Roger Waters: The Wall—Live in Berlin (1990)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Disappointment for a huge fan!

Critics,are you kidding us

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I will agree with the reviewer that this is a poor performance, but anyone who thinks that The Band is a B or C list artist really shows their lack of musical knowledge.The Band is one of the greatest American bands in history and to be shrugged off so casually is an insult.Maybe the reviewer should go back and watch The Last Waltz to truly appreciate the greatness of The Band.But I guess Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, Ronnie Wood, Martin Scorsese are used to paying tribute to B or C list acts.

The Wall is, indeed, one of the most awe-inspiring feats from the 70's rock scene. It may not be Pink Floyd's best work, but on the form of ambition it could rightly rank with (or some would argue above) Dark Side of the Moon. It's engaging (if a little obvious) with its messages on education, sex, the drainage of rock and roll, psychology, and the breakdown of society through fascism. It's more of a sensory experience than something traditional, like with the Who's rock operas. So here, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Roger Waters brought forth a worldwide broadcast of the wall, complete with a spectacle for millions to experience, and of course not alone. Here he is joined by such musicians as Bryan Adams, The Band (of Last Waltz 'Band' I mean), Cyndi Lauper, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and the Scorpions among others. On top of this is the complete stage-show of the Wall that made waves when first done in 1980.It's the kind of live concert one wishes was experiences in person as opposed to on the screen; like with the live show in other venues with the complete Pink Floyd, something is lost when experienced at home (the film is another matter, which is for my money one of the top 5 "expensive student films" ever made). On top of this there is also the factor of the special guests, and even the whole spectacle itself, getting in the way of what Waters does best. In fact, while he is usually singing the songs (there's a great bit when he's in part of the Wall right before, or after, the hotel-room smashing), the other acts sometimes steal the show, for better or worse. Mitchell is good, the Band does a terrific job, and the Scorpions are hit or miss depending on how much of a fan you are.But that this is such an ambitious show, with such a huge, overpowering audience, is enough to suffice. The Gerald Scarfe production design/animations are a wonder to behold for the fans, and there are a few other surprises as well. There is also an interesting, if not perfect, rendition of 'the Trial sequence' featuring a funny, scathing Tim Curry and judge played by Albert Finney. So, like other Pink Floyd or Waters endeavors, it's stretching the boundaries of what can be done, and more often than not it succeeded, in the wake of a triumphant fall of the real wall in Berlin.

I see only one other report on this and can't disagree more. I was fortunate enough to see Floyd perform The Wall live at the LA Sports Arena in 1979. I'm told that, due to stage size requirements, they only "built" the full wall on stage in LA and NY. The performance in Berlin in 1990 is the closest one can get to what they might have seen in '79. The sound on the DVD is excellent and the cinematography was nothing short of outstanding. Having the variety of musicians and vocalists involved was terrific with the sole exception of Van Morrison, who gave an extremely weak performance for Comfortably Numb, which on the album is one of the highlight songs. This DVD is absolutely worth the price and can be enjoyed many times. For comparison, watch the theatrical version which delves deeply into the trauma of "Pink's" life, played wonderfully by Bob Geldorf of the Boomtown Rats.

Most enjoyable concert with loads of big name stars wearing funny get-ups and singing the utterly unique Roger Waters productions. I loved watching the Wall being built right there stone by stone and was captivated by the thing being dismantled rapidly in a falling thunder. Must have taken lots of time and energy to build this set, and even more to rehearse all the complicated numbers. Very expensive looking props were used which includes much more than the costumes: lots of trucks, flying machines, gun toting players running to and fro, and, of course, Cyndi's glorious wig. I gotta wonder at the mentality of someone who can come up with this much eccentricity in one program; is Waters a genius or just some p*ssed off 60's jamboy?