Dire Straits – Making Movies

Just received this. Nearly identical thoughts with my "Dire Straits" SYEOR review. Copy acquired in Apr 2025 by Amazon.ca. My copy does NOT come with a SYEOR sticker. It is a good and relatively quiet pressing but not a great one. While the cut by Bernie Grudman is great, the pressing could be better. Minus one star for the cheap matte print quality, which on my copy is "Printed in Canada". Overall very good but not great, but it's also affordable so...

Mediocre pressing, guitars a bit too compressed, sounds flat. I just did a side-by-side comparison with a nice clean OG and Wow, what a difference! Skip this and get an original for $15.

Buy as new and sealed, but a lot of micro scratch on the surface and a surface default at the end of tunnel of love. Not a nice copy.

Sounds FANTASTIC! I’ve owned several copies of this album throughout my life, including a couple MOFI copies. This one sounds just as great as that one, just with more relaxing and less flipping.

I mean seriously, all analog and cut by Bernie Grundman? I’d be willing to bet quite a few people would prefer this version over the KW cut. Found at my local shop still in shrink for $14.

Literally the only shitty part about this pressing is the packaging. No lined inner sleeve or tip-on jackets, but like I said, this was $14.

Now I like to hate on GZ as much as the next person, and I have good reason to. However, I just picked one of these up used from the LRS in new condition, ultrasonic cleaned it in a double cycle, played it and was very happy with the purchase. Sometimes I see Rhino and their glory days, never even looked to see how recent this one was. While the mix is not of the highest level it’s still quite good, not pedestrian at all from my perspective. It has good dynamics, sound stage, and separation. It’s not a Mofi 45 or UHQR but it’s as good or better than the 33 ⅓ versions that come from those efforts. Pressing is dead flat. It appears mine was done at the Toronto plant and have seen decent pressings from there on occasion. A slightly noisy sound floor on the lead in on side one is the only production issue I noticed, not enough to complain about and hardly noticeable in the songs. Side 2 is dead quiet and shines a little bit more accordingly. Comparing Romeo & Juliet to the recent Money for Nothing release on green vinyl people rave about, including me, I have to give the nod to this release especially in dynamics and detail. This surprised me. That 2023 release I have also suffers a slightly noisy sound floor so I suppose it’s a good comparison of the two mixes of that song. Tunnel of Love was a little closer for me comparing the two but still have the give the nod to this release. Both excellent releases and I’m pointing out minor personal preferences. I look forward to a 45 audiophile version but this is my goto 33 ⅓ at the moment.

Making movies is a favorite of mine from way back. Picked this up at full price today, put on the table tonight and wish I hadn't spent the money. Sounds closed-off and lifeless.

The CD and lossless digital streaming versions blow this away. Looks like a lot of these new Warner releases are garbage? Guess I'll avoid buying any unless I check here first.

I respectfully disagree with those here that are less enthused. I first hearing Making Movies in the 80's on cassette and while I loved the music, I couldn't stand the way it sounded- crammed, thin and without dynamics to open some space between the instruments. And when I finally heard it on CD, same thing. So the album pretty much got shelved from active listening. But on a whim I recently picked it up on vinyl and as soon as that needle dropped, it became apparent that the original mix was made for a good piece of wax. The higher frequencies, even if subtle, glissade nicely and help to set off Knopfler's guitar work and once that is up above the surface, the rest of the instrumentation falls into place. In a way I just don't hear through the other mediums.

I agree with the previous review of this pressing. Great 3rd album by Dire Straits, but this pressing isn't great.

Not sure if I would even call this a good pressing! Overall, It's too sharp sounding and feels like the whole album was recorded inside a tin can.
Where is the hell is the bass guitar on this album?

It's an OK reissue, but not great sounding. I'm pretty sure the original pressing of Making Movies would smoke the shit out of this pressing. I was expecting a better quality pressing from Rhino. (I ended up getting a few of these Dire Straits reissues recently: Brothers In Arms, On Every Street, Love Over Gold, etc and they sound great. "Making Movies" seems to be the dud of the bunch sound wise.

On a side note, I opened this record (brand new from the shrink wrap) and there was a scuff mark on the vinyl. $39.99 was the original new price from another record store. I certainly didn't pay that, but $40 for a record which doesn't sound good seems insane to me. It also was a fair amount of background surface noise for a brand new record. I opened it, so I'll keep it until I can come across a better pressing and then dump this one.

There isn't anything wrong with this reissue but it's fallen short of what I was hoping. A bit too sharp/hot in the tone for my liking. I have several other versions (inc MOFI), but thought i'd give this a try as i really like the album. Bit disappointing..

Saw these reissues at my usual brick and mortar. I guess the price is OK but the scans are so terrible I said no way. Maybe the records are ok? I'll continue with filling in my collection of the mofis and then maybe pick up what isn't on mofi (the last record). Plus... GZ media... no thanks.