Classic Albums: Black Sabbath – Paranoid + When
You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors (2010/Eagle Blu-rays)
Picture:
C+/B- Sound: C+ Extras: B-/C Documentaries: B-/C+
After
releasing dozens of titles in the Classic
Albums series (many of which we have covered on this site), Eagle is
issuing Black Sabbath – Paranoid as
the first Blu-ray installment and though it is not the album I would have
started with, the album is a Rock genre classic. However, it is also a bit played out,
overrated and the later solo career of Ozzy Osbourne did more to end Rock than
expand it, no matter what his fans may say.
Nevertheless,
he other members of the band reflect on the success and influence of the 1971
album that put them on the map for good (marketed to well at the time by Warner
Bros. who knew what they were doing) and included cuts like Planet Caravan, War Pigs the title song and of course, Iron Man. As usual, the
program goes just about track-by-track with new interviews, demonstrations and
sometimes older footage. Fans will like
it and you get to learn more about the album as always, helped by interviews
with newer name fans like Henry Rollins, but the band lasted as it was here for
the decade and never had an album to match it commercially or critically.
Since it was also produced in HD, Eagle had an option to
also issue Classic Albums: The Doors
(1967) on Blu-ray, but are instead issuing the very different When You’re Strange – A Film About The
Doors that is yet another documentary on the band and not the best one
either. Even with narration by Johnny
Depp, it is everything you have seen and heard about the band before,
especially if you have seen the Oliver Stone film. So much has been said and since there is
nothing new to say, all this can do is repeat the past programs that originated
in 1.33 film and or analog video. The
only plus is that Rhino Records (the Warner sub-division that handles the
Elektra back catalog) has pulled often-seen footage and retransferred it in
High Definition, which was long overdue here and is long overdue for 99% of all
such archive footage at all the major record labels all the way up to their
filmed Music Videos.
Director
Tom DiCillo has only previously directed TV and some not-so-noteworthy feature
films, so I did not expect much. He
sadly takes too many liberties with the material and the montages that try to
make (among other things) The Doors seem like The Beatles is a major
misstep. The result is a mixed program
that lacks substance, richness and any serious subtext. It even distances the viewer when it should
not.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Paranoid
is a mix of new HD-shot footage with some motion blur and detail limits with older
film and video footage. The worst choice
I am not happy about is having the classic 1.33 X 1 analog video being
letterboxed when it should be bookended, making problematic, dated footage look
much worse than it would otherwise. The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Strange
also has some motion blur, but the newly-upgraded classic film is a plus and
will surprise fans by its clarity.
Both have PCM 2.0 Stereo mixes, but Strange also has DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 which is
much preferred. The Doors albums were
all issued in 5.1 MLP versions in the now-defunct DVD-Audio format, so really
good copies of all their songs were already on hand and they seem to have used
those mixes here.
Extras on both happen to include additional
interviews. Paranoid has 42 more minutes of interview footage not in the main
feature, some of which should have stayed there, while Strange has an interview with Morrison’s father, who has never
discussed his son on camera before. Our
Blu-ray case also came with a poster and booklet.
For more on The Doors, try these links:
The Doors – 1991
Oliver Stone film Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7326/The+Doors+(1991/Blu-ray/Lionsgate)
Classic Albums: The
Doors (1967) DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6848/Classic+Albums+%E2%80%93+The+D
Live In Europe – 1968 DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1300/Doors+-+Live+In+Europe+1968
Soundstage
Performances/No One Here Gets Out Alive DVDs
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2038/The+Doors:+Soundstage+Performance
- Nicholas Sheffo
