Michael Flatley Returns As Lord Of The Dance [DVD] - Irish Dance Performance, Step Dancing Show - Perfect for Dance Enthusiasts & Celtic Culture Lovers

I have two ancient VHS tapes of the original "Riverdance" (1995, starring Michael Flatley) and the original "Lord of the Dance" (1996). They've been played so many times that I needed to replace them with DVD's. To my surprise, I can't find a DVD of "Riverdance" and the original "Lord of the Dance" is out of print, so only used copies are reasonably priced.So I decided to give "Michael Flatley Returns as Lord of the Dance" a try. Filmed live in Dublin in 2011, this is Michael Flatly's first return to the stage as lead dancer in over a decade. I was sceptical. In 2011, Flatley was 53 years old! I know tap dancers who are amazing athletes in their 60's, but "Lord of the Dance" is very highpowered - would Flatley fall flat?I am so pleased to say that he is still one incredible and amazing dancer. If you have the original from 1996 nearly memorized, you will realize that his arm movements are not as quick as they used to be. But his feet - his feet are still gold (even if his high-octane dance sets are a little shorter).This show is 95 minutes of wonderful dancing (plus two more dances in the bonus extras). Some of the dances are new, some are favorites, generally updated. There are 16 scenes in the main movie, two being instrumental (those wonderful fiddles!). I did not realize that Flatley is a world-rated flautist who's won national competitions. He plays the flute in one of the instrumental numbers.As expected, the "Lord of the Dance" number remains awesome. It and the final "Planet Island" dance have the set where the dancers are all in a line and do a sort of "wave", back and forth. If the first time you saw that wave your heart didn't just leap for the joy of it, you can't be human! It is from the original "Riverdance" choreography and it just never gets old.There are also two wonderful Bonus Features:1. "Behind the Scenes Feature" (20 minutes) This isn't just filler, I thought it was GREAT! Commentators include Michael Flatley, Tom Cunningham (plays Don Dorcha, the lead "bad guy"), Bernadette Flynn (plays Saoirse, the White Lady of the Dance), Marie Duffy Pask (dance master), Ronan Hardman (composer), Ciara Sexton (plays Morrighan, the Bold Girl, that I used to call the Bad Girl, but I like Bold Girl better - no double-standard), Marcus Viner (film director), Mark Cunniffe (lighting and production designer).Flynn had been with "Lord of the Dance" for 15 years, since the beginning. She's given star billing on the original DVD. Cunningham has been with the show 14 years. Pask and Hardman were with Flatley at the very beginning.The absolute thrill of hearing all those taps sounding off in unison at supersonic speeds never grows old for me. In an interesting comment, Flatley says that experience, in the type of show they do, is crucial. The dancers "are breathing and moving at lightening speed out there. Because hey have such remarkable experience.... When I"m onstage at the end of the encore, and you're got up to 50 dances on stage, and they're all dancing as fast as they possibly can. All hitting the floor several times a second at exactly the same time. That's not something that can be achieved overnight.... It takes years of practice."2. Deleted Scenes (16 minutes total):A. "Marble Halls". A singer sings "Marble Halls" (a song, originally from an opera, made famous by Enya). She has a beautiful voice, but I'm glad, for DVD "movie" purposes, that she is not part of the show.B. "Siamsa". This is a full dance number that must have been cut just for time purposes, because it is a lovely dance. It is lighter with bright colors, spring and folk dancing.C. "Carrick Fergus". The singer sings this Irish folk song.D. "Deleted Encore". This is short, not a dance number. This show was filmed live in Dublin, and this is just the first presenting and bowing of lead dancers, musicians, "Spirit" and the singer at the end of the show. Then the non-dancers exit the stage and the actual encores begin (which remain in the film).The DVD/Bluray is in 5.1 Dolby Digital/2.0 LPCM and aspect ratio 2.40:1. Subtitles in English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and German.A WONDERFUL SHOW!Happy ReaderI love itThis dance show has a storyline that will occasionally have you going, "What the -- ?" If you go in hoping for Riverdance Part 2, well, you kinda get that but under unusual circumstances. Apparently, the Lord of the Dance (Michael Flatley, who even wears a belt that says he is) is out to conquer the evil forces that descend upon Planet Ireland. No, don't ask.The evil is represented by a masked leader ans his dozen soldiers dressed in something between Rollerball outfits and riot gear uniforms. They may try to appear terrifying, but it is hard to fear these stormtroopers when they do an Irish jig. Often when they are on stage, the background projection shows a devil's head or a death skull. It is a bizarre show concept for family viewing.I am not saying the show is not without its entertainment. Michael Flatley is past his prime, but he is still an exceptional dancer. That is, when he isn't trying to milk applause from the audience. The rest of the cast are very good, including almost twenty attractive female dancers who look exceptionally sexy in 3D.