R.E.M. - Tourfilm [Region 2]

Customer Reviews:

A Must Have For Everyone Who Loves or Likes R.E.M. .......2007-01-16

This is R.E.M. at their very best. And LIVE! Incredible video, Incredible audio. One of those few music DVDs that you'll want to watch again & again. All the guys are still there including Bill, one of the absolute best drummers of all time in one of the absolute Best Rock Bands of all time! R.E.M. made music history and continue to do everything right with heart, soul and much class. This is just a small part of it to treasure. Definately worth owning!

Tourfilm: No extras, but rewarding for fans of the classic band.......2006-03-11

TOURFILM is R.E.M.'s critically acclaimed concert document of their exhaustive 1989 GREEN world tour. The DVD contains nothing more than the original VHS version, but it is still a treat for fans whose old tape copies have deteriorated from repeated viewing.

The concert features innovative renditions of such R.E.M. staples as "The One I Love", "It's the End of the World As We Know It", "Finest Worksong", and "Fall on Me". Particularly strong versions of album tracks "I Believe", "Turn You Inside Out", and "King of Birds" punctuate the film throughout. The only low point is the opening number, an embarrassingly weak "Stand". Michael Stipe's concert banter brings cohesion to the show as it evolves without sapping any of the energy from the performances.

The songs on TOURFILM are drawn mainly from LIFE'S RICH PAGEANT, DOCUMENT, and GREEN. The two exceptions to this rule are "Feeling Gravity's Pull" from RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FABLES and a rendition of "Perfect Circle" from MURMUR that exceeds the original studio recording. Songs of the period that are noticeably missing are the GREEN single "Orange Crush" and RECKONING's "So. Central Rain", an alternate version of which teases you through the opening credits. These omissions are no different from the original VHS recording.

It is disappointing that R.E.M. has not offered up an expanded edition of TOURFILM, but the future holds hope that one will emerge. Until then, $12.99 for this DVD is a steal for fans of R.E.M.'s first decade.

Great Reminder of the Green World Tour.......2005-03-11

The Green World Tour was my first live R.E.M. experience, and I remember it with great fondness. If you too remember the Green tour, then you know this DVD is a must have. If you are an R.E.M. fan and missed this great show, here is your chance to own a piece of the excitement. The thing I rememebered most from the live show was the funny screen projections at the start of the show where the audience read their city name allowed as well as three concert rules, which included not throwing things, being courteous to your neighbors, and not waiting until the quietest part of "You are the Everything" to yell "Mike Mills." This was the kinder, gentler side of R.E.M.

The song list starts off with Stand, One I Love, I Could Turn You Inside Out (this was with the bullhorn which makes an interesting twist to the song), World Leader Pretend, Feeling Gravity's Pull, I Believe, I Remember CA, Get-Up (with Stipe dancing like he's had 20 cups of coffee) End of the World as I know it, Pop Song 89, Fall on Me, You are the Everything, Begin the Begin, King of Birds, Finest Work Song, Perfect Circle.

There are great shots of the background projections that were used live so if you remember them, it will be a great trip down memory lane, and you will notice these shots in Parellel between videos.

The shots are much cleaner than some of the other live DVD's although R.E.M. come-latelys will be shocked at Stipe's rather odd do. The sound on the DVD is fairly high quality for a live event. R.E.M. sounds great live and the variations in the music makes this a must have for fans as well as for those interested in the band's earlier (but certainly not earliest) works.

Can't be bad because my hand appears in this tape!.......2005-01-19

And my hand is great!! I use it all the time for all kinds of things!

First, this was a great concert. Camped for tickets at the mall in Raleigh. Drove to Greensboro (North Carolina) from Smithfield to see them live. I was there, in the row right before the camera. After the music started we all stood up in our chairs. The camera was high, but not high enough to miss my hand in a few frames. RA!

Anyway, this is a great film, because the concert was great! Needless to say, I got a copy of this as soon as it came out. It continues to be a great concert film and of course, a valuble momento of the Green tour! Highly recommended for anyone who's a fan!

That Better Not Be Styrofoam, Pal!.......2003-10-15

R.E.M. has put together two very good concert films with the best being Tourfilm, which chronicles its 1989 world tour for its breakout CD, Green. The songs in the film are primarily from its third through sixth studio albums (Fables, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Green), which was when the band was starting to make its impact on mainstream America. I have the VHS version of the show, but the sound is very good anyway and the band puts on a pretty good show. Michael Stipe is very eccentric in this video (the heading of my review is a quote from Stipe in the video, which shows that he was "out there"). But he still is in pretty good voice, as is Mike Mills who is very prominent in backing vocals.

Customer Reviews:

Nice, but only for completists.......2006-12-19

I have IN VIEW and THE IRS YEARS DVDs, which means only "Turn You Inside Out," "Pop Song 89," and "Get Up" are exclusive to this DVD. If you must have those, there you go. But for the price, it's hard for some to rationalize three videos.

S L O W.......2005-10-03

Dvd arrived in perfect condition but about 3 weeeks late

This is good, but...........2005-05-05

What about "Succumbs"?...the first REM video available on VHS but never put out on DVD. Anyone who has seen it will agree. The band/record company has done such a great job in releasing video compilations and live concert video. REM has more available on DVD than any other band I can think of. But "Succumbs" has pre-1987 REM, some stuff dating back to 1983 or early '84. I know that old-school fans would also like to see a complete REM unplugged release from the 1987 MTV broadcast. Please!!

Great Collection of Early R.E.M. Videos.......2005-03-11

There are reviews listing which tracks are included, so I will not waste your time relisting them. This DVD includes the earlier R.E.M. videos (Michael Stipe with lots of hair, pre the half buzz-cut/long braid down the back, which was followed by the short cut which was followed by the current shaven dome). These videos are accused of being amatuerish in sophistication when compared to the multi-million dollar videos that are shot today, however this video does have artistic merit. These are the videos I remember watching in my disgruntled youth and being so impressed that R.E.M. had actually made it onto MTV. Pop Song 89 is on this disc in its original version which MTV refused to show because of the topless female dancers without "black barring" the bare breasts. True to form, rumor has it, Stipe insisted on having his chest black barred as well.

If you are not a hard core R.E.M. fan you can probably do without this DVD (unless you are truly interested in the progression of the Stipe-do). I would suggest "Parellel", (which is excellent) or "In Time" which are more what the mainstream consider R.E.M.

Purchase a different R.E.M. product.......2003-12-24

Yuk! The cover of this DVD is misleading -- the cover does not disclose that this product is merely a collection of amateurish (artistic?) video clips running in tandem with R.E.M. music. Be warned -- this is not a collection of the band's professional videos; and the band should have ethically disclosed this fact on the cover. This taught me not to buy music DVDs in some store; instead I'll check reviews on this website beforehand and purchase through Amazon.

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