Lennon Legend - The Very Best of John Lennon

Starring:John Lennon
Studio: Capitol
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The late John Lennon's life and work are plainly visible in this stirring collection of short films and music videos, some very familiar while others, produced posthumously, will be new to many viewers. The set includes the classic "Imagine" clip, which begins with a haunting scene of John and Yoko walking through an early morning fog and concludes with Lennon's performance in an all-white room. More rare is a Top of the Pops live performance of "Instant Karma" and a wonderful film accompanying "Mind Games," in which a solo Lennon clowns around Central Park, thrilling passersby, playing with kids, and dancing. "Woman" is a montage of the last days and hours of Lennon's life, while "Watching the Wheels" is a compilation of home movie footage from the star's semi-reclusive Dakota years. Extras include a live "Slippin' and Slidin'," and a startling bit of "Julia" absentmindedly picked on guitar. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Where Are the Original Lennon Videos?.......2007-05-27

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" This uneven DVD compilation replaces the original John Lennon videos of "Stand By Me," "Cold Turkey," "Nobody Told Me," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Give Peace a Chance" with disappointing revisions. Fortunately, the "Imagine," "Woman," "Mind Games" and "Instant Karma" clips remain unscathed. The special features are a welcome addition -- particularly John's final live performance in 1975. However, the overall collection represents a mixed bag for Lennon scholars, who deserve to see the original music videos as nature intended.

Power to the people, happy Xmas, and don't stumble on the way out ! .......2007-05-16

Between the music, the videos, and the special features this really is a GREAT DVD. We get to hear twenty of John's best with images to accompany. I personally enjoy best the videos such as Instant Karma!, Give Peace a Chance, Stand By Me and Cold Turkey where you get to see at least some footage of John performing the song in question ( Instant Karma! being a personal favorite.) But there are great videos beyond that: Whatever Gets You Thru the Night features wonderfully zany cartoon imagery, while Power to the People shows all around brilliance with a righteous political edge ( if you're a rightest, well you probably don't like Lennon anyway.) Nobody Told Me and Borrowed Time are fun videos while Watching the Wheels and Beautiful Boy sport endlessley fascinating home movies. All these videos are outstanding in one way or another with Mother probably my least favorite, just for overall appeal. Jealous Guy is also visually entrancing, while Happy Xmas is powerful beyond meaningful words. We see death, pain, loss, injury and tragedy before our eyes; the sounds of drums play over firing shotguns, this is harrowing stuff. The first time through I thought I might not be able to watch it again, but I now I love it and feel it goes brilliantly with the feel of the song. That's the videos, and the DVD would have been four stars... but the Old Gray Whistle Test 'Slipin' and Slidn' video is here! This song was a favorite of mine for years and I longed to see a full video for it... for this addition alone the DVD receives five stars! Other than that the DVD is all-around great! 5/5 Oh and for anti-Yoko fanatics... Instant Karma's gonna getcha!

Lennon's music videos.......2007-03-10

I thought these were going to be music videos, like what you see on MTV. A few were but most of them were like watching home movies, family snapshots, etc, with the music as a background. After a few videos, you notice the same snapshots, clips of the same home movies, not what I expected.

AWESOME.......2007-03-09

THIS IS A MUST-HAVE FOR ANY JOHN LENNON FAN. THE MUSIC IS HIS BEST WORK EVER (OF COURSE ALL OF HIS WORK IS A MASTERPIECE), AND YOU CAN LITTERALLY FEEL THE SPIRITUAL CONNECTION AND THE CHEMESTRY THAT EXISTS BETWEEN HE AND YOKO. SHE IS THE INSPIRATION FOR NEARLY ALL OF THE SONGS ON THE ALBUM. EVERYONE IN THE WORLD SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO HAVE A LOVE LIKE THAT, JUST ONCE IN THEIR LIFE. AFTER WATCHING IT, THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ANGRY ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP, SHOULD FINALLY "GET IT" (A CLUE THAT IS).
I MISS YOU JOHN LENNON!! THE WHOLE WORLD MISSES YOU!
P.S. FANS WILL ALSO ENJOY THE DVD "IMAGINE"

Beware, Ono promo video..........2007-02-07

I love the music on this DVD. It's wonderful to hear many of John's best solo works in 5.1 surround; BUT that's where the praise for this release ends. While some of the video is inoffensive, most of it is simply political and personal Ono promotional propaganda. I felt as it she was in the room picking my pocket. And what she did to the "Happy Christmas" video is a crime! I'll never be able to listen to it again without images of dead babies coming to mind. Yes, Lennon was a peace activist. I get it! But give it a rest Yoko. My advice is to either pass on this DVD (and buy the CD) or turn the cr@ppy video off while listening to the beautiful 5.1 mix.