A Disappointing Continuation

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I'm watching this show for maybe the third time, hoping with each viewing I will enjoy it more than the previous times.I'm as much of a fan of Ms. Midler as anyone else and would go to the ends of the earth to watch her live. However, this particular concert recording is missing much of the energy Ms. M usually brings to her performances. It seems as though she is tired and simply walking through the show to get through the night.The hits are there....as is her old fashioned lovable tackiness. But the fun and tawdriness is missing.But yet...I'm watching it again. That's how endearing she is. It's still Bette.

Almost 20 minutes of the show is missing. Her entire sequence with her mermaid character is missing. I saw this show in Vegas at The Caesars Palace Coliseum: Bette (and all the "Caesar Salad" girls) are in motorized "Larks" (kind of a "sporty" wheelchair, if you are not familiar with it) and do a full-blown mermaid Broadway musical review in full skin-tight fish tail costumes. All singing and dancing. It is both amazing and hilarious. Well, it "ain't" on this disk! No-siree! We are treated to other flaws of the performance instead: 1. The entire overly-long opening sequence complete with a donkey, reprising the Wizard of Oz" tornado. (Bette blows in from Kansas) 2. Bette swearing like a sailor and her inane monologue. Too short of a performance. The original show was about 95 minutes and had a "planned" encore. It seems like other parts are missing as well (?).

At first, I was not going to give this a decent review. Bette Midler lands in Vegas as if she is Dorothy coming out of Kansas.She struts along on the stage, and while quite voluptuous and vulgar at times, she sure can still belt out some of her old favorites.She claims that 30 years ago her audience was on drugs and now they're on medication. Highlights of the show, the best thing about it, is where Ms. Midler sings "Oy, it's hot in here, while reciting some of her classic joke lines.All being said, Ms. Midler still has the voice and chutzpah to perform. She is her vintage self and the show turns into one huge delight.