Sultans of Swing

Starring:Dire Straits
Studio: Umvd Import
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Very Good Quality...
not a complete collection
You Need This DVD!
Already released under a different name
Doesn't do justice to the DVD format

Sultans of Swing
Starring: Dire Straits
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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

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

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

On the Night
Night in London
Live at Knebworth: Parts 1, 2 & 3 (2pc)
Music for Montserrat
Real Live Roadrunning (with DVD)

ASIN: B000654YS8
Release Date: 2004-11-23

Customer Reviews:

Very Good Quality..........2007-05-18

As an "On Again" fan of Dire Straits since "Brothers in Arms" this collection of videos is very well done and well worth the asking price. Sound and picture quality are very good and song selection is indicative of their collected body of works.

not a complete collection.......2007-01-24

Dire Straits was, and still is, one of my favorite bands. All of their videos were at least interesting. This is a good collection but it is by no means complete. This is sad really. There is a video for Wild West End, which is not on DVD. This was obviously shot at the same time as the Sultans of Swing video. Another missing video is Skateaway. There is also another version of the Walk of LIfe video which is also aggravatingly missing here. The Bug is a video from 1992 that is also missing. There is also a video that was shot back in 92 for Local Hero-Wild Theme. They could have even included the 3 Notting Hillbillies videos which are sure to never be released anywhere else. There are also many live performances they could have put on here. There was Live Aid, Freedomfest, etc. While all these vidoes on this DVD are nice to have, it is still annoying that the first few seconds at the beginning and end of each video are cut to try and make this a seamless presentation. But this is a decent collection, and since its the only place to get these videos without buying a bootleg, it's your only choice.

You Need This DVD!.......2005-03-26

This DVD is awesome! All the tracks are rad! You get to see how
they did their songs! In order, I'll review all the songs, it
even has my favorite "Heavy Fuel" which is their best song ever!

SULTANS OF SWING-Great open up to the DVD! Mark plays this song
really well! This was their earliest song.

LADY WRITER-Mark does a pretty good job on the guitar on this song.

ROMEO AND JULIET-I don't see no instruments! Where the heck are
the instruments?

TUNNEL OF LOVE-One of the best songs ever! Nasty looking woman!

PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS-Okay too slow and boring for me! Thank god

TWISTING BY THE POOL-Not a total classic but is a song you can
listen to over N' over again!

LOVE OVER GOLD-I can't remember this video, and I can't remember
when the drums started.

SO FAR AWAY-One great video. Classic rock fans need to see this
video.

MONEY FOR NOTHING-You see those refrigerators and those coulor
tvs and microwave ovens! The Straits can't do all of that!

BROTHERS IN ARMS-Good peaceful video where you can't go to war!
A true classic rock song.

WALK OF LIFE-See how they do the electric organ? You see some
sports in this video.

CALLING ELVIS-Nothing to say, but you can call Elvis!

HEAVY FUEL-My personal favorite video! Everything rocks in this
video. You need to see this video.

ON EVERY STREET-Play the other version insted of the On The Night
Live version.

Alright I'm getting bored.

Already released under a different name.......2005-03-21

I have a VHS entitled "Dire Straits - The Videos", released by Warner Reprise Videos in 1992.

This DVD appears to be the exact same collection of videos released under the guise of a new product. That would explain the lack of features that one would normally associate with a DVD -- it's a direct port of the VHS.

There are still 3 good reasons to get this DVD: 1)It's better quality and will last longer than VHS, 2) The VHS is probably very hard to get a hold of, and 3) It's Dire Straits.

A five-star collection of videos, but it loses a couple stars for trying to trick us and for the stripped-down features and presentation (when compared to other DVDs in the genre).

Doesn't do justice to the DVD format.......2005-01-11

First off, I never had MTV back in the 1980s, so I never saw most of these dated videos. I was a big Dire Straits fan as soon as the first album hit, and continue to purchase every Mark Knopfler CD to this day, so I was interested in seeing this DVD, if only for a historical perspective. To be honest, this is the last DVD that I purchased from this group / artist from Amazon. I bought the Mark Knopfler DVD "Night in London" and the Dire Straits DVD "On the Night", as soon as they became available back in mid-November and as of yet have not seen them due to those DVD not being in stock. I bought this DVD as a fill-in until I get (what I hope is) the superior Mark Knopfler DVD.

Just to get the negative things out of the way, first this is a two-channel stereo DVD. I wouldn't care, except the cover has a sticker that says 5.1. It is not 5.1, but only your basic left and right front speaker stereo. Next is the cover's track listing with numbers that do not match the actual track numbering. This makes direct access a bit confusing, since everything is one-off for some reason. Last is the interview with Knopfler, which I was looking forward to after reading about it here. It is only audio, not video, so you don't get to see him or have any way of knowing how old it is (which hair line he is sporting in it).

Overall the music is pleasing. In two-channel stereo, the sound quality is equal to the CDs from these songs. The video transfer is average quality, about what you'd see with a VHS tape.

I won't go over every track, but I was a bit frustrated by a couple of short songs. They left the whole terminal solo out of "Sultans of Swing", which I was looking forward to watching as a guitar player myself. "Love over Gold" also ends abruptly compared to the actual track on the CD. There were a couple of songs that were clearly cut and pasted from stock footage to make a video for songs that never had a video.

All of that said, there were some nice videos that really worked well with the songs. "Brothers in Arms" is a nice looking video that replicates pencil sketching, but in motion. The mood really compliments the song. There were some humorous tracks also, such as "Heavy Fuel" which has actor Randy Quaid (the Vacation series' Cousin Eddy) as a roady that keeps getting in the way during a sound check.

This DVD is fine for true fans of the group that might wish to simply have everything from them, but it is not first class in terms of the things that make DVDs great. If you want to see how good a video can be of Mark Knopfler, in terms of both the sound and video transfer, then check out the rendition of "Brothers in Arms" on the DVD, "Music for Montserrat". Run this through a good sound system with all 6 speakers to support the 5.1 sound and it is stunning. Maybe this DVD has caused me to be hypercritical for the reduce quality of the Dire Straights DVD that I am reviewing.

Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits

Average customer rating:

OUTSTANDING!
Beautiful guitarist.

Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits
Starring: Mark Knopfler , John Illsley , Pick Withers , Hal Lindes , and Alan Clark (III)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004R76H

Customer Reviews:

OUTSTANDING!.......2004-02-24

...Very few concerts can transform their energy from the stage to video, but here is one band who does it effortlessly!
The sound is crisp!..................Mark Knoppler is certainly
one in a million! Why has this band not exploded on the music scene? They are as good as Ive ever seen! And yes, lets pray for a DVD of this concert!....................On a home stereo system,
this would ROCK ROCK ROCK!

Beautiful guitarist........2001-06-22

I've seen lots of great things in life. Such as the "Transformers Movie" and many other surplus arts/movies. But Dire Straits has to be one of the greatest. With beautiful vocals/guitars in the band, what's not to love? I have yet to see this video, but I plan on too. Out of all of their albums.... Making Movies is by far the best. Why did I say that? Well, I have the "Very Best Of Dire Straits" CD, and most of the songs on "Making Movies" is on the Greatest Hits CD. If you're a newbie to this great band, GET IT. If you're a long time fan, you MUST GET IT! Dire Straits is one of the greatests bands, EVER! Just prey it comes on DVD soon! But make sure to buy the CD as well.

P.S. I don't know how "Skateaway" and "Expresso Love" aren't on the greatest hits CD!

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