Red Hill Mining Town Video !!!!

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chrissybaby said:


Er, I sincerely hope that most people have heard of mining canaries but you never know!
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i honestly think that most people aren't exactly up on their mining history.

i understand what they were trying to do with this video... but they failed. cheesily. and that's fine... they normaly fail cheesily when it comes to videos. it's their MO. they've done okay without it.
 
if you hadn't made the connection between mining canaries and this video, then it would have been completely surreal! In fact it would probably have been better, give it a 'trippy' edge!

This forum is great, different opinions all the time. I honestly don't see why this video has any artistic merit whatsoever. I would go as far as say it is one of the most cringeworthy videos i've seen in a long while by any band, never mind U2. But then again I think Mercy is incredible!

My favourite videos are by Anton Corbijn, specifically with Depeche Mode. His stuff in the late 80's with them is utterly epoch making. This video just doesn't hold a candle to proper works of art. It's 80's cheese...
After 20 years the song can still bring me to tears though, utterly magnificent.

Different horses for different courses I guess....:wink:
 
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:lol: this video made my day. i was gonna hold off, but pepo's and comet's avatars sparked my curiousity. hahaha it does not disappoint!

i don't understand all the criticism. i mean, the 80s brought us sweet gems like take on me, rhythm of the night, and of course i want candy, which features dancing even worse than bono's. it's the 80s !! that's how we rolled back then. cheesy was the new black.
 
Very funny. Adam releasing the birds was hilarious as most ppl have said! Bono looked cool throughout :up:

Not gonna ever be a fave, but brilliant to see it at last!
 
brooklynmike said:
As a matter of fact, I'd say having this as the lead off or second video for JT would have changed history. They would have dug themselves into an 80's hole they couldn't get out of.
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Agree. The difference between this and other JT vids is night and day. Can't believe some people can't see that...! I never watch Streets, WOWY or ISHFWILF and feel embarrassed for my fave band...

If I watched this with non U2-fan friends they would totally rip it shreds in fits of laughter...
 
ok, I agree this video is pretty cheesy now but in the context of 1987 would it have really been that laughable?

Would it have completely sunk their career?

I doubt it… and unless one of you guys has a time machine there is really no way of telling, now is there?
 
im more embarrassed about the ipod commercials!

u2 releasing this JT video just made me a fan of the band again!
you know what im going to watch this brilliant video again
fuck im going to put it on my myspace!
(though i will admit larry wiping his forehead was funny)
 
or THBAO.

Let's have ol' Pete Rowan walk through Paris in awe of spandex-clad circus freaks---that so fits with the song! :lol:
 
I thought those gymnasts were extremely evocative.

Of what however, I have no idea.

Nevertheless, in regards to the video at hand, The Edge seemed all too earnest to dispose of his canary accomplice, leading me to believe, that he, is a pigeon man. Although then again, he always appeared to be that way inclined. :sexywink:
 
phillyfan26 said:
"Alright guys, so here's how this video's going to go down. We want the good looking one .... Larry ... yes, Larry ... you're going to go stand by the poll and hit it with a metal stick .... for how long? ... I guess the whole song. Alright. Then the singing guy, Bono. Yeah, what you're gonna do is walk around the coal mine singing all the lyrics. Just walk around and do things that you think fit with the lyrics. Maybe you should ... hang on those chains there when you say 'I'm hanging on.' Ha. I crack myself up. That's clever. Alright. Sounds like a plan .... oh, there's other band members? Oh. Well have them stand over there .... you want them to do something? For fuck's sake ... well, I'm watching some of my sister-in-law's birds. Yeah, in those cages over there. Maybe they could let them fly around ... I don't know maybe have them in their hands and then release them. I see it in movies sometimes. OK. Let's do this."
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This is HILARIOUS! I seriously almost choked on my lunch while reading this! You should put in a warning to not eat or drink anything before starting to read this post!!!:lmao:
 
phillyfan26 said:
"Alright guys, so here's how this video's going to go down. We want the good looking one .... Larry ... yes, Larry ... you're going to go stand by the poll and hit it with a metal stick .... for how long? ... I guess the whole song. Alright. Then the singing guy, Bono. Yeah, what you're gonna do is walk around the coal mine singing all the lyrics. Just walk around and do things that you think fit with the lyrics. Maybe you should ... hang on those chains there when you say 'I'm hanging on.' Ha. I crack myself up. That's clever. Alright. Sounds like a plan .... oh, there's other band members? Oh. Well have them stand over there .... you want them to do something? For fuck's sake ... well, I'm watching some of my sister-in-law's birds. Yeah, in those cages over there. Maybe they could let them fly around ... I don't know maybe have them in their hands and then release them. I see it in movies sometimes. OK. Let's do this."
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You are my hero.

And yes I agree with whoever said this was painful to watch.
 
