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Category:    Home > Reviews > Concert > Rock > Europe – 20th Anniversary Edition – The Final Countdown (DVD)

Europe – 20th Anniversary Edition – The Final Countdown (DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Concert: C

 

 

Just when Sweden had already graced us with ABBA, the world lucked out again with the Rock hair band Europe in 1987 and their big hit album The Final Countdown.  Just in time for its 20th Anniversary, they are back with a new concert and they sound almost exactly as they did 20 years ago.  The album spawned the title hit and the even bigger Rock Torch Song/”Power Ballad” Carrie.  After this concert, I needed to see the Brian De Palma film of the same name quickly.

 

They perform those and eleven more of their fan favorites and I give them credit for having as much energy as they did two decades before, as well as really caring about their audience.  Unfortunately, that is just about the only audience there is for this because it offers nothing new or distinct.  It is a narrow nostalgia piece and we have seen much worse.  At least they have some kind of talent versus most of the acts that have followed in the 230 years since, especially in Rock.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was shot on some kind of analog video, whether PAL, NTSC or SECAM, it is too soft.  If this was shot to be wide is hard to tell, but colors are also muted as is depth.  There are Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and Dolby 5.1 mixes, but the 2.0 is the actually the better mix because this is not a concert conceived as multi-channel by any means.  Extras include stills, text biographies, interviews and a featurette of the band visiting the studio where they recorded their fateful album.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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