Neil Young - Silver & Gold

Starring:Neil Young
Studio: Warner Bros / Wea
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
If you live long enough with a rock & roll heart, you find that dreams occasionally come true. One of the oldest dreams for many Neil Young fans has been that the prodigious folk-rocker would somehow find his way back--even once--to the youthful, bruised majesty of his epochal 1970 album, After the Gold Rush. Silver & Gold comes very close to evoking the same dreamy suggestiveness as that first solo masterpiece in Young's long career, but, for obvious reasons, from an autumnal perspective.

A video companion to the CD of the same name, Silver & Gold is actually a longer, fuller experience of Young's stirring acoustic concerts than the album represents. The hushed intimacy of Young's playing and singing, sans backup, in such a setting can be unforgettable, and this widescreen presentation captures that delicate beauty.

While the play list has its share of familiar gems, the emphasis is on a group of thematically and musically related songs Young had been arranging just prior to the CSNY reunion. Among them are gentle, double-edged reflections on childhood ("Daddy Went Walkin'"), elemental odes to mature love ("Silver & Gold"), and richly imagistic allusions to loss and rediscovered innocence. These and a number of other new titles are largely of a piece, 30 years later, with After the Gold Rush and its blend of melancholy stateliness, crosscurrents of pure emotion, and touches of the mystical. The difference is in the experience of time: After the Gold Rush confirms the shifting, glorious colors of a sensitive young man's constant immediacy, while the new material on Silver & Gold blurs all boundaries between past and present.

Amazon.com

Previously filmed in 1933 (as Island of Lost Souls) and 1977, the classic H.G. Wells story was filmed again for this graphic 1996 version. The film was roasted by critics, but it's an utterly fascinating failure, largely due to the performances of David Thewlis, Val Kilmer, and especially Marlon Brando in the title role as a mad (and in this case outrageously bizarre) scientist whose experiments in crossbreeding humans with animals have gone terribly awry. Thewlis plays the wayward scholar who is rescued at sea by Kilmer and brought to Moreau's island to discover the doctor's unnatural "children." Fairuza Balk plays Moreau's half-cat daughter, but it's Brando and Kilmer (in one scene doing a killer Brando impersonation) who steal the show, along with the astounding makeup effects created by Stan Winston. A guilty pleasure by any measure, this movie has definite cult-favorite potential, and in addition to offering a "director's cut" with previously unseen footage, the DVD includes audio commentary by director John Frankenheimer, who replaced the original director on short notice and completed this film under highly stressful conditions. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Disturbing& dysfunction & dark = perfection.......2007-01-25

A big-budget remake of the H.G. Wells story (previously filmed in 1977), The Island of Dr. Moreau follows a shipwrecked sailor (David Thewlis) who stumbles upon a mysterious island. He's shocked to discover that a brilliant scientist (Marlon Brando) and his lab assistant (Val Kilmer) have found a way to combine human and animal DNA -- with horrific results.

Just when I thought that the 1st one couldn't get worse.........2006-12-06

..I sat down and watched this. I couldn't believe all the critics hated it and it was rated in the top 10 worst films of that year by all of them. Saddly, I found out that they were right. This is amazingly bad. I just don't know how you can go from pre-production to post and still produced vomit like this.

very interesting adaptation.......2006-08-22

It is sad and fascinating that so many reviewers could not only not enjoy this interesting adaptation of the Wells novel but were upset!! It probably depends on what one got out of the original novel. Wells wrote a tragedy and this film underscores that folly is at the root of both tragedy and comedy.

Moreau plays God in his dream of engineering a super race. But he is imperfect and his creatures are only thinking beasts. Thus he must theatrically play God to them in order to control his failures. This is a metaphor for the human condition and it is a disturbing fact to face that whether or not there is a God, religion has always been used by elites to control people.

Moreau has trapped himself in a tragedy which is an absurdity. It is a kind of maddness that might be portrayed as horror, or tragedy, or comedy. This film tries to put them all together, which is very interesting, but will not work for everyone and might just seem confusing, and then all the technical flaws pop out -- but I only take off one star for them.

I give it four stars for being interesting and for some memorable performances. Trapped in this mad mess and in isolation Brando and Kilmer that they were led to by their idealism they have gone off the deep end and have become transformed from men of science into characters totally involved in their dream gone mad. Right, you can't tell that Kilmer was ever a brilliant neurologist -- that is the point. That is the horror, he has become a comical character.

