I AM: SMTOWN - Live at Madison Square Garden

Although it is a documentary, there is something here that strikes me as special. Only seeing trailers on YouTube for it and being a fan of a few groups mentioned, I knew I would buy it as soon as it came out. But let me digress from my main point in a little and explain how I happened into being a fan. I was not a fan of Girl's Generation in the beginning mainly because I didn't know they existed before Gee. Since there was not the image of K-Pop being globally successful at the time, there was little that could be had searching Google in English. I knew of BoA from my dabbling into J-Pop, but not enough to really call myself a fan. Forward a few years and Korean shows with English subtitles started to appear. I got to know more about these groups. To date, I'm still not a fan of the K-Pop boy bands, but I am a big fan of many groups. Being a guy, I can appreciate the music but I was never able to really get into following them like I was with groups like SNSD, F(x), or T-ara...or even Miss A to name a few.Why mention groups outside of SM Entertainment? Yeah, you support your favorite artists within the company, but in large you support K-Pop in general by showing interest outside of South Korea. SMTown saw the conditions of the 'Korean Wave' and took a gamble (calculated for success, but a risk none-the-less) in doing the world tour. Show your support of K-Pop and let's see if more companies follow. I'm sure someone will troll me soon enough for the statement or go on about how their favorite group is so much better. I don't care. If you like any K-Pop group or even a single song, then I recommend buying this BluRay/DVD and support the industry with your interest. Enough of the abstract thoughts and on to content!Before receiving it today, I had figured it to be something like most documentaries: if you are into it, it is awesome; if not, then it is something to add to the collection. Surprisingly, I now feel as if I could *possibly* follow some of the K-Pop boy bands. I know, typing such a statement shocks me too. There was something so well produced where it provides that critical glimpse behind the stages and persona.Typically you look at such groups and just feel as if they are or have always been sure of what they are doing. What their dream is. Content of this film is solid and candid. You can sense their emotions and just how human these stars are in a sliver of their everyday life through the guise of the interviews. A lot of them start out as seeming contrived, but in watching I saw the breakdown of the stage persona of a performer and was left with a raw look into the people behind the mask.Seeing the reactions of such stars as they watched footage they never knew about or one of their practice sessions while in training or their first audition or recalling their debut really carried such emotion. In many ways it filled in the depth to the actors we know. Sure, there are many shows out there that display their on camera personalities and a bit of what they are like off camera. SNSD's Hello Baby or We Got Married are examples. This documentary became special when it went beyond the known and challenged them with trying to explain how their real personalities differed from the usual way we view them. That isn't the only reason why I liked it, but I'm not about to spoil all of the contents here.The video on the BluRay was acceptable. Just know that it was not all shot using 1080 resolution due to older footage from their pasts being used. Overall, the cinematography and editing was well done.The audio in 5.1 was very good. You can tell they had to make many adjustments to the levels when using the live footage. In post production, you can tell much time was spent making it just right.The only critical eye I could cast would be to the pacing, lack of footage of some group members, and the subtitles sometimes overlapped the original text. All of these things I can live with because of the overall production value of the finished product.The menus are easy to navigate and the subtitles are easy enough to read. The editing is done well enough that it doesn't require complete knowledge of the groups beforehand to process the information and enjoy the presentation.Again, I recommend buying this documentary for any fans of K-Pop as a whole, but especially if you like any of the SM Entertainment acts. Know that buying it supports them just as buying a song on iTunes or an Amazon Digital Download or a physical CD would.And the fact that I am supporting all of K-Pop (indirectly though it is) so others may find and enjoy it too makes it even more worth while.Oh yeah, almost forgot: SNSD FIGHTING!^^

