Tina Turner - Live in Amsterdam - Wild Dream Tour

She's been around for generations and she's still got that smile. Tina Turner has withstood the test of time better than anybody in her age group and its a testament to her ability to continue to entertain the likes of crowds of 150,000+ AND with style.

This latest dvd offering from Warner Vision is the entire 2 hour 20 minute concert filmed live in the new Amsterdam Arena. Yes, it housed some 150,000 people and from the outset you see each and every one of them, hands waving, worshiping this lady of Rock.

As I watched this disc, I didn't realise just how many songs of Tinas I knew. The more I sat there, the more I enjoyed this disc. She has selected a great list of hits to perform and she performs them well. Here's what you'll find on the disc:

The video quality has its good and bad points but not that bad at all. You'll be pleased to know that the video bit rate was of the variable variety ranging from 5.5 all the way up to the full 10.0. Why so high?

Mainly because of the editing of the concert. This is a very 'flashy' movie and you notice it right from the outset. There are scenes where the footage is flipping between about 10 different cameras in the matter of seconds mixed with the beat of the music. MPEG compression has to compensate for such dramatic change in image and this disc is a great example of how it can and should cope.

Colors are not abundant on this disc, there are lighting effects but most of the concert is filmed infront of a huge LCD super-screen which is a bright representation of the action for the viewers in the back of the arena . Black levels are accurate and I didn't notice video noise of any kind. This could have been due to the quick nature of the editing that I wasn't able to pick anything overly obvious in the transfer.

So how does one store a 143 minute concert, with such high bit-rates, onto one side of a dvd? You make it dual layer and this is the first of such a dvd from Warner Vision - lets hope we see more. The layer change occurs between songs but the pause is enough to make it noticeable as the audio, crowd cheering, is cut for a split second before continuing. Its obviously hard to locate a good position for the layer change within a concert and this location is the least distracting.

The only gripe about the video is that the original master had some jaggy effects present in the source. What are jaggies you ask? Basically, if you see an outline or a line itself running diagonally across the screen, you see it represented as jagged lines rather than a smooth line. Now in some scenes, that I paid attention to, you could seethem evident on things such as micrphone stands, peoples outlines or various other stage equipment. It's not a deterant but it is noticeable.

Overall, the video quality is exceptional. Don't be put off by any discrepancies I mentioned above, I'm a very observant reviewer, but I'm also picky. :)

NB" The interview is of lower quality video but still better than VHS and the music video didn't seem like it had that tender loving care of good mpeg encoding.

You forget to pay attention to the way the disc sounds because you're focused on Tinas voice. Its amazing just how good she sounds on stage - a classic example of the way performers used to perform.

Ok, lets talk about the disc now. There's nothing really to mention apart from the fact that its your typical concert ambience encoded into the 5.1 channels. Left and right mains are for your music and vocals, center channel for your main vocals and surrounds for enhanced crowd effects and ambient music.

One track I enjoyed was the Goldeneye opening. As Tina makes her appearance there is a nice use of bass coming from the mains which leads into a great rendition of the bond theme.

The interview and music video are both in 2.0 channel stereo. The music video is a great sounding track "Whatever You Want", nice bass in this too.

Apart from a gold cover for that "Special Edition" treatment, this dvd boasts the first 'batch' of extras to come from Warner Vision.

What do you get you ask? Ok, let's list them firstly:

• Interactive Menu
• RSDL formatting
• Picture disc
• Music video of "Whatever You Want"
• Interview with Tina Turner about the making of her latest album.

But are the extras good? Yes they are. The interview is an interesting look at the Tinas adventures into making a song, then the film clip, then the concert. Its a song by song interview where all we see is Tina giving her answers in a commentary fashion and there are glimpses of the songs she is talking about.

The interview is rounded off with her latest music video for "Whatever you Want" which is a nice 'noisy' song. Not your normal Tina Turner sound, but you do get her voice. This track is also selectable from the menu as an individual selection.

Now to the menus themselves. They are Sloooooooowwwwww. I don't know how they were programmed but the amount of time taken for any cursor movement made with the remote is long enough to put you off using the menu and because of this I didn't rate the extras higher.

If you're a fan of Tina Turner, this is a must have concert for the collection. Forget VHS, go the dvd version for both the superior video and audio. I, personally, enjoy her music and highly recommend it.

I'm now waiting in the wings now to check out Janet Jacksons Velvet Rope dvd. That should, hopefully, be a cracker.