'Weird Al' Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection

The RIDICULOUS REAGAN BASHING in the x-mas video sours the whole experience, partly because one doesn't expect something that IGNORANT from an otherwise APPARENTLY bright person like Yankovic. As anyone who's the least bit interested in truth knows, Reagan passionately LOATHED nukes!--read the diaries, EVERY (even LEFTIST) biography, ET AL.

Even if Yankovic was truly stupid enough to believe that nonsense in the 80's (though it was obviously false AT THE TIME)-as an artist, if I had published anything 'slanderous' (you don't get more SERIOUSLY slanderous than imputing LOVE of war/nukes, much less to a person who passionately LOATHES them) and it ''turned out'' to be EMPIRICALLY, BLATANTLY, UTTERLY FALSE I would re-edit/cut that clip entirely!

We must demand the same honourable behaviour from Yankovic. To not so do, BESMIRCHES THE ENTIRETY OF YANKOVIC'S CREATIONS. Especially this DVD.

One of the great post-modern musical comedians is Alfred Yankovic. Over the course of the last thirty years he has gone from a scrawny little geek with an accordion and glasses, to a Grammy winning international star. This collection is actually something that I'd recommend you purchase if you see it at your local S-Mart, and you probably will.

Weird Al knows popular music inside an out. He can literally fill the shoes and socks of any artist you name. His impersonations of Micheal Jackson, James Brown, Madonna, Kurt Cobain and several others are actually quite brilliant, and if you thought the songs were great as parodies, wait till you see them as music videos, full of visual gags, bathroom humour, and hilarious absurdities. It is something that kids (of a certain age) and Adults can enjoy alike. In fact, were it not for some occasionally mature humour, I would say this is a family watch. It is pretty darn close. Bonus features include snips from the Weird Al show, and his first television appearance with Tom Snyder.

Mr. Alfred Matthew Yankovic collects all of his 24 videos on this DVD, which is highly recommendable for anybody with a good sense of humor. At the height of his success (middle of the 80's to early 90's), Weird Al just could do nothing wrong. Most of the spoofs of hit songs/videos here are funny, creative and untouchable, but as time went by Al seemed to get a bit tired. He made less and less videos throughout the 90's and kind of lost track with what people really listen to. His parodies of "American Pie" ("The Saga Begins"), "It's All About The Benjamins" ("It's All About The Pentiums") and "Amish Paradise" ("Gangsta's Paradise") are only mildly entertaining and don't come close to Weird Al's earlier classics. The true, timeless gems here are "Like A Surgeon", "Eat It", "Fat", "Smells Like Nirvana", "You Don't Love Me Anymore", "Bedrock Anthem" and "Headline News". Those videos spoof the originals by Madonna, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Extreme, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Crash Test Dummies with so much love and silliness, it's a delight. "Dare To Be Stupid" a charming homage to the cult group DEVO is another highlight on this DVD. But although Weird Al's glory days seem pretty much over, his lesser efforts such as "Bob" or "Living With A Hernia" are still pretty amusing and will get a chuckle or two out of you. If you like the wacky humor of movies like "The Naked Gun" (where Weird Al also makes an appearance) and/or kept track with the most popular songs of the last 20 years, you're going to have a hell of a good time with this collection.

I have waited forever for this video collection. With the exception of "Christmas at Ground Zero", this showcases Al's genius.

I have been a fan of his since the beginning, and I have had the pleasure of attending one of his concerts (9/99, Ashland, Kentucky). I just think it is a shame that he is not releasing a legitimate video from the "Poodle Hat" CD (Which, by the way, is not one of his best works.). My favorite video is probably "One More Minute". The choreography is hilarious.

If you are an "Al-coholic", this collection is for you. Then go see him in concert; you won't be disappointed. I just don't want to have to wait another 4 years for his next CD.

Since Al hadn't made the last of his videos by '96, it made sense to release this, an updated compilation music video DVD, and this time, they put some special features on, as well. Two of these are more things you can watch... a live performance of Another One Rides The Bus on something called The Tomorrow Show, from 1981, where Al has the music side(in addition to himself on the accordion) helped by his partner, Jon Schwartz playing, among other things, a piece of luggage(it'll make sense when you see it... no, seriously, it will), and some select clips of The Weird Al Show(which are amusing and very "Al"), including the intro(which is really good). In total, these come to about eight minutes, bringing the full running time of this DVD up to one hour and about 33 minutes. Also featured is a photo gallery with production stills of the various videos. Lastly, there are subtitles for all of the viewable material(lyrics whenever something is sung), and while these may not get everything right(I can't for sure tell if they do or not), they're good to have and a great help for following the songs(and hey, if you don't like them, they can be turned off, ah, the wonder of the medium of DVD). Of course, there are also the three new videos from the master of absurd comedy and parody-making; Bob, which will have you marveled at how many palindromes Al could find and make work(to spoof the incomprehensible singing of Bob Dylan), It's All About The Pentiums, Baby(featuring Drew Carey, no less, presumably due to being connected to sitting in a cubicle), which is a rather skillful re-writing of It's All About The *Benjamins*, Baby, to make P. Diddy's song be about computers rather than making money, and finally, The Saga Begins, which retells the story of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace, in a fairly straight-forward manner. The flow of the videos isn't bad. The menus are set up well, and it's easy to find your way around, though the video selection could perhaps be better, it's too easy get lost in. All in all, definitely worth owning for any fan of Weird Al. If it's this or 'Weird Al Yankovic: The Videos, for the same price, I'd advise you to choose this. I recommend this to any fan of Weird Al Yankovic and/or parody songs/videos. 8/10