Popmart - Live from Mexico City [import]

So I ordered this one because it was cheaper. Maybe I got what I paid for? No. It said it would play in all regions. Maybe I'm just technologically ignorant, and behind the times with my big box tv, but it won't play and tells me the format is wrong. So I tried it in my new laptop (dell- which, granted, doesn't like to play anything but bbc discs) it also said the region was wrong. But here's the thing, the laptop said it was a region1 DVD (US & Canada). Wait! The listing said All Regions. No matter, I went ahead and switched my laptop from "free" to "US, Canada" (I hope my bbc discs still play!). Success! It started! I made it through the intro and about 3 songs in (around 16-17 mins) it started freezing on me. Video stopped, audio skipped, after pausing and stopping a couple times, I got frustrated and turned it off; and now I'm writing this. Maybe I will try again tomorrow and if I still can't figure it out, I may try to return it, even though I obviously opened it. Comments on how I might proceed are welcome. Thanks for "listening."

Zoo TV and now Popmart are the only U2 concerts I have seen so this review is written within that bubble of their career and, music-wise, it was by far the most enjoyable period for me.Having loved the Zoo TV DVD and Pop CD, I was looking forward to seeing the Popmart tour.The first thing that struck me in watching this concert was the fact that it wasn't presented in a widescreen format. With a stage set this big, the idea that it would be filmed in anything less is just bizarre. It was really hard to get past the seemingly narrow screen until about half way through the concert.David Mallet's work on the Zoo TV DVD was excellent and I can see why he was hired to direct here but, while he still resists the annoying tendency of bouncing from camera to camera which some directors do, there are some distracting problems with the filming:-1. The visuals precede the audio by a fraction of a second.2. Colors and light bleed everywhere (a real problem when the stage back-drop is a huge video screen).In addition, and inexplicably, the final credits roll over the final song.The combination of good film quality, great direction, great staging and a wildly enthusiastic audience made Zoo TV one of the greatest concert movies ever made.The frustrating thing about Popmart is that U2 give a great performance and the songs from Pop, in particular, are taken to new heights. In contrast to Zoo TV the Bono we see here is more of a showman - loose, light on his feet and really enjoying himself. But the combination of the poor film quality and the huge light show added to the film / audio misalignment mutes the immediacy of the performance leaving it just out of reach (and view) in a way that Zoo TV doesn't.As for the extras on the 'Limited Edition' (only several million made, buy one while stocks last) they do warrant the extra money. The documentary about the Sarajevo gig is good and the menu on the bonus disc is a hoot.

There are so many reasons to recommend this--I can't believe it's finally on DVD!The Pop Mart tour and album were incorrectly derided by some critics--and even the band apparently--as a failed experiment. Wrong. That album was some of their coolest music ever, and the tour, while it started rough, by the time of this show is just monster (no pun intended). This BTW was the largest video screen every constructed; after the tour it was sold off in pieces to sports stadiums and the like.Granted, it you don't like the "ironic" U2 and songs like "Discotheque" you'll probably hate the "lemon" part which is totally Spinal Tap (although that was sort of the point). Too bad, because right after that song they do THE definitive version of "If You Wear That Velvet Dress," which far surpasses the recorded version.The show opens with a seamless segue from "Pop Music" on the P.A. into "Mofo." "Mofo" was an interesting, if not fully realized, track from the album but here it absolutely kills in a different arrangement. Just like "Elevation" live blows away the recorded version, so it goes with "Mofo."There's also a slightly altered version of "I Will Follow" (different guitar patch, Larry alters the drum pattern) and a great version of "Last Night on Earth." One of the better versions of "New Year's Day" appears on this disc. Interesting thing to note: all the people at the show cheer all the new tunes and apparently know the words (even to tunes like "Already Gone"). Americans tend to applaud only the singles and the well-known hits.The sound's great, the band's tight, the crowd is absolutely bonkers. For videos I rank it up there with Live from Sydney (Zoo TV) as their best.Sure by this point, after Zoo TV, U2 fans had pretty much had enough of the "irony" phase and thankfully they moved on. But it's a kick to see that huge video screen and the whole spectacle.The "limited edition" of this DVD includes a second disc which includes videos, tour documentaries and addtional tracks, although the tracks on this seem taken from raw video feeds while taping the shows--not bad, but not as polished as the final versions on the concert proper.

I love this concert. I know there's been all the mixed reviews of their album POP, but this was the first U2 concert I was able to attend, and to know that this was the concert they picked to have taped and released only makes me happier because now I can say "There I was! Sitting screaming right over there!" I still feel the same chills when the lighters are all glowing in rhythm with 'New Year's Day'. Everything about this concert was bigger and brighter than you would expect. If you're a fan, most likely you've seen this a few times already on the VHS version. Not many of you know this though, this concert played Live through one of Mexico's satellite channels and if you play close attention there are a few things that were cut for for the DVD version released, like a couple of quotes and "errors" by the Edge, etc. The bottom line is that this is a must have DVD!

I won't say it's the best U2 concert on film ever, but I personally think it's as good as any other. Just seeing the extravagance of Popmart again is a real joy. I don't think we will see it's like ever again. I mean, the amazing mirrorball lemon, the Mc D's influenced arch and that huge video wall with it's Roy Lichtenstein animations. Truly stunning. The 'Pop' album may be flawed, but the tour and this era of U2 wasn't the lemon that some say it was. History will be kind I think, and this DVD records a band at their most playful and musically inventive.The band are clearly having a blast in the OTT world they have created on stage. It's almost as if in response to those po-faced fans/journo's that were trying to make U2 feel ashamed of the Pop album and the subsequent tour the band actually revel in it all, and make the most of what they had created - two fingers up to the critics and all that....The main concert has been cleaned up visually and sonically to as good a standard as you can expect for a 1997 filmed show. It really looks/sounds great for those with nice A/V gear.But it's the bonus DVD (and the packaging) that shine for me. Some U2 2-disc sets have disappointed (Vertigo, Chicaco anyone..). But not here. The band and the exec produced Tara Mullen (Larry's sis) have clearly put a lot of love and attention in to the whole package, in particular the bonus disc which has lots of great stuff on it. You can feast yourself on as much Popmart as you can handle quite frankly! The Popmart shopping game is cool.. it's like your own personal Generation Game conveyor belt.The packaging is great too. I mean, in the spirit of Popmart you even get a pop-up The Edge to marvel at ;) Nice.So all in all a great 2 disc set here. The best yet from Dublins finest. One curiosity though..... When you select in-store security camera content from the bonus disc you get this weird homemade video featuring this couple in Dublin. It's set to music with Karaoke words on screen! What the hell is that all about boys!***** 5 Stars. Buy it.

U2 rocking it in Mexico. Pre owned but in excellent condition.

Why oh why did U2 do this. The whole experience should be erased from history. An awful recording of the awful tour. As a U2 fan this is a moment I wish to forget.

It was always going to be hard to follow up Zoo tv with an even more outragous show, but U2 have a good go at doing so. Helped by the largest big screen ever used at any gig, the lighting and video effects are superb and the set list is well balanced with a few bits from the recent album "pop" backed by the usual pre-actung baby gems like "with or without you". There are many highlights, the band open the show by walking the length of the arena to the stage dressed in all sorts of fancy dress including Bono as a boxer. Bono sence of adventure extends to him swinging a gitare round is head during "end of the world" before dropping it into the crowd! However the version of Discoteque is extremely cheesey and the Edge's solo version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is very lackluster because the song is designed to be played in volume-cranked-upto-11-mode. But overall the show is a entertaining interpretation of there songs.

love it