(By the way, if you are a guy whose girlfriend is making you watch this video, practice now to keep a non-excited look when you get to 33:47; otherwise, you will suddenly sit up and cry out, "Yes!! Thank you, Michael Flatley!!")The 3D runs the gamut from very good to extraordinary (at one point, you can count the bangles on a jester's hat). The black areas of the screen never achieve a respectable full darkness, but there is enough good 3D to make up for that. (This stage show was filmed in high def 3D cameras.)Audio is good, not exceptional.Though the extras are minimal (a "making of"), I give this extra points because there are four deleted scenes from the film, all in 3D.Some amazing footwork love Irish dance and Lord of the danceWatching the 3D Blu-ray "Michael Flatley Returns as Lord of the Dance 3D" was like being there live in Dublin at the show! Michael and his dance troupe gave a wonderful performance and the 3D cinematography was done well enough to provide me a front stage view of the the dancers, musicians and stage. Although I have viewed 4K movies, the 3D definitely provides more realistic views of the dancers, by providing depth.The performance was very good, but not as wonderful as previous Riverdance genre productions. Most of the performers in this show were toddlers when Riverdance was born. Michael is now old enough to be the father of most of his dancers. He was visibly not satisfied with the level of audience reactions and used body language to attempt to elicit more enthusiasm from the crowd. Somewhat pathetic, unfortunately. He deserves to have a huge ego with all of his amazing accomplishments, but it's time for age to bring on some humility. It's getting time for the baton to be passed. If Michael continues to headline performances instead of producing or directing behind the scenes, he will find himself increasingly disillusioned by audiences expecting good-old-(younger)-days performance quality. Also, Michael kissing one of the young female dancers seemed unnecessary . . . an ego-driven gesture. We all get old eventually and are forced to slow down. It's Michael's time to face reality.loved this when it first come years ago on vhs. i havent seen it in so long i wanted to see it again. i purchased the blu ray version. it played well in my player at first, but then after a couple of chapters, blu ray video frames freeze up for remainder of the blu ray. was kinda upset, and so started skipping around chapters and same result. even shut off blu ray player, rebooted and tried again. same result.I love this. Seen it three times now. The music and dancing is just fantastic. It's presented in 2.35 not 1.78 like it says on the detail section here on Amazon. The 3D version is pretty lite on 3D but usually stage 3D productions the 3D doesn't come out great. I think this might be the greatest dance music performance ever. Will watch again and again.Lord of the Dance 2011 is a make-over of the original from 1998.The bulk of the show retains the same performances but with new dancers. Although, I was pleased to see Bernadette Flynn stayed with this production, as she shows real passion in her performances. Gillian Norris was replaced by Ciara Sexton as Morrighan and our lovely Anne Buckley aka The Celtic Goddess was replaced too, a real shame as Anne's voice is just pure warmth - you should hear it on her solo album ;-)New graphics and artwork are amazing, especially with the UFO at the end.Main show is 91 minutes long, with Michael giving a 7 minute introduction at the beginning followed by an edited show. Remainder of the show is part of the bonus features, as "Deleted Scenes".Why the editor felt it necessary to cut the show to pieces, I do not know. Especially cutting out the Encore and Siamsa. Wasn't too bothered about the solo vocal performances, as in my opinion, no one is as good as Anne Buckley aka The Celtic Goddess.Overall, I really enjoyed it and the sound through my 5:1 Cinema System is brilliant. You can really feel the bass.Definitely worth purchasing, whether this is your first DVD or you have them all, like I do.I was excited when I first saw Lord of the Dance on stage, and also in a much earlier video. This one is a little disappointing. Michael Flatley is naturally not as energetic as he was when he was young, and he clearly limited his own dancing. The choreography and dancing was otherwise of a high standard. Unfortunately the stage lighting was not really suitable for TV video, with large arrays of LED lights sometimes producing interference with the TV's pixel arrays, even on a 2014 HD TV (Moiré effect). This was particularly annoying with the 3D version. Although other 3D videos, such as those produced by the BBC, are of astonishing quality, 3D was more of a distraction with this performance.Having been amazed by the Feet of Flames DVD, I just had to see if Michael had got the magicafter 14 years, he has, the girls are just as gorgeous, the music is superb, the routines have beenchanged slightly to keep you interested, how this guy does what he does when he is now in his 50sis beyond belief, he deserves his vast wealth that the Lord of the Dance has given him.Be amazed, buy the DVD at the bargain price Amazon have got it at, & have a night in,without the traffic chaos after a live show in person.What is not too love about this? As the dad of a fledgling Irish dancer, this had not been off our TV. Given Michael Flatley's live appearances are becoming rarer and rarer, chances are that this is as close to seeing the great man perform as many will get - and it's also a chance to see him in his pomp. There's also a great ensemble as you would expect for one of Irish dance's iconic shows.This is a very good copy of Lord of the dance but is just not as good as the first and original version he does not have the old energy he had .