Divine Madness

Bette Midler is truly a versatile performer. She can sing and act better than the rest of perrformers today. Her taped show is a great example of her abilities to truly dazzle the crowd. She still does that today 25 years after this concert has aired. Bette comes alive on stage more so than in film or television. In this taping, she really is at her best and peak despite her personal problems. I was hoping to see Katey Sagal as one of her Harlettes but she wasn't in this one. My best advice to Bette is to go back on tour. I never did understand the mermaid thing but Bette takes it to a new level. She has an amazing energy and can belt out "the Rose" and the songs before she returned in 1986. This taping must have happened before her nervous breakdown. Bette has performed everywhere imaginable from gay bathhouses in Greenwich Village to Radio City Music Hall uptown. This taped version is quite an event without pushing the envelope even by today's standard. She is still pretty tame in comparison and she can teach the younger generation of performers that you don't have to bare it all to grab their attention. Bette knows that people have paid good money to be entertained by her and she does that. She always does that and that's why she is one of the best live performers of our generation. Sing on, Bette.

Yes I was a very naughty girl to watch this at age 12 - but come on, it was on network television where I lived and starting at 10 pm...

I fell in love with her here. Her comedy flare, her emotional rendering of some songs, her sheer mad-rock ones of others. It made me want to see "The Rose" (which I did) sing "Shiver Me Timbers" all day long and expect ever grander things from her Live (which eventually I got). She seems to exude so much emotion one minute, then so much raunchy humor the other. I just loved the fact that the concert/performance was introduced the way it was. And her hairdo has never quite been the same again, has it? Though myself, ultimate 80s girl-fashion victim went to the altar of sacrifice in that respect, too - just because on top of everything she did so damned well, she just looked so gorgeous.

Perfect intro to her many talents!

I wanted to like it, because Bette Midler circa 1980 was someone you'd like to like. And you can see previews of future acts from Madonna to Hedwig (one of the Harlettes is even named "Hedwig"). But ... well, there's no nice way to say it, and her fans would disagree, but Bette Midler's a kinda awful singer, goes flat on a regular basis, not flat like when Lucinda Williams lets her twang get the best of her, but flat as in missing the note. And while I admire Midler's desire to sing rock, and she's better at it than Barbra Streisand, "Fire Down Below" is mostly awful, and this Bruce fan cringed when she threw in a bit of "E Street Shuffle." Kael loved Midler, and I can see why, but I give it a 5 on a scale of 10.

THERE IS NO MOVIE TO BE SEEN!!!!!!!!! WHY CAN'T I HAVE ACCESS TO THE MOVIE ON IMOB???????? I HAVE SEEN IT WHEN THE MOVIE CAME OUT BUT HOW CAN I RATE IT NOW????? IT IS NOT AVAILABLE TO ME... OR CAN YOU ONLY WATCH IT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?????? I WOULD LOVE TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT IT AGAIN BUT THERE IS NO WAY I CAN SEE THE MOVIE.... JUST A STUPID TRAILER OF ABOUT 3 MINUTES YOU CAN WATCH THAT IS ALL... I SAW OTHER MOVIES AND SERIES ON IMOB AND THERE WAS NO PROBLEM.... WHY IS THIS MOVIE BEING A PROBLEM?????? OR IS THIS ONLY A PAGE WHERE YOU COMMENT????? IS IT NOT POSSIBLE TO WATCH THE COMPLETE MOVIE ON THIS SITE?????

I can watch this over and over again. After watching The Rose, I HAD to see this, so I went out and rented it. So what if her jokes are corny, she can sing. I can't wait until I get to see her in december. Rent this if you want to see a good performance by a wonderful singer.