Search - The Carpenters: Interpretations on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 3/20/2024...

Legends but this did not have many of their hits and it was short at less than 36 minutes. Get the SwapCD instead!

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Brilliant, a bit twee, painful to watch, too short!

Geoff Hall | Borehamwood, UK | 01/23/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"[...]

This DVD is a version of the video of the same title, which was longer by a couple of songs and about 7 minutes.

Karen's singing is brilliant as usual and she again demonstrates that she could sing anything put in front of her by her brother, a master in arrangements and production - who could play piano with the absolute best. They were supported by an excellent band of musicians and the sum amounted to a truly fantastic sound.

The Carpenters are my all-time favourites and should have been there for the whole musical journey. However, Karen's untimely death from complications caused by anorexia nervosa which, it seems, resulted in her suffering heart failure, meant that the journey ended all too prematurely.

Karen is the main focus of attention on any Carpenters recording. Here is no different; but the videos stem from the 1970s when the Carpenters, for me, suffered from awkwardness and self-consciousness in front of the camera so, on occasions, the lip-synching doesn't always seem to work and Karen's facial and head movements seem affected and contrived. Strangely, some of the earlier videos look better, probably because she is behind a drum kit or has a microphone in her hand, Also, and the point about some of it being painful to watch, the later videos show Karen looking terribly thin and, particularly, on the penultimate video ("When I Fall In Love"), she reminds me of Nancy Reagan, with gaunt looks and a hair style which is very uncomplimentary - she looks more like 80 than 30!

Having said that, the only other things wrong with this are that there are no extras on this DVD and it is all over in only 37 minutes, which seems to be a desperate waste of disk space.

Onto the good things - it's got all the ingredients that Carpenters fans would expect, but "Reason To Believe" and "Bless The Beasts And The Children" are lovely surprise inclusions and the video of "Calling Occupants...." is better than the version seen on other collections of their videos (except Tony Peluso's DJ piece at the start, which is the same clip).

So should you buy it? Your choice, but you might find other collections of songs which are better. For die-hard Carpenters fans, yes, go and buy it.
"

Admittedly a mixed bag

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 03/17/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Even for a seventies child like me who had this music on the radio while I was finishing breakfast and heading for school on many a morning, this DVD leaves something to be desired.

One reviewer is correct in noting that the great songbird Karen Carpenter looks unsure of herself in most of these clips and that makes it somewhat difficult to watch. Plus, the DVD is way too short. They may have been better off with the excellent live Carpenters' performances from the Ed Sullivan show in 1970 included.

On the other hand, there's of course the beautiful music, which disarms much criticism. This also captures the spirit of many musical variety shows of the early 70s.

This also includes the almost forgotten "Bless the Beasts and the Children" which turns to gold as almost anything the Carpenters' touched. Even a bizarre tune like "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," in the tradition of bizarre attempts at message songs of the era, sounds like sheer beauty and bliss out of Karen Carpenter's mouth. (The intro with the spooked-out radio DJ is a nice touch).

Watch this and "It's yesterday Once More" (oops! That song isn't included here...oh well)."

Excellent

Justin | Carlsbad, CA USA | 12/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD is great! Some nice hits, and also some lesser known songs. Wow!"