January 13, 2008
Movie Review, Blu-ray, Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid
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Where do you start when writing about Queen? I mean really, what can I really say? If you don't like Queen it is questionable if you like music is all that really comes to mind, and if you like Queen you want to get Queen Rock Montreal (whether it is the Blu-ray version, the HD-DVD, the 2 disk DVD [avoid the 1 disk DVD if you can, no Live Aid], the 2 disk CD set, or the triple LP).
Let's start with the basic's then...
Queen Rock Montreal is the 2007/modern version of the Queen concert film 'We Will Rock You'. Why the retitle? Who know's. But there have been a few minor changes to the film itself. Nearly every copy in the past was sped up slightly to get a 90 minute runtime, this version is timed properly. The official title for the concert film itself is 'Queen Rock Montreal', but the video releases are 'Queen Rock Montreal and Live Aid' because the video releases have the full video of Queen's 1985 Live Aid performance (which many people still feel is the single greatest live performance of all time.
On to the disk itself
For the purposes of the review, I am talking about the Blu-ray version, the HD-DVD is identical, the DVD as far as I know is identical except for the video resolution being in line with normal DVD releases, the CD set is 2 CDs and does not contain the Live Aid performance and any extras, the Vinyl set is 3 LPs and doesn't have the Live Aid or extras, both the CD and Vinyl set contain Flash and The Hero, which for whatever reasons, were performed at the 2 day concert that makes up the film, but were never included in the film itself..
The Movie- It is a Queen concert film, beyond this I don't have that much to stay. Mercury on stage dancing and running around, the band riffing before some songs. It is classic Queen and damn near perfect in every way.
The Audio- The audio on this release is a fucking treat. Both the Montreal concert and the Live Aid performance have 2 audio tracks. The first is a 2.0 PCM track (24-bit audio at 2.3Mbps). This is pure uncompressed Queen, uncompressed audio at 24 bits can get no better, the only thing it isn't is multidirectional, and that is what the second audio track is for. The second audio track is a DTS-HD 5.1 track (minor compression, 24 bits, the normal DVD has a normal DTS track). While not quite as booming as the PCM, the directionality (is that a word?) of the audio nearly makes up for it. The only question here is, why not just do a 5.1 PCM track? They clearly remixed it ludicrously well into 5.1. Maybe the thought would be people would want the ORIGINAL soundtrack plus a 5.1? I'm not quite sure and a few places have mentioned the PCM is a remix also, so I have no idea. I just know audio doesn't get better then it does here.
The Video- Normally I do video first, but it's a concert film. The video for the concert film itself is nearly pristine. If you can't handle film grain, you need not apply. The video is great, but not perfect. Sometimes blacks don't look nearly as good as they should and the picture at times is a bit soft. But overall, the best this has ever looked and quite possible the best it WILL ever look. The video for Queen Rock Montreal is 1080p using the VC-1 codec. (480i/p for the DVD release using MPEG-2). Live Aid's video isn't nearly as good as Rock Montreal's, but it isn't the point. It is decent enough to watch, which is good enough considering the awesomeness of the audio (Live Aid is 480i/p using MPEG-2).
The Extras- The booklet included with the release includes minor credits information, along with a small selection of photos of the band, nice but not special. There is a commentary from Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor for Queen Rock Montreal. It is a nice track, they talk about the recording of the film, and other details that were very entertaining. Some great humor in it also, but sometimes they go off on tangents when more details could be given. The next extra is the Live Aid performance itself, but since I've gone over that already I will move on. Next we have Live Aid rehearsels. This is a neat behind the scene things, it has a few minutes of Queen being interviewed, and 8 or so minutes of their rehearsels for the concert (with only decent audio for much of it). It is interesting, but I doubt I will rewatch it much. The last extra is a funny as hell interview with Queen for some '80s news magazine show. All extras are 480i/p in MPEG-2.
The Movie- 10 out of 10
The Audio- 9.5 out of 10 (only way it could have been better was if the 5.1 track was uncompressed)
The Video- 8 out of 10
The Extras- 10 out of 10 (Live Aid alone gets a 10 out of 10, the rest is just whipped cream)
Total Score (not average)- 10 out of 10
If you like Queen, or even music, you need to get this in some form, while this review if specifically about the Blu-ray version, I tossed in info about the other versions, because I would be happy to own any of them (I have the Blu-ray and CD version).
Bottom Line, make sure you have one version of this, any version.
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-- godofchaos
Tags:
Review, Movie, Blu-ray, Queen, Audio
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