Stop Making Sense [Blu-ray]

Going back to the 1980's to see a full concert by the Talking Heads in their heyday by itself is mind-bending. Incredibly, the format and special effects hold up well even by today's standards. But the frantic energy and amazing movements, unique and stunning in the 1980's, is even more so in today's diverse musical environment. But then, let's jump forward in time 15 years to see the Heads in older, post-touring days looking back and musing on what they accomplished. Yet that special extra on the disc (full press conference filmed in 1999) is some 25 years ago from the present. It's as interesting and insightful as the concert itself. So, for all those who enjoy TIME-TRAVELING through vibrant musical history, this is an incredible experience! Projected onto a large wall screen with full surround sound turned up, because of the way it was deliberately shot it's like being there---sitting in the audience totally overwhelmed and absorbed into the concert and/or press conference. Truly, this blu ray is a gem worth treasuring and viewing over and over again: creative time-travel at its finest!

Talking Heads were a brilliant band. This concert video is exciting, has great sound, and is beautifully produced and directed. Watch it.

Arguably one of the best concert films ever made, the newly remastered album and possibly the finest release of 2024 listened to very very very loud… how loud???so loud the bass lines thumping ever so deeply down into your chest making your cheeks twitch as your room and windows shake, while the lyrics of David Byrne speaking honestly inner angst of a past lived truth as always in his own quirky way with always rumbling, a tumbling of wayward words passing into and out of your psyche so quickly and yet still penetrating deep into ones own mind….

After seeing the movie in Imax I had to buy this so I could listen and watch again. I love the dancing.

Item in near-mint condition. So happy to have found this! May be the best concert I have ever seen.

Definitely art.

This review is primarily a comparison of the standard DVD to the blu-ray. See other reviews for more discussion of the performance itself.First, to be clear, I love the Talking Heads of this era (and earlier) and this concert. As many have said before, Stop Making Sense is one of the best concert performances ever captured on film. Poorly captured, unfortunately.I've owned the standard DVD for years, and have viewed it on my Oppo 970 upscaling player at least 50 times. I know (and love) the content very well, warts and all. I eagerly awaited the release on blu-ray to improve the blurry, soft, artifact-laden DVD.Sadly, on my 106" screen (fed by a Pioneer BPD-51FD blu-ray player though an Epson 1080UB), the video on blu-ray is so similar (poor) to the DVD that I consider it a wasted purchase. What makes it even WORSE than the DVD, is that all the grain, scratches, and film defects are greatly enhanced by the sharpness of blu-ray. When a scratch comes along, it's presented in high definition, making it leap out even more than it does on DVD. The sharp detail of the defects screams out how bad the source really is. Monty Python's Life of Brian was similarly horrific on DVD, but the restoration processing used for the blu-ray transformed it astonishingly to near perfect. I had hoped for SOME similar improvements on Stop Making Sense, but this blu-ray is a dud in my opinion. I see only moments of improved detail, but so little as to be of no consequence. Some reviewers feel that this is part of the films' charm and artistic intent. I respectfully disagree - strongly. The bad video quality just looks like sloppy, inept film making. The concept, direction and performances are wonderful, but the images look like a 4th generation VHS tape. Sadly, apparently all the existing copies of the original film used to master the DVDs and blu-rays are apparently equally awful.Audio IS improved on the blu-ray, however. Notably, audio lip-sync problems are much better than the standard DVD (particularly on 'What a Day That Was') . Yet this also helps to emphasize how bad the image quality is. Great audio combined with high-def film grain/defects make the soft, crappy images seem worse than ever by comparison.I wish I'd never bothered to upgrade to this blu-ray, my old DVD is essentially equivalent on a good upscaling player.Ultimately, Stop Making Sense is an essential, desert-island DVD, although poorly-filmed (picture quality-wise). I adore the content, but wish that there would be an attempt at restoration, even if some purists might object. Until then, the added resolution of blu-ray is a waste, at best. If you own this on DVD, don't bother with the blu-ray version.[...]

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