Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 15, 2023

Trivia lovers will of course know that the first music video aired on MTV (a cable network that used to feature, you know, music videos) was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star". What some who aren't old enough to actually remember the early days of MTV may not realize, though, is how almost archaic some of the first music videos actually were, which makes their perceived "death warrant" for radio stars seem positively rude in a way. While there has been some controversy and actual outright misinformation with regard to the origin of Depeche Mode's name, that "mode" part at least indicates fashion, and it is therefore also a bit ironic that the videos aggregated in this appealing collection may have fashion galore, but still have a decidedly "old school" appearance courtesy of having been shot on Super 8 film. This may be just the reaction of someone getting into "get off my lawn" age, but there's a certain hilarious quality to verbiage included with this release about Super 8 stock (see the video section below), which has a kind of "we need to school these young whippersnappers about things" quality. One way or the other, both Strange and Strange Too are the handiwork of Anton Corbijn, a Dutch director who has been the guiding force behind not just Depeche Mode's videos (and album covers), but U2, as well.

Corbijn provides some interesting "liner notes" in this release's foldout leaflet, where he talks about shooting music videos for singles, but then combining his efforts to make a quasi-short film. Strange was understandably "birthed" from Depeche Mode's "Strangelove", and as Corbijn mentions, all of the videos in Strange save for "A Question in Time" are culled from the band's Music for the Masses release (see screenshots 9 and 10 for the menus listing the tracks available in both Strange and Strange Too). This set of videos offers some "fake interviews" (as Corbijn calls them) as supposed interstitials. Corbijn asks that a bit of slack be granted these early efforts, since he and the band were "young" and "experimenting".

Strange Too features songs off of Violator and also offers color Super 8 productions. This particular compilation has "bridging sequences" with the band supposedly watching the videos at a drive in theater. As someone who hails from Salt Lake City, I have to love that the theater utilized was in Utah, according to Corbijn.

Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Depeche Mode: Strange / Strange Too is (are?) presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Rhino Music with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in a variety of aspect ratios ranging from approximately 1.28:1 to 1:35:1. Screenshots 1 through 5 are from Strange and screenshots 6 through 8 are from Strange Too. The release comes with the following kind of wonderfully irascible "disclaimer":

This Blu-ray release was put together using the original Super 8 film stock, in some occasions where the footage had deteriorated too much, the next best source was used. The nature of Super 8 film means there will always be a grain and roughness to it, that is not an effect but a character of the film and something Anton loves about analogue Super 8. It's not something that can be changed so that it can be the crystal clear hyper real 4K reproduction that is used today. The tape restoration underwent a rigorous process over the course of several years, and was a process that involved personnel originally involved in making the film, including, not least, Anton Corbijn.

Got that, kid? The above verbiage may indicate in its own understated way (ahem) that of course this is an often roughhewn and highly textured set of videos, but for those attuned to the "lo fi" context of the source, it's actually kind of great looking. Grain, while, yes, incredibly heavy and even chunky at times, resolves without any issues, and while it can in fact tend to mask fine detail at times (I'd argue more in the black and white footage than the color, perhaps because the grain is often black), on the whole things look rather spry. There are a number of what I assume were old school composited effects and other bells and whistles that probably only add to the "homemade" ambience of the videos.

Rhino has authored the Main Menu(s) a little weirdly. The disc boots to the menu for Strange and then you have to right arrow or angle (!) to get to Strange Too.

Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Depeche Mode: Strange / Strange Too features LPCM 2.0 audio which offers some sound effects (like some opening wind and then a baby cooing in Strange) along with the band's very distinctive music. All of the actual songs sound nicely full bodied, and there's some decent stereo imaging (especially with regard to some of the kind of goofy background effects in tunes like "A Question of Time". Probably unsurprisingly, there are no subtitles offered.

Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Strange

• Outtake Vignettes

  Strangelove (HD; 1:25)

  
  

  Behind the Wheel (HD; 00:59)

  
  

  Behind the Wheel (Shep Pettibone Mix) (HD; 1:11)

Strange Too

• Outtake Vignettes

  Personal Jesus (Acoustic) (HD; 1:44)

  
  

  Policy of Truth (HD; 1:08)

  
  

  Policy of Truth (Trancentral Mix) (HD; 1:01)

The tri-fold DigiPack also encloses a nice foldout leaflet with two brief descriptions of the projects by Corbijn, along with a number of stills.

Depeche Mode: Strange/Strange Too Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's perhaps unavoidably a little funny to think about nascent videos like the ones collected on this release as having contributed to a sea change in how music was mass marketed. Archeology aside, though, there is style here, which I'd argue may be defined as lasting a bit longer than mere "fashion", and when combined with the band's particular charms, Depeche Mode: Strange / Strange Too may appeal to those without any over enthusiastic feeling about the band itself. You 4K clear as a bell young 'un's had best re-read that "warning" reprinted above to understand what's on tap here, but joking aside, technical merits are contextually solid and Depeche Mode: Strange / Strange Too comes Recommended.