2025 has been an interesting year for Floyd as there hasn't been much movement. No major tours, no massive box set (at least not yet), and no major drama. That’s not to say that nothing has happened, however, because their attention has largely been focused on the silver screen. So far we have seen a re-release of Live at Pompeii and Waters finally got around to releasing his concert film for the This Is Not A Drill tour. This isn’t the end, however, as next month David Gilmour will release a film containing footage from the Circus Maximus shows last year. Film has always been a part of Pink Floyd’s creative endeavors going back to when they were soundtracking films in the ‘60s, but it does feel like there’s been a specific emphasis on it this year which I find interesting.

I managed to catch both Pompeii and This Is Not A Drill in theaters and I certainly have some thoughts on them (I’ll hopefully get to Circus Maximus when that comes out). In short, I’ve been pretty happy with what we’ve gotten, though one film felt a bit lacking. I think you can guess which one that is.

Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII

Seeing this film in a theater has been a dream of mine ever since I first saw it. It is one of the best concert films ever put together, but that might not even be a good description of what it is. There is no audience, only the empty amphitheater. It doesn’t play up the rock lifestyle, it doesn’t show wild theatrics (at least, mostly), and it isn’t glamorous. Instead it’s intimate. We get perhaps some of the best footage of any band ever recorded with a haunting atmosphere that could only be captured in Pompeii. It is a truly captivating film and an essential watch for any Pink Floyd fan. The unfortunate part of it is that, for years, fans have had to deal with compromises. Beyond the fact there are multiple cuts of this, the home video releases have been rough. The most notable example of this is the DVD, which was “modernized” with lame computer graphics that take our attention away from the performances on screen. They might have been cool at the time but they’ve become the complaint when it comes to Pompeii.We didn’t even get a Blu-Ray release, despite the film’s cult classic status. Hell, the band never released Pompeii as an album, only including a controversial new mix of it in The Early Years box set.

All of that this year with Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII: a restoration of the 1974 cut of the film with a new mix by Steven Wilson. This was an exciting announcement for the reasons listed prior, but I initially had a tiny bit of skepticism. It seems like even the best releases these days have some scummy profiting scheme attached to it or some shady element somewhere. Not this. There was no major box set for the film (only a standalone album with extras included, something which was wanted anyways) and there was no AI or anything like it used in the restoration. This film got released with no strings attached. Sounds too good to be true but it literally was that good.

I got to see this in IMAX during its opening day and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at a theater. That was clear when the film started and the heartbeat from “Speak To Me” bounced around the room. Then “Echoes” started and it really hit me. Honestly, it was kind of emotional. The clarity of the footage was incredible and so many little details lost on DVD were finally viewable (there’s a butterfly that flutters through as the camera pulls in and you can see it very clearly). The mix was a home run too. As David and Rick sang, I was not just able to hear both with stunning precision, I was able to single them out, leading me to focus on Rick’s part. The instrumentation was the same. The separation in the theater was immaculate and with each song I was noticing something new, both visually and audibly. It remains as good as it is at the start to the point where I don’t have notes. This was, in my eyes, a perfect release. Complete home run for Pink Floyd. It is astounding.

This felt special. As I mentioned, it often feels like there’s some catch to Pink Floyd releases these days but this was exactly what I dreamed of. It makes me wish for more. I pray that the success of Pompeii indicates to them that other films left in their vault should come through. The 1982 film for The Wall has not been released to Blu-Ray, the concert film remains incomplete, The Final Cut’s video EP is out of print. These were some high effort projects that fans can’t experience in all their glory. I also hope that Wilson continues to work with the band. There’s a Q&A with him and Nick Mason where he was asked if he’d ever remix anything else, and his answer was no but that he’d love to do the early work like Ummagumma. If anyone could make something like that work, it would be him. I’d love this to be a turning point for the band but I can’t make any predictions. All I can say is that this was an amazing effort that exceeded expectations for me.

