R.E.M. Tourfilm

1990 "Begin the Begin"
8.1| 1h23m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 25 September 1990 Released
Producted By:
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Tourfilm (1990) is a documentary-style concert film by American rock band R.E.M. The film chronicles the band's 1989 Green tour of North America. Produced by frontman Michael Stipe and director Jim McKay, the black-and-white film features aspects of avant-garde and experimental filmmaking, including handheld camera shots and stock footage.

Watch Online

R.E.M. Tourfilm (1990) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Jim McKay, Michael Stipe

Production Companies

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.
Watch Now
R.E.M. Tourfilm Videos and Images

R.E.M. Tourfilm Audience Reviews

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Donald Seymour This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
bryanmolinelli If you've seen REM's early music videos, you understand what happens in Tourfilm. The eighties were bursting at the seams with pop rock bands sporting linear visuals, so REM's was a departure aesthetic that gets better instead of worse with time. Yes, the visuals in Tourfilm are jerky, often in black and white, and couched in artsy effects ranging from the "static shock" look to artificial grain. Yes, the band is usually hard to see. But when you do see them, Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe give you brief glimpses of themselves crowning the eighties and ushering in the nineties with the final performance on their Green tour, and some of the strangest, catchiest tunes ever penned.Art majors appreciate REM for their contributions to post modernism. Tourfilm is a fitting precursor to the '91 release of "Out of Time" which had gallery-worthy cover art (hey, I had to pay a ticket to see the original piece, okay?)and the song "Low" is partially played somewhere in Tourfilm's middle. Stipe becomes an eighties front man for the first and only time in his career - previous performances lack the charisma seen here, with the strongest first. "Stand" is the opening song in the movie, and the famous organza suit makes an appearance, with a nod to the Talking Heads. While the visuals may sway, the music matches them: crunchy to jangly guitars, Berry's premeditated beat, and Buck doing backwards hops and spins as he pretends to be the greatest guitar player ever. No one will ever accuse him of this, but in Tourfilm he makes an impression.The nineties were the last great decade for REM, but Tourfilm takes us back to a better time - a time when an American alternative rock band could define cool with over-sized sunglasses, stone-washed jeans, and bridge-less, pricelessly sonic anthems. Don't over think it. Listen, move your eyes rapidly, and you'll feel fine.
Erich Rattenburg REM's Tourfilm should have been a resounding success, but it ends up instead as a definitive suck-mess. The camera work is typical late-80's, early 90's "mtv-style" which means lots of camera movement and lots of quick editing.While this might be all well and good if there is some intelligence behind the design, the cameras seem to be haphazardly moving with no real focus and the choice of any given camera at any given time seems to be based upon which camera is offering the absolute worst shot.The concert also suffers a terrible start-stop problem and there is never any real flow to the proceedings. On the other hand, while the sound is not exactly first-rate, the concert is--REM is in top form. That makes this disc probably worth it in the end for die-hard fans, but, at the same time, offers much frustration over just how bad the production is.
kmcloughlin Tourfilm is the reason I first shelled out my hard earned cash to see this band live. This is REM touring their 1988 "Green" album, arguably their best work and their greatest tour. The movie consists of concert footage, shot primarily in black & white and often grainy. This gives the movie an "arthouse" feel.This is not a movie for someone who likes their music FM and their movies digital quality - it is REM raw and unapologetic and it's a refreshing change from some of the overproduced "live" concert movies that have become the norm.Highlights include "Fall On Me", "Get Up" and "World Leader Pretend" as well as "Stand", "The One I Love", "You Are The Everything" and "Pop Song 89". The movie reaches its peak with a spirited version of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and leaves you chomping at the bit for more.Lucky there's a rewind button so you can enjoy it again ... and again.Song Listing (courtesy of Natalie Hart): Stand; The One I Love; These Days; Turn You Inside-Out; World Leader Pretend; Feeling Gravity's Pull; I Believe; I Remember California; Get Up; It's The End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine); Pop Song 89; Fall On Me; You Are The Everything; Begin The Begin; King of Birds; Finest Worksong; Perfect Circle;
brendonm I'm surprised that no one else has commented on this concert film. I saw R.E.M. on the Green Tour in Minneapolis in '89 and this video always brings back great memories from those college days. What's cool about this doc is that the impressionistic video montages projected behind the band are interspersed before and after each song played. There are no interviews with the band members here, but as was always the case with early R.E.M. songs, the music speaks for itself. Recommended for any R.E.M. fan.