There is a bit of this is Bridge on the River Kwai. Guinness is so swept up in his dream of showing British "can do" that he forgets he is helping the enemy. He is a tragic figure, but one can almost laugh and say "what is that clown doing" as he inspires his men to build the bridge. Harrison Ford in Mosquito Coast similarly is a tragic/comic person in pursuing his dreams.

If you follow the concept of the film closely, Brando and Kilmer and this film do a better job at mixing the tragic and the comic. And the film is an opportunity to think about broader social and historical issues if one is so inclined, though not so much about human nature per se as the above. Of course not everyone is!! If the world we live in sometimes seem mad, to what extent is this because it is so much the product of grand dreams gone sour? A lot, if you think about it.

It is often said that Wells wrote science fiction, serious literature that is, not escapist science fantasy. Moreau is sort of the Frankenstein theme, which is a serious one, but with religion thrown in, which added newer layers.

Quick and to the point.......2006-06-25

No movie is going to be a direct representation of the novel on which it is based. This doesn't include basic steps to modernize the film so that it makes a better connection with the viewer. The basic Wells story is here with some modern upgrades, but some of the elements of this story are a little distracting.

Some of the actors were made for the role. Marlon Brando was becoming more and more reclusive around the time of the film. This quiriness fits the character of Doctor Moreau prefectly. It is if he was made for the role. Val Kilmer is a talented actor, but I am not sure he really fits this picture. He does a fabulous Marlon Brando impersonation, but his quick role seemed more of a distraction to the film. The other actors move the movie along, but none really stand out.

The movie is quick. By the time we get into the film, it's over. Having read the book, this didn't bother me too much. I don't know if someone unfamiliar with the story would have been engaged enough to follow. Also, the movie was so quick, that I really didn't see when the character of Mr. Douglas felt a connection with the beast-men. This was a little distracting.

Taken as a whole, the movie was a good tale about humanity and our own inner animal. Looking at this as a philosophical tale about humanity, I found it entertaining.

MARVELOUS MISFIRE.......2006-01-30

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is one of those really botched films that is so fascinating in its ineptitude, it's actually quite fun. Marlon Brando who utilized short wave radio to help him remember his lines is in fine campy form as the mad Dr. Moreau who experiments with animals to make a perfect human being. He is aided by the sadistic and nearly mad Val Kilmer, obviously having fun playing such a twisted role. David Thewlis who hated the movie and refused to see the finished product looks appropriately befuddled as the sole survivor of an airplane crash that is brought to the island for his DNA--to prevent Brando's lovely daughter (Faizura Balk) from regressing into her feline stage.
The makeup from wizard Stan Winston is pretty effective and the movie's "message" is clear: man is already half animal. While achieving status as sort of a camp classic, DR. MOREAU is a strange and guilty pleasure.

Average customer rating:

Babies Fall Silent
Neil Young - Silver & Gold
Not Great, But Good
mellow my mind
Neil Young

Neil Young - Silver & Gold
Starring: Neil Young
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Neil Young - Red Rocks Live / Friends + Relatives (DVD)
Neil Young - Heart of Gold
In Berlin
Live at Massey Hall (CD/DVD)
Neil Young: Under Review 1966-1975

ASIN: 6305837996
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Amazon.com

If you live long enough with a rock & roll heart, you find that dreams occasionally come true. One of the oldest dreams for many Neil Young fans has been that the prodigious folk-rocker would somehow find his way back--even once--to the youthful, bruised majesty of his epochal 1970 album, After the Gold Rush. Silver & Gold comes very close to evoking the same dreamy suggestiveness as that first solo masterpiece in Young's long career, but, for obvious reasons, from an autumnal perspective.

A video companion to the CD of the same name, Silver & Gold is actually a longer, fuller experience of Young's stirring acoustic concerts than the album represents. The hushed intimacy of Young's playing and singing, sans backup, in such a setting can be unforgettable, and this widescreen presentation captures that delicate beauty.

While the play list has its share of familiar gems, the emphasis is on a group of thematically and musically related songs Young had been arranging just prior to the CSNY reunion. Among them are gentle, double-edged reflections on childhood ("Daddy Went Walkin'"), elemental odes to mature love ("Silver & Gold"), and richly imagistic allusions to loss and rediscovered innocence. These and a number of other new titles are largely of a piece, 30 years later, with After the Gold Rush and its blend of melancholy stateliness, crosscurrents of pure emotion, and touches of the mystical. The difference is in the experience of time: After the Gold Rush confirms the shifting, glorious colors of a sensitive young man's constant immediacy, while the new material on Silver & Gold blurs all boundaries between past and present.

