Reviews (29)

For Zappa fans only (and the eternally curious!)
This 1971 film shot on videotape is simply a showcase for Frank Zappa's twisted humour and unique brand of hybrid music. It has neither plot, logic nor coherence, but is basically a series of musical numbers (combining rock, orchestral and opera styles) and comedy skits tied together by the theme of how "touring can make you crazy".

Augmented by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, and the Mothers of Invention, Zappa provides the viewer with some inspired lunacy, great video effects and some highly memorable songs. If the music tickles your fancy, then the soundtrack, recently released for the first time on CD by Rykodisc/MGM, is also a must-have.

Recommended only for those with a high tolerance for Zappa's audio/ visual madness, this is nonetheless a truly satisfying psychedelic ride through the mind of the drug-addled, sex-obsessed musician.

Definitely not for young children though, as the movie contains sexual references, coarse language, nudity and what can be considered as drug-related material.

An unforgettable viewing experience...
First of all, the one thing that a lot of people miss about Zappa was that he was a master "resource" utilizer. - - He knew what he wanted his projects to look and sound like, and was great enough of an artist/producer to find/discipline people capable of delivering his vision - - So the big question : Despite his notorious reputation for his mixture of music and oddball stage antics, given a REAL big budget to make a real big motion picture, could he pull something off ? - - The answer... UNBELIEVABLY FRIGGIN' YES ! ! ! - - The film captures the MOTHERS in their prime circa the antics of FLO & EDDIE... the bizarre stage routines of his group are MELTED together by a great theme... that TOURING can make you crazy... though surreal, beyond the paranoia and psychadelic wierdness, the backstage politics of a band touring on the road, the stresses between the leader and bandmembers... and yes, the neverending quest for the ultimate BJ come through in the form of a BRILLIANT opera, featuring a full symphonic orchestra and some surprizing guest appearences... including Ringo Starr as frank zappa. - - The music is great... the images are great... and the performances (musical, now and then sexual, and stagewise) are a brilliant and mindtripping experience... This film is DEFINITELY something to watch over and over into and really get into... especially (of course) if you're a Zappa nut - - just don't get too psyched, otherwise you might find yourself singing the words to LONESOME COWBOY BURT outloud on the bus on the way to wherever...

It was just bad
One day i was looking through the cult classic section of my video rental store and I found one movie that I have not yet seen. That movie was of course none other than 200 Motels. I thought Frank Zappa and a movie= fun drug induced imagery and ridiculous dialouge about a little Jewish princess.
I was horribly mistaking. The movie was painful to watch. It had no plot and nothing to do with a band going on tour. It was completely unfunny except for one part where Captain Beefheart's hat phonetically spells out f**k in the cyrillic alphabet.
I watched this movie with my uncle who had been a pretty serious stoner back in the day when Zappa and Beefheart were still touring; he was a fan of both of these musicians. Even he continued to ask about the whereabouts of the plot or the too easily forgotten entity: entertainement.
I was sober when I watched this movie and I would expect that that is not the best way to see it. Probably some acid or at least weed would be needed to make this movie at all tolerable.
Zappa should have stayed with his ridiculous music.

A True Video Masterpiece!!! * * * * *
Frank Zappa was a creative genius, and his "200 Motels" was a true video masterpiece! "200 Motels" tells a simple story about how touring in a rock band can seem to make you crazy. Zappa used a new medium of the early 70's, what we now call "video", and really pushed it beyond the known limits. The effects he used in this movie have often been copied, and were used to describe the weird world of touring. City after city, sandwich after sandwich, the towns all begin to look fake after awhile; the effects where used to emphasize how the struggles of touring and how all that traveling and responsibility really tweaks your brain, your ability to perceive reality. This movie was possibly the first true "music video", since it originated in video, and possibly tweaked the minds of the engineers up in the control booth. When you look at how the video was structured, well, it's all shot entirely in a studio environment. It's a story within a story, and like so many other filmmakers, Zappa was almost making fun of himself, in a lighthearted manner, much as Felini and Allen have done in some of their films. Yes, this movie is twisted, in fact just as twisted as life in America tends to get. This movie is best seen projected in a theater, and unless you have a t.v. larger than 27", I recommend you wait, because it really needs to be seen larger than life!

an excellent movie
This movie is very good. But the reason, why I didn't give it 5 stars, is that here are some cuts, which are so dumb, and annoying. I don't see Frank Zappa a lot in here. They show him sometimes when they perform. And they perform the songs live. In the soundtrack, they re-record it in studio. You can hear it, and see it, by their sweat. But I really don't understand, what the movie is all about. But you'll enjoy. It's really interesting to watch a movie, with real rock stars. And real live performances. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Worthwhile, but not Overwhelming
This biodrama on Puccini's life focuses heavily on an episode in which his wife suspected an affair with a house servant (later proven to have been a virgin in her postmortem) and persecuted her to the point of suicide. This, presumably combined with a mid-life crisis caused the composer excruciating psychological agonies. In an attempt at redemption, the screenwriter and director suggest, Puccini created the self-sacrificial role of Liu in juxtaposition to the heartless Princess Turandot (Signora Puccini), but was unable to complete the work, presumably because of his own lack of closure. The tie in is accomplished in part with documentary footage of a Scottish National Opera production of his final opera as an autobiographical work (which introduces some loose threads into the narrative). The performances are generally good, with the exception of that by Robert Stephens in the title role, which is excellent. The musical score, as might be expected, is wonderful and generally does a fine job of associating with the pace and subject of the action. Overall, this is a worthwhile purchase for anyone seriously interested in Puccini and many who have only a passing interest. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A time capsule of sorts
This reviewer, who was 12 at the time of the first moon walk, reacts to this movie in two ways. First, there's the recollection of the optimistic feelings seen in the movie that everyone felt at the time, contrasted with the current state of manned space flight. [This review was written during the second stand down of the shuttle.] And secondly there's the reaction to it as a movie, which follows.

