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