 "A top choice" | 2009-11-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A375GW6316XABQ |
After forty years, I discovered "The Band." What a delight!
I remember references to their name, but did not realize that is what they called themselves. I remember one or two of the songs that made it on the radio in the sixties. At that time, I was totally into the Fab Four (John, Paul, Ringo and George).
These gentlemen are accomplished musicians. I enjoyed their "story songs" and how they meld varied styles, e.g., rhythm and blues, country, rock, and rock and roll to name a few, into super sounds and words. Most touching, however, is the palpable feeling of connection between these gentleman and their polished ensemble playing and singing that Scorsese's filming and direction reveals.
The sound is great, and this is one film that I will watch over and over again.
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| "EXCELLANT QUALITY" | 2009-11-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2C5Q6A8FH07OG |
| I FIRST SAW THE MOVIE ON LARGE SCREEN, THEN BOUGHT THE ALBUM,AND NOW I HAVE THE DVD JUST A GREAT PERFORMANCE BY ALL ENVOLVED I WOULD SAY A HISTORIC PERFORMANCE!!! |
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| "A Great Moment in Music History" | 2009-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ZJHRBLOXSDFV |
I remember when This first came out. I saw it in the Theatre and had it on tape and DVD before finally getting The Blu-Ray version. I love music deeply and I remember "The Band" and those early days of Rock and Roll. I have been in and out of Music myself and have some small appreciation of what it is to make music and what it is to have and run a band. This Movie is a wonderfull collection of roots music with some of the best talent in the world comming together to celebrate one of the most influential groups of the Era. The performances are stunning and the range of talent that came together for this "LAST WALTZ" is like a phone directory of Who's Who in the Music business. The filming and lighting and sound are fantastic. Even if you are not old enough to remember these guys and this type of music may not be your cup of tea I highly reccomend it anyway. You will get a sense of things from a unique perspective and a beautiful one at that. Also there are quite a few short interviews with some very interesting Tid bits about Music, the business, other musicians and various events that make this like a little biography complete with music and Video. Its a music lovers dream especially if you were alive back then.
This review is of The Blu-Ray version But if you dont have a Blu-Ray player I have owned The regular DVD version and it is of very good quality but The Blu-Ray is the best because Scorcesse recorded this on 35mm film which really makes a difference when you master a film to Blu-Ray.(they had originally planned to record the event on 16mm)
On a side note This film was done as a colaboration between Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorcesse. There are a lot of people who have a beef with this because some band members later on aired their dirty laundry after the film came out, But I think its totally irrelivent about the internal politics and personal rubs inside "The Band" itself. Anyone who has ever had a band will tell you that its like a family and Families usually have lots of quarrels and disagreements and do terrible things to each other behind closed doors. Also there is usually one person Who calls the shots. Bands are usually like that too. Robbie Robertson was the leader and owned most of the rights to the music. Thats why the documentary focuses on him more then the other memebers
(as you would expect ......if your sensible.) |
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| "ROCKIN" | 2009-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2RIA51HO077KR |
| Wish I could have been at this concert, all the legends plus the ultimate band "The Band". |
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| "One of the best DVDs ever made" | 2009-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By gputerbaugh_en_france |
I don't know anything about the infighting going on within The Band, but I can say that this is quite probably the best rock DVD ever made.
Well, what about "Hell Freezes Over," by the Eagles?
Absolutely stunning sound, and amazing performances --- which, for me, are finally ruined by the endless moralizing of Don Henley, who apparently cannot pick up a pen or a guitar without feeling it's time to tell people how to behave.
In contrast, "The Last Waltz" is all about music, and love, and loneliness --- and everything except moralizing. At the very end, the exhausted members of The Band come out for an encore, and one of them is quite definitely smoking a cigarette, and apparently carrying a bottle of Kickapoo Joy Juice. Try to imagine Don Henley doing that, the King of Moralizing Rock!
Just as a minor plus --- this film was directed by Martin Scorsese.
For additional goodies, search YouTube for "The Last Waltz - Jam with Clapton Neil Young." It's absolutely amazing who is on stage --- I think I saw Ringo on drums. This sort of stuff could never ever happen with The Eagles. |
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 "If only they weren't all stoned" | 2009-08-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1PWTL12AAV71T |
The music is fantastic and the way it was filmed was very striking. The Band is obviously well-rehearsed, and they're all impressive musicians. I never saw them perform live, and I enjoyed seeing how versatile they were: Levon Helm playing the mandolin, Rick Danko playing the fiddle and string bass. I was dismayed to see how Robbie Robertson was given the star treatment and allowed to eclipse his fellow Band members. He isn't impressive enough to justify so much attention, although he certainly was cute in those days! Another theme which kinda fell through was the "waltz" motif, including the Band performing the waltz tune just before the ending credits. That seemed very stilted.
The thing which really hit me hard was the self-destructive behavior of many of the performers. In watching this film for the first time more than 30 years after it was made, and knowing how Paul Butterfield, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel are no longer with us due to their long term alcoholism and drug abuse, and having heard the story about Neil Young (I heard it was a big lump of cocaine stuck up his nostril), it is really sad to watch them in action on the stage, and during the interviews. On the stage, Young & Paul Butterfield seem to be just about holding themselves together, and Eric Clapton is brilliant but obviously vegged out on heroin. Very sad. On the other hand, Joni Mitchell was riveting--intense and focused.
They're obviously stoned during the interviews (except Levon Helm, who seemed like the only one with genuine charm), and the interviews are all so boring--people who are stoned can't usually express themselves in a very articulate fashion. The personalities all seemed so shallow to me--disillusioning. The most revealing thing to me is how much I've evolved: that if I'd seen the film the year it was made, I probably would've thought they were all incredibly cool! |
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