DVD players have become more and more accessible this past year, with sales nearly doubling since 1999 and through the introduction of the insanely popular DVD-based PlayStation 2. As the format's popularity increased, so did the quality of software; a direct reaction to this ideology is the newly released "Beastie Boys Video Anthology."\nThe two-disc set contains 18 music videos ranging from the Paul's Boutique era to the present. Sadly, no cuts from the B-Boys' Def Jam/Licensed to Ill days were included on the disc in wake of their spiritual enlightenment clashing with their former "misogynistic, frat boy" ways.\nWhat separates the "Beastie Boys Video Anthology" from other more run-of-the mill music-related DVDs is the interactivity. Amid the already plentiful extras are a plethora of different viewing and listening options; included are 51 alternate video angles, 67 different audio remixes and 36 separate commentaries. In essence, these qualities allow the viewer to become a director in his or her own right. \nHighlights of the discs include the widely loved "Sabotage" and its precursor, a hilarious short titled "Ciao LA," both directed by video and film auteur Spike Jonze; the side-splittingly funny "Hey, Ladies"; the immensely slick "Sure Shot," and eccentric director Nathaniel Hornblower's recent joints ranging from the director's cut of "Body Movin'" to the Beastie Boys most recent clip "Alive."\nNever before in the already hands-on DVD medium have discs come along that were nearly as interactive as the "Beastie Boys Video Anthology." Kudos to the masterminds at Criterion, the company who released the set and who've already amassed a rather impressive roster ("Chasing Amy," "Rushmore" and "Brazil").\nCongratulations also to those everlasting hip-hop impresarios the Beastie Boys, through constant innovation and imagination they have managed to place another jewel in their collective crown. DVD aficionados and fans of the Beastie Boys' unique brand of genre-bending jams owe it to themselves to check out the "Beastie Boys Video Anthology," a milestone in a quickly evolving medium.
Beastie Boys Video Anthology
Sabotage
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