Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972)

It really should be no surprise that Pink Floyd of all bands could put together such a fantastic live performance. PULSE is one of the best live sets I have ever seen, but for the longest time Live at Pompeii eluded my attention. The first twelve minutes and the last twelve minutes of the movie are devoted to the best version of "Echoes" that I have ever heard. Other songs included in the set are "One of These Days", "A Saucerful of Secrets", and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". Depending on which version you watch, you will also get a glimpse of the band working in the studio on tracks for Dark Side of the Moon. The cinematography of the movie has already been complimented upon by numerous reviewers, but it is definitely worth complimenting again, because it is so good. The actual interviews with band members vary in quality. Most interviews with Roger Waters involve him just messing with the interviewer. Mason and Gilmour are alright, but the best interview of the film is probably with the most under-appreciated member of the band, keyboardist Richard Wright. I watched this movie under the impression that is was only live set, and instead became an interesting mixture of live performances of music video quality intertwined with interviews and just filming the band hanging out in the studio. It almost seems like a documentary, and it works refreshingly well.If I had to give the highlights of the performances, I would say that "Echoes" is a very obvious choice and is by far the highlight of the set. A not so obvious second in my opinion is "Careful With That Axe Eugene". This song manages to be so menacing yet subtle that I just can't help but like it. In both cases I find these performances superior to the studio recordings. The main detractor of this film is that "Echoes" is broken up into two parts. With a song so psychedelic and epic, it is such a shame it was cut in half. If the movie ended with the song in its entirety, it would have been almost perfect.

The idea. The scenario. The music. The performance. The Band. The greatest. I can only say that Pompeii and Pink Floyd talk for themselves. It transmitted me the complete idea of what Pink Floyd is...or was in that time. After seeing this movie every music lover will be you delighted and every Pink Floyd fan will be enlightened (and if you do not like music nor pink floyd at all don't bother continuing reading this commentary).The songs perfectly match the Greek amphitheatre, the space sequences shown, and every song was PERFECTLY performed, so exact, including the participation of a dog singin the blues in "Mademoiselle Nobs", Roger banging the gong with the sun behind (an amazing picture!!!), the speechless improvising between songs, that leaves you only with the desire of having been there when it all happened.It also contains some fragments of what was the beginning of the recording of the masterpiece "Dark Side of the Moon" and commentaries by the four, which you'll find very interesting and wise, which give you also the perspective of Pink Floyd by its members.Buy, beg, borrow or steal...(well, not steal), but see it right away cause Adrian Maben and Pink Floyd really hit the spot in this one.

An insight to the genius of Pink Floyd. The making of Dark Side Of The Moon, experimenting with new equipment etc.'Live' at Pompeii, talking to the dead of Pompeii, the idea alone, makes you want to find out what it is about.A great buy.

Man oh man I LOVE this "rockumentry" of Pink Floyd in their early, pre DSOTM (Dark Side Of The Moon) days. This takes place in the ancient ruins of Pompeii and despite it being filmed back in 1971-2, the images and audio are really good. Crank this up on a modern home theatre system and you will see what I mean. The songs have been commented on by others on imdb so I'll focus on other things on this excellent movie. The band eating in the diner is hilarious, especially Nick Mason asking for apple pie *without* crust. Dave Gilmour asking people to trust Pink Floyd for not being a very drug oriented band was funny as well. Heh Heh. The atmosphere was perfect for the songs that were played there. I especially liked the fact the band was laid back, yet still energetic. They play all the songs on this film with aplomb. Some of the songs have some moodiness about them (Set the controls... Careful with that axe, Eugene)thanks to the lighting, fog, and time of day and that makes them even cooler. I enjoyed the behind the scenes stuff whilst they were recording their landmark album, DSOTM, and hearing the studio engineers complaining about "feedback" was a hoot. [Studio engineer]:"Feedback..." [Gilmour]:"What's rock and roll without feedback?!" Exactly! The dog singing the blues was also hilarious albeit goofy :-) If you're a die hard Floyd fan and have a taste for their older stuff, this is the video for you. If you're open minded and curious, I also urge you to buy this video. 10/10 here :)