Kraftwerk
Minimum Maximum DVD

THE REVIEW

Aaaah, finally! The release of this DVD was scheduled for January 2005. After almost a year, my dear wife finally finds it with some difficulty in a specialized store and buys it. I've always adored Ralf&Florian, I own everything related to them, and I was lucky enough to see live the show immortalized in this brand-new DVD. Well, feeling hopeful and excited, I read the cover notes; there isn't a Dolby Digital track, but only DTS 5.1 and stereo (2.1, it seems). Ok - I think - they've saved precious space by omitting an almost useless track in favor of video quality; in fact, both audio tracks present are amazing, with a greater presence of the rear front compared to what I heard live. And so far, so good.

Alas, the joy lasts very little... as for the video quality (both technical and artistic), there are all the reasons to make the poor viewer pull their hair out; in all likelihood, the video direction was entrusted to "Tele-Dusseldorf-di-sotto." VHS-style video graininess, shots that seem to have been made with entry-level amateur camcorders, video noise galore, and direction worthy of the worst wedding video from 1987. Guys, what happened? Are these the Kraftwerk? Shocked by what I've just seen, I replace the cables connecting my DVD player to the monitor, try another player and another monitor, insert the disc in my notebook and desktop PC, continuing to change screens and player, hoping the problem is mine and not the much-anticipated masterpiece I have in my hands... nothing, it's really poorly made. What a disappointment. Dear Ralf, dear Florian, I adore you and thank you for everything you've done for music... but this time you've really "messed up." Fans all over the world, buy the CD but avoid this DVD like the plague (download the DivX, the video quality will be the same).

N.B. Special mention to the mosaic effect used in "Computerwelt"; sensational, you expect at any moment to see Maurizio Seymandi and "Dj X" appear on the screen.