Customer Reviews:

Babies Fall Silent.......2006-07-27

My daughter (1.5 years old) always falls silent and stares rapt at the squeaky-voiced geezer on the screen. The only other artist she shows the same reverence for is the Beatles (especially the Help! film/dvd) so I guess that's saying something. I found it a little less satisfying than say WELD or even the BBC film of his solo television appearance in the early 70s but it is still worth a watch. I have to say I found some of the songs tedious (My ole daddy went a walking one day...) both musically and in terms of sentiment and one more thing: how do you think Neil's dad Scott Young (still alive at that time) would have felt to hear a song which has already clearly consigned him to the graveyard?

Neil Young - Silver & Gold.......2005-10-24

This DVD is outstanding. First, the audio and video recordings are excellent (unlike some concert DVD's). Second, this was a special, intimate show with Neil performing solo acoustic in a small venue.

Although this could be enjoyed with your beer drinking buddies, it's an ideal DVD to play when you're with your woman and good bottle of wine.

Even people who are indifferent about Neil Young will enjoy this DVD. A must for any Neil Young fan. I'll watch it again and again!

Not Great, But Good.......2005-08-30

im 53 now and i've seen Neil Young live many times. And i've seen lots of his tapes and dvds. This on is very good ( not great ) but good. If you want to check out Mr. Young live and raw check out this dvd. I think your going to like this one.

mellow my mind.......2004-03-18

If you're looking for a laid-back hour of solo acoustic, mostly new and expertly crafted Neil Young numbers, you've come to the right place. Young has put together 62 minutes of fine entertainment in this year 2000 release.

These recordings are gleaned from Young's May 29, 1999 solo appearance at the 2,000 seat Bass Concert Hall on the campus of the University of Texas. The filming has a very simplistic and classy feel to it... Neil surrounded by a crescent of acoustic guitars, a pump organ and piano. A trio of lights illuminate the performer, and the camera's provide only close-ups, and direct and angled shots from the foot of the stage. Young appears to be creating a set list from the seat of his pants, and this prompts numerous requests from the crowd... that is until a lone and timely "SHUT-UP" is reinforced by crowd applause, and an already reserved audience becomes reverant. Suffice it to say that the 'atmosphere' of the concert is a joy to behold in this age of "I paid, I can yell whenever and whatever I want" mentality.

The entire setlist for this particular concert can be viewed on the Sugar Mountain web site. Looking over that list, there are a few numbers I sure would have liked to hear in an acoustic mode, such as 'Powderfinger' and 'Southern Pacific', but I'm sure Neil would tell me to buy a ticket. There is really only one classic tune resurrected from the complete concert, that being the pump organ (yes, pump organ) rendition of 'Long May You Run'. While I suspect there has never been a poor rendition of this wonderful song about Neil's Hearst, this version is my least favorite. The solo acoustic version from 'Unplugged' and of course the original Stills-Young Band recording outdo this performance, but it's still a pleasure to hear. 'Harvest Moon' is included, although the studio track and the 'Red Rocks' video version are superior. A rare recording of 'Philadelphia' from the 1994 movie soundtrack is offered as well.

The remainder of the songs are chosen from the October 1999 Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young 'Looking Forward' reunion disc, and of course the 'Silver and Gold' audio CD. The two opening numbers, 'Looking Forward' and 'Out of Control' and a later track, 'Slowpoke' appear on the CSNY CD. From 'Silver and Gold' we have 'Good To See You', 'Daddy Went Walking', 'Buffalo Springfield Again', 'The Great Divide', 'Red Sun' and 'Distant Camera'. Two of these songs, 'Daddy Went Walking' and 'Buffalo Springfield Again' also appear on the 'Red Rocks' tape, and sound better with full instrumental backing. 'Good To See You', 'Distant Camera', and 'Slowpoke' are my personal favorites.

The video ends with a studio recording of Neil performing 'Silver and Gold' in 1997. It's a bit grainy and Neil rolls the credits over it, so it has a throw-away feel to it. Only Neil would do it this way. Nothing's good unless it's imperfect. Ya gotta love the guy.

There isn't a bad song in the bunch, and mercilessly, MERCILESSLY, while the audience is audible at times, they are completely invisible to the camera, and there are none of the dreaded audience sing-alongs. Neil's voice is at times strained by that insidious Mother Nature, but these recordings reinforce the reality of Young's continued musical relevance. Only a handful of performers, among them Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, have managed to do what Neil has done... not only survived, but thrived in both the 1960's and the 1990's, and every decade in between. Thank You, Neil. You've help make it a wonderful trip.

Neil Young.......2003-12-21

Neil is master. The way he interprets songs is amazing, I have watched this countless times. I only wished it would have been little bit longer.

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