Search - U2 - Best of 1990-2000 on DVD

Even Better Than The Real Thing...well almost.

Jeffrey A. Gruden | San Diego, Ca. USA | 12/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"U2's new DVD ("The Best Of 1990-2000") is a great addition to any U2 music collection. It mirrors the CD of the same name in sound quality, plus you get to see the band as well. Oh, let us not forget the seven bonus tracks for a grand total of twenty-three video tracks. If you like U2 at all do yourself a favor and get this DVD, you will enjoy all or most of the video tracks. Here is the track list: Even Better Than The Real Thing, Mysterious Ways, Beautiful Day, Electrical Storm, One, Miss Sarajevo, Stay(Faraway So Close), Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Gone, Until The End Of The World, The Hands That Built America(Theme From "Gangs Of New York"), Discotheque, Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me, Staring At The Sun, Numb, and The Fly. The bonus tracks are: Please, If God Will Send His Angels, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Lemon, Last Night On Earth, Mofo, and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. There are also Three Mini-Documentaries: U2 Sur Mer, A Story Of One, and Missing Sarajevo for a grand total of 2 hours and 56 minutes worth of U2 audio-visual. Is it worth it, why it's even better than the real thing...well almost."

Two Shots of Happy and One Drop of Sad

Thomas H. Ayers | Bowie, MD United States | 12/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quick Overview: This DVD is both an excellent survey of U2's music during the past decade and a fascinating anthology of music videos, both conceptual and performance. Musically, it contains all of the songs from the regular release of the CD "U2: The Best of 1990-2000", with the exception that "For the First Time" is replaced by "The Fly". In addition, it contains seven bonus tracks, songs lamented by many for not being included on the CD. Cinematically, it boasts both performance and conceptual videos of varying quality; with the inclusion of intriguing director commentaries, many of the videos merit multiple viewings. Alternate videos for "Even Better Than The Real Thing", "One", "Stuck in a Moment...", "Staring at the Sun", and "Numb" are provided to yield a total of 28 music videos for 23 songs. As a special treat, three documentaries are included. All in all, this is an amazing DVD.Details, Shot One ("Conceptual Videos"): The most successful conceptual videos are "Numb" (Godley version), "Please", and "If God Will Send His Angels". The "Numb" video bluntly demonstrates the cause of The Edge's numbness--it's also quite funny and disturbing. "Please" and "If God Will Send His Angels" are probably my favorites. Bono's performance in "Please" is poignant, and the gimic employed by Corbijn works well here. The use of split screen and altered film speed in "If God Will Send..." effectively communicates that awful out-of-sync feeling of being alone among people, even among friends. "One" deserves special mention. Three videos were made for this. Pellington's version, employed in concert, emphasized buffalos, images of which adorn both the CD and DVD; sadly, this video was NOT included on the DVD. The other two videos are here, and they are interesting. Corbijn's version is notable for having Bono's father playing a major role; in addition, you get to decide which member of U2 would make the most attractive woman--I don't think it's Bono.Details, Shot Two ("Performance Videos"): What would U2 be without footage of them on stage? Many of these videos, including conceptual ones, feature perforance footage. Some, like "Gone" and "Mofo", are essentially concert videos; I prefer watching these songs on the Zoo TV and PopMart videos. Others, like "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "Mysterious Ways", and "Staring at the Sun", utilize novel filming techniques to
bolster the song's mood or message. Some are more successful than others. For example, at first boring, the strange effects in "Staring at the Sun" (Scott version) become almost revelatory at the end. In "Please" and "One", expressions on The Edge's face at key points of the video are very telling and make the inclusion of performance footage mandatory.One Drop of Sad: These are minor quibbles. 1) Navigation is sometimes frustrating. You click on the director's name and you get either the video OR the video with commentary. If you click on the triangle beside his name, you definitely get commentary. If you have the same trouble, keep trying; eventually, you will get the straight video. 2) With "Mofo", I had to try accessing the video several times before I heard the soundtrack. "Mofo" was the only video with which I had this problem. 3) Although the box claims subtitles in five languages, I did not find Japanese subtitles actually provided for the songs I checked, and I checked most of them. 4) Some songs, like "Beautiful Day" and "One", had alternate videos. It would have been nice to have ALL versions. (This is a BEST OF anthology, so maybe they only included the best of the alternates?)Extra Tidbits: The DVD booklet provides interesting, albeit short, notes on each song. The DVD package provides storage space for the U2 The History Mix DVD, that came with the special edition of "The Best of 1990-2002" CD.In Summary: This is an outstanding DVD. It contains most, arguably the best, of the singles from 1990-2000 with their videos, all of which contain something of at least passing interest and some of which are very powerful. The director commentaries are fascinating and provide valuable behind-the-scenes information. The documentaries are a nice addition. I highly recommend "U2: The Best of 1990-2002"; it's one of the best DVDs I've bought this year."

Honest comments from a new U2 fan.

Jorge Farah | Barranquilla, Atlántico Colombia | 01/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had never really payed much attention to U2. Other than bobbing my head whenever With or Without You came on the radio, or laughing at the silly video for "Numb" when I saw it on TV... I was never a huge fan. But recently I have found myself strangely drawn to this amazing band, after downloading the song "Stay (Faraway, So Close)" from their album Zooropa. There's just so much beauty in that song that it made me want to find out more about these guys. So I downloaded, and I researched, and when the time came to redeem a faulty Coldplay DVD for another product, this video collection caught my eye.I loved it. Absolutely loved it. There's not a single video I disliked, and everything from the short documentaries to the commentary tracks by the videos' directors, I found fascinating. I especially fell in love with the slick packaging, even if at first I was irked by having an empty DVD space (not a problem once you purchase the Greatest Hits collection on CD, though-- it comes with an extra DVD).My favorite video is, of course, the very powerful "Stay (Faraway, So Close)", but other standouts include "Electrical Storm", "If God Will Send His Angels", "Miss Saravejo", "One" and the hilarious campfest "Discoteque".Oh, and here are some amusing Easter Eggs to be found on the DVD:The Fish Tank--
Go to the video menu for "One." Press "1" or "01" and enter on your remote. Repeat this two more times. You will see a fish tank with some very peculiar fish in it. ^^The correct order of alternate videos--
Press stop twice on the main menu, and then play.William Borroughs--
Go to Bonus Tracks and enter the menu for "Last Night on Earth" and press "8" or "08" and hit enter."

Much, so much better than the CD

Paul de Senquisse | Metz France | 12/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I was disappointed with the collector's edition of the CD (lacking many brilliant B-sides like Night and Day in favor of techno-wannabe remixes), the DVD edition is simply brilliant. Most of the songs that have supported more than one video worldwide see all their versions included (exceptions being the buffalo-themed "one" video, that you can still catch on the "one" documentary, and the alternate "beautiful day" video included in the mini-DVD sold with the CD, that you can place in the DVD box on its reserved space)The image quality is brillant, and the bonuses are actually all interesting and well-done, which is rare on a music-based DVD (the Bowie DVD is brilliant for its wealth of clips, but has no bonus whatsoever). Aside from the alternate videos, nearly all the videos have an audio commentary filled with interesting bits and pieces about the realisation of the video and anecdotes from the band. Last, but not least, there are a few documentaries about the band and some songs (the "one" documentary is really well done).Song quality, image quality, bonus quality : all in all, this DVD is a must-have for any U2 fan"