Search - Elton John: Tantrums and Tiaras on DVD

Inside the Life of A Superstar

Bryan A. Pfleeger | Metairie, Louisiana United States | 10/31/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Tantrums and Tiaras gives us a look inside the personal life of Elton John during 1995's Made In England Tour. Shot on video by his partner of then two years David Furnish the viewer gets a warts and all look at John's daily life on the road.



Beginning with the video shoot for the single,Believe, and covering the European album promotion tour the film moves into the stars interaction with family and friends. There is a touching scene with his grandmother that is not to be missed and a hilarious rant about flower arranging. The film then covers the Academy Awards and ends with concert footage of the American and South American legs of the tour.



This is one of the most honest portrayals of a star that I have seen. The commentary recorded 13 years later is just as informative as the film and offers a good retrospective on the couples busy schedeule and their relationship. Extras include some deleted scenes.



See it if you are a fan."

NEVER wave at this Pop God and say "Yoo hoo"...

Jeff Pearlman | Lakeland, FL USA | 04/12/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How'd this DVD slip by me for five months? I was pleasantly surprised to find this at the soon-to-be-extinct Virgin Megastore* in Orlando last night. (*In his commentary with director/partner David Furnish, Elton also laments the death of record stores.)



Maybe as an early, and risky, personal exercise following his then-five-year recovery from intense rehab, Elton John allowed Furnish to film him "warts and all" during the 1995 tour promoting his "Made in England" CD.



Even during his now-well-known downward spiral (circa 1975-1989) of drug addiction and promiscuity, Elton appeared intelligent, funny, and more than capable of making state-of-the-art pop music. Then I saw his interview with David Frost, around the time of "The One" single and CD, in which he revealed his newfound sobriety and his relationship with Mr. Furnish (though I don't think he mentioned him by name). He truly sounded like he'd turned a personal corner. It looks like, happily, the progress has continued ever since.



Anyway, I only counted two tantrums. At the outset, he's ballistic before filming the video for "Believe". His "reason" was that a bag got left in a car, but soon allows that he "hates @#$%ing videos" and is insecure because he's less "photogenic" than Madonna or George Michael. [I've always found his videos, "Believe" included, to be brilliant. I was glad that, in the commentary, he acknowledges both the song and video as excellent. The film, being the "slice of life" that it is, only showed Elton's reaction to the single's somewhat disappointing chart performance (it narrowly missed the Top Ten in both the UK and US).] Later he abruptly stops playing some tennis, swatting the ball away and throwing his racket. After much prodding over an apparent three-day funk, David finally gets Elton to admit he was ticked off by...some lady who dared to wave at him and say "yoo hoo" during his game! Oh, I also counted only two tiaras, both in Elton's touring "closet" which is of course bigger than my home.



The most touching moments include Elton's last moments with his grandmother and the Oscar acceptance speech* during which he thanks her; a tearful bit with Elton and his mum in which she recalls his drug addiction days and talks about his late father; and reminiscing about a young staff member who had succumbed to AIDS. I'd be remiss not to note the ensuing segue to an event for Elton's AIDS foundation which continues, 13 years on, to raise lots of money. (*for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King, which he wrote with Tim Rice.)



Fun deleted scenes feature Elton singing dirty songs at the piano, plus bits with Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue, and Madonna.



Very interesting, and a happy post script to the fairly somber, stuffy Philip Norman book I've been muddling through for the past few...well, forever."

Finally on DVD

Brian Litton | 12/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone who enjoyed this documentary on VHS, it's nice to finally enjoy it on DVD. Some of the deleted scenes are interesting (nice to see Elton being funny). The original VHS showed a portion of his concert in Rio in 1995, but this DVD doesn't feature any of it; too bad. Other than that, this is a unique "warts-and-all" documentary that takes a good look into Elton John's life on the road and at home."

Honest and Sad DVD

Occupation Gal | columbus ohio | 12/27/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had the original VCR recording in my collection and decided to upgrade to the DVD. As the previous reviewer said, one would expect an improved quality. The extras are nice.



A prominent person in this recording is no longer with Elton - Bob Halley, who frequently steals the scenes with his wit and unending patience for Elton's tantrums. His mysterious "firing" and the subsequent lawsuit against him is just odd based on the relationship Bob and Elton seem to have shared for 30 years, a warmth clearly in evidence in this DVD. I was hoping they would comment on it in the extras, but it's just another Elton oddity, probably never to be solved. (I bet they were trying to figure out how to edit Bob out prior to the new release!)



Elton fans who never got the original, go for it. But if you're looking for improved quality or new insight, it's not here."