The Wall (Video) Album Review
By David Mrsich
Ever since getting a DVD player earlier in the year, I've tried to obtain a definitive collection of my own personal favorite movies along with DVDs that were testaments to the superiority of this format. Some have fallen into both categories. The Wall is, without a doubt, one of these. Besides the obvious beauty of the film itself, which needs no further mention if you've ever seen it, the DVD leaves very little to be desired. While it contains many of the standard DVD features, such as an amusing "Director's Commentary" with Roger Waters & animation director Gerald Scarfe (suspiciously missing is the actual director Alan Parker), as well as the original theatrical trailer, it has so much more. It includes a 2-part retrospective on the making of wall with some very interesting insight by Roger Waters. Alan Parker gets his chance in this feature. There is also an older documentary on the making of the film, a video for Another Brick in the Wall, and the lost "Hey You" sequence that was confusingly left out of the final cut (not "The Final Cut"). I felt Waters made the right decision in cutting it, however. There's also production stills and photos of Scarfe's animation. Yet with all these extras, nothing can quite match the superior sound and clear picture of the film itself as provided by DVD technology. Absolutely amazing in both respects. The menu screens are also some of the best I've ever seen. Transitions from menu to menu are enhanced by a short sequence from the film coupled with a song segment. The real beauty of it is that the makers of the DVD (I have to assume Waters worked on this somewhat if not closely) did not limit themselves to just Wall songs. Menu transitions contain samples from albums such as Dark Side, Meddle, Saucerful of Secrets, and Wish You Were Here. If you want my overall honest opinion on the subject, if you don't have a DVD player and you're a Floyd fan, buy one just so you can get The Wall along with it.
