ABBA: The Movie

source: ABBA: The Movie

Now that it's out in DVD, the ABBA fans who missed the movie when originally released can delight in seeing their favorite group as they were then. Even though, the band has been disbanded for over 20 years, ABBA was unique for groups of the time, in that they left a fairly large legacy of surprisingly good quality videos of their music. This movie, although trite contains a fascinating video record of one of their most impressive tours. With the introduction of the musical Mamma Mia (based on ABBA songs) on Broadway several years back, which started an ABBA resurgence of sorts, the existence of videos like this one has let another whole generation get hooked on ABBA music. ABBA was an extremely attractive and very talented group which will live on through these videos. The video and sound quality of the DVDs ( I watch on an HD set ) is excellent considering the time period they were recorded. I liked ABBA back then, but never really followed their music closely. Now I'm hooked, and grateful for the video record that exists of " one of the greatest pop groups that ever was" ( from U2)

I have this movie taped from when John Feuglesang (sp?) hosted it on VH1 a few years ago. He was eating from a box of cereal called ABBA Bits (A take-off on Alpha Bits). Comments on the group: I give them all their due. Bjorn can really rock with that electric guitar and the few times he took lead vocals, the songs were good. I really wonder why these songs never seemed to make it to radio. I guess he wanted to let the gals be in the spotlight. Speaking of whom, they really sing well together. Their harmony is excellent. I'm a big fan of both these lovely ladies solo and dual performances for ABBA. I have more of a thing for Agnetha and all blonds with foreign accents. Both of these ladies contributed a lot to the group. Benny is great on the piano as well (loved his solo performance in the movie) Comments on the movie: Definitely for ABBA fans only. All other viewers would probably be bored out of their skulls. There's not much of a plot, but it's humorous to see how the Australian DJ always fails to get an interview with the group. It's nice how after the reporter asks Agnetha about getting the title of female performer with the "sexiest bottom", we get a few opportunities throughout the movie to see what he was talking about. I must say, she would certainly be in the running. The actor who played the Australian DJ was as good as the writing probably allowed him to be. The rest of the actors were a little bland. Final note: If you've only heard a few songs from this group and you liked what you heard, DEFINITELY watch this movie. You probably only heard the songs that are the most commonly played on the radio and TV stations like VH1. When I first saw this movie, I only had ABBA Gold Vol 1 on cassette, but the film made me want ABBA Gold Vol 2, which I've seen in the stores, but never got to buy yet. Vols 1&2 are very good to get if you're just starting out with this group.

Though not out on DVD, this movie is currently playing in high def and Dolby 5.1 on INHD. Too bad the 'movie' is not very good. Basically it's the story of a DJ set out to interview ABBA, and he travels to Sidney to get the interview. A comedy of errors stops him from getting the interview throughout the whole movie. The plot is about as stupid as you can get, and ponderous to watch. However the movie has plenty of good concert footage (and a few shots from press conferences etc...). It's a shame most songs are not played in full (like SOS), but a few are (Dancing Queen at the end is incredible). Overall, OK for the ABBA completist, but to the average fan just give us a complete concert without the stupid 'plot'!

