Last nite i watched sign O times movie
for the first time in a good while, and
some things ran in my brain..first who owns
this? does Prince own it? if he does that explains
why it was not reissued on DVD this year...
second: am I the only one that thinks he had
way 2 many people on stage? who was the dude
wit the fuzzy hat and why? i felt like he
should of had just Cat runnin around...third
speaking of Cat...is it just me or was there
a lot of legit tension between her and Prince?
and last: the scream during 4ever in my life:

WOW

I do know that if you don't like this film, you are not a Prince fan. I could care less if you collect every bootleg and poster under the sun, if you don't think Sott is the greatest concert film ever, you Sir or Maam have some deep issues.

Elitist, perhaps, but thems the shakes. Toodles.

I love the movie, i searched all over the
state of Indiana to find the tape, even got
a boot of a similar show on the tour, just
some random thoughts i had after this past
year and the attention Prince got

2freaky4church1 said:

see, i don't get that. I like it, there are some great performances. I don't love it though. lip-synched and overdubbed to hell, i'd much rather watch 'Lovesexy live' as a truer reflection of Prince at his peak.

the overdubs do bother me alot, but i think that
is an example of when it comes to movies Prince
is not a good editor...

the movie is brilliant.

there's a rumored remastered widescreen canadian release by alliance

2freaky4church1 said:

I think my credentials as a Prince fan are in order, and there's no way I think this is the greatest concert film ever made. Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense and Gimme Shelter are three that immediately come to mind as being superior.

SOTT is just too "fake" to be considered genuinely great - every time one of those obvious cuts are made from genuine live footage to the material shot on the Paisley Park soundstage, I cringe a little. The shoddy editing and lip-synching take me out of the film and make me all too aware that I'm watching a re-creation, not the original deal.

It's true that almost all concert movies are guilty of this to some extent. Apparently all of Robbie Robertson's guitar parts in the Last Waltz were re-recorded due to technical difficulties, while Stop Making Sense was a composite of three shows, and the sound for that film was certainly souped up as well. But SOTT has to be the worst offender.

Having said all that, it's still pretty neat - the versions of The Cross, ICNTTPOYM and Play in the Sunshine all qualify as the some of the most exciting music he's ever created, regardless of whether it's live or not. I certainly wish this had been the tour to hit North America rather than Lovesexy.
[Edited 1/2/05 15:26pm]

I watched this again last night after having not in quite awhile and I was totally blown away all over again at how great it is.

Those were the days...

The movie has been running on cable so often lately. Damn. And of course, I have to watch it every time I happen to see it. As a result, I've seen it about 15 times now, including multiple viewings when it originally came out.

To me, it is perfect. I'm not speaking of the technical aspects, but rather the look of it, how it was arranged, how it was choreographed, the costuming, the playlist, and, oh, the lighting..... I could go on.


I approach SOTT as a theatrical performance rather than a hard-core concert situation. I'm looking for different things in the latter. Less production value but more one-on-one interaction with the crowd or just plain jamming. That's not what he was going for with this movie. This is like a concert-only version of Purple Rain. The overdubbing, etc. didn't hurt or take away from that experience.

I like the interplay between Prince and Cat. You could tell that he thought she was hot.. you can see it in his expressions at various points in the film. It was nice to see them out of "character" but as two friends putting on a show that they worked on for so long.

Brooks and Wally didn't bother me. Prince likes to have his pimp-daddy backups.. alter-egos of sorts. I like the "storyline" between Brooks and Cat.

The "Forever in My Life/It" medley is killer. You can tell that he changed it up a bit from the expression on Sheila's face when he starts to scream and goes into "It." He's a rehearsing maniac, so I wonder what part of that had. He looked so mischievous..

Okay.. I'm going on and on... I'm stopping. Anyway, did I tell you that I love the movie?

2freaky4church1 said:

ever heard of 'Stop Making Sense'?

if not.....go look for it and watch it! This is what a concert-registration should look like! SOTT was good.....but too much studio-enhancement.

Yes, I do like Prince a lot.....a long time!
[Edited 1/2/05 16:39pm]

"1999" was always my favorite album because I grew up on it, and it was so funky, nasty and all Prince.

Sign O' comes in second, but I think may be one of the most diverse albums any artist has ever put out. He does it all on this one, and better than those in any musical genre..
[Edited 1/2/05 16:39pm]

DMSR said:

Dude, we're talking about the movie, not the album..

Marrk said:

ohmygawd! he lip synched?! the nerve of him now..

altavista said:

Amen....well said!!! The raw content of seeing P live and in concert makes this one of the true concert-films available. The problem is that the lip-syncing(although not bad), diminishes the effect of "witnessing" the best live act/performer in the biz!!! I would rather have the spontanious, less raw performance that simulates seeing a true event.

But, overall, this movie ranks among the best in the live concert films done.

Marrk said:

I disagree. I feel that the Lovesexy show was "messy" musically. While I don't appriciate the overdubbs, as a whole, SOTT seemed much more better put together. SOTT seems like it had an "instrument" mentality while Lovesexy had a "showman" mentality. just my 2 cents.

Sidenote; when are pennies and dimes gonna get a face lift, everyone else has.

doegx said:

Yes. The scream. The microphone drop. And the other primal, sensual sounds leading up to that moment make this my favorite part of the movie!

And as someone else mentioned, Sheila's look suggests Prince is improvising. This is why I love him, he has the ability to go inside the music and moment like that.

I ordered my copy of the Alliance/Universal SOTT DVD via Amazon Canada last week. They confirmed it was shipped on the 31st, and it should be arriving in the next couple of days...

Here's hoping it's a legit transfer?
[Edited 1/2/05 22:58pm]

There is a bootleg video of outtakes of the film. I have about 4 hrs. This is the best documentation of how much of a perfectionist Prince truly is. Once you've seen these outtakes the movie isn't so great.

damosuzuki said:

- -----
I finally saw Last Waltz and found it to be a bore. You may not know this but apparently some portion of the sound was lost and so was some footage. Thus the re-creation and it is not the noticable unless your looking for. Great Film and the one of the best concert films ever.

laurarichardson said:

Yeah, I'm aware that they couldn't get a successful take on The Weight so they just shot a version with the Staple singers - but it was plainly obvious that this material was not shot during the show. They weren't trying to pass it off as part of the actual Winterland gig. Same deal with Evangeline...the rest of the footage is from the actual Winterland gig.

Allegedly Robertson was not properly miked during the performance, so he re-recorded all of his parts in post-production...so I've heard, anyway...

SexualSuicide said:

Dare I ask.. what is this being called? How might I get it.. Pant, pant.

HOT THING is the best part!

I'd much rather watch: Prince and the Revolution: LIVE


"Hello, syracruse and the world...my name is Prince, and I've come to play with you"


That alone makes me...well....let's just say...I enjoy it!