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Dom Robinson reviews

Spiceworld: The Movie

They don't just sing!

Distributed by

Polygram

Spiceworld: The Movie centres around Mel B, Mel C, Emma, Geri and Victoria getting ready for their first ever gig. They describe their appearance as themselves, but with their characters exaggerated, "if you can exaggerate our characters even more", said Mel B.

Directed by Bob Spiers, who has worked on the TV series Absolutely Fabulous and written by Kim Fuller - more recently known for the BBC series "Miami 7" about a seven-piece boy-girl pop band based in that American city - and Ab Fab's star, Jennifer Saunders, the film also has a number of cameo appearances by famous people. As well as Richard E. Grant playing their manager, there are a whole host of cameos as listed above.

This is the first feature film for one of the best-selling all-female bands in the UK. There can't be many people who haven't heard of them and their excessive marketing campaign. Inbetween the two albums they've released to date, "Spice" and "Spiceworld" there was no let up from the girls. Whereas most bands would go away and quietly work on their next album and then release it with a list of tour dates, the Spice Girls advertised Walkers crisps, Impulse Spice - a new fragrance, but whereas those crisps taste nice, the Impulse spray smells horrible. They even went so far in their promotion of Pepsi as to record a song, Step To Me, only for them to give it away on a CD single if you sent off a stack of tokens. This was followed by a Polaroid camera, the SpiceCam.

In the course of nearly three years the girls have notched up 8 chart-topping singles - Wannabe, Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1, Mama / Who Do You Think You Are, Spice Up Your Life, Too Much, Viva Forever and Goodbye - out of 9 released, the one that didn't make the grade being Stop which stalled at No.2. All of the No.1 singles also went straight into the top slot on its first week out, save for Wannabe which entered at No.3 in July 1996 and then topped the charts the week after. It's also worth noting that with 2 Become 1, Too Much and Goodbye, they have had the Christmas No.1 single for three years on the trot.

Since the film was made all five girls have taken a solo path of one form or another :

The picture quality is excellent with no noticeable artifacts and just the thing to bring out all the cacophony of colour that dominates the film, especially the decor inside the TARDIS-inspired bus. At first I thought it was a fault of the disc that the image is a little on the soft side, but this appears intentional given the way the film has been made.

Both formats of the film are included on the disc. The widescreen side is presented in anamorphic format - thus allowing extra resolution for widescreen televisions - and is presented in 1.85:1, which is a tad wider than the 16:9 (1.77:1) quoted on the back cover, thus replicating the original cinema ratio. The flip-side is an open-matte 4:3 version which looks fine composition-wise when blown up to fill a widescreen TV but you don't benefit from the extra resolution that the anamorphic transfer provides.

The widescreen version has an average bitrate is a very good 6.59Mb/s, peaking at 9Mb/s quite regularly, while the fullscreen version has an average 5.55Mb/s.

As for the sound ? Well would you expect any of this quintet to be particularly quiet ? No, I don't think so. A different track punctuates each scene in their traditional loud style and if you have the equipment for it, it's available in Dolby Digital 5.1. Even if you have a basic surround system, the bass will eminate through the walls just enough to annoy the neighbours.

Extras :

Chapters :

There are 17 chapters spread throughout the 89-minute film. These cover most scenes but another 10 would do the trick. Alas there's no theatrical trailer which would have been a nice inclusion.

Booklet and biographies :

For the girls the comments on the DVD are less biographical and more their own thoughts on their experiences, while brief biographies are included for the principal crew members and those in cameo roles. The booklet basically repeats this information in both English and Spanish. I'm curious as to why the second language is Spanish whereas the second of two languages on the disc is German.

Spice Girls interviews :

According to the original press release, the widescreen side was to contain interviews with the girls and Richard E. Grant but I couldn't find any such content. All is now revealed! It's actually on the fullscreen side although there's no reason why it shouldn't be on both sides.

Languages & Subtitles :

The disc contains English and German dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus subtitles for the same. It only covers the dialogue itself though, so no song lyrics are included, which given the film's reliance on tunes - smacks of a missed opportunity - and only by having the subtitles switched on will you see the onscreen details for the girls' return flight from London to Milan and their conversation with aliens.

Menu :

The static menu works fine, which as I stated earlier includes material from the booklet, but it's a shame it wasn't given the loud, flashy treatment we'd normally expect from a Spice Girls product. The copyright info can be bypassed by accessing a previously bookmarked scene.

Overall, the film doesn't behave like a normal film with a coherent plot, but more like a series of sketches, going round in a bus driven by Meat Loaf, with the only hint of progression being made by the fact by the end of the film they've transgressed from the Top of the Pops studio to the Royal Albert Hall and each of the girls playing heavily on their trademark characters.

That said, anyone buying this DVD will not be looking for the next "Lawrence of Arabia" and while it may be scant on extras - even the Region 1 release manages some never-before-seen concert footage - at least the picture and sound quality are spot-on. 

FILM	 		: **
PICTURE QUALITY 	: *****
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: **
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: ***½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.

Check out my review of their second album, Spiceworld HERE !

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Andy Serkis Batman Benedict Cumberbatch call of duty Calvin Harris Chris Hemsworth Dave Bautista doctor who Domhnall Gleeson doom Drake E3 2017 E3 2018 Ed Sheeran grand theft auto Grand Theft Auto V GTA gta5 gta 5 gta v Idris Elba Inside No.9 Jenna Coleman Jennifer Lawrence Jess Glynne Justin Bieber los santos Michael Fassbender Murray Gold Oscar Isaac Peter Capaldi Reece Shearsmith rockstar Sam Smith Samuel L. Jackson Scarlett Johansson Sia Stan Lee Stanley Tucci star wars Steven Moffat Steve Pemberton Taylor Swift Toby Jones Woody Harrelson

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