As far as I know this movie started as a filmed document of the 1977 Abba Australia tour and has been decided to be made into a movie to be released theatrically as they went along. Of course it has lots of errors in continuity and we can spot that many a song has footage from different performances from different days, but that is no problem at all since it is still a wonderful document of a pop group who made it which wasn't based on "attitude" or "manifestation against politicians" - it was simply extremely well crafted music. Of course this was during the very short period when pop/rock music matured and subsequently needed a more aggressive replacement for younger generations. It already was around the corner and would come in the form of British punk. There is hardly any "acting" in this movie, and the "backstage/behind the scenes sequences" of the Abba members are only O.K. because none of them tries to "act". It's great and ironical at the same time to see some of the split screens and wide angle closeups (even some of the interviews) that reflect the movie "Woodstock" (1970), a documentary film of the 1969 rock music event with an entirely different philosophy. The only thing both music styles might have in common is the peacefulness. But rich and "clean" rock stars (=Abba) certainly aren't politically left wing anymore. As a regular movie, this work suffers tremendously from the poor "plot" around the goofy radio reporter trying to get his Abba interview. Some of the dialog (if not all) is simply bad. But the excellent on stage footage (and even the two "video clips" using studio tracks: "The Name of the Game" and "Eagle") more than makes up for it all. The sound is excellent as well and I just have a vhs in mono sound which I taped from tv some years ago. BTW: I still have serious doubt whether Bjorn ever really played the guitar on stage in the sense of a serious audible instrumental track. There are two (excellent)guitarists in the backing band and when Bjorn suddenly rises his hands or ceases playing, there is no guitar missing. Benny definitely plays the Yamaha CP 70 piano though. I can tell, it's my profession.

I am probably the only heterosexual British male of my generation who likes ABBA, or at least who likes them in a straightforward way and not in an ironic, postmodernist spirit of "I know they're naff, but then naff is the new cool!", although I have to confess that in my teenage years, which coincided with their heyday in the seventies, my interest was aroused as much by the good looks of the group's two female members as by their music. So when a film called "ABBA: The Movie" came on British TV recently (as part of Channel 5's "ABBA Night") I just had to watch it. Films made to cash in on the success of pop groups rarely if ever make for great cinema."Spice World" was probably a horrible embarrassment even to the most ardent fan of the Spice Girls (and even more so to the group themselves). The various Beatles films have been praised for their visual style and occasional wit, although I suspect that they will prove a closed book to anyone who is not interested in the Beatles' music. The same applies to "ABBA: The Movie". It deals with ABBA's tour of Australia (a country in which they always enjoyed great popularity) in 1977. It is not, however, a straight documentary, although it probably should have been. Scenes of the band playing concerts in various Australian cities are combined with a feeble plot line about a radio DJ trying to get an interview with them, about which the less said the better. What any ABBA fan will want to watch it for is the music. Anyone who is not an ABBA fan will probably not want to watch it at all. Even ABBA fans may be surprised by some of the music on offer here. Of course, when the film came out the group still had several years of stardom ahead of them and some of what we now think of as their greatest hits, such as "Chiquitita" and "The Winner Takes It All", were still to be written. Even so, the selection of songs may strike some as being slightly eccentric. We get to hear some more obscure offerings such as "When I Kissed the Teacher", "Tiger", the banal "Rock Me" and the shrill and strident "I'm a Marionette", these last two both qualifying for a place on any compilation album of ABBA's greatest misses, but there is no "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Take A Chance On Me" or "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do I Do", all of which had been written by 1977. Nevertheless, we do get to hear most of ABBA's other great songs from the first half of their career- "Waterloo", "Fernando", "Mamma Mia", "Thank you for the Music", and a number of others. And, more importantly, we get to hear them performed in the original versions, not (as they were in the film version of "Mamma Mia") murdered by the likes of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, whose ability to kill a song stone dead proves that he is just as deadly an assassin as his best-known character. And for those whose interest in the group is not purely musical I can report that both Agnetha and Frida were at the height of their beauty in 1977 and both spend much of the film wearing their trademark scanty costumes. 6/10

LOVED THIS MOVIE! Brought in the total spirit of the ABBA craze at the time!!! AGNETHA< FREIDA< BJORN & <BENN were cool thruout the movie to watch! Why can't you find this movie to buy anywhere? It would sell out!! I swear it!! Thanx if you can help!

