Reviews
The Godfather (2006)
...you can refuse)
After all the media hype The Godfather was looking like it was going to be the last best game on the PS2 format. And still after a few hours of playing it... the title was still its for the taking. An impressive opening set up, a few training tasks... then on with dominating NYC Godfather style. This game is very much in the vein of Grand Theft Auto. A map of NYC, the ability to steal cars and terrorise passers by etc. Only that TG is no where near as vast and limited to about 4 different types of car to get about. The missions to start off with are all very movie related but as the game goes on they turn very generic and repetitive. Even the Hubs and buildings are the same layout with opposing Mafioso standing guard in the same position. You have to defeat the other 4 families before extorting every business in the city. This after a while is pretty enduring. Specially as the prize for becoming The Don Of NYC is just a Tommy Gun with unlimited ammo.... with no missions to take up! This isn't a bad game. Just a massive let down after the initial advertising campaign and even getting some of the original cast to do the voices (including Marlon Brando himself before he passed away). Nice touches are the wardrobe/barber selections (a bit like GTA but only available at when re-loading), the fine aiming to disarm or kneecap an opponent and the final execution types, a bit violent but quite worthy of the license. The rest is a typical EA style game. Good, but could have been so much better. The whole game feels the same as From Russia With Love but with more free roaming. A real shame that they didn't make this a real contender to San Andreas. It looks that GTA SA could well be the best ever PS2 game after all.
Buy if its under £20... I completed it in 10 days without trying too hard.
Enjoy if you can!
Iron Maiden: Maiden England (1989)
Iceberg!!!
The Seventh Tour Of A Seventh Tour 1988. Maiden's biggest stage production yet! An ice cave with pyro a plenty to help capture the theme of the album. This has to be one of the best Maiden shows about. A really well captured keep sake of the '88 tour. The basic but effective filming helps keep you right in the thick of the action. An awesome (but edited for the release) set is on offer with the likes of Wasted Years, Still Life & Die with your boots on making a nice return to the set. The new material comes over really well too. Along with Live After Death, this really is ready for the DVD treatment soon. Its hard to believe that this tour was nearly 20 years ago! Eeek! They still wore spandex then and Bruce had long hair! Well worth getting for the collection. It shows how big they were back in the mid/late 80's... before grunge took over the world! Definitely up there with LAD... the only noticeable negative is that Janick had yet to join the band so the live antics are a little low key compared to anything from Donington '92 onwards. Still a superb gig.
Iron Maiden: Death on the Road (2006)
Dance Of Death.... Alive and kicking!!!
After the long wait it finally came.. Death On The Road. An audio visual treat filmed on the Dance Of Death tour 2003/04. The package comes with 3 discs. 1 x Extras - Fan interviews (a bit lame, promo videos, photos and a behind the scenes on the road (very good). The other 2 are a stereo and 5.1 version of the gig (a bit pointless in my opinion). Anyway, the actual gig has been put together by Steve Harris again so the edits and cuts are immense... and there are a few black and white crowd shots. A bit of a shame but it doesn't take too much away from the finished product. The set contains a healthy wedge from the 2003 album as well as the trade mark anthems. Lord Of The Flies makes it in as the Blaze era token track.. not bad but it would have been nice to have had a lesser heard classic thrown back in (Powerslave? Wasted Years?).. The stage production for the tour rivalled that of the mighty 7th Tour of a 7th tour back in 88. Castles, Reapers & a couple of Eddie's are the setting for the show. A visual treat for sure. A very good concert DVD is whats on offer. A few flaws in terms of editing in my opinion but its pretty damn good. Is it as good as Rock In Rio? Nearly! The next DVD looks like it'll be the Ullevi Stadium show from 2005. I strongly feel that Steve should hand the editing job over to someone else to get a new feel to it. The TV broadcast version doing the bootleg rounds is bloody good. Needs a bit of tweaking but hold on to most shots for a few seconds at least. That could well be the best new line up Maiden DVD we'll see.
Iron Maiden: Live After Death (1985)
Scream for me Long Beach Arena!
A must concert film for all metal fans. Simple. Maiden may or may not be your cup of tea but this really was a legendary tour and era for the NWOBHM titans. A monster year long tour playing 4 or 5 gigs per week... a massive stage set, impressive set list and a killer live sound - reproduced brilliantly for the release. To be honest, there's not one duff track. All songs are from the first album, Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind & Powerslave. The Smith/Murray twin guitar attack looks and sounds awesome along side Steve, Bruce & Nicko's performance. From minute one the (now infamous) Churhill Speech intro tape takes us into Aces High, 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Trooper... Other high lights include The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Iron Maiden (check out the huge Eddie!) & Running Free. This film really should get the re-mastering treatment and released as DVD at some point. This concert MUST be in your collection.
Iron Maiden: Donington Live 1992 (1993)
Donington disaster...
This should, and could have been an amazing film.. instead its a 2 hour promo video. Black and white shots, slow motion, odd cuts and edits... not a pretty sight. The set is pretty damn good. Including old and new but the editing doesn't do it justice. The ferocious Be Quick Or Be Dead opens the set and you're gifted the likes of From Here To Eternity, Wasting Love and Afraid To Shoot Strangers from the new album too. Tailgunner and Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter make it from the 1990 release 'No Prayer For The Dying'. The rest of the set is a mixture from classic era.
Adrian joins them for Running Free on the encore which was nice but its nothing more than a real disappointment in general considering their '88 appearance at Donny was never released as a live film.
The trivia on IMDb is wrong. Adrian joined them for 1 song only and the crowd was nearer 50,000, not 80,000.
Iron Maiden: Rock in Rio (2002)
Better than the CD
The Brave New World Tour 2000/01 was one of the bands best. This DVD showcases them at the finale in front of a monstrous crowd. Apart from the editing (too many quick cuts!) it really is a good concert DVD. I think RiR sounds better on the DVD than on the live CD. The mix makes the guitars stand out better and sound not as thick. Hilights for me are: The Intro/Wickerman, Brave New World, The Clansman, Dream Of Mirrors and Sign Of The Cross. It will be interesting to see how Death On The Road compares. The bonus disc is not too bad. A day out with all the members as well as some stuff from Ross Halfin. One gripe is that the packaging is a bit dogger. The discs are held in by little pieces of sponge glued to the card. One ripped off quite easily trying to remove a disc. 8/10
Iron Maiden: Raising Hell (1993)
Bruces last show - Pinewood Studios, 28th August 1993
Iron Maiden filmed the last show with singer Bruce Dickinson (rejoined in 1999) and released it as Raising Hell. An Iron Maiden gig coupled up with horror illusions courtesy of Simon Drake. Most of the classics are there; The Trooper, The Evil That Men Do, Hallowed Be Thy Name and The Number Of The Beast. Bruce himself gets put into a real Iron Maiden at the end before Eddie takes his revenge on Simon... Horror & Heavy Metal, a killer combo! The stage is made up of various props and drapes from old tours which looks pretty good. Simons illusions are OK and add a different tilt to what would be a normal live concert video but some of his tricks are a tad lame. This is a must for every hardcore fan. It isn't as good as Maiden England but much better than Donington Live '92 as there's no slo-mo or B&W scenes. Raisng Hell is a nice memento on the 92/93 tours but not a patch on what was to come. Rock In Rio & Death On The Road. 6.5/10