I AM: SMTOWN Live at MSG is a must have for any SONE, ELF, Shawol, Cassie, EXOtic, and Kangta and BoA (stans) supporters. This documentary was well made and for $25 or $12, it is a steal. The DVD costs the same as my movie ticket when I saw a special screening of I AM in LA. The picture quality is superb and the 5.1 Surround takes you there at MSG. Much better audio reproduction than the actual SMTOWN III '12 at the Honda Center. You can hear all of the fangirl screams and Manchants all around you. I was quite surprised when the Blu-Ray was 2-discs. This comes with 100% English Subtitles in the film as well as in the Special Features. The subtitle text is really clear, nice, sharp, and just the right size. Much better than the Japanese Edition subs.Best performance was Ring Ding Dong and Replay both by SHINEee. Hands down. This coming from a SONE's perspective. You know it's a spectacular SMTOWN if there's "Replay" unlike the one in Anaheim. And you already know it's a worthy purchase if it's a superb SMTOWN.There's a nice little feature of 5 mins. showing the idols' brief experiences in NYC. Plus a director's cut of DBSK's story.My main gripe was the packaging and the exclusion of The Dance Break, Tik Tok by JessKrys, and the Way Back Into Love duet by Seobb and Kyuhyun aka 2Hyun (OTP). The Blu-Ray case is the cheapo kind you get with CoD:MW2 for a more "eco-friendly" package. However, the DVD was packaged nicely. All 4 discs shining in all that pink "SMTOWN" glory. As for the exclusion of all those awesome performances, it is no big deal but I think licensing rights for those songs are expensive.Overall, it is a must buy for any SMTOWN fan and K-popper even though you got a non-SMe bias.

The quality of the recording is fantastic - I will say that the slow-motion camera was abused most of the time, causing some... jarring editing, but it's not really that big a deal.Girl's Generation and Super Junior were featured quite a lot, but that was to be expected with their popularity, haha. The performances were all quite amazing. That being said, it's bit of a shame that BoA's performances weren't that...... if you're a BoA fan, you might as well just accept that her performances in this concert weren't that great. The documentary also actually wasn't that revealing of the idol life. But if you're interested in seeing your favorite SM idols' audition tapes and debut faces, then you'll probably enjoy the I AM documentary. Probably.If you don't speak Korean, don't worry, all of the comments that the artists make in Korean are subtitled in English.The people that perform in the concert are:F(x)KangTaShineeSuper Junior (w/out SiWon, who couldn't fit the New York concert into his schedule)Girl's GenerationBoATVXQ / Dong Bang Shin Ki (Only Changmin and Yunho!)

If you are a fan of any of these SM artists or KPOP in general, I definitely recommend buying this in blu-ray! I actually owned the DVD version because I found it at my local Best Buy, but after finding out that there was a blu-ray version I immediately jumped on purchasing it on Amazon.The quality of the blu-ray is SO worth paying just a little bit more for the concert portion of the set. The documentary is so great to watch too. Like I mentioned before, if you are a fan of kpop at all or have ever been interested in what the life of an idol may be like, I'd definitely recommend getting this for the documentary. The subtitles are great and timed very well and the documentary itself is actually pretty humorous at times.Some might say that this isn't worth getting because the documentary is on Netflix, but the concert portion is so worth it. It's a pretty long concert and you can skip ahead by one song in the set list if you aren't interested in it. I'd definitely recommend this whether it's a gift for yourself or someone else!

this is the only place ive been able to find this at a reasonable price!! so chuffed i can finally watch it and with great eng sub too! its a US dvd and i live in the UK so not able to play it on my dvd player but works great on my laptop. the 4 dvds come with the I Am movie, behind the scenes extras and the full concert! definitely worth the price if youre a fan of SM artists! so happy with my purchase and was delivered earlier than expected!

Am a fan of SM in general - though not a die hard stan I was completely disappointed in this DVD. The backstage interview disc was extremely long for having as little substance as it does and the concert itself wasn't great - the amount of lip syncing was horrifying (probably 15% of it was live) and you can tell. The crowd didn't really seem engaged with the groups - so the whole concert felt flat. I won't recommend this - spend the money on your favourite groups individual concert DVD.

This Blu-ray set is a great purchase for any KPOP fan who enjoy any of the artists under SM Entertainment. The I AM movie give us a great look behind the scenes. With interviews, pre-debut clips and backstage footage, it is a very fun and heartwarming documentary. The concert is very good as well! With great performances and special stages, the concert really is worth owning!

El producto, el envío, los tiempos, etc.... todo excelente con esta compra!El contenido del DVD es lo mejor <3

5 STARS! It's Blu Ray I mean anything Blu Ray is just amazing and k-pop stars in High Def is the best! The documentary portion is really eye opening and tear jerking at points because it shows fans a side of the artists we may not have seen before and the concert is just to die for! This is for every kpop fan and every SMTOWN fan!