ABBA: The Movie

I have this movie taped from when John Feuglesang (sp?) hosted it on VH1 a few years ago. He was eating from a box of cereal called ABBA Bits (A take-off on Alpha Bits).

Comments on the group: I give them all their due. Bjorn can really rock with that electric guitar and the few times he took lead vocals, the songs were good. I really wonder why these songs never seemed to make it to radio. I guess he wanted to let the gals be in the spotlight. Speaking of whom, they really sing well together. Their harmony is excellent. I'm a big fan of both these lovely ladies solo and dual performances for ABBA. I have more of a thing for Agnetha and all blonds with foreign accents. Both of these ladies contributed a lot to the group. Benny is great on the piano as well (loved his solo performance in the movie)

Comments on the movie: Definitely for ABBA fans only. All other viewers would probably be bored out of their skulls. There's not much of a plot, but it's humorous to see how the Australian DJ always fails to get an interview with the group. It's nice how after the reporter asks Agnetha about getting the title of female performer with the "sexiest bottom", we get a few opportunities throughout the movie to see what he was talking about. I must say, she would certainly be in the running. The actor who played the Australian DJ was as good as the writing probably allowed him to be. The rest of the actors were a little bland.

Final note: If you've only heard a few songs from this group and you liked what you heard, DEFINITELY watch this movie. You probably only heard the songs that are the most commonly played on the radio and TV stations like VH1. When I first saw this movie, I only had ABBA Gold Vol 1 on cassette, but the film made me want ABBA Gold Vol 2, which I've seen in the stores, but never got to buy yet. Vols 1&2 are very good to get if you're just starting out with this group.

This is a movie just for fans. The heart of this movie is that its "ABBA" in concert. Between songs we see the super group in interviews. A subplot has a D.J. trying to land an interview with them. If Mr. D.J. doesn't land the interview he will be out of a job. Hit songs performed include the classics "Dancing Queen", "Fernando", "Ring Ring" and "Thank You for the Music. Not out on Dvd. The director of this movie went on to become a big time Hollywood Director. If you thought this might be a movie "Based on the hit play Mama Mia" so sorry this is not that movie. A highlight of this is when the group invites a group of children to sing back up to "I have a Dream". The movie was shoot in and around 1976 or 1977 when the group was touring Australia. In all this movie is for fans of the group. If your not a fan you will be bored!

ABBA are my favourite group and I rented the movie from the library. It is mainly showing their 1977 tour in Australia. They perform most of their popular hits such as Waterloo and Fernando. You will find it quite interesting as it just shows how popular ABBA were in the 1970's. The film is made into a story. Be entertained by this great documentary. I didn't know that you could still get it anyway, but I was really happy to ind it. I had always wanted to see it and I was very amazed when I saw it. If people like ABBA, they will enjoy the movie. Scenes include the press conference, concerts, the Radio DJ searching for them and also his dream.

Welcome to the movies. Elvis had done it, The Beatles had done it and now the nineteen-seventies super group ABBA have done it. Welcome to ABBA: The Movie. This semi-documentary movie footage of the pop sensation that stormed the world with its simple melodies, gentle harmonies and infectious lyrics is taken while on tour of the Southern Hemisphere during 1977.

It's a basic concept and the formula is unsurprisingly straightforward; ABBA are on tour of Australia and the group are being filmed as they progress to each new city, to each new concert hall and to each new horde of screaming and admiring fans that this access-all-areas pass via this fly-on-the-wall perspective shows us. We have the group interviews, we see them perform their multimillion best sellers such as "Dancing Queen", "The Name Of The Game", "Tiger", "Ring Ring", "Eagle", "Mamma Mia", and many others that include "Money, Money, Money" and "I'm a Marionette". They allow us to see their prepping-up toward the nights shows' and we are more than privileged to have this insight into this bandwagon on the road to fame and fortune amongst the real hustle and bustle of the press and TV crews that beg their attention.

ABBA: The Movie is a gloried extension of the pop video that has them on stage rather than in a studio setting. In-between this hectic life style is the misadventures of a local D.J. Ashley Wallace, played by actor Robert Hughes who having no idea of what lies ahead and whose soul mission is to get that all so important interview. This is a man on a mission, this is a man without a clue and an even smaller chance, will his luck, wit and desperation withhold the barriers of the Rock 'n Roll giant that stand between him and his goal.

While on the hunt for his four-piece dialogue, we see him up and down and across the country talking and interviewing the real fans that have come to see this band proper. On reflection, this is now a tiny snippet of the ABBA mania that took over the world in the same vain as Elvis in the 1950's and The Beatles during the 1960's and Madonna of the last twenty years, has there ever been another to have reached international mega stardom since?

Directed by the Swedish Lasse Hallström, who directed some of ABBA's pop videos while at their peak, he has Johnny Depp and a very young Leonardo DiCaprio in his repertoire in his movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Chocolat (2000) and along with The Shipping News (2001) and An Unfinished Life (2005).

ABBA: The Movie is a gentle reminder of this phenomenon of way back then, and that over the years even today has its admiration and respect of the easy beat and more than charming lyrics. This four-piece band had tapped into the imaginations of lovers of music and its players alike. The movie Muriel's Wedding (1994) and the stage play Mamma Mia can be seen as fitting tributes to this influential group, its cultural significance is beyond comprehension. The writing talents of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus are truly on a similar par as Lennon and McCartney, drug free of course, a writing duo who for a short while conquered the world and who set the standard, as did too Lennon and McCartney, for the pop world for decades to come.

ABBA: The Movie is a fan's movie without a doubt, but to an outsiders viewpoint it is an insight into a different avenue of the Rock 'n Roll machine that is so fickle and delicate. ABBA have stood their ground and in the halls of fame and stardom their music have become an integral part of modern pop culture and society, and that is why talent like this has to be tapped, exploited, far reaching and timeless: Welcome to the movies? Welcome to ABBA.

ABBA - The Movie... a movie that gives a snapshot of ABBA (one of, if not THE most influential group of 1970s pop), and more importantly, a snapshot of Australia in March 1977.

The movie opens with dialogue setting up the premise that a country music DJ is given the next to impossible assignment of interviewing ABBA during their March 1977 tour of Australia. Next, a shot of a Qantas 747 flying above the Sydney Harbour Bridge and on to their arrival and tour.

Throughout the rest of the movie, the thin plotline shows the DJ Ashley's (Robert Hughes) attempts to get an interview with the group, generously interspersed with footage of the group on stage in the major Australian capitals, back stage, at their hotel and so on.

Fledgeling director (at the time) Lasse Hallstrom puts it all together and makes it all come across as charming.

The lesser known delights - interviews with members of the Australian public, an absolute charming segment with Australian children in a ballet school, and footage from their first Australian press conference. The movie is virtually a documentary of the tour, with the story line woven in for effect.

A lot of fun, well put together, and certainly worth a watch - definitely transports you right into Australia, March 1977, accompanied by some of the most timeless music ever made.