The day I bought this DVD, I spent hours late at night entranced watching it with headphones to avoid waking up the neighbors. Wow... Just Wow... That's all I could say. The sound is great (You can listen to it in 5.1 surround. There is also the option to watch it while listening to commentaries) and the movie quality is very very good. I believe no band on the face ot the earth can play like Dream Theater does. They rock and watching them play I get goosebumps. How on earth can a band be so GOOD?

The videos are excellent and the live performances will take your breath away. Virtuosity shows all along, specially Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung though the other members are also very good. I also laughed as some of it is really hilarious. To make it short, if you want to see a Rock band that rips their intruments with virtuosity as well as plays tight and rocks hard, buy this DVD. And 2 discs with over 3 hours for $15, it is definitely worth it.

It's a great proposition all around: two videos that had been waiting for a DVD release for years, from one of the most intelligent metal bands around, remastered for stellar sound and combined for a good price. 5 Years in a Livetime is almost a nostalgia trip as Dream Theater goes - Jordan Rudess hadn't entered the picture yet - but the definitive Images & Words is as great now as it was in 1992, and the Live in Tokyo video captures that brilliance magnificently. If you're already a fan, this package recommends itself.

The I&W video alone is worth buying this set for, even if some stretches suffer from MTV-style editing with rapid shots. It's nice to have some footage from the recording of I&W and life on the road, plus videos for a couple songs, but they're interwoven with the live stuff rather than kept separate. (Do we really need "Pull Me Under" twice in the course of one video? Couldn't it be an extra?) Not that this should stop you of course. "Wait for Sleep" alone is worth hearing because it gets the full-band treatment, "Surrounded" sounds even more magical than the original and "Ytse Jam" seriously burns. A couple tunes from their debut album are also much improved here, esp. "A Fortune in Lies."

5 Years might not merit repeat viewing as much, but there's still some great musical content here, including some live songs from Falling Into Infinity (still their most underrated disc) and a killer "Metropolis pt1." There's some footage from their all-covers 1994 show, with stellar performances from Steve Howe and the two Steves from Marillion. (Bernie from Napalm Death also drops in for a cameo, although they could have gotten almost the same result from simply plugging in a blender.) Even better is the stuff from a special unplugged show in '95, since we get some rarities: "Cover My Eyes," "Speak to Me," "To Live Forever" and an incredible "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream."

Highly recommended for the good stuff. The rest is still a bonus.

If this ran through your mind after seeing this deal, and you are, to some degree, a Dream Theater fan, than you need to set your priorities straight. Heh. Just kidding, but this dvd is a must for all Dream Theater fans-to-be, or existing ones. I've been a fan of the band since I was hit with the impervious album, Scenes From A Memory, and have bought 6 more of their studio albums since then, and now...this baby. But my point exactly is, you don't have to be this familiar with their material to enjoy this DVD. Both are absolute gems in their own rights, and now that they've released this package deal for such a low price, there is no reason not to buy it at all.

Here is why:

First of all, the Dvd, 5 Years in a Livetime, is pretty long, but not too bad. Just a few hours of concert footage, about another hour of precious behind-the-stage coverage, bonus information, historical facts, some of their music videos, coverage of each bandmember's instruments, and then some more footage of fun little things you'll want to play over and over and over for kicks, adding up to about 30 hours of watching and re-watching. Not too bad, right? Right? I mean, Geez. Just take a glance at the song list, and prepare to poo in your pants. Actually, wait. I meant to say: "Prepare to poo in your pants, and THEN look at the song list." That makes more sense. Then, before you start crying tears of utmost joy, take look at the second Dvd. What a great way to top off the whole package, huh? Well worth the money, I'd say.

This stuff is amazing. The band players have all mastered their instruments. They play like gods, they write technically impossible music, they have some of the most emotional and powerful lyrics I've seen these days, and somehow, in the end...they pull it off flawlessly- and not just in the studio, but on the stage as well. I can't stress enough how much you will enjoy this Dvd combo, man. I really can't. So, once you've massed up the money (I believe it's about 15 dollars or so), treat yourself to a great Dvd, and enjoy it for a long time. Or, do what I do sometimes, and pretend to buy it for my parents, and then "borrow" it for a few years. (Just kidding).

Lastly, I want to thank you for reading my review, and thank you for supporting Dream Theater, my favorite band in the world. I hope you were able to stay awake in the process. And ALSO: before I shut up, here are a few of their other works I highly recommend, just in case you aren't planning to stop at these Dvd's: Scenes From A Memory, Octavarium, Images and Words, Awake, and both of the Liquid Tension Experiments (The Theater without James Labrie and a different bassist).

Thanks again for reading my review. See ya later, dude.

-Lazzerothe

DT fans, I have been waiting for Live from Tokyo to come out on DVD for since DVD players were on the market. I have had the VHS for the Tokyo show for at least 7 years now. It's my opinion that this was one of their best shows ever recorded. I have seen them many times, even before James joined DT when When Dream and Day Unite was just an import and when Kevin Moore was with them and I have to say that the Tokyo show just rocks. There were all in their prime then. The 2nd DVD in the set is just awesome as well. I was really pleased that they included members of Yes, Marillion and Napalm Death playing with them. I paid about 29.00 for the VHS on the Tokyo show on VHS back in the day, now only half the price and with a 2nd DVD. For the price, you cannot pass this up!

This is a good DVD. It contains lots of rare performances, music videos, and 3 hours of band commentary. The only problem is the sound quality, which is dreaful. Because of the EQ, John Petrucci sounds paper thin, Myung can barely be heard, and James sounds horrible (partly because he "screams" half the songs and partly because of the way it's mixed in). For fans who have a genuine appreciation of Dream Theater, this DVD is worth it. For mere casual fans or new fans who are just getting to know the band now, I'd recommend "Scenes From NY" or "Budokon" instead.