[.ca] Michael Flatley: Feet of Flames (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
An expanded and more polished version of Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames was recorded at an outdoor performance in London's Hyde Park. While much of the material is familiar to Flatley fans, the production is superior in every way. It's better photographed and the editing is less frenetic. The individual segments are sharper, more self-assured, as is Flatley, who also produced and directed this version. (He also demonstrates his talents as a flutist--maybe he should call himself Lord of the Renaissance.) The outdoor setting also makes the show feel less like a Vegas act, though the proceedings have about as much relation to their Celtic folk roots as the Broadway musical Cats has to the T.S. Eliot children's poems on which it was based. --Richard Natale

One of the best dance shows I've ever witnessed.:
I'll try my best to do this production as much justice as I can. This performance, titled "Feet Of Flames" is billed as Michael Flatley's last performance in the role of the "Lord Of The Dance" and I think he does an excellent job here! It is a fitting send-off, very grand and epic in scope and scale. I did get to see the original Lord Of The Dance show live on stage in Philadelphia in 1997 and was totally blown away by the experience. The dancing, the beautiful music and the celestial and haunting singing of Anne Buckley remain in my heart to this very day. There is just something about hearing that music live and feeling the vibrations course through your body with every step the dancers make. It gives new meaning to the saying that you just HAVE to be there. There is NOTHING like the energy of a live stage dancing performance. Particularly not one like this one, with sure fire and energy and passion. Do not be fooled into thinking that is is just an out-of doors version of the original Lord Of The Dance show. It IS in a sense, and yet in many ways it is not. This show takes the original Lord Of The Dance production and kicks it into high gear. All of the original music and dances are back, but the dance routines look different a bit and more elaborate. They are longer and feature quite a bitof more complicated step work and more character interaction. There are also many new dances and more original musical pieces that make this a totally new experience. I loved the fact that Bernadette Flynn (the "good" girl in the show) got to do her own solo dance in the middle of this. It really gave her a chance to shine. The new numbers played by the dueling violinists were lively and lovely at the same time. The costumes and sets for this show were much bigger and elaborate than those for the original show. I would EASILY say that for me, the combination of old music and new numbers with more elaborate and totally new dance sequences was wonderful to watch. It made certain that I did not feel I was watching "the same old show" done over again. There were just so many new things to see and to hear and to take in. I loved Michael Flatley's solo flute performance near the beginning of act two. Very lovely stuff. I must say though that for me the highlight was another chance to hear Anne Buckley sing. What a GOLDEN voice. So beautiful and tender, yet rich and deep and passionate. The three songs she did here were even better to me than the ones she sang in the original Lord Of The Dance show. Her version of "Marble Halls" to me was even better than Enya's rendition, which I had previously loved. Ms. Buckley introduced me to the haunting love ballad "Carrickfergus" that had me reaching for my Kleenex even as I was wide-eyed and smiling from ear to ear. And the Gaelic piece she did (An Maigdean Mhara, if my memory serves correctly) was so beautiful that mere seconds after Ms. Buckley began to sing this number, my floodgates FLEW open and did not close for the full 3+ minutes of this song. Also I loved the fact that in this show instead of having just the green hooded cape for all three of her numbers, this time Anne got to wear three diffferent and very beautiful dresses, one for each song that she did (green, white, and gold). Exquisite costumes to fit with a stunning voice and an incredible beauty with great stage prescence. I for one cannot wait for her solo debut album. In short, this was an unforgettable experience. I have loved Celtic music and dance for years now and this performance only made my fires burn all the hotter with enthusiasm. The music, the dancing, the lighting, the story of a noble warrior saving his land from a dark knight's conquest...they combined to take my breath away and give me one of the greatest entertainment experiences of my life. If you get to see this I hope you get to enjoy it and even love it as much as I did. I still love this show today, more than two years after I got to see it, and I know I always will. Peace.

Don't purchase this video:
Well, I am going to be very blunt about this video. I was most disgusted with the dancing- it was vulgar. My children were sitting and watching it with me when we got it and my kids walked out of the room on their own. I have been very protective of the things I put in front of my kids and I see the fruit of our protection. They do not see this kind of movie as entertainment- my daughter said that it was disgusting- I am going to throw my video in the garbage. IF you want to watch celtic dancers throw themselves at each other while dancing then you would enjoy this. The drama was seductive/ suggestive and I thought completely unnecessary. I love celtic dance. I love to dance it and I love to watch it, but I did not come away thinking about what great dances there were in this video. What stands out to me is all of the drama created- Michael who seems quite wrapped up in his self in this video, and the "bad" lead lady- her dancing could very well be seen in a nightclub for men only!! Drama is great with dancing but should accent the dance not distract from it. Celtic is such a fun dance and "Feet of Flames"- just perverted it. Definitely not a movie for impressionable children/teens!!!!!