I waited until I got the DVD to watch it....which by the way has an awesome opening menu sequence of the boys in the desert that I cut out of in the middle for the video.

HOLY SHIT> this is both the cheesiest and the most homoerotic thing I've ever seen in my life. First I was like "well this opening montage is silly, and very litteral." The litteral cheesiness is a big too much wiht the chains dripping with water, some of Bono's hand motions that match the lyrics. And the birds. My god what the hell were they thinking.

But interspersed with this was the most sexual movement ever. First I just htought it was funny that sweaty heaving Bono kept staring at Larry's ass, but then he kept making thrusting motions while holding onto the chain right behind Larry. And Larry just kept pounding away. Wow. Wow. Wow. (As Bono would say.)

I am going to go over to Pleba now and get some stills for a desktop.
 
Utoo said:


As I said before, the general idea is kind of lame, but it's really not awful. Do people really think that the video for ISHFWILF is that much better? "Let's walk down the streets of Vegas singing a gospel song and smile at people!"
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Yes, it is easily better. The whole contradiction between the seriousness of the song and the light-natured, goofy video works. And they did it in Vegas of all places. Who says 80's U2 didn't have a sense of humour ?
 
Varitek said:
I waited until I got the DVD to watch it....which by the way has an awesome opening menu sequence of the boys in the desert that I cut out of in the middle for the video.

HOLY SHIT> this is both the cheesiest and the most homoerotic thing I've ever seen in my life. First I was like "well this opening montage is silly, and very litteral." The litteral cheesiness is a big too much wiht the chains dripping with water, some of Bono's hand motions that match the lyrics. And the birds. My god what the hell were they thinking.

But interspersed with this was the most sexual movement ever. First I just htought it was funny that sweaty heaving Bono kept staring at Larry's ass, but then he kept making thrusting motions while holding onto the chain right behind Larry. And Larry just kept pounding away. Wow. Wow. Wow. (As Bono would say.)

I am going to go over to Pleba now and get some stills for a desktop.
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My eyes are bleeding after reading this post. :sad:

And I thought we've already covered the whole "how come there are birds in the video" bit a few posts back.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:


My eyes are bleeding after reading this post. :sad:

And I thought we've already covered the whole "how come there are birds in the video" bit a few posts back.
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Hey, I wasn't being negative. I have no problem with homoeroticism, it greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the video. I don't think it's a great musical video, but I do think it's great. Fun to watch, I love the hot Bono and nonsweaty Larry. And the cheesey literal stuff cracks me up.

And yes, of course I know why there were birds in the video. Like I said, its just cheesily litteral. Especially where the bird rises up from the train track, and when Adam and Edge release the birds.
 
I'm glad I watched this before reading this thread.
I loved the video simply because I don't feel the need to pick apart everything U2 does.
I've laughed more at the comments here than the video
itself. :laugh:

No matter what's been said, this was piece of history
enjoy it for what it is.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion however.

In any case going back in time is so much fun.:wink:
and Bono and Larry OMG :drool:
those Utube guys deserve every penny they got!!:yes:
 
Varitek said:


Hey, I wasn't being negative. I have no problem with homoeroticism, it greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the video. I don't think it's a great musical video, but I do think it's great. Fun to watch, I love the hot Bono and nonsweaty Larry. And the cheesey literal stuff cracks me up.

And yes, of course I know why there were birds in the video. Like I said, its just cheesily litteral. Especially where the bird rises up from the train track, and when Adam and Edge release the birds.
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Ok, you clearly missed the sarcastic nature of the whole "my eyes are bleeding" portion of my post.

The sheer plebaness of your initial post is what caused my eyes to start pouring blood. :wink:
 
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U2girl said:
The thing that doesn't work for me is a) canaries and upon further watching, b) the uberacting from Bono (mining footage could be cut after the start too). It's over the top even for him, especially the chorus. Compare this to Streets, WOWY and I still haven't found... - the other videos from that era, and the only ones worth watching from the 80's - and it doesn't stack up. It's only marginally better from the pre-JT videos due to them getting someone to take care of their wardrobe, but in a way also weaker because they had a little more experience and could afford the money to make something better. Clearly they were capable of that, as other JT videos prove.
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Is the Bono camera mugging any worse than WOWY?

Something that's very easy to forget is that U2 did have a wardrobe consultant in the UF era for videos and touring. This was something that came out in the Lola court case. It may also be in the UF tourbook tour personel.

I must say that the beefcake/gay porn/sweaty steelworkers vibe used in a song about the plight of suffering coal miners was ill-advised. That said, I do think the video idea worked well on paper, but not execution.

For Adam: Do most seasoned miners have clean bright-red tank tops?

For Larry: How pissed were you that one of the few videos that your featured for more than 10 seconds got shelved?

u2fp
 
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