Product Description
This anniversary collection celebrates the achievements of the world renowned Cirque du Soleil. The collection includes 11 Cirque du Soleil productions plus a bonus DVD of Midnight Sun, a once-in-a-lifetime special event captured on DVD. The title within this colorful collection are: A Baroque Odyssey, Allegria, Cirque Reinvente, Dralion, Journey of Man, La Magie Continue, Nouvelle Experience, Quidam, Saltimbanco, Varekai, and La Nouba.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #112404 in DVD
- Brand: Sony
- Released on: 2005-12-06
- Rating: G (General Audience)
- Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 12
- Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Subtitled in: French, Spanish
- Dimensions: 2.55 pounds
Amazon.com
Cirque du Soleil's Anniversary Collection 1984-2005 is a 12-disc retrospective of the Canadian troupe's distinctive brand of performance, involving the fantastic feats of acrobatics and athleticism, balance and contortion; the single-ring techno circus; the multicolored lights and costumes; the abstract story lines of fantasy and self-discovery; the music that fuses rock, New Age, and various world influences; and the madcap clowns that prey on their live audiences. The programs included are La Magie Continue (1986); Cirque Reinvente (1989); Nouvelle Experience (1991); Saltimbanco (1994), the 1994 documentary retrospective A Baroque Odyssey; the Amsterdam-set Quidam (1999); Allegria (1999), the live Sydney show; the Chinese-influenced Dralion (2000), in its standard, non-Superbit release; the relatively short IMAX film Journey of Man (2002); Varekai (2002), from Toronto; La Nouba (2003), from Walt Disney World; and Midnight Sun, strikingly staged outdoors at the 2004 Montreal International Jazz Festival.
That's a lot of aerial feats, tricks, and tumbling, but the set is not designed to absorb in one sitting. Rather, viewers can sample both the simpler early shows and the stunning later performances that, with their 5.1 sound and widescreen pictures, are perfectly suited to home theaters. Compiling 12 previously released DVDs in space-saving Thinpaks at an economical price, the Anniversary Collection is nearly all the Cirque du Soleil you could ever want, but completists should note that the set does not include the feature film Allegria: An Enchanting Fable, the bonus disc of Varekai, the reality-TV show Fires Within, and the 13-part variety series Solstrom. --David Horiuchi
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
34 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
CIRQUE TO THE (I)MAX
By W. Paul Roberts
I saw "Journey of Man" in 3-D and felt I could catch the Banquine flyers in my lap. The movie is the next best thing to a live Cirque du Soleil show, even though nothing compares to the being there. The soundtrack, written by Benoit Jutras, not only proves to be a great background for the film, it is great to listen to even without visuals. I hope this movie is eventually released on DVD.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
It's not the same on the small screen, but...
By A Customer
The most important thing to understand about this DVD is that "Journey of Man" was originally created for an IMAX 3-D presentation. I saw it in the theaters and was blown away, and so I bought the DVD as a reminder of that experience. The sound on the DVD was spectacular, drawing out the beauty of the soundtrack, but there are inherent limitations on the visual side. Because IMAX's aspect ratio is close to that of a TV, there's no need to letterbox this feature, but there's no way to capture either the size of the IMAX screen or the 3-D effects that made it so spectacular.
All of the acts were taken from the various touring Cirque shows: The opening "Taiko" from Mystere, some synchronized swimming from "O", "Cube" from Alegria, "Statue" and "Banquine" from Quidam, and so on. I'm not sure that there were any original acts, but each of the performances here has been further stylized and put into a setting that frees the act from the constraints of the stage, making each one larger and more powerful. "Statue" is especially striking, as the performers in full-body grey makeup perform on a vivid green leaf floating in a black pool. The colors are beautiful throughout, and the performances are, of course, spectacular. The acts are connected by sequences that were amazing on the big screen but feel a little bit unnecessary in the living room.
The storyline explores the "child-like wonder" theme of previous Cirque productions, but I think that the theme is both better portrayed and has more of an impact here than I've felt in Cirque's other work. There are all sorts of amazing things in the world if you keep looking, and what you think you want isn't always what you need most.
Basically, this DVD is a good buy for rabid Cirque fans who need to have everything that Cirque has produced, people who never got a chance to see Mystere, "O", or Alegria and so can enjoy some acts they haven't previously seen, or for those of artistic bent who don't mind shelling out the money for a 35-minute presentation of beautiful staging and cinematography. I fall into all three categories and am very happy with my purchase.
However, EVERYONE should see this in its original IMAX 3-D format. On the big screen it truly is an amazing spectacle throughout. On the small screen it's more of a novelty.
101 of 122 people found the following review helpful.key information about this DVD set that's missing on amazon
By F. Chen
This anniversary collection celebrates the achievements of the world renowned Cirque du Soleil. The collection includes 11 Cirque du Soleil productions plus a bonus DVD of Midnight Sun, a once-in-a-lifetime special event captured on DVD. The title within this colorful collection are: A Baroque Odyssey, Allegria, Cirque Reinvente, Dralion, Journey of Man, La Magie Continue, Nouvelle Experience, Quidam, Saltimbanco, Varekai, La Nouba.
$100+ bucks for these 12 dvds is definitely a bargain.
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