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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Hysteria:
The Def Leppard Story”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Biography
|
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
2.0 |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
90 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
1/25/05 |
| Studio |
Paramount
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Karl Geary,
Adam MacDonald, Orlando Seale, Esteban Powell, Tat Whalley,
Anthony Michael Hall, Priscilla Mouzakiotis |
| Written
By: |
Christopher
Ames, Carolyn Shelby |
| Produced
By: |
Claudio Castravelli,
Patricia Clifford |
| Directed
By: |
Robert Mandel
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| Music:
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Def Leppard,
Christopher Lennertz |
| The
Review: |
As Def Leppard rocketed to fame
they were immediately hit by tragedy. The band lost band members
to alcoholism, their drummer lost his arm in a car accident
and one of their lead guitarist and songwriters died after
doing rehab. Still they solidered on through it all continuing
to expand their audience and continuing to come up with number
one albums despite an overbearing but well meaning lead singer
and the temptations of fame. With five top ten albums, 11
top twenty hits this five piece band out of Sheffield, England
achieved their dreams but frequently found that the price
they had to pay was quite high. ***
A well made history of the band
with unflinching and occasionally unflattering portrayals
of the band members, Hysteria captures the band’s rapid climb
to success and rapidly mounting disasters in fine form. The
band’s history and troubles aren’t whitewashed. The direction
by Robert Mandel (The X Files, Nash Bridges, The Substitute,
The Practice) helps to craft a memorable glimpse into the
excesses of rock ‘n’ roll as well as the challenges facing
performers. It’s a wonder than anyone in music survives with
all the vultures prey surrounding these individuals. Hysteria
is a cut above most biopics with strong performances from
the largely unknown ensemble cast. ---
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| Image
and Sound: |
Originally
aired on and produced for VH1, Hysteria looks amazingly sharp
with crystal clear images and sound. The visuals rock almost
as hard as the music with nice detail in the images. The soundtrack
has great presence and the band’s music is reproduced very well
with nice detail and exceptionally good bass that’ll work out
your home system. It’s a pity that this wasn’t mixed for 5.1
as the music and concert scenes could have taken advantage of
the format. |
| The
Extras: |
It’s a
pity that interviews from the Behind The Music special made
roughly at the same time wasn’t added (or that it wasn’t combined
with this on DVD). Samples of the band’s music remixed for
5.1 would also have been a great advantage for the DVD. As
it is, the DVD looks and sounds great but would have been
nicer with extras added This could be due to clearence issues
since Paramount which issue the video doesn't own the band's
master recordings (they're owned by UMG). --
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| Commentary:
|
I don’t know
how comfortable the band members would have felt doing a commentary
for this biopic but it would have added substantially to the
DVD. Also, director Mandel or the writers could have provided
insight into the changes made for the movie compared to the
actual events. Many times events are telescoped, combined or
changed for dramatic impact. It would have been interesting
to hear how things were changed for comparisons sake. |
| Final
Words: |
Although
it’s lacking in extras, the drama here isn’t whitewashed. Nearly
every member of the band is portrayed as an asshole at various
times in their career. The most haunted member of the band the
late Steve Clark had the talent but not the psyche to withstand
the turmoil of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Haunted by a sense
of inferiority despite his soulful playing he became the most
tragic member of the band. The actors give memorable performances
and it helps that many of them resemble the band members as
well. A mix of humor, success and tragedy Hysteria closes on
their triumphant return to performing and music making leaving
out Clark’s death in 1991 while completing their album “Adrenalize”.
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