Talking Heads Stop Making Sense 40th Anniversary Special Edition

Classic. Well shot. Great sound. Worth a watch even if you aren't a Talking Heads fan, for the professional musicianship. And if you are a fan, obviously essential Read more

I own approx. 120 pro shot concert DVDs and this one is top 5 for sure. When this was filmed and recorded the Talking Heads were at the top of their game. The energy of every band member is exceeded only by their talent as musicians! The quality of the sound and the film itself is very good. Pay no attention to the mispelled name of the band on the case....(it says Talking Head), this is well worth the money for any fan of the band. Read more

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One of THE best concert movies ever made. Great, great stuff. We're incredibly lucky to have this - Talking Heads was at their absolute peak of performance when this was made, but unfortunately they played maybe a half dozen more concerts after this one and then they broke up. What a tragedy. What else is there to say about the music? It starts quietly and builds momentum. Lots of visual flair to boot. Incredible filming techniques to highlight the involvement of everyone who was on stage. We're very fortunate this came to be filmed. It documents a phenomenon. Read more

This Blu Ray Talking Heads dvd is definitely a 5 star buy. Every song is great and you can tell this is one band that is really enjoying performing together. GREAT dvd. Read more

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! Read more

Saw the live performance of this movie when the band was in Toronto - 'OH so MANY Years ago ... incredible then & incredible now ... love the moves ... love the songs ... excellent throw back memories ... Read more

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. [...] Read more