Search - Sarah Brightman - Diva: The Video Collection on DVD

Yes, People....Sarah is a True Diva!

Anthony Morelli | Montreal, Canada | 10/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's perfect for a devoted fan of 20 years (such as myself). Since our local video channels don't play much Sarah, it's good to have the DVD in such fine quality. By releasing this DVD, Sarah will make many new fans, and will obviously please her current fans very much. Through Sarah's videos, it's obvious she's very talented. And she's a chameleon, never looking the same from one album to the next. The early videos are the most precious to me, and I can't believe this compilation has finally surfaced. "Diva: The Video Collection" is a definite must-have for any Sarah fan (young & old alike).

I was half-expecting to see poorly doctored videos, according to other reviews. From what I've seen, I disagree. It all depends on the quality of your DVD player. All my DVD players work fine with this product. Among it, my faves are: 1,3,5,6,7,9,10,11, 16. Let Sarah showcase her beautiful body in gold leaf in her Ave Maria video. She's gorgeous and knows how the marketing strategy. Sex sells, and in this day & age, it's not abnormal. Videos 1 through 4 are very nice and showcase Sarah's versatile range (style and singing). That's why I think she's a chameleon. She can look and play any part and do it perfectly. I've always loved video #3. It's one of those that you can't help but cry when you're watching it.

Videos 5,6,7 are stunning and I never saw any of them in their entirety. It's nice to have the official thing, as these videos have probably never been seen played on non-European TV. I look for originality, and originality is what you get when you see these 3 for the first time. The 2nd half of the DVD is okay. There are a couple of goodies thrown in there. Videos 11&14 are nice. Since I've only seen screen caps of 14, I always wanted to see it. What videos is the compilation lacking? I can't think of much right now. Perhaps they could've put the video for "It's a Beautiful Day" and the video for "In the Bleak Midwinter". Sarah was so charming back then and I'm sure a lot of her fans would've loved to see that video.

My thoughts on Packaging & Details:
- 8 page insert is full of images, all neatly aligned among all 6 inner pages, printed on glossy paper.
- Insert is very pretty and attractive to the eye. The cover of the insert is gorgeous.
- Title is in glittery gold, compared the plain & boring front cover of "Diva" CD.
- I like that they put the tracklist on the back page of booklet, as it's out of the way of the photos.
- There is no writing inside the insert, but ONLY images.
- The DVD is black with gold roses, which looks stunning inside the transparent DVD case.
- Tracklist, 20 thumbnail preview & small bio are found on the backside of package, all neatly arranged.
- The transparent DVD case is nice, as you can see the black artwork of the interior right through it.
- I think they did a spectacular job on the whole thing...and give them a LOT of credit for it all.
- Thanks Sarah, Frank Peterson, Siew May & The Entire Team who put so much hard work into everything about the DVD release.

Video List:
01- Pie Jesu
02- Phantom of the Opera
03- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
04- Amigos Para Siempre
05- Captain Nemo
06- A Question of Honour
07- How Can Heaven Love Me
08- Time to Say Goodbye
09- Just Show Me How to Love You
10- Eden
11- Who Wants to Live Forever
12- Deliver Me
13- Anytime, Anywhere
14- Nella Fantasia
15- Whiter Shade of Pale
16- Ave Maria
17- Kama Sutra
18- Harem
19- Free
20- Starship Troopers
ENCORE
21- Music of The Night (Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday Celebration)

Oh...I wanted to mention...since this is an officially liscenced DVD from Sarah's Official team, I presume all the piracy crap on ebay will cease. So...take my advice and buy this DVD from the real people, and LOVE it please."

I love it!

Danielle | Illinois | 10/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I recieved this DVD and CD from Amazon today and the DVD has been in constant rotation since I opened the package. We fans have been waiting a long time for these videos and even though it doesn't include every video Sarah has ever done, it certainly satisfied me. First of all, the cover and the inside booklet(which is similar to the one in the CD) look amazing and is very high quality. Having Sarah give commentary about every song and video is so fantastic and gives us a lot of insight about the time each video was filmed. There are quite a few funny moments. Like when Sarah tells what the director of the "Phantom of the opera" told her to get her loosened up. The story she told about the director of "How can heaven love me" and how he was swinging around in his wheel chair got me giggling. She also tells of the video that is not really her favorite (Who wants to live forever). Plus in the interviews, she changes three times and looks fantastic each time. This is one of the first times, the fans have seen her shorter hair other than in the Live Chat and in pictures and it looks beautiful.

