Memorable, crazy movie

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I saw Black Sabbath last year on tour for Ozzfest. They were co-headlining with Judas Priest on reunion, and while Priest gave an overall stunner of a show, Sabbtath didn't disappoint in the least. They went through their hits, with some video montages to accompany songs, and Ozzy and the other superb fogie metal Gods sounded stronger than ever. Ironically, this concert video from 1978, on the verge of their break-up, isn't at their very best.Indeed, there are signs in the show that seem to indicate not necessarily that they're playing bad, but some spots are a little sloppy, and one can sense the impact that drugs were having on the group (Ozzy, of course, who seems to be hyped on something at the start of the show, but Bill Ward too, who admitted in later interviews to feel almost like God on drugs). Still, if one can find this DVD it isn't without merit- there are songs that you may not hear them play live but are classics like 'Symptom of the Universe' and 'Dirty Women'. There are also good, energetic versions of 'War Pigs' and their title track from their debut.The quality of the video is a little weak, and oddly has almost a disco feel to the lighting for a hard rock show (Ozzy is in a strange get-up too, like a Bee Gee almost). In a way its a successful show if only on its curious odd, excessive demeanor; this is not the Black Sabbath that I've seen footage of from the early 70's. Yet somehow its worth recommending, more so to fans of Sabbath and Ozzy, due to the strength inherent in the songs, in the magnetic (if flawed) performances, and of-its-time direction.

This is quite a cool piece of DVD. It was filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon during the "Never Say Die!" tour, the last tour of the original Sabbath until the reunion in 1997 (they played two gigs before tough, those being Live Aid 1985 and Costa Mesa 1992, but it was a one-time thing only, not an official tour). This was the set list: Supertzar, Symptom Of The Universe, War Pigs, Snowblind, Never Say Die, Dirty Women, Drum Solo, Rock 'n' Roll Doctor, Guitar Solo, Electric Funeral, Children Of The Grave and Paranoid.The Setlist was awesome (compared to what we get these days) and although Ozzy's voice wasn't at its best, we get to see him jumping around and doing antics that he just can't do anymore, which is really cool. We also get to see a guitar solo by Tony Iommi, and a drum solo by Bill Ward, both of which were cut (bleh!). The quality of the DVD isn't great though, but it's OK. Even tough the band was "falling apart" they sound really tight. 8/10