7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
George Michael winds down his 25 Live tour in his first-ever concert film, which finds the former Wham! leading man revisiting hits familiar and fresh in two sold-out shows at London's Earls Court. Michael's impeccable vocals take center stage, and his pop-song prowess is driven home with such classics as "Faith," "Freedom" and "One More Try." Even "Careless Whisper" gets a nod, as does the Police's "Roxanne."
Director: Andrew MorahanMusic | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
I am not a huge fan of Brian Posehn, the unkempt, often foul mouthed comedian who appears on The Sarah Silverman Program. But he gave me a huge laugh a few weeks ago doing a standup routine where he talked about throwing his I-Tunes “auto recommendation” feature into a permanent state of confusion. Posehn is evidently a head banger, prone to downloading nothing other than heavy metal offerings, but as a joke one day, he decided to download the “worst holiday song ever,” Wham’s “Last Christmas.” Evidently that juxtaposition of Anthrax with George Michael was enough to send Apple’s logarithms reeling and poor Posehn’s I-Tunes didn’t know quite what to make of his sudden conversion to easy listening pop “grooves.” I doubt too many other of Michael’s other fans have similar problems. Though Michael’s post-Wham career has seen both a number of impressive chart hits and some rather unsavory personal peccadilloes come to the fore, the singer songwriter has managed to hold on to a rather large cadre of fans and this Live in London Blu-ray release finds him covering both Wham and solo numbers to a large and adoring crowd of very vocal acolytes.
George Michael
George Michael Live in London is an extremely sharp looking concert video, arriving in 1080i (not 1080p as some people have reported) and encoded via AVC. It's rather ironic that this in an interlaced video considering the gigantic television screens which surround Michael during the concert and which due to their size might seem to be advertisements for interlacing artifacts. Surprisingly, there are no artifacts of any import to be seen. This is a remarkably sharp and well detailed piece, with good, if somewhat subdued, color in terms of the humans, but with some great, audacious palettes on display in the visual elements augmenting the music. Some viewers may be annoyed by the overall darkness of this piece, which often finds Michael swathed in shadows, but black levels are excellent and consistent and contrast is strong, even in shots with arc lights blaring into the cameras. Some people may actually find the visual elements of this Blu-ray stronger than the audio, which is both a bit strange but also interesting.
I was a little underwhelmed with the surround activity on the DTS HD-MA 5.1 offering. To its credit, we aren't bombarded with ambient audience noise spilling into the rear channels, but similarly precious little of the music seems to seep back there either. What is offered here is a very crisp and well detailed soundtrack that ably supports both Michael's voice and the superb backup band and singers. Michael does go through some stylistic paces here, and the DTS track never falters in fidelity whether it's reproducing heavier techno beats (which provide some nice, thumping low frequency) or the more relatively restrained pop ambience of pieces like "Careless Whisper." If you don't mind a front-heavy mix, this is really excellent sounding, though it ultimately amounts to something like glorified stereo.
An hour of bonus material is offered, the bulk of which is a 42 minute featurette called "I'd Know Him a Mile Off," a title culled from an obnoxious guard's refusal (documented in the concert itself) to let Michael's limo into the arena parking lot since the person in the back seat was "obviously" not the star. The same worker flips off Michael and the limo driver as they pull away, and I assume he is now happily ensconced on Britain's burgeoning unemployment lines. The rest of the piece has some interesting moments with the crew and band, though there is one cringe worthy moment, too. Michael's father comes backstage to introduce his son to a legendary Greek singer. George is obviously none too thrilled to be bothered, and quickly tells his father that he is the only person who's ever been allowed to come backstage, and that furthermore, it's time for Michael to get his hair done, so buh-bye. Hopefully no one made eye contact.
The other 18 minutes are split between three bonus tunes, "Precious Box," "Jesus to a Child," and "First Time Ever" (which is a slightly redacted version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."
If video killed the radio star, it begat a whole new generation of music hitmakers who valued image as much as sound. At the head of that list is George Michael, who proves here after 25 years he's mastered the fine art of looking good while sounding fine. If there's precious little soul here, well, that may not be what the goal was to begin with.
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