Search - Sign o the Times on DVD

Masterpiece movie gets dissapointing DVD-treatment

H. Steenbergen | Netherlands | 04/12/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Let's get one thing straight: Prince's Sign O' The Times (1987) is a masterpiece, and that goes for the album as well as this movie... That's why it hurts me, as a Prince-fan, that this fine work of art got a REALLY lousy transfer to DVD... It already begins with the box: spelling errors, and pictures from other eras than Sign O' The Times. Ok, for some people it might nog be a big deal to have a 1984 Purple Rain-picture on a box of a 1987-film, but hey: why didn't they just use the sleeve of the VHS-tape? Oh well, what's really important is ofcourse the disc itself. The picture is very dark and the sound is very flat, even near mono if you ask me. The subtitling is so poor that it almost becomes amusing: full of errors!A masterpiece like Sign O' The Times deserved a better treatment than this; this DVD looks like a cheap bootleg. In fact: it probably is, because nowhere on box or disc can I find logos and catalogue-numbers of record-company Warner and movie-company MCA (which is the company that released Sign O' The Times, if memory serves me right).People please: stay away from this DVD and wait for a proper, official release in the future (I hope that's not whishful thinking). Or try to get the Laserdisc-version, that was released sometime in the 90's, that one was pretty acceptable..."

BEWARE the DVD!

04/08/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"It appears the DVD version of this spectacular concert is a bootleg manufactured in Brazil.
It does not appear to be official at all. Nothing stating any affiliation with Prince or Warner Bros. appears on the packaging aside from the name 'Prince.'
The quality of the packaging is poor with a photograph from the 'Purple Rain' era on the cover and no inserts at all.
'Extras' include 'fotos'(pictures of Prince mostly taken from 'sign...' or post name change. Pictures that are frequently seen. Nothing that you can't find in a quick online search.), 'biografia'(What appears to be a biography of Prince...in Spanish!), and 'discografia'(All the album covers through 'The Rainbow Children' and the release year of each album...I didn't take the time to check the accuracy.)..
After waiting months to receive this, I was extremely disappointed and I would recommend getting the VHS version if you are considering this.
It is a legendary performance that needs to be seen, but if you must have a DVD version, you could probably make one of your own from the VHS version that would surpass this one as far as quality goes."

Warning Signs

H. Steenbergen | 04/17/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"There is a reason why there isn't an image available for the DVD release of Prince's Sign O' The Times. This is such a poor product that it would be wise not to show a preview because people wouldn't waste their hopes and money. What this is is a bootleg of some sort with horrendous sound and picture. The cover uses a Purple Rain-era image of Prince and my word, the majority of the information on the packaging is in Spanish. That wouldn't be so bad if I knew how to speak and read Spanish, but I don't and I didn't anticipate having to do so to fully enjoy this. I am returning this DVD with a warning sign: STAY AWAY!!"

WARNING! Not an official version of the film

sbacon1999 | San Francisco, CA USA | 04/12/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is a Brazilian DVD that is a lame copy of the original film on VHS tape. This is not an official release. Scenes are missing, the picture quality is dark and it's not even in stereo. You're better off buying the VHS tape - at least that's the real deal and better quality. That said, this movie rocks! Just don't buy this DVD..."