Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour Live
Year: 2015
Director: Jonas Akerlund
Starring: Taylor Swift
Runtime: 132 mins
BBFC: N/A
Published: 27/03/24
Director: Jonas Akerlund
Starring: Taylor Swift
Runtime: 132 mins
BBFC: N/A
Published: 27/03/24
Following the mixed reception to her fourth studio album, Red, with its fusion of country and pop that was definitely leaning more into pop, Taylor Swift took a nosedive into synth pop for her fifth studio album, 1989. The success of 1989 was far beyond anything else the country singer turned pop star had produced up to that point and went on to be her biggest selling album by a significant margin, as well as landing her second Album of the Year at the Grammy’s.
For many, including myself, 1989 was the moment they became fans of Swift’s music, and so I was very excited to watch the 1989 World Tour Live. But no matter how much I love the music; I can’t see myself ever watching this concert film ever again.
Filmed at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The 1989 World Tour Live showcases the most up close and personal view of the tour you could ever get, whilst also featuring snippets of Swift talking about her various guest appearances that the show featured.
Let me start with the obvious, I love the songs. 1989’s a stellar album packed with hit after hit, and alongside the entire album Swift plays a handful of tracks from her previous two studio albums, Red, and Speak Now.
Swift’s performing abilities have also improved with her being considerably more in-time in time with the choreographed routines than she had been in the Speak Now concert film.
For many, including myself, 1989 was the moment they became fans of Swift’s music, and so I was very excited to watch the 1989 World Tour Live. But no matter how much I love the music; I can’t see myself ever watching this concert film ever again.
Filmed at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The 1989 World Tour Live showcases the most up close and personal view of the tour you could ever get, whilst also featuring snippets of Swift talking about her various guest appearances that the show featured.
Let me start with the obvious, I love the songs. 1989’s a stellar album packed with hit after hit, and alongside the entire album Swift plays a handful of tracks from her previous two studio albums, Red, and Speak Now.
Swift’s performing abilities have also improved with her being considerably more in-time in time with the choreographed routines than she had been in the Speak Now concert film.
Thats kind of where the praise ends though. 1989 World Tour Live is a headache to watch because of Jonas Åkerlund’s frenetic shot composition and editing. I couldn’t name a single time in the film where a shot lasted more than around three seconds, and the cuts to different camera angles are done seemingly at random with many shots actually using footage from the wrong part of the song. It’s easy to notice because Swift’s mouth doesn’t match the lyrics in the slightest, and then suddenly it does in the following shot. It’s a complete shambles and feels like it’s been assembled by a toddler.
It’s made worse by the ugly and persistent CGI effects played over the image. It’s distracting, they get in the way, and they’re just don’t look good.
The poor choices in shot also mean that you miss most of what’s going on with the dancers and with Swift’s performance. You can never focus on anything for long enough to actually take in what’s happening.
The show itself also seems like a bit of a step back from Speak Now’s design. There’s fewer theatrics involved. There is a giant rotating platform that’s used a couple of times but compare this to Speak Now where there was a suspended bridge, a flying platform, and a satellite stage in the middle of the crowd designed like a tree, having a rotating arm platform just seems less interesting from a visual standpoint.
It’s made worse by the ugly and persistent CGI effects played over the image. It’s distracting, they get in the way, and they’re just don’t look good.
The poor choices in shot also mean that you miss most of what’s going on with the dancers and with Swift’s performance. You can never focus on anything for long enough to actually take in what’s happening.
The show itself also seems like a bit of a step back from Speak Now’s design. There’s fewer theatrics involved. There is a giant rotating platform that’s used a couple of times but compare this to Speak Now where there was a suspended bridge, a flying platform, and a satellite stage in the middle of the crowd designed like a tree, having a rotating arm platform just seems less interesting from a visual standpoint.
There’s also one huge issue I take with the whole thing, and I know not alone on this. It’s Swift’s need to constantly name drop other celebrities. Whenever the film isn’t showing a performance, it’s presenting a behind the scenes interview with Swift about how someone famous was going to come see the show but she brought them up on stage. Or how she brought on special guests for so many of the performances. Whilst talking about this stuff is interesting to a degree, the way she talks about it is less about why it’s great for the show that these people came on stage, and why it’s really cool that she knows this person. This was definitely an issue with Swift at this point in her life, with the music video for Bad Blood being a constant reminder of this, but it does make these frequent cutaway segments often unbearable.
I’m surprised by how much I didn’t like about this concert film, because 1989 is such a great album, and Swift’s previous concert recordings have been reasonably strong outings. I take no issue with her performance or the songs chosen, but the construction of the film itself is atrocious. Åkerlund’s directorial decisions are baffling, from the headache inducing editing, to the constant breaking away from the performance to allow Swift to directly address the camera just to talk about her famous friends. Whilst I’d happily return to 1989 World Tour Live solely for Swift’s performance, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to again because of basically everything else.
I’m surprised by how much I didn’t like about this concert film, because 1989 is such a great album, and Swift’s previous concert recordings have been reasonably strong outings. I take no issue with her performance or the songs chosen, but the construction of the film itself is atrocious. Åkerlund’s directorial decisions are baffling, from the headache inducing editing, to the constant breaking away from the performance to allow Swift to directly address the camera just to talk about her famous friends. Whilst I’d happily return to 1989 World Tour Live solely for Swift’s performance, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to again because of basically everything else.