CAUTION: THIS MOVIE CONTAINS A SPOILER. Um, that would be Robert Hughes as the D.J. in search of the ultimate ABBA interview for the ultimate ABBA radio show on the ultimate radio station by his boss who gave him the original ultimatum. With all of his mishaps along the way you would think that GOD, short of killing him in a plane crash, personally didn't want him to interview the band. This movie does have some very good moments besides the concert footage. The musical fantasy sequence during, 'The Name of the Game' was hilarious while being strangely erotic. Agnetha and Frida have the D.J. on the couch and the girls keep clamoring for the Mic in his lap. All of this is happening while Benny and Bjorn are slapping the D.J. on the back, giving out the 'thumbs up' sign or congratulating the D.J. for being alive or for making it with their wives, I'm not really sure. In any case it snapped me awake for a few minutes more in hopes that more strange and weird bits like this would come around. The only other part I liked was the interview with the child ballerina who when asked about why she likes Abba said, "Because I sing it". If you're a fan, you'll love the concert footage and you won't have much problem in traveling through all the bad D.J. parts, if you don't care for the band(you're not reading this now)take an ABBACAB somewhere else. It's too bad there was never a film on the greatness of, "The Brotherhood of Man". 6/10. Clark Richards

ABBA are my favourite group and I rented the movie from the library. It is mainly showing their 1977 tour in Australia. They perform most of their popular hits such as Waterloo and Fernando. You will find it quite interesting as it just shows how popular ABBA were in the 1970's. The film is made into a story. Be entertained by this great documentary. I didn't know that you could still get it anyway, but I was really happy to ind it. I had always wanted to see it and I was very amazed when I saw it. If people like ABBA, they will enjoy the movie. Scenes include the press conference, concerts, the Radio DJ searching for them and also his dream.

This has some muddy nostalgia value as I recall seeing the film as a kid at the cinema with my sister and my Dad. Dad moaned to the management about how loud the music was, then was promptly ill in bed for the next two days. Now, even at the time, having seen A Hard Day's Night and Help! where the Fab Four are at the forefront of events and let us into their world, it seemed that this film fobbed us off with the story of a hapless disc jockey trailing the band across their tour of Australia, under pressure to deliver an in-depth interview. He misses press conferences, loses his press card, gets stuck in traffic jams. It quickly becomes tedious, repetitive and bad-tempered. All the more so because it depicts Abba as lovely untouchables at far remove. And also because - wait for it- Abba are soon revealed as officially The Worst Band Ever. Yep. Given a chance to shine at a press conference, they exhibit the intellectual savvy of the Cheeky Girls and the energy and wit of former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson. It's like they're actually trying to be uninteresting. The biggest laughs come from a question asked by a journalist. Suddenly you can see why music hacks hated them at the time. And the blokes have all the charisma of John Major, they seemed nervy, like they're unwillingly backing into the limelight. The sexy blonde one has a low profile and the dark one seems a bit forward, a bit OTT. How I longed for the Beatles' four personalities: the knockabout Ringo, the rapier wit of Lennon, the wry sardonic wit of George and Paul's laid back, insouciant cool. As I downed my third glass of Savignon Blanc I gloomily reflected that the band resembled the hosts of a Swedish suburban swinging club, where the evening would start off promisingly only to find yourself in the kitchen with Benny discussing the merits of the Yamaha synthesizer while the blonde one keeps out of sight... But the songs! Well, yes, this was Abba at their height, but they don't make much impact, every other song being a forgotten album track sung by the blokes. All are taken from the concerts, which is visually repetitive and sees the girls bathed in red light; unlike The Beatles however much of their visual appeal came from their cute, quirky videos. I gradually came to see the band in its imperial phase as a bunch of fascists taking over the world, only without the drive and ideology... Like the Beatles Love musical, this one will do what you never thought possible, and put you right off the band. Only latterly did I realise, with horror, that the hapless DJ spends the film being punished for not being an ABBA fan, and it's only after he's paid to see them in concert and is 'converted', bathed in an ethereal glow, that's he's allowed his time with them. Horrid. This was, of course, before ABBA became popular in an ironic, slightly indulgent way. BTW the Swedish director went on to better things; Chocalet and The Shipping News.