RichardPryor.com Forums

Hi everyone!

I have a question concerning the Live in Concert video. I'm interested in obtaining it, but I checked out the reviews at amazon.com and many reviewers there have said to stay away from the DVD version since they claim the quality of the audio and picture isn't so great. They say the audio is out of sync and the picture has 'ghost' images throughout. Some say to buy the VHS version over the DVD version, while others say the tech problems occur on both the VHS and DVD versions...

I was wondering if these problems have been corrected in later releases of the video or if they're still present?

Which format of the video would you folks recommend getting?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

TommyG,

The 1979 Live In Concert DVD is EXCELLENT and so is Live On Sunset Strip! I watch both of mine ALL THE TIME

Now when it comes to Sunset Strip I have heard some complain about the editing..however I don't even notice it when I watch b/c I'm completely MESMERIZED by TMIC

So if there are any mistakes in editing, Mr. P's performance more than makes up for it. Trust me you won't be disappointed with either purchase

TommyG,

Let me preface this by saying, I AM NOT KISSING BUTT. But I have never had a problem with the dvd at all. I love it. If there are defects in the quality, I never noticed. Pryor's performance is top notch....nuff said

Thanks SweetLuchia and mojones!

Maybe the early probs with the DVD have been corrected in later versions.. Here's a link to the reviews at amazon.com I was referring to...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/custom ... &x=13&y=11 - Amazon Reviews'

I just thought that if the DVD still had the probs, I'd buy the VHS version and convert it to DVD myself for my personal use.

TommyG, LIVE IN CONCERT doesnt have good lip-syncing but who cares. You will be laughing 2 hard to notice anyways...dont worrie bout it there fine besides that.

mojones,

Why do you consider giving a good review of an RP DVD on his web site as kissing butt?

TLIC created this site for us to express our love for him.

I think it says a lot about the state of American Society when any kind, caring or honoring remark is construed as kissing butt How fucking sad!

Yet another example of the backlash from the Bush Administration. Those fuckers [Font size=5 face=i color=black]NEVER say ANYTHING without an ulterior motive![/font]

But then again, they never say anything with actual THOUGHT either

TommyG,
Funny, I posted a review years ago at Amazon about the DVD version. (I think it's still on Amazon somewhere....) My DVD doesn't have tracking or audio problems at all, it's the DVD compression that's a bit off. For the entire concert, Richard's standing in front of a black backdrop; the compression that's used on DVD's typically has a problem with subtle changes in brightness, color and contrast. Thus, Richard's hair mixes into the black backdrop and seems to "lag" a bit. This could've been fixed by using a higher value of compression when they mastered the DVD, but they didn't. Checking certain factors about the DVD shows that they used a lower-quality level of compression on this disc. Why, I don't know.

Still, this is minor. I think I wrote at the time that this stand-up deserved better. it does, but a bit of visual aberration doesn't take away from the fact that Live In Concert is the best recorded stand-up ever, IMHO.

Who knows? Maybe one day Jen will remaster this with extra goodies...

Thanks Craig!

I stumbled across this review the other day. Very outspoken review. As per others, he says Richard's performance is amazing, but as far as the quality of the picture, etc...

http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/richardpryor.php - http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/richardpryor.php'

"This is one of the worst transfers I’ve ever had to see on a DVD. First off, it is a pan-and-scan only disc. Even that pales to the poor quality of the picture though. The rare moments Richard would stand still looked all right; though even there we had to contend with a black man in black pants with black hair standing in front of a black background. Richard often disappeared into the scenery, leaving a red shirt and some fuzzy image of the person wearing it. The picture got much worse when he moved, and Richard moved all over the stage during this show. Ghost images would trail along after him, making me think maybe I really was having some acid flashback from the '60s. Light bounced off his hair in such a way as to make it look like his hair would leave his head. Colors were so poorly saturated that it often looked more like computer graphics than film. To top all that off, this is one of the worst artifacted and pixelated transfers it has been my misfortune to catalog. The picture is watchable, but that is only in terms of being able to see what is going on. The quality is exceedingly poor. Ultimately I have to recommend this disc as a rental, only for the show itself. I could never recommend it for purchase because of the picture quality and dearth of extras. But the show is certainly worth seeing at least once. MPI, which produced this DVD, is sentenced to authoring school and is not permitted to oversee another transfer until graduation."

"Who knows? Maybe one day Jen will remaster this with extra goodies..."

That would be great!

TommyG,
could b a certain amount of pressings of dvd were not done right, cuz mines all jacked up (audio sync) too!! and i bought it "legit" (best buy)

keeping fingers crossed 4 re-releases!! (c'mon, jenny!!!)