 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2015) |
| Arena | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Video by | ||||
| Released | VHS – March 1985 DVD – 5 April 2004 | |||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||
| Genre | Dance, new wave | |||
| Length | 124 min 42 sec (DVD) | |||
| Label | PMI | |||
| Director | Russell Mulcahy | |||
| Duran Duran chronology | ||||
| ||||
Arena (An Absurd Notion) is a concept concert video filmed during the course of Duran Duran's 1984 Sing Blue Silver North American Tour in support of the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger . [1]
Instead of releasing a straight concert video, Duran Duran and director Russell Mulcahy chose to play with the origins of the band's name (the 1968 film Barbarella ), and added a storyline and surreal elements that are interwoven with footage of the band performing on stage.[ citation needed ]
The film's villain, the evil Dr. Durand Durand (played by Milo O'Shea, reprising his role from Barbarella) has crash landed on Earth and is surprised and confused to find teenagers chanting his name. When he discovers that they are not chanting for him, but for an upstart pop group, he sets up shop beneath the concert arena and attempts to wreak havoc on the band that stole his name. Of course, he and his henchmen fail at every turn and Duran Duran continue to perform, seemingly unaware of the evil doctor's plans.
The video also included Russell Mulcahy's long-form video for "The Wild Boys". It was meant to be a teaser for a full-length feature film of the same name, based on the 1971 novel The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs. However, that film was never made.
The expensive sets for the conceptual portions of Arena and "The Wild Boys" were built in the massive 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Some of the segments were also filmed at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, where free tickets were given to fans.
In addition to O'Shea, the American actress Jennifer Connelly also appears in the video, walking across an empty stage in one segment.
A picture book of the movie, Arena: The Book ( ISBN 0-9510118-1-2), was released in 1985.
A live album, also called Arena , was released in late 1984. It featured the two singles "The Wild Boys" and "Save a Prayer (Live)". The video for "Save a Prayer (Live)" is included as a DVD extra on the 2004 Arena DVD release.
The DVD for Arena was released in April 2004 and includes as an extra The Making of Arena behind the scenes documentary that was originally released as a separate videotape.
A 2-in-1 DVD set with both Arena and Sing Blue Silver has also been released by EMI.
The Oakland, California concerts that were filmed for Arena (An Absurd Notion) were also edited to form the one-hour As the Lights Go Down concert video.
As the Lights Go Down is essentially the Arena video with only the music, although the live footage for many songs was edited differently. This version was never released on any consumer video format and was only broadcast on television, first on Cinemax then later on MTV and other TV channels.
Running time: 60 minutes
Running time: 49 minutes
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled in May 1980 as Rhodes, Taylor, singer Simon Le Bon, guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor.
Roger Andrew Taylor is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the new wave band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022 as a member of Duran Duran.
Arcadia were a British pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran as a side project during a break in the band's schedule. The project was active only during 1985 and 1986 and for just one album, So Red the Rose, which was certified Platinum in the United States and included the singles "Election Day", "Goodbye Is Forever", "The Flame", and "The Promise". Drummer Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and one music video, and stated he was to be involved only in the recording side of the project.
Nick Rhodes is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran.
The Devils is the name of an English electronic pop band, formed by Nick Rhodes and Stephen Duffy.
Duran Duran is a video compilation, by the band of the same name, that is sometimes unofficially referred to in print as the Duran Duran video album or Duran Duran: The First 11 Videos. The pioneering video album won a 1984 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Sing Blue Silver is a documentary about Duran Duran's 1983–1984 world tour directed by Michael Collins. A sixty-minute edited version of the documentary was aired on MTV under the title Blue Silver.
Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by the English rock band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band, recording sessions took place in France, the Caribbean and Australia between April and October 1983 following Duran Duran's decision to record outside the UK as tax exiles. Unlike their previous two studio albums, the sessions were marred by a lack of productivity and tensions rose between the band members over its direction.
Milo Donal O'Shea was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in Staircase (1968) and Mass Appeal (1982).
"The Reflex" is the eleventh single by English new wave band Duran Duran, released in 1984. The song was heavily remixed for single release and was the third and last to be taken from their third studio album Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983). The single became the band's first to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and their second to top the UK Singles Chart.
Barbarella is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Roger Vadim, based on the French comic series by Jean-Claude Forest. The film stars Jane Fonda as the title character, a space traveler and representative of the United Earth government sent to find scientist Durand Durand, who has created a weapon that could destroy humanity. The supporting cast includes John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea, Marcel Marceau, Claude Dauphin, David Hemmings and Ugo Tognazzi.
"Save a Prayer" is a song by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 9 August 1982 as the third single from their second album Rio (1982). It became Duran Duran's biggest hit on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number two. As of October 2021 "Save a Prayer" is the sixth most streamed Duran Duran song in the UK.
"Planet Earth" is the debut single by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 2 February 1981.
"The Wild Boys" is the twelfth single by English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 22 October 1984 in the United Kingdom.
"Burning the Ground" is a song by English rock band Duran Duran, released on 4 December 1989 as a stand-alone single to promote the compilation album Decade. Its music video was included on the band's audiovisual compilation Greatest, released in 1999 (VHS) and 2003 (DVD). The song is essentially a megamix of Duran Duran's history, featuring snippets of all of the band's hits from the previous 10 years.
"Electric Barbarella" is the 29th single by English rock band Duran Duran, and the first official single from the album Medazzaland. In 1997, the single and album were released only in the United States; "Electric Barbarella" was not issued as a single in the UK until January 1999 on the back of the late 1998 release of the compilation album Greatest.
Live from London is a concert film by English rock band Duran Duran. It was filmed during the course of the last two of five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena in April 2004, during the band's first global tour after the reunion of the band's original five members.
Duran Duran's Oakland, California concerts that were filmed for the Arena movie were also edited to form the one-hour As the Lights Go Down concert video. The name comes from a lyric in the song "Shadows on Your Side" from the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album.
Russell Mulcahy is an Australian director of film, television, and music videos. He began his career directing music videos for artists like Elton John and Duran Duran, before making his feature directorial debut with the horror film Razorback (1984). He achieved international prominence by directing the fantasy action film Highlander (1986), which spawned a multimedia franchise.
A Diamond in the Mind: Live 2011 is a concert film and live album by English rock band Duran Duran. It was filmed at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England on 16 December 2011 during the All You Need Is Now tour and released on 2 July 2012 on Blu-ray, DVD and CD and on handcrafted limited edition double LP vinyl of 2000 copies released through the Vinyl Factory.