U23D
I went last night to see the new 3D film of U2's Vertigo tour. It is showing at the IMAX theater in Nashville.
A few facts might help you better interpret my impressions of the movie. Am I the biggest U2 fan in the world? No. I like many of their tunes very much, but there are no doubt many, many people who are much more wrapped up in U2 fandom. I also don't have every CD they've ever released by a long shot. Have I seen a U2 concert in person? No, I haven't.
The film runs about 90 minutes, and is very well produced. The shows from which film was used were: Mexico City; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Melbourne, Australia. I believe there was also one other city which is not coming to mind at the moment. It was my first time to see a movie at an IMAX theater, and this film was very well suited to the oversized presentation. The 3D effects had great impact at times. With the great width of the IMAX screen, I really could have used 3D glasses that were much wider, as the periphery of the screen was beyond the edge of the lenses when focused on the center of the screen.
Bono was his usual self, the consummate frontman for a rock band. The Edge was playing very well, with his guitar riffs carrying the music as usual for U2. Adam Clayton was solid, but never flashy, as you would expect if you've seen U2 live before. And Larry Mullen was keeping it all on time with his aggressive play and steady rhythm. The sound in the IMAX theater was excellent, helping to create the impression that you were actually somewhere in the concert venue.
I unknowingly spoiled some of the fun of this film for myself. Long before I ever knew there was to be a U23D (which I only learned of about three weeks ago - I told you I didn't obsess over them), I had the opportunity to see two different presentations of the same tour on different cable networks. The first one I saw was filmed in Italy, and was a fantastic show which I recorded on my DVR and watched several times before it eventually got deleted. The second was filmed in Chicago, and was shown in high definition on HDnet. While I thought the performance was better in Italy, seeing it in high definition was pretty incredible. (This was in the first few weeks after we first got HDTV, so I was still drooling over most anything shown in HD.) Because I had seen large parts of the concert before, this film made less of an impression on me than it likely would have otherwise.
The set lists for all three presentations of the Vertigo tour were different. The 3D version's greatest oversight, to me, was excluding Elevation from the film.
My recommendations: If you're a tremendously huge fan of U2, you'll want to see the film if the opportunity presents itself. Even if you saw the tour live, you'll almost certainly see some things you missed being in the crowd instead of looking through always the perfect camera for the moment. If you're a fan, but not obsessed, and you haven't already seen the Vertigo tour on TV or something, you will enjoy it very much. If, like me, you're familiar with the stage show for that tour, and you're not the world's biggest U2 fan, you will enjoy the film but much of the surprise will be lost on you.
If you've seen the film, I'd love to read your impressions in the comments.
A few facts might help you better interpret my impressions of the movie. Am I the biggest U2 fan in the world? No. I like many of their tunes very much, but there are no doubt many, many people who are much more wrapped up in U2 fandom. I also don't have every CD they've ever released by a long shot. Have I seen a U2 concert in person? No, I haven't.
The film runs about 90 minutes, and is very well produced. The shows from which film was used were: Mexico City; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Melbourne, Australia. I believe there was also one other city which is not coming to mind at the moment. It was my first time to see a movie at an IMAX theater, and this film was very well suited to the oversized presentation. The 3D effects had great impact at times. With the great width of the IMAX screen, I really could have used 3D glasses that were much wider, as the periphery of the screen was beyond the edge of the lenses when focused on the center of the screen.
Bono was his usual self, the consummate frontman for a rock band. The Edge was playing very well, with his guitar riffs carrying the music as usual for U2. Adam Clayton was solid, but never flashy, as you would expect if you've seen U2 live before. And Larry Mullen was keeping it all on time with his aggressive play and steady rhythm. The sound in the IMAX theater was excellent, helping to create the impression that you were actually somewhere in the concert venue.
I unknowingly spoiled some of the fun of this film for myself. Long before I ever knew there was to be a U23D (which I only learned of about three weeks ago - I told you I didn't obsess over them), I had the opportunity to see two different presentations of the same tour on different cable networks. The first one I saw was filmed in Italy, and was a fantastic show which I recorded on my DVR and watched several times before it eventually got deleted. The second was filmed in Chicago, and was shown in high definition on HDnet. While I thought the performance was better in Italy, seeing it in high definition was pretty incredible. (This was in the first few weeks after we first got HDTV, so I was still drooling over most anything shown in HD.) Because I had seen large parts of the concert before, this film made less of an impression on me than it likely would have otherwise.
The set lists for all three presentations of the Vertigo tour were different. The 3D version's greatest oversight, to me, was excluding Elevation from the film.
My recommendations: If you're a tremendously huge fan of U2, you'll want to see the film if the opportunity presents itself. Even if you saw the tour live, you'll almost certainly see some things you missed being in the crowd instead of looking through always the perfect camera for the moment. If you're a fan, but not obsessed, and you haven't already seen the Vertigo tour on TV or something, you will enjoy it very much. If, like me, you're familiar with the stage show for that tour, and you're not the world's biggest U2 fan, you will enjoy the film but much of the surprise will be lost on you.
If you've seen the film, I'd love to read your impressions in the comments.
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U2, Movies, Music