The movie is a collection of clips from NASA footage, recordings of the radio transmissions, and a few voice overs. These start roughly with Sputnik, then JFK's call to send a man to the moon before the decade is out, then the Apollo program, and finally an epilogue which includes drop tests of the shuttle "Enterprise."

The background sounds are the radio transmissions from NASA, and a score from Mike Oldfield. For those familar with his music, I recognize parts from Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, and Incantations. For an Oldfield fan, the music is nice, for a non-fan (my friends) it can be a bit much. I am a fan of both Mr. Oldfield and space flight, and it works fine for me.

My complaint is that the movie seems to be about the Apollo 11 flight in particular but, if my memory from the time serves, there are unidentified clips from a Mercury/Atlas launch, Gemini/Titan flights, and earlier/later Apollo flights. One goes from video of the Saturn V being fueled, to the Mercury/Altas, to a Saturn IB and then back to the Saturn V in the space of maybe 30 seconds. And there are radio transmissions from the infamous lightening strike on Apollo 12 mixed in with radio transmissions that identify Apollo 11. It is a bit confusing.

There's an epologue at the end showing early shuttle tests and the voice over describes what has happened from the end of Apollo until 1990, that captures the feeling that with the shuttle we were going to get a manned space station, unmanned probes to the planets, and all sorts of neat stuff. Some of which happened, and most of which did not.

I call it a time capsule because of the period film work by the astronauts who were not cameramen, the period animations which come before CGI work by many years, and the period feeling of optimism about space flight in general.

Don't confuse this with a documentary, as mentioned above it skips back and forth according to the available visual imagery, not historical accuracy. But if you can put that aside it's fun to watch. If you want a documentary with a popular leaning, you might try Tom Hanks' "From the Earth to the Moon," or if you are seriously into Apollo footage, try the Spacecraft flims (possibly Fox Entertainment by now) DVD's of the mission footage. But if you want to capture the feeling of what it was like to live through the excitement of the period, this does it best.

I give it four stars as a fan of space flight. Your mileage will vary... ... Read more

Reviews (7)

[Bad]
Dont buy this video if you hope to see a great performence by the best band in the world, Cream. The editing of this video is terrible, and so is the camera work, they switch the angle every second, you cant even see what they are playing because the cameras are focused on their faces. Also they start showing the performences in the middle of each of the songs. Do not buy this video.

A wretched botch of a historic concert
No way to sugarcoat it: the director ruined this film, completely bungling his job. He must have thought he was part of the band, or that Cream needed his help to rock the audience. All kinds of cheesy '60s camera effects are deployed--rapid zooming in and out, rapid focus shifts from foreground to background, editing that looks like it was done by a food processor--showing a total lack of repect for the musicians. Buy it, if you must; but you can enjoy it just as much by playing it through the stereo with the picture turned off.

Why cut it short?
Do you own the rights to Cream: Farewell Concert? Well listen here pal. How dare you pay somebody to edit Cream. Sure you might have suckered me to buy your chopped up over-edited video but right now I'm telling thousands of people not to. Maybe it was cheaper for you to make a 48 minute video but you ruined the concert with your cut-it-short approach. Someday when I own the rights to this movie I am going to put this video out properly. I encourage CREAM fans to wait until they can buy this video in the complete format the way a "cocert" should be.

A disappointment for fans.
The video documenting Cream's Farewell Concert is an extreme disappointment. First of all it is only 50 minutes. For a band that is known to play twenty and sometimes thirty minute songs, this doesn't leave much time for the music. There is not one complete song on the whole video. If they show a full song it has some bad narration over the beginning. Not to mention the many songs that were played that night that must have been forgotten(Sitting on top of the World & Crossroads). If your looking for a good Cream documentary on video, I suggest Cream's Strange Brew. It has all the good stuff form the Farewell Concert and a lot more. There is also The Fresh Live Cream on DVD that just came out. It sounds really good too.

This isn't a concert, it's a documentary.
Concert? What concert? The best part of the whole tape is Ginger Baker's drum solo at the last 10 minutes of the tape. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent, romantic-era Ring as Wagner envisioned it
This video features excerpts from the Met Ring cycle of 1990. Directed by Otto Schenk, with costumes by Guenther Schneider-Siemmson, the cast is quite good: Sigfried Jerusalem (Loge, Siegfried), Hildegard Behrens (a handsome, vocally capable Brunnhilde), and James Morris as Wotan. Jessye Norman is Sieglinde, which works better than one may first think. A special treat is the (now retired) Christa Ludwig as Fricka in Rheingold. (Her vocal gifts and stage mastery enhance this normally underemphasized role, as Kirsten Flagstad did on the Solti Ring for London.) James Levine conducts the Met's house orchestra. This Ring tape highlights Schenk's and Schneider-Siemmson's desire to get away from current staging fads associated with the work. Costumes,sets, and direction all point to the original mythology behind the action, and one thinks that Wagner himself would've signed off on the production. After a half-century of staging the Ring in all manner of ways which worked against the composer's ideas, this is refreshing. ... Read more