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Britney Spears: Live in Las Vegas
BMG Music // Unrated // February 12, 2002
List Price: $24.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
I don't own a single Britney Spears album and I've never seen her in concert, yet, I've reviewed all 5 of her DVDs for this website, all of which have been met with considerable interest from readers. While I've thought the teen pop craze has questionable staying power, I've begun to admire some of its stars who have realized this and either tried other things (acting, in the case of Mandy Moore and Spears, whose "Crossroads" opens the Friday after this DVD is release) or at least tried to change their tune and add actual instrumentals (see Moore's latest album, which actually is quite good at times).
From what I've seen, a Spears concert is not only simply singing, but a theatrical production of sorts. Props, sets, the occasional special effects and background videos, not to mention Spears trying on a new costume with nearly every song. With her HBO broadcast from Las Vegas, it was obvious that Spears and company were going to try to take this all to another level. While Spears looks terrific in costumes that continue to cover less-and-less as the concert continues, there are some decisions that are just plain strange: for no apparent reason, Jon Voight turns up about halfway through to read a poem. The between-songs chatter is often corny and occasionally unintentionally funny (I think Britney even started a conversation with the audience with "Can we talk?" I'm suprised I didn't hear, "No! Sing, dammit!" from the crowd noise in the surrounds in the 5.1 audio mix). A "Behind The Music" skit about halfway through is terribly unfunny, which is dissapointing, given the fact that Spears has shown that she has solid comedic timing on "Saturday Night Live". In fact, the skit comes off like the worst of SNL.
As for the lip-synch issue, it did appear that the singer occasionally wasn't singing along with the tunes, which is dissapointing, although I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that some of the songs were actually live and not Memorex. While there were some positive moments in this show, I'd hope that Spears will tone down the theatrics of her live show and actually focus more on singing. Her TV special from a year or two ago, "No Place Like Home" was a more enjoyable, straightforward concert without the silliness occasionally displayed here.
Songs: Oops!... I Did It Again, (You Drive Me) Crazy, Overprotected, Medley: Born to Make You Happy/Lucky/Sometimes, Boys, Stronger, I'm Not a Girl Not Yet a Woman, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, What's It's Like to Be Me, Lonely, Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know, Anticipating, I'm a Slave 4 U, ...Baby One More Time
The DVD
VIDEO: The show is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, just as it was on HBO. Picture quality remained satisfactory throughout. Sharpness and detail were generally solid, although there were a few shots here and there that were slightly softer in comparison. Aside from the occasional slight softness, problems remained few; a slight trace of pixelation here, a tiny bit of shimmering there. As for colors, they were the best part of the image quality; a colorful show to begin with, both stage lighting and colors in general were vivid and bright, with no smearing.
SOUND: "Britney Spears: Live in Las Vegas" is presented on this DVD edition in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. Given the fact that a Dolby Digital 5.1 logo appears at the begining of this show, I'd guess that it was originally presented in 5.1 on HBO as well. At this point, I've listened to Spears' concert DVD ("Live and More") as well as her two video compliations ("Time Out" and "Britney: The Videos"). I've been consistently impressed by nearly each and every one of the remixes on previous titles; the surrounds are used quite appropriately and enjoyably and the sound has been dynamic and occasionally powerful - the bass on the remixed version of the "Stronger" video on "Live and More" is exceptionally strong, for example. In "HBO" terms, Madonna's "Drowned World Tour" special eventually ended up on DVD with a stunning 5.1 soundtrack.
All that said, this presentation certainly isn't poor, but it comes up dissapointing in comparison to both the previous Spears DVDs and certainly to the Madonna mix. The center channel essentially goes unused throughout the concert, remaining either silent or very subtle. So, Spears' vocals were spread across the front two speakers and the music did get some reinforcement from the surrounds. Unfortunately, in comparison to the soundtrack for "Live and More", the music and vocals remained rather dissapointingly muddled. Spears' vocals (or lip-synching, whatever the case may be) occasionally seemed to be trying to fight for presence over the beats and instrumentals. While some songs fared better than others, the various elements occasionally didn't seem as clear and distinct as I'd like.
Audio quality wasn't up to expectations, either. Previous remixes of Spears videos (especially the "Slave 4 U" and "Stronger" videos) came through with remarkably tight, deep low bass. Even the "Live and More" performance provided a pleasant amount of low-bass. This presentation didn't seem as dynamic in comparison; the music seemed flat and lacked the depth and "you-are-there" feeling that the best 5.1 concert presentations provide.
MENUS: Very basic main menu, with the exception of song clips that play in the background.
EXTRAS: Nothing. Given the fact that there's a sticker promoting Spears' upcoming movie "Crossroads" on the front cover, you might think that the featurette on the movie from the previous Spears DVD ("Britney: The Videos") would be included here, or some videos. Nope - missed opportunity and a suprise, given that past Spears DVDs have included a fairly decent amount of supplements.
Final Thoughts: While "Live in Las Vegas" has some enjoyable moments, a lot of the show seemed uninspired or over-the-top in a silly way. The DVD is rather dissapointing, as well; given the 5.1 presentations that Spears and other teen-pop DVDs have been given, this one seems lacking energy and clarity. Not to mention supplements, as there aren't any. While fans who enjoyed this concert will likely buy find this DVD satisfactory or even enjoyable, I wasn't too pleased with it.
