Led Zeppelin: Dazed & Confused (2008/Cinema Epoch/U.S. NTSC DVD version)/Fix: The Ministry Movie (2012/Gigantic/Blairwood DVD)/Unauthorized: The Story Of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics (2005/MVD Visual DVD)

 

Picture: C+/C+/C-     Sound: C+/C+ (CD: B-)/C     Extras: C-/C/C+     Main Programs: B-/C+/B-

 

 

Now for a look at look at the harder edge of the Rock Music genre…

 

 

After waiting to see what would happen, the fine documentary Led Zeppelin: Dazed & Confused (2008) has finally made it to the U.S. in an NTSC DVD version from Cinema Epoch (who were smart enough to nab it) after we so enjoyed it as a PAL DVD import from Australia.  You can read all about it at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10020/Led+Zeppelin+%E2%80%93+Dazed

 

 

The transfer is almost exactly the same, but the only difference is in the extras.  This does not retain any of the import version and only offers a stills section.  Needless to say it is a must-have for all serious fans of the band, though it is a little shorter than I would have liked.

 

 

Fix: The Ministry Movie (2012) tells us the story of the band Ministry, but gets sidetracked by the eccentric and erratic behavior of its lead singer, Alien Jourgensen.  This may be honest and can be literally bloody and otherwise graphic, but it gets to the point where it affects the final cut of the main documentary and the makers may even assume knowledge on the band when they should not.  Jello Biafra, Dave Navarro and Trent Reznor are among the music greats who are interviewed and it has some good moments, but the final result is disappointing and that is a shame because they deserve better.  A bonus CD (whose PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo sound is on the rough side throughout), poster and more interviews on the DVD are the extras.

 

 

Finally we have The Story Of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics (2005), which tells us the true story of how Todd Loren moved from an independent mail-order business of selling music memorabilia and albums (et al) to giving that all up to do comic books.  The first company label was Revolutionary, which specialized in unauthorized biographies of some of the biggest names in the music business.  Music artists were not happy, several sued and a case where they battled the owners and members of New Kids On The Block led to a landmark court decision.

 

He expanded to other types of comics and with that came some threats, but he would not quit.  Eventually, he and the company got some respect from some artists, but he was cheating writers and his own artists out of money.  It all finally stopped when he was mysteriously killed in a case that was never solved.

 

What Loren had actually done was to bring back the Comix style of the 1970s and did new things with it.  I remember these books all over the better stores I would shop at (too many of which have folded since, but not because of these comics) and thought they were a mixed bag and I knew they were not authorized as every cover bragged about.  This is well done, all those involved in the company and some major music figures (like Alice Cooper and Mojo Nixon) are interviewed and the result is a fine piece about one of the great untold stories in recent publishing history.  This is a really good program also worth going out of your way for and I also wish this was longer.

 

Extras include an illustrated booklet inside the DVD case, while the disc itself adds TV Clips, Commercials, Trailers, News Stories tied to the story being told here, a gallery of cover art of the company’s output and alternate & extended interviews.

 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Led and Fix have their older footage with damage and limits, but besides occasional aliasing errors and detail issues, both look fine.  The 1.33 X 1 image on Comics has some good shots, but WOW, is some of the footage here bad often.  We get aliasing errors, all kinds of motion blur and too many of the sources of stock footage is below low def quality.

 

The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on all three DVDs has its share of rough audio, location audio and other distortions, but plays well otherwise with Led edging out the rest by a very, very narrow margin, but Comics is the weakest with even more monophonic sound and rough sound throughout, plus poor compressed and distorted audio to match some of those poor video clips.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo