Bringing Alive the Music, Musicians : For a look at the pop experience, films--not video or concert collections--offer the most insight. And this year had quite a lineup.

This may be the MTV Age in pop, but movies continue to give us a more compelling look at the pop experience than video or concert collections.

Though more than two decades old, “Don’t Look Back” and “Gimme Shelter”--two films re-released in laser disc during 1992--offer us glimpses of the arrogance and seduction of pop stardom that are still timely and arresting.

Meanwhile, such contemporary works as “Boyz N the Hood” and “Truth or Dare” join the body of memorable rock-related movies--one by taking us on a poignant visit through a tense inner-city world that is still unchartered territory for most Americans and the other by taunting us about how little we really know about our biggest media superstars.

Here is an overview of the year’s most noteworthy pop laser discs. The rating system is one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).

**** “Don’t Look Back” (Warner Reprise Video, $29.98). It takes more than talent to make a great documentary. You’ve also got to be in the right place--and director D.A. Pennebaker was certainly in the right place when he joined Bob Dylan on the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s 1965 English concert tour.

Yet Dylan was such a dominating presence in pop culture during 1965--the year of both “Bringing It On Back Home” and “Highway 61 Revisited”--that Pennebaker could probably have come away with a rock ‘n’ reel landmark regardless of where the pair crossed paths.

Following Dylan from encounters with reporters at press conferences to his dealings with the visitors and entourage that circle him in the hotel suite, Pennebaker gives us the feel of the arrogance and infatuation that surrounds--and sometimes engulfs--pop’s biggest stars.

**** “Gimme Shelter” (ABKCO, $34.99). The subject this time is the Rolling Stones and the year is 1969, but the corrupting aura of power remains as chilling in this documentary about a concert in Northern California that was supposed to be the Stones’ answer to Woodstock, but ended up in tragedy as a member of the audience was stabbed to death in front of the stage as the band--suddenly stripped of its power--stood by helplessly.

Directed by David Maysles, Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, the film also features some classic footage of the Stones performing more than a dozen songs, including “Honky Tonk Women” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”

**** “The Harder They Come” (Criterion, $49.99). This 1972 film contributed greatly to reggae’s pop-rock presence in the United States by underscoring the Third World sociopolitical consciousness and the infectious flavor of the Jamaican music.

Writer-director Perry Henzell used this tale of a poor, young reggae singer’s aspirations to comment upon corruption everywhere from the music industry to the police.

**** “Boyz N the Hood” (Criterion, $49.99). This 1991 John Singleton film is an excellent introduction into rap, especially for those who continue to dismiss the music as simply grading and exploitation.

In this film about aspirations and dread inside the hood, Singleton helps personalize much of the anger and rage of rap, including that of Ice Cube, whose portrayal of one of the boyz may be the film’s most memorable element. This laser disc edition continues some special features, including two scenes deleted from the film’s theatrical release and a commentary by Singleton on a second audio track.

*** 1/2 “Jailhouse Rock” (MGM/UA Home Video, $34.99). This sentimental 1957 story about a troubled young singer’s pursuit of his dreams was pure exploitation of Elvis Presley’s phenomenal popularity, but Presley’s raw energy and the lively music makes it memorable. This letterbox edition contains the original theatrical trailer.

*** 1/2 “Magic and Loss” (Warner Reprise Video, $34.98). Lou Reed captures the vision of his latest album, an eloquent reflection on the deaths of two friends, in this captivating live performance, shot on a sound stage in England.

*** “Truth or Dare” (Miramax/Live Home Video, $34.99). Despite the bickering between Madonna and some of her dancers over this 1991 documentary, the film is more interesting when she interacts with family and friends, from old school chums to camera-shy Warren Beatty. The most revealing aspect is Madonna’s choice of what she wants to share with us.

** 1/2 “Eric Clapton: Unplugged” (Warner Reprise Video, $29.98). One of two live Clapton performances to be released during 1992, this acoustic one was taken from the well-received MTV show and is a graceful example of this low-key, but graceful and mature artist.

** 1/2 “The John Lennon Video Collection” (Pioneer Artists, $29.99). These 19 videos range from “Give Peace a Chance” bed-in footage to an “Instant Karma” TV performance. Mostly, however, the music is accompanied by various public and private glimpses of Lennon and Yoko Ono. The music is still stirring, but the glimpses, while sometimes endearing, tend to be repetitive and a bit arbitrary over the course of 80 minutes.

** 1/2 “Garth Brooks” (Pioneer Artists, $24.99). This is just 30 minutes, but it offers three of Brooks’ best-known videos: “The Dance,” “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and the controversial “The Thunder Rolls.” Also includes an interview with Brooks about the videos and some brief concert footage.

** 1/2 “Red Hot + Dance” (Sony Music Video, $17.98). These live performances by such hit-makers as C+C Music Factory, Lisa Stansfield and EMF leave the collection far short of the power of last year’s “Red Hot + Blue,” which featured leading directors working with U2, Talking Heads and others on interpretations of Cole Porter songs. But the educational messages in this AIDS benefit package inject a stark, somber urgency to the proceedings.

** “Mariah Carey MTV Unplugged +3” (Sony Music Video, $24.98). Carey’s appearance on the MTV show is beefed up here with some interview footage and her videos of “Make It Happen,” “Can’t Let Go” and “Emotions.”

** “Elvis: The Lost Performances” (MGM/UA, $29.99). Fifty minutes of this collection consists of previously unavailable, but mostly conventional, material from Presley’s two early-’70s concert movies, “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is” and “Elvis on Tour.” The treat is the 10 minutes of a playful and relaxed Presley rehearsing with his band for one of the tours. It’s a revealing sample of Presley’s personality--his utter boredom with some of his earliest hits--and his still sharp musical instincts.

** “Jerry Lee Lewis + Friends” (Pioneer Artists, $29.99). The memorable moment in this otherwise routine British concert is when one rock legend--Van Morrison--duets with another--Lewis--on “Good Night Irene” and “What’d I Say.”

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Live Pop: Recent live performances available on laser disc include Harry Connick Jr.’s “Swinging Out Live,” Neil Diamond’s “Love at the Greek,” Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s “Live at the El Mocambo,” Billy Joel’s “Live at Yankee Stadium” and Tony Bennett’s “Watch What Happens” (all from Sony Music Video). Also recent and live: Garth Brooks’ “This Is Garth Brooks,” Reba McEntire’s “Reba in Concert,” Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ “Take the Highway Live” and Lone Justice’s “Lone Justice Live” (all from Pioneer Artists).