Don't bother:
I own Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, and Feet of Flames. I Must say Feet of Flames was a waste of money, Thank goodness it was a gift. If you own Lord of the Dance, Don't bother buying Feet of Flames! Its the same show, Yes there's a few differences there. 1) its an outdoor concert, 2) 2 New Songs/Dances, and thats pretty much about it. I really think they lost what they were trying to achive.

Simply the best:
On July 25, 1998, in Hyde Park, history was made. Performing on the largest stage ever built, Michael Flatley with over 100 dancers performed Feet of Flames in front of an audience of 50,000 people. With the plan of it being his last performance, Michael Flatley decided to do one last, huge, triumphant and expanded version of Lord of the Dance. He called it after his solo: Feet of Flames. The entire show is Michael performing at his best. Compared with the original Lord of the Dance, Michael and all the dancers have become much more free, and they relate to the audience at an incredible level. With all new costumes, added dances and songs, Feet of Flames is truly a masterpiece. Michael's flute solo Whispering Wind, is a touching traditional air. He is a world champion flautist and his playing is beautiful. Celtic Fire (a new number with the band) showcases the often neglected talents of the musicians. It is traditional Irish music played in very untraditional way, and it is absolutely fantastic. The new Siamasa number is simply a joy to watch. The dancers look happy, and are so energetic one just wants to get up and dance with them. But the most incredible part of the entire show is Michael's new solo. With no music and no other dancers, it shows just what he does. From slower, variated rhythm patterns, to blazingly fast footwork, and everything in between, this is Michael Flatley's masterpiece. I have watched Feet of Flames 30+ times since I got it this past October, and I absolutely love it. The 'Making of FOF: Into the Fire' is almost a full length film in and of itself, and gives a fantastic day by day report of the two weeks leading up to the show. Feet of Flames is Michael Flatley at his best.

Oh, for More Dancing, Less Posturing:
I can think of ever so many aspects of this which could stand improvement, but when the dust has settled, this is still a show which is great fun to watch, and which is a document of Flatley as a performer. He may have his shortcomings as a choreographer, as a set designer, as a costumer, as an autocratic impresario; but the fellow could dance, even on the eve of what was a very sensibly-timed retirement. Even if we see in him a charismatic PR man for his own product, as much as we see a fine dancer, we may bemoan that the aim was not higher and nobler; but we still canï¿1/2t take the dancing away from him. So it is that, even with all the shortcomings, we give this one four stars. On the whole, this was a great improvement on the original ï¿1/2Lord of the Danceï¿1/2; one significant way in which it is a disappointment, though, in comparison to the original ï¿1/2LOTDï¿1/2 is, originally, Flatley defeated the ï¿1/2Dark Lordï¿1/2 (almost painful to type things like ï¿1/2Dark Lordï¿1/2 and try to keep a straight face, but it must be attempted) by outdancing him. In this show, he blows him away with pyrotechnics; the show has flash enough, thank you, and it was sad to see a great ï¿1/2dancing momentï¿1/2 done away with, with so little to show for its absence. Many of the costumes, especially, were an advance ï¿1/2 but there were still the goofy moments, like the ï¿1/2defiantï¿1/2 stripping-down of the ladies of the company to undergarments. In general, of course, Flatley would be the first beneficiary, if there were such a thing as booster-shots of Good Taste. This, generally, is the most important respect in which Flatleyï¿1/2s work was finer with Riverdance: there was someone else more or less in charge, and Flatley had to work on stage with other dancers of experience and talent. With ï¿1/2LOTDï¿1/2 and ï¿1/2Feet of Flames,ï¿1/2 Flatley surrounded himself with young talent; partly, this does indeed make for part of the impressiveness of the accomplishment; but it also means that Flatley is The Guru ï¿1/2 and there are aspects of the show which would have benefited, if Flatley had had to listen to sense .... The music ï¿1/2 well, the music for dancing works well enough as accompaniment, although it falls a little short as music on its own. The ï¿1/2rock star violinï¿1/2 sequence, the goofy pseudo-monks, and Michaelï¿1/2s flute solo, to my taste, could have been done without, quite nicely. This was a show which could have been raised to the level of ballet, and which instead paid a little too much homage to the ghost of Busby Berkeley, and made too much of a pilgrimage to Vegas. But it is nonetheless quite an impressive achievement; and on the whole, great fun to watch.