Europe – 20th Anniversary Edition – The
Final Countdown (DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Concert: C
Just when
Sweden had already graced us with ABBA, the world lucked out again with the
Rock hair band Europe in 1987 and their big hit album The Final Countdown. Just in
time for its 20th Anniversary, they are back with a new concert and
they sound almost exactly as they did 20 years ago. The album spawned the title hit and the even
bigger Rock Torch Song/”Power Ballad” Carrie. After this concert, I needed to see the Brian
De Palma film of the same name quickly.
They
perform those and eleven more of their fan favorites and I give them credit for
having as much energy as they did two decades before, as well as really caring
about their audience. Unfortunately,
that is just about the only audience there is for this because it offers
nothing new or distinct. It is a narrow
nostalgia piece and we have seen much worse.
At least they have some kind of talent versus most of the acts that have
followed in the 230 years since, especially in Rock.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was shot on some kind of analog video,
whether PAL, NTSC or SECAM, it is too soft.
If this was shot to be wide is hard to tell, but colors are also muted
as is depth. There are Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo and Dolby 5.1 mixes, but the 2.0 is the actually the better mix because
this is not a concert conceived as multi-channel by any means. Extras include stills, text biographies,
interviews and a featurette of the band visiting the studio where they recorded
their fateful album.
- Nicholas Sheffo