I don't own a single Britney Spears album and I've never seen her in concert, yet, I've reviewed all 5 of her DVDs for this website, all of which have been met with considerable interest from readers. While I've thought the teen pop craze has questionable staying power, I've begun to admire some of its stars who have realized this and either tried other things (acting, in the case of Mandy Moore and Spears, whose "Crossroads" opens the Friday after this DVD is release) or at least tried to change their tune and add actual instrumentals (see Moore's latest album, which actually is quite good at times).
From what I've seen, a Spears concert is not only simply singing, but a theatrical production of sorts. Props, sets, the occasional special effects and background videos, not to mention Spears trying on a new costume with nearly every song. With her HBO broadcast from Las Vegas, it was obvious that Spears and company were going to try to take this all to another level. While Spears looks terrific in costumes that continue to cover less-and-less as the concert continues, there are some decisions that are just plain strange: for no apparent reason, Jon Voight turns up about halfway through to read a poem. The between-songs chatter is often corny and occasionally unintentionally funny (I think Britney even started a conversation with the audience with "Can we talk?" I'm suprised I didn't hear, "No! Sing, dammit!" from the crowd noise in the surrounds in the 5.1 audio mix). A "Behind The Music" skit about halfway through is terribly unfunny, which is dissapointing, given the fact that Spears has shown that she has solid comedic timing on "Saturday Night Live". In fact, the skit comes off like the worst of SNL.
As for the lip-synch issue, it did appear that the singer occasionally wasn't singing along with the tunes, which is dissapointing, although I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that some of the songs were actually live and not Memorex. While there were some positive moments in this show, I'd hope that Spears will tone down the theatrics of her live show and actually focus more on singing. Her TV special from a year or two ago, "No Place Like Home" was a more enjoyable, straightforward concert without the silliness occasionally displayed here.
Songs: Oops!... I Did It Again, (You Drive Me) Crazy, Overprotected, Medley: Born to Make You Happy/Lucky/Sometimes, Boys, Stronger, I'm Not a Girl Not Yet a Woman, I Love Rock 'n' Roll, What's It's Like to Be Me, Lonely, Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know, Anticipating, I'm a Slave 4 U, ...Baby One More Time
The DVD
VIDEO: The show is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, just as it was on HBO. Picture quality remained satisfactory throughout. Sharpness and detail were generally solid, although there were a few shots here and there that were slightly softer in comparison. Aside from the occasional slight softness, problems remained few; a slight trace of pixelation here, a tiny bit of shimmering there. As for colors, they were the best part of the image quality; a colorful show to begin with, both stage lighting and colors in general were vivid and bright, with no smearing.
SOUND: "Britney Spears: Live in Las Vegas" is presented on this DVD edition in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. Given the fact that a Dolby Digital 5.1 logo appears at the begining of this show, I'd guess that it was originally presented in 5.1 on HBO as well. At this point, I've listened to Spears' concert DVD ("Live and More") as well as her two video compliations ("Time Out" and "Britney: The Videos"). I've been consistently impressed by nearly each and every one of the remixes on previous titles; the surrounds are used quite appropriately and enjoyably and the sound has been dynamic and occasionally powerful - the bass on the remixed version of the "Stronger" video on "Live and More" is exceptionally strong, for example. In "HBO" terms, Madonna's "Drowned World Tour" special eventually ended up on DVD with a stunning 5.1 soundtrack.
All that said, this presentation certainly isn't poor, but it comes up dissapointing in comparison to both the previous Spears DVDs and certainly to the Madonna mix. The center channel essentially goes unused throughout the concert, remaining either silent or very subtle. So, Spears' vocals were spread across the front two speakers and the music did get some reinforcement from the surrounds. Unfortunately, in comparison to the soundtrack for "Live and More", the music and vocals remained rather dissapointingly muddled. Spears' vocals (or lip-synching, whatever the case may be) occasionally seemed to be trying to fight for presence over the beats and instrumentals. While some songs fared better than others, the various elements occasionally didn't seem as clear and distinct as I'd like.
Audio quality wasn't up to expectations, either. Previous remixes of Spears videos (especially the "Slave 4 U" and "Stronger" videos) came through with remarkably tight, deep low bass. Even the "Live and More" performance provided a pleasant amount of low-bass. This presentation didn't seem as dynamic in comparison; the music seemed flat and lacked the depth and "you-are-there" feeling that the best 5.1 concert presentations provide.
MENUS: Very basic main menu, with the exception of song clips that play in the background.
EXTRAS: Nothing. Given the fact that there's a sticker promoting Spears' upcoming movie "Crossroads" on the front cover, you might think that the featurette on the movie from the previous Spears DVD ("Britney: The Videos") would be included here, or some videos. Nope - missed opportunity and a suprise, given that past Spears DVDs have included a fairly decent amount of supplements.
Final Thoughts: While "Live in Las Vegas" has some enjoyable moments, a lot of the show seemed uninspired or over-the-top in a silly way. The DVD is rather dissapointing, as well; given the 5.1 presentations that Spears and other teen-pop DVDs have been given, this one seems lacking energy and clarity. Not to mention supplements, as there aren't any. While fans who enjoyed this concert will likely buy find this DVD satisfactory or even enjoyable, I wasn't too pleased with it.
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