'Stop Making Sense' at 40: Restored for 2023, it's still the best concert movie of all time

It can feel a little silly calling anything the greatest concert film of all time, right?

Unless, of course, the concert film in question is “Stop Making Sense,” a timeless document of Talking Heads at their creative zenith, burning down the house over three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983 while on tour in support of a platinum breakthrough called "Speaking in Tongues."

I saw that tour on stage at Pittsburgh's Stanley Theatre a few months prior to the filming of those shows.

But even that transformative experience, as memorable as it remains, could scarcely have prepared me for the first time I witnessed the magic of Jonathan Demme's masterfully directed film when it arrived in theaters in 1984.

I’ve seen this movie countless times since then, smiling my way through each subsequent viewing as though I’d never seen David Byrne do that wonderful dance with the floor lamp or let his limbs turn to absolute Jell-o while rocking the big suit with goofy abandon on “Girlfriend Is Better.”

'Stop Making Sense' has been restored for its 40th anniversary

Now as the 40^th anniversary of the film’s premiere approaches, it’s been lovingly restored in IMAX and 4K.

And it somehow feels fresher than ever, in part because the sound is absolutely breathtaking.

All four Talking Heads — Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth — got together on stage for the first time in more than two decades for an interview with Spike Lee following the Sept. 11 premiere of the restoration at the Toronto International Film Festival, which was simulcast to IMAX theaters around the world.

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The remastered 'Stop Making Sense' soundtrack is breathtaking

Harrison oversaw the complete remastering of the soundtrack and explained the process in that chat with Lee.

“I would say one of the wonderful things is the fact that there is new technology meant we almost have a burden to adapt and to bring it up to what people can hear now in theaters,” he said.

One thing Harrison noticed is that with the multi-channel audio, if you wanted to listen to Parliament-Funkadelic keyboard ace Bernie Worrell or Brothers Johnson guitar god Alex Weir, you can focus on their individual contributions to the magic in ways that would’ve been impossible in earlier editions of the film.

And I know because on more than one occasion, I found myself zeroing in on Tina Weymouth’s basslines.

Talking Heads were firing on all cylinders in 1983

Talking Heads were firing on all cylinders in 1983, having fleshed out their ranks with Worrell, Weir, percussionist Steve Scales and backup singers Ednah Holt and Lynn Mabry while expanding the scope of their sound from the jittery post-punk of their CBGB days to the cerebral art-funk fusion of “Remain in Light” and now “Speaking in Tongues.”

They’d also assembled an amazing live show — conceived for the stage, as it says at the top of the film, by David Byrne.

It opens on a closeup of Byrne’s feet as he makes his way to the stage of the Pantages Theatre alone, performing "Psycho Killer" to a beat we're made to think is coming from the boom box he's placed at his feet.

Then, Weymouth makes her entrance, sharing the edge of the spotlight on "Heaven," followed by drummer Chris Frantz on "Thank You For Sending Me an Angel" and guitarist Jerry Harrison on "Found a Job."

By the time they hit the heavy-grooving arthouse funk of "Burning Down the House," the stage is crowded with auxiliary players throwing their entire bodies in the groove while dusting off highlights as timeless as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Big Business/I Zimbra” and “Life During Wartime.”

After ceding the spotlight to Weymouth and Frantz for a crowd-pleasing "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club, their underrated side gig, Byrne returns to the stage in what remains his most iconic look — the "big suit" — for "Girlfriend Is Better."

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There's so much joy in every aspect of this Talking Heads performance

Among the many qualities that make “Stop Making Sense” such an exhilarating film to witness is the unabashed outpouring of joy in that performance.

Byrne is clearly the untouchable live wire here, but this should never be mistaken for a one-man show. And to his credit, Demme lets the spotlight shine on every individual on that stage as they bring the whole thing to an overheated climax with "Girlfriend Is Better," “Take Me to the River” and “Crosseyed and Painless.”

There’s so much energy and movement driving this performance. And not just the dancing but band members running in place side-by-side and Byrne racing in circles around the stage at full intensity on a show-stopping “Life During Wartime.”

Same as it ever was? If anything, it’s better now.

"Stop Making Sense: The IMAX Live Experience" is now screening at AMC Dine-In Desert Ridge 18, 21001 N. Tatum, Phoenix. For more information, go to amctheatres.com.

'Stop Making Sense,' 5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Jonathan Demme.

Starring: David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz.

Rating: PG for brief suggestive material.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @EdMasley.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Stop Making Sense' at 40: Why it's the greatest concert movie ever