The film is, for better and worse, the fruit of three artists in conflict--Parker indulging himself, and Waters in league with designer Gerald Scarfe, whose brilliant animated sequences suggest that he should have directed and animated this film in its entirety. Fortunately, this clash of talent and ego does not prevent The Wall from being a mesmerizing film. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof (in his screen debut) is a fine choice to play Waters's alter ego--an alienated, "comfortably numb" rock star whose psychosis manifests itself as an emotional (and symbolically physical) wall between himself and the cold, cruel world. Weaving Waters's autobiographical details into his own jumbled vision, Parker ultimately fails to combine a narrative thread with experimental structure. It's a rich, bizarre, and often astonishing film that will continue to draw a following, but the real source of genius remains the music of Roger Waters. --Jeff Shannon

Roger Waters knew when the album itself, a masterpiece all its own, was made that he wanted to eventually make an accompanying screenplay. The fact that the music of The Wall forms a story on its own is a testament to Waters' vision. There is very little script in this movie, it is more of a visual aide to the music itself, and allows us to see what Waters really wanted us to see when the album was originally released. It is like an art gallery more than a movie, where each scene is full of both powerful meaning and subtle expression.

It spotlights the roller coaster ride of Pink's tumultuous life, who is reportedly based on several influences. From Roger Waters' own personal past, to his views on the influence of drugs on music and performance, to thoughts of the mentally unstable former member of Pink Floyd, Sid Barrett, this movie will both shock and move you.

I honestly cannot describe this movie and give it the justice it deserves. You simply must see it.

As for the DVD itself, the remastering is truly phenomenal. From start to finish the video is crisp, and the sound.. my god the sound. I dont know if I will ever find a movie which possesses equal richness of sound. This DVD uses both senses to their fullest potential.

Some person commented that the widescreen format meant losing a portion of the picture. Au contraire, widescreen is the only picture where you capture everything through the eyes of the director's camera. It is the full screen format which loses the sides of the picture by stretching and trimming to a (roughly) 4:3 ratio. Unfortunately however, being only available in widescreen format on this DVD, those viewers with small televisions might be faced with a vertically short, albeit complete picture.

The DVD extras and menus are incredible. This is the first DVD I have seen which has menus to configure your sound system for optimum performance (speaker position and test). And the sound.. did I mention the sound?

This movie and DVD version deserves far more than 5 stars, and is the definitive "Final Cut" of Roger Waters' vision.


Powerful   November 24, 1999
Boyd Baker (Florida)
39 out of 41 found this review helpful

"Pink Floyd the Wall" is what it was always supposed to be...a visual experience. The music from the original LP hit us hard enough, with such poignant tunes as "Hey You", "Vera Lynn" and "Mother", not to mention the showstoppers "Run Like Hell", "Another Brick in the Wall", and "Comfortably Numb". It was a natural progression that a movie came out, and I'm glad it did. The result is powerful. The film creates an eerie, sad, desperate and pervasive world that envelopes you, taking you in and down with the movie's anti-hero, Pink. His life is one of rebellion and loneliness, and he never quite comes to terms with himself until the end, when it's really too late. From his early experiences with bitter and sarcastic headmasters to his final drug overdose and near insanity, we get to run the gamut of experiences with him, and if it isn't always satisfying, it is certainly compelling. One of the most memorable, tragic scenes involves Pink's crew trying to get him ready for a gig, while he's whacked out on pills and whatever else is handy. As they drag him, wasted and near-comatose, to the show he must play, he hallucinates that he's literally rotting away, while the song "Comfortably Numb" drones ominously on the soundtrack. The result is frightening, and very good.

Not for the squeamish, this movie has many brilliant little moments like this, and as a whole, ranks as one of the more intense dramas ever made.


we don't need no thought control...   April 23, 2002
moongrenadine (high point, NC)
33 out of 35 found this review helpful

if there is one dvd that you must add to your collection, pink floyd the wall should be it. very few dvd videos out there offer so many extras to such a great film as this and not to mention you are already getting one of the greatest rock-n-roll operas of our time. or should i say one of the greatest films of our time period? in my life, i have never witnessed a film which successfully combine live drama, rock music, and state of the art animation such as the wall has done. bob geldof gives a truly amazing performance as pink who is slowly going crazy in his hotel room. guess what?? the viewer has the ultimate pleasure of taking this grand descent into madness right along with our lead character. through visions of war, godawful childhood memories, and a painful reminescence of a failed marriage we get a glimpse of everything which could DRIVE a person to complete insanity. pink floyd contains some of the most beautiful but insanely grotesque images ever placed on film and probability suggest few films can ever hope to rival the wall here. the wall is an emotional rollercoaster ride which everyone should take atleast once in their life if not many times. again, not a film that a serious dvd collector would want to be without so add this to your collection if you haven't already. i give this dvd my highest rating of five stars. please vote for me if this review was helpful to you and happy viewing.