This Is Not A Drill - Live From Prague

Note: I will be referring to the tour as This Is Not A Drill, while the film will be referred to as This Is Not A Drill in italics.

Speaking of expectations, This Is Not A Drill - Live From Prague actually ended up being a bit disappointing. Not to the point that I felt scammed or anything like that, I did enjoy this one and would recommend it, but I came away from it feeling like I had gotten nothing new from the tour. Perhaps this is a bit of my own issue. I fell in love with this tour from the moment it started. It’s certainly one of my favorite tours ever and was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in person. I don’t think I’d call it his most conceptual tour but there was certainly a lot of intentional worldbuilding and a heavy focus on how themes flow into each other. There’s not a story but the show takes place in a dystopian city where skyscrapers lay abandoned with the people on the streets, the commoners, being brutalized and left to die on their own. The rich remain in a tall, crucifix-shaped skyscraper, looking down at the chaos they create. It isn’t subtle in its messaging but I’ve always gotten the vibe that there’s more here, especially with Waters’ emphasis on the currently unreleased song “The Bar” and its characters. This feels like the backdrop of that song, in fact I vaguely remember an interview where he said he initially planned to have live actors on stage who would convey that song’s story. We never got that but I wish we did.

Going into this one, I felt that there was going to be something to it. I felt this way for a few reasons. This show was actually live streamed to theaters at the time. I saw it at the time and thought it was good, though certainly not as polished as a full film release. Going into this, I knew it would be a major improvement, but I hoped that it would expand upon the shows. This may seem unreasonable but it's something that Waters’ has excelled at. With Roger Waters’ The Wall and US + THEM he and Sean Evans had added context to the performances with new filmed segments conveying what essentially become “side plots.” Both of these do a good job at it and make the film feel like a separate entity away from the tour. It’s not merely a concert film but a narrative created that only adds to the exciting performances. I wasn’t necessarily expecting all of the characters in “The Bar” to show up in This Is Not A Drill but I was under the impression that they’d add more context like they had previously. There certainly were ways to do this, even in ways that wouldn’t require actors and even more camera operators. This Is Not A Drill ended up being a shitshow with various claims of antisemitism, court cases, and cancelled gigs. There was certainly a lot Waters and his band could say about the experience, and I wondered if this could play into it. In the end, we kind of got that?

Unlike his other films over the past ten years, This Is Not A Drill was just the show as it was performed. There are a few cuts which get rid of some repetitive banter but there are no major additions or cutaways. If you saw the tour, you saw the film. The added context comes from occasional text before the show and during the intermission but these add very little. Waters’ banter is the only commentary, and while he goes over the protests and court cases, it isn’t much. On one hand I think this is the right move. At this point the conversation around Waters’ pro-Palestinian politics has grown tired and far past the point of bad faith in numerous ways. The ultimate issue of all of it is that the conversation ends up being a distraction from the atrocities committed by Israel. I’d much rather talk about the IDF killing journalists or Israel’s government constantly pushing for ethnic cleansing than Waters, even if I think his statements can be dumb. If I was Waters I’d probably be sick of thinking about all of this nonsense regarding the tour. On the other hand it feels like the film has little to say regarding what it is, which is a shame. It was clear that a lot of thought was put into it and it feels like lost potential to not capitalize on both the good and bad of it.

I think I sound way too negative on this so I want to reiterate that I did like it. The mix was great and amplifies some incredible performances. The version of “Is This The Life We Really Want?” here remains a gem, arguably better than the original. The biggest highlight is the footage itself. It was amazing to me how they were able to get such good shots of a very strange stage layout. It’s some of the best footage of any of Waters’ bands and it really made me appreciate the musicianship more. The ending was especially cool with the band performing close together. As I mentioned, this is one of my all time favorite tours, so I was going to like this no matter what. But as mentioned, I think more could have been done, and it's that lost potential that will keep me up at night. I’d recommend it if you liked the tour. If you didn’t though, I doubt it will do anything for you.