When I saw these videos, I realised how campy Sarah can be. A lot of her earlier music videos have that kind of campy feeling to them. I guess since she is so polished now, the earlier videos show a more unpolished and Sarah. "How can heaven love me" is the perfect example of this. About that video-I think you're either going to love it or hate it but I love it. I don't know why exactly. I've always loved the song and the video does seem to fit with it. "Eden" is probably my favorite. The Eden cd is my favorite Sarah cd and so I love everything from that period. The dark feeling of the video really does go well with the song. About "Ave Maria", I don't really see the big deal about it. I thought most fans knew that the almost naked with gold on the body look was the look of the video but people seemed to be acting all surprised. Everyone interprets a song differently and the video is how Sarah chose to interpret it and if you don't like it-don't watch it. Plus the gold on the skin look that is in the video is just like the pictures in the 2001 "Classics" cd, so it's not like we haven't seen that anything like that. And of course the "Beautiful" video in the Harem Desert Fantasy DVD, has Sarah dressed in a similar fashion. Any seasoned Sarah fan knows that sometimes Sarah has a different fashion taste.

Pie Jesu-4/5 >a young Sarah freezing while a cold wind blows in Ireland

Phantom of the opera-5/5 >this is the Steve Harley version. Love the Cleopatra look

Wishing you were somehow again-5/5 >watching this video made me like the song again since after all the concert performances of it, I was getting a little tired of it

Amigos para siempre-5/5 >Sarah tells a good story about this one.

Captain Nemo-5/5 >you can tell it's an early video-it doesn't have the high-tech look of todays's videos. I've always loved this song

A question of honour-4/5 >The game kind of look kind of takes away from the song but Sarah looks lovely.

How can heaven love me-5/5 >A little out there but I like it

Time to say goodbye-5/5 >a gorgeous Sarah in this video.

Just show me how to love you-5/5 >I was familar with this one since it was included in Sarah's Classic PBS special. It was show in Paris and yet again, Sarah looks beautiful

Eden-5/5 >There's one shot of Sarah in this video when she's sitting on the throne near the beginning of the video that I find really beautiful. Again, I really love the Eden era

Who wants to live forever-4/5 >I can kind of see why this is not one of Sarah's favorites-especially in the beginning.

Deliver me-5/5>this is from Sarah's One night in Eden tour but it's not just the live performance. It gives some different angles and some footage from South Africa. I forgot how powerful this song is.

Anytime, Anywhere-5/5 >the same video from the Harem Desert fantasy DVD but without the couple in it.

Nella Fantasia-5/ >I'm not this songs biggest fan but I love the Eden shots in it. Also interspersed is some shots from the Harem videos.

Whiter shade of pale-5/5 >I've always loved this song and video. La Luna was a great period.

Ave Maria-5/5 >The controversial video. But I got what she decided to convey and I like it

Karma Sutra-4/5 I would have preferred less couple and more Sarah

Harem- 5/5 I love this video, especially the beginning when Sarah is in the stairway. The colors in it are so vibrant.

Free- 5/5 One of my all-time favorite Sarah songs and this video is a little different than the one that's on the Harem Desert fantasy DVD. It includes some different shots from the various videos on that DVD.

Starship troopers-4/5 >This video and the song is not the orginal version but the dance version with clips of the cheesy "Starship trooper" movie that came out in the 90's. But it's still fun and the remix is great.

Music of the night (taken from the Andrew Lloyd Weber's 50th birthday Celebration)-5/5>I have the other two performances featuring Sarah from this show on tape but I was missing this performance. Sarah's perfomance of Music of the night has always been fantastic and moving and this is no exception. I much prefer this to "Wishing you were somehow here again"

It doesn't matter if you're a new Sarah fan or a seasoned one-this DVD is a must for all Sarah Brightman fans."

Angel of Music or DIVA: ITS ALL THE SAME

J. Sumaran | Los Angeles,CA,USA | 10/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brightman does not fail with the term DIVA and the video collection perfectly captures that. After 25yrs. Sarah Brightman continues to capture the hearts of millions world-wide. The video collection encompasses many of her videos and biggest hits, especially her international hit duet with Andrea Bocelli on "Time to Say Good-Bye". Not only is it a video collection, its even better to call this collection a greatest hits package. From her days on Broadway ("Phantom of the Opera"), to her more thematic, solo performances like "Capt. Nemo", "How Can Heaven Love Me", or "Harem". Also included are her more Classical/Vocal hits like the controversial "Ave Maria" and "Just Show Me How to Love You" (duet with Jose Cura).

