldn't it be nice to put on a McCartney dvd and actually watch a concert? The substantial number of Mac's dvd releases are the same... song performances that often interrupt the talking heads. Interviews in 5.1 are really neat though.