BEASTIE BOYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #100 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

TITLE: BEASTIE BOYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #100

COMPANY: THE CRITERION COLLECTION

TYPE OF MUSIC DVD: Music Videos and more

Beastie Boys fans with a firm command of DVD angle and subtitle features will find the Criterion Collection’s version of the group’s Video Anthology a must. Augmenting 18 videos with more than 100 camera angles and remixes old and new, the 2-disc set brings Criterion’s attention to detail and quality to bear on some of the most hilarious and visually creative music clips ever. In addition to hits such as “So What’cha Want,” “Intergalactic,” and “Shake Your Rump,” the set also includes such lesser-known cuts as “Ricky’s Theme” and “Netty’s Girl.” Finally, director comments, a mock talk-show appearance by “the cast of Sabotage” (the Beasties’ spoof of ’70s cop shows), and behind-the-scenes mastermind Nathanial Hörnblowér’s “The Robot vs. the Octopus Monster Saga” lend further insight into the Beasties’ creative process with their collaborators. Long may they tape. –Rickey Wright (Amazon)

DVD FEATURES:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Black & White, Dolby, Surround Sound, Digital Sound
• Commentary by Beastie Boys
• Commentary by video directors Adam Bernstein, Evan Bernard, Tamra Davis, Spike Jonze, Ari Marcopoulos and David Perez
• Over 100 video angles and audio tracks, switchable at anytime during playback
• More than 40 remixes
• A cappella versions
• Rare still photographs
• Storyboards
• Interview with the cast of “Sabotage”
• The world-premiere director’s cut of Nathanial Hornblower’s “Intergalactic” spin-off “The Robot vs. the Octopus Monster Saga”
• Full-screen format
• Number of discs: 2

Disc 1:
1. Intergalactic
2. Shake Your Rump
3. Gratitude
4. Something’s Got to Give
5. Sure Shot
6. Hey Ladies
7. Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
8. Body Movin’
9. So What’cha Want

Disc 2:
1. Sabotage
2. Shadrach
3. Three MCs and One DJ
4. Ricky’s Theme
5. Pass the Mic
6. Holy Snappers
7. Root Down
8. Netty’s Girl
9. Alive

The two-disc set Beastie Boys Video Anthology from the Criterion Collection features over 100 video angles and audio tracks switchable at any time during playback, more than 40 remixes including many created exclusively for this release, audio commentary by the band and video directors, and the world-premiere director’s cut of Nathanial Hörnblowér’s Intergalactic spinoff The Robot vs. The Octopus Monster Saga. Also included: an interview with the cast of Sabotage, still photographs, storyboards, special collectible poster, new 5.1 surround-sound mixes, and a cappella versions.

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S):

Hidden Audio Clip

At the main menu scroll down to Schematic Overview and click on it. Then press the right arrow button on your remote 5 times. Now select the color bars box by pressing down on your remote. As you watch the color bars you’ll hear a funny audio clip with Spike Johnz. Works on either dvd.

You probably read about this DVD on Entertainment Weekly or any DVD review magazine.  This DVD will perhaps be the reference DVD for how music video anthologies should be like.  If all music video DVD’s follow this pattern of multiple versions of the videos (sometimes camera angles or different cuts from the music video) to the added mix and a capella versions of the song, we would be in heaven.

For example:  You just have to see the boys invade Tokyo in the music video Intergalactic.  There are 9 versions of the Intergalactic Video on the DVD and about 6 or more versions of the song.  You can control it via your angle button and
your audio button.

What’s a trip is to see the Beastie Boys and director Nathanial Hornblower (rumored to be actor & director Spike Jonze – “Three Kings”, “Being John Malkovich”) just walk into Shinjuku station and have fun.  Walk to the government center in Shinjuku and have fun.  Walk in the subways and have
fun.  Walk in the shopping districts of Shinjuku.  It’s just so awesome to watch all these versions and that’s why this DVD is catching on as a must-buy DVD (for Beastie Boys fans) because this collection comes with two DVD’s with 18 music videos.  Almost all videos have three or more versions of the music video and the regular plus, a capella and different versions of the remixes are available for that video.   This DVD has the Intergalactic Robot vs. Octopus monster saga,  Sabotage, choice of 5.1 surround-sound mixes, video quality is awesome and commentary , interviews and more.

Anyway, back to “Intergalactic”…I just laugh how they enter the subways and for those who been on the subways in Tokyo you know that mostly everyone keeps to themselves and seldom do you see people talking (well, aside from Shibuya eki and the young people and the drunk bums who just yell from time to time) and they are just like sitting statues.  You see the Beastie Boys in their weird getup doing their dance movements and weird stuff and yet the people are just sitting there, not looking.  Now, in the Shinjuku station, it’s funny because the whole Japanese crowd did not go to the ticket gates until the Beastie Boys passed through…. They waited.  Hmm…not sure if they could of pulled this off in Osaka.

Everything is so “all good” with this DVD but one missing thing are the Def Jam songs (the songs that made them popular in the mid 80’s).  This is the only reason why I scored them an “A” instead of an A+.

This is a must-buy DVD for Beastie Boys fans and also it’s cheap – $24.00.  I have no idea how long this DVD is but BUY IT!!!

THE CONCERT:  A
THE DVD EXTRAS:  A+
THE DVD OVERALL:  A