For fans all over the world, this is one DVD you absolutely have to get your hands on! Fans have eagerly waited for such a collection to be released, and especially here in the United States, Sarah's videos are rarely shown or really, not at all. For people who would like to hear some of Sarah's best work, the VIDEO COLLECTION is superior over the SINGLES COLLECTION which does not contain a lot of memorable music from the DIVA herself.

On the videos, it's great to see Sarah Brightman looking better than ever! Brightman talks about some of the work that went into the videos, the directors, and things related to the videos. My favorite videos are "Just Show Me How to Love You", "Ave Maria", "Eden", "Anytime, Anywhere", and "Harem".

Other videos are "Starship Troopers", "Pie Jesu", "Phantom of the Opera", "A Question of Honour", "How Can Heaven Love Me", "Amigos Para Siempre", "Deliver Me", "Whiter Shade of Pale". The track list is longer but these are the songs that have made SARAH BRIGHTMAN.

She has mesmerized her listeners for many years. She refuses to be categorized into one genre of music. From rock to classical, ballads to dance/electronica, vocal/showtunes to the sounds of the Middle-East, DIVA is the only word to describe the woman who has transcended music genres.
"

Divine Diva

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 10/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Classical-pop singer Sarah Brightman has always had a flair for the dramatic -- exotic, fanciful concerts to match her music. Now her music videos are compiled in "Diva: The Video Collection," with Brightman singing many of her most popular songs against exquisite scenery and backdrops.

It starts off with some older stuff: the heartbreaking "Pie Jesu," with Brightman singing the hymn with a young choirboy, against the backdrop of a ravaged Ireland. Then it's the slightly campy "Phantom of the Opera" video, with a white-clad Christine Daae rushing into an underground to meet a rather overwrought Phantom, played by Steve Harley. Seriously, what is up with that whipping cape and twitchy gestures?

But Brightman is excellent, wide-eyed and innocent even when she gets dolled up in an ornate Cleopatra oufit, and the theme carries over to the bittersweet "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," with Christine laying flowers in a graveyard.

From there on, Brightman explores different worlds in each of her videos -- sexy lovers in a hotel, the shimmering blue-green world of Captain Nemo, the beautiful wildlife of Africa, dreamers waking from rose-petal covered beds, a prison cell, mosaic-covered palaces, twilit mosques and camels, a watery dungeon inside a bathtub, an oasis, and a flower-filled reflecting pool.

There's even a "Starship Troopers" music video, which has thankfully been revamped into a more sci-fi-ish theme with lots of footage from the movie of the same name. You can see the goofy original video (complete with silver spandex and bare-chested dancers) on screens -- a clever bit of self-mockery.

And in these music videos, she embraces every kind of persona. There is Brightman as a naive young singer, a dreamy damsel, a modern girl, an exotic sea nymph in leather, the queen of an abandoned labyrinth, a Middle-Eastern temptress in a mosaic palace, and a moon goddess. She even covers herself in gold leaf for "Ave Maria."

Most of the videos are very dreamlike and fantastical, with Brightman floating around in flowing gowns, rosy skies, and idealized forests, palaces and lunarscapes. In fact, she seems oddly removed from the things that go on around her; even in videos where she's involved, she seems to be apart from all the other people.

Not every video is ideal -- "Question of Honour" is basically a tour through an empty CGI temple. And I still don't entirely know what is up with the couple sitting in a cardboard box. But the majority of these are stunningly visual and atmospheric, full of exotic landscapes and evocative settings. The videos peak with "Captain Nemo's" low-tech, shimmering, surreal look. Not much CGI, but lots of pumping pistons, pearls, and whales.

It's worth noting that the quality is not top-notch in every video, but then, some of these are obviously several years old. And it's not like they have lines or fizzing; some are merely less sharp than others. But for compensation, there's a link encoded in the DVD which leads to -- ta da! -- two more videos on her website. You have to subscribe, but it's worth the effort.

Brightman doesn't disappoint in "Diva: The Video Collection," with her fantastical music videos and beautiful vocals. Some music videos can be tedious or self-important, but these are just exquisite."