I bought this back in 2001 at Fry's electronics. It was one of the first DVD titles I purchased (I was a little late jumping on the DVD bandwagon). I got it because I like the band, and have always enjoyed their videos, which range from 'good' to 'really friggin' amazing'.
However, my heart sank a little as I watched the videos. They went and 'bleeped' out the profanity in many of the songs. Now, personally I'm not a fan of profanity, and don't often use it. I'd prefer it if musicians could figure out a way to write lyrics that were absent the f-bombs and s-words and the like. But they don't, and judged as a whole the work from the Beastie Boys is so good that the occasional dirty word is excusable.
What I can't excuse is the bleeping out of the words in the videos. This isn't MTV. This is something I paid for to watch and listen to in my own home. It's the artist's decision as to what words they use. They use these words as part of a work, and you can hear them just fine on the albums, so why not on the videos? After I watched it a few times, I was a bit frustrated with the censorship and put it on a shelf and there it sat for five years. I decided to revisit the collection this week to see how it would appear on my current home theatre gear. When I first got this title, I just had a DVD player connected to a 13" television. I've moved up considerably with a very nice 5.1 surround system and a widescreen HD display.
I must say that with the proper equipment, the experience is fantastic. The 5.1 remixes in the songs is pretty dang good, and the picture is close to what I'd normally expect from Criterion; it's not always crystal clear, but a lot of their videos were intentionally shot with a grainy or low quality film or video equipment. Considering the source, I'm confident this is probably the best picture they could produce.
There's a wealth of additional features on the DVD set to keep even the hardest core Beastie Boys fan occupied for quite a long time (including both director and band commentary, a massive collection of various song remixes, and even some instances of the seldom used 'alternate angle' feature in DVDs.) All in all, a pretty good compilation with only one single flaw: the censorship. With the capabilities of multiple audio channels, it's not much to ask at least *one* version with an unedited song.
However, my heart sank a little as I watched the videos. They went and 'bleeped' out the profanity in many of the songs. Now, personally I'm not a fan of profanity, and don't often use it. I'd prefer it if musicians could figure out a way to write lyrics that were absent the f-bombs and s-words and the like. But they don't, and judged as a whole the work from the Beastie Boys is so good that the occasional dirty word is excusable.
What I can't excuse is the bleeping out of the words in the videos. This isn't MTV. This is something I paid for to watch and listen to in my own home. It's the artist's decision as to what words they use. They use these words as part of a work, and you can hear them just fine on the albums, so why not on the videos? After I watched it a few times, I was a bit frustrated with the censorship and put it on a shelf and there it sat for five years. I decided to revisit the collection this week to see how it would appear on my current home theatre gear. When I first got this title, I just had a DVD player connected to a 13" television. I've moved up considerably with a very nice 5.1 surround system and a widescreen HD display.
I must say that with the proper equipment, the experience is fantastic. The 5.1 remixes in the songs is pretty dang good, and the picture is close to what I'd normally expect from Criterion; it's not always crystal clear, but a lot of their videos were intentionally shot with a grainy or low quality film or video equipment. Considering the source, I'm confident this is probably the best picture they could produce.
There's a wealth of additional features on the DVD set to keep even the hardest core Beastie Boys fan occupied for quite a long time (including both director and band commentary, a massive collection of various song remixes, and even some instances of the seldom used 'alternate angle' feature in DVDs.) All in all, a pretty good compilation with only one single flaw: the censorship. With the capabilities of multiple audio channels, it's not much to ask at least *one* version with an unedited song.