I've got them too. Havn't watched them in years but I did enjoy them. Infact I'm not sure if I have all 3 or just 2 of them, need to have a look in the attic!!
At the time of release these three volumes were the only documentary and live footage compilations that were available. The first of a batch from the DoRo guys. And what a wonderful series they were too. For the first time we could see unseen live footage and interviews never seen before and as for the footage of the band in the studio recording 'One Vision'......that was superb.
Looking at it now, it looks dated and contains all the annoying trademarks that are associated with DoRo.
It would be nice to have an updated version to include the above and other stuff (from Champions Of The World) on a double DVD set for today's audience (us) who have higher expectations now.
I used to love the Magic Years - funny and entertaining. I remember that I wore the tape thin until I understood that Brian said that they worked on a song until "Mary Potts of Biggleswade" would not complain (who??) :-) Up to this day I never understood the line Roger suggested for the One Vision lyrics that made Freddie and Brian laugh so hard...
The Magic Years was quite good for it's time. However, it is out of date and a band like Queen deserve a good documentary. I'd love to see a 2 disc, 4 hour special which goes from 1946 up til now with lots of new interviews with Brian, Roger, Paul Rodgers, Spike, members of the Cross, Montserrat Caballe and other people who worked with the band - tastefully done like The Beatles' Anthology, The Who's Amazing Journey or The Beach Boys' Endless Harmony. We'll probably get a re-edit of Magic Years with bits of Champions of the World and The Untold Story thrown in though :(
My opinion is that the producers were given some great material to use and they turned out a pile of shite. You only have to look at the Beatles anthology to see what can be done with archive footage.
I thought they were pretty good for the time period in which they were released. Name some other band that had a three volume video set back then... there weren't too many. Much better than Champions Of The World because it got grim and the boring Piano music started seeping in.
Plus, the only other thing we had were the videos and Rare Live!!!