If my high school had had an A/V Club, not only would I have been a member, I would have been the president. Oh, how I would secretly rejoice when our high school football coach, who was also my History teacher, would admit he couldn't thread a film projector and would have me do it.

Recently I bought some old 8mm and Super8 film gear to add to my videography tools. The old cameras are so much heavier than the Handicams of today. I couldn't imagine how the original video bootleggers would be able to smuggle in such large, bulky cameras. I would be willing to bet that the security checks back then were far less stringent than today.

Some of the greatest of all Pink Floyd tours would have to be from 1972 Dark Side tours through the 1977 Animals tour. Unfortunately there was virtually no professional coverage of these concerts. With the growing tension of the band and the enormous success they were achieving, it is a shame that there is no pro-shot footage of any of these concerts.

Luckily there were a few fans in various cities during this time period who owned 8mm film cameras and managed to sneak a camera into a show and record as much film as they could. Unfortunately, the length of the format was limited to 20 minutes, and with the short nature of the film the concerts were recorded in brief cuts rather than full songs. These films have been in circulation in trading circles for years but the quality, especially when traded on VHS tape, left much to be desired. The camera itself was very limited in its picture quality, and when you factor in the dark lighting of the concert and the distance from the stage you get some pretty washed out video. Originally some of these films were traded as silent films but eventually some audio was loosely dubbed.

With the advent of DVD these films were compiled by a fan and named Murky Reels, an appropriate name considering the dark and distorted images that are found on the disc. Kudos to fan who compiled and released his collection to traders, but the lesser quality makes Murky Reels something to pass on as soon as an upgrade becomes available.

That's where RonToon and Harvested come in: the release is simply titled 8mm, and is a 'must have' addition to your collection. Over the years Harvested had been able to accumulate the very lowest generation of these films and compiled them into the definitive collection of 1970s Pink Floyd tours originally recorded on 8mm film. Over 2 years in the making, 8mm has once again proved that Harvested is the finest of all Pink Floyd archivists.

Hollywood Bowl 1972 is a great film from the Dark Side tour, handheld from center/right center position. We are treated to 20 minutes of some nice close-ups and full stage shots. The colors are very good, and even in the darkly lit sections we can still see Roger wearing a black shirt and slacks. There are 9 sections of songs in this reel and the excellent, stereo-quality audio was dubbed from the Harvested CD Bowl de Luna.

LA Sports Arena 1975 was captured in a 16-minute 8mm film clip shot from a bit of a distance on the right stage side, but offers a nice, full stage shot that shows all the band members tightly formed and playing cuts from seven different songs. The audio track used was from the master and is surprisingly good quality. One small clip in the film even appears to be someone suspended from a wire and flying over the concert venue. Again, it is too bad that more film from these older tours doesn't exist, as it would have been nice to see more of the pyrotechnics and inflatables.

Vienna 1977 was shot from the floor and contains 16 minutes of fantastic close-ups. Unfortunately, it might rate as the worst in overall quality, because the best source available appears to be a third generation VHS from the Harvested collection. I know I traded for this on VHS many times and would always get the same quality if not worse, never an upgrade, so we have to figure that this version of the film will be as good as it will get. The audio is from the camera master and is also surprisingly good considering the recording source.

Anaheim 1977 is the shortest of all clips, coming in at just over four minutes. One can only wonder why more wasn't recorded; perhaps the camera malfunctioned. It's a shame, because this film has some incredible close-ups as well as full stage shots showing the umbrella stage set that was used during this tour. The audio is from Harvested's Animal Instincts release, and it sounds great. The synch job was also very good on this clip.

Munich 1977 is an incredible, newly-surfaced film that incorporates the original film right off the PAL video master, in addition to photos and video clips to offer over ten minutes of the Animals tour experience. Being from the master, it is by far the best quality film clip of the compilation. Nine songs are highlighted, and the cameraman caught great shots of pyro and the mirror ball, as well as fairly detailed film of the band in action.

Once again, Harvested proves that they strive for the highest quality in all their productions, and 8mm certainly doesn't disappoint. This DVD is a must have for any fan of Pink Floyd. The '70s were the Golden Era of Pink Floyd, and 8mm is your ticket to part of the experience.