It's easy to wax poetic about the multi-talented, popular and experimental trio that was The Police. And after 22 years off, they've taken the trouble to reunite. So things are looking up.Stewart Copeland proves himself endlessly inventive on this DVD as his directing and editing rhythm drive the program forward. Andy Summers is a cut-up, a wizard of technology and grooves. On vocals, Sting, who is so well marketed that he needs no introduction. What a band, and it's good to have them back.
This intriguing and revealing documentary gets reality deep on what Copeland calls "the rocketship ride" to stardom. Many backstage and cool in-studio moments give the insider docu feel, which Copeland delivered as either director or cameraman or actor, sometimes more than one at a time. Looking forward to a time to be able to use this short attention-span content, he was gathering assets back when Country wasn't cool.
Rounding out Copeland's contributions is the post-production - the salvage of many short clips taken from Super-8 film reels, to turn out this work. Assembeld from scraps it is reminiscent of the Beatles Anthology DVD. The Fab Four were also the only other band to claim popcraft and experimentation on this level. And like Love - a recent Ciruque du Soeliel link-up, the songs are also mashed cross-sectionally into a finer thing. Occasional glimpes of the band onstage add to the full appreciation of what was going down in 1979-81 with a top band, at a creative peak.
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