A fabulous retrospective of Sarah's cinematic flairby Veggiechiliqueen

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October 25, 2008: Pop soprano Sarah Brightman may be best known for her role as Christine in Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, but she's been the star of the small screen through her long-reaching music video career, beginning with Hot Gossip (I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper) in the late 1970s.

Released to coincide with her Diva: The Singles Collection CD, Diva: The Video Collection features twenty music videos spanning Sarah's solo career, along with Sarah's introductions to each video. Some have been previously released on VHS, such as Amigos Para Siempre, Pie Jesu, Phantom of the Opera, and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, all of which appeared on Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Premiere Collection Encore. But this is the first time I've seen any of her Dive- and Fly-era videos (Captain Nemo, A Question of Honour, How Can Heaven Love Me?).

Over half of the collection is from her Eden, La Luna, and Harem offerings. The Harem videos were previously available on Sarah Brightman: Harem: A Desert Fantasty, a sort of music video promo DVD that preceded her Harem concert DVD filmed in Las Vegas. The videos for Harem in particular are very sensual, with Eastern musical (and visual) cues. Her decision to wear revealing clothing well into middle age shows chutzpah (see: Ave Maria, in which she sings the song wearing nothing but a tiny gold lace thong and patches of gold body paint, but hey, I hope I look that good at her age!) With Sarah, her skimpy outfits in recent videos come off as artistic and classy, not crass.

Sarah can certainly come off as campy (she has a large following as she tends to be a larger-than-life diva), such as her first video Starship Troopers. For some inexplicable reason, instead of airing the original in all its camp horror, the producers decided to cut the footage with clips from the movie Starship Trooper. It really ruins the continuity, but the song is still fun (supposedly, Brightman hated to acknowledge that she recorded it when fans would want autographed Starship Trooper LPs). Also, some of the early computer CGI effects are truly laughable (A Question of Honor). Die-hard Sarah fans will want to rush out and add this to their collection, but casual fans will be better off renting it (once was enough for many of the videos).

It's a fun look at Sarah's ever-changing styles across a fruitful solo career as the best-selling classical crossover female artist. Even the DVD itself is beautifully designed, as is the insert.

I Also Recommend: Diva: The Singles Collection.

Sarah's Musical Historyby Anonymous

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October 19, 2007: This DVD is fascinating in the respect that it highlights some of Sarah's favorite and most popular videos. Sarah also goes into detail with the historical background of each song, which makes it more interesting. While I love Sarah, I found her video interpetation to be a little strange in some respects. As you watch this DVD you will see Sarah transform from an youthful vocalist with great pipes to a "Diva" in the greatest sense of the word. She has always been beautiful, but has become quite the seductress in her transformation to womanhood. I bought the CD of this same collection and can honestly say I prefer it to the DVD. However, if you are truly an avid fan this is a must have for your collection.