Fulvue Drive-In.com
Current Reviews
In Stores Soon
 
In Stores Now
 
DVD Reviews, SACD Reviews Essays Interviews Contact Us Meet the Staff
An Explanation of Our Rating System Search  
Category:    Home > Reviews > Concert > Rock > Soul > Queen Rock Montreal (Eagle Vision/DVD-Video, Blu-ray, and HD-DVD)

Queen Rock Montreal (Eagle Vision/DVD-Video, Blu-ray, and HD-DVD)

 

Picture: B/A-/A-     Sound: B/A-/A-     Extras: C+/B/B     Concert Film: A-

 

 

Having already reviewed the excellent Queen: We Will Rock You DTS DVD from Pioneer Entertainment, I was highly excited about the new release of this performance under the banner or “Rock Montreal”, which would also be released as a single-DVD set and a double-DVD set, which would also feature LIVE AID, plus the Blu-ray and HD-DVD, which feature both programs on one disc since those formats have better storage capabilities.  I think at this point I have virtually covered just about everything released from Queen on DVD and both of the DVD-Audios and it just keeps getting better and better! 

 

Queen has been of the few bands out there that are adamant about getting their material remastered and released in competent form and they also release their material in DTS 96/24, which is a huge bonus.  They also understand the improvement that DTS offers and rarely do they skip DTS and hardly ever do Dolby-only, which is another huge plus!  So how does the footage look in this newly mastered form?  Well, in comparing the two DVD’s side by side it’s very obvious from the beginning the color depth looks truly great and detail is a huge improvement from what was an already great transfer to begin with.  Keep in mind that this was a concert film that was meant to be seen BIG and LOUD, therefore it was important to make that happen as it was originally a MobileVision feature and shot in 35mm.  Brian May and Roger Taylor were the execute producers on the audio mastering, which used ProTools HD. 

 

There is greater fidelity and richness in the DTS offerings here as well in the basic DVD over the previous release as well and it sounds more pronounced overall.  The default setting is PCM 2.0 and then you can select DTS 96/24 5.1 from the main menu, which really has some great use of surrounds and gives great spatial depth of the performance, which you can read the review from Queen: We Will Rock You found elsewhere on this site for more on that. 

 

Track Listing:

 

We Will Rock You

Let Me Entertain You

Play The Game

Somebody To Love

Killer Queen

I’m In Love With My Car

Get Down Make Love

Save Me

Now I’m Here

Dragon Attack

Love Of My Life

Under Pressure

Keep Yourself Alive

Drum Solo

Guitar Solo

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Jailhouse Rock

Bohemian Rhapsody

Tie Your Mother Down

Another One Bites The Dust

Sheer Heart Attack

We Will Rock You (Reprise)

We Are the Champions

God Save the Queen

 

 

 

As impressive as the new DVD is, the Blu-ray and HD-DVD take that to a new height that I never thought was even possible, but it’s just amazing how much further the limits of certain formats can be pushed with HD capabilities.  I’ll begin with the transfer…

 

Both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray offer the presentation in 1080p 1.78 X 1 anamorphic glory and that is an understatement for sure.  The transfer that these two discs demonstrate is just staggering and will turn anyone into a Queen fan, that’s without even hearing it!  The quality here only demonstrates just how concerned Queen was and still is with their material and that they hold back very little when it comes to delivering the best quality when they can.  It’s obvious from the beginning of this concert yet again why this was chosen as an early HD-release as the concert footage has always looked good, but now it’s taken to a new height and realization of how great a band can look on stage with a huge range of colors, great depth, brilliant detail, and that only makes for a solid release that fans will delight in and will certainly convert new fans.  I was equally impressed with the Blu-ray release of AC/DC’s: Live in Donington, reviewed elsewhere on this site, and I am going to go on record saying that these rival that and are a MUST for anyone who wants an early demo to get more people interested into the world of HD-DVD and Blu-ray. 

 

This is the first band to ever shoot an entire concert performance in 35mm and not only that, this is Queen at probably their peak as far as performance goes, so it doesn’t really get any better than this, it’s also one of the few HD-DVD/Blu-ray concerts released that takes full advantage in both audio and video to really capture such an amazing feat.  Queen skips over the limitations of Dolby Digital and wisely chooses linear 2-channel PCM for this release as well as the far superior DTS-HD 96/24, which will make your receiver light up like a Christmas Tree with all the indicator lights telling you that this is a real treat, and then once you actually hear it, you’ll see and hear what I am talking about, especially since these are taken and carefully handled and supervised from the original multi-track tapes! 

 

It’s hard to really distinguish much difference between the HD-DVD or Blu-ray as both demonstrate the full-range of the respected formats and both have audio with clarity, fidelity, and depth seldom found these days, and certainly not found on basic DVD’s.  The picture quality is equally outstanding and shows such a wide range of colors and depth that would make anyone wonder how it could be from 1981.  These discs also offer a new commentary track (May and Taylor) that brings us up to date a bit from the older commentary from the Pioneer DVD edition, which is a great reason to have both the older and the newer, if for no other reason than comparison.  

 

Also included on the Blu-ray and HD-DVD, as well as the second discs of the double-disc DVD set (which we did not receive) is the LIVE AID performance from 1985, which many regard as one of the great live performances of this band and that is a hard argument to protest against for sure.  Also featured here is some never-before-seen rehearsal footage and of course the highly memorable version of Brian May and Freddy Mercury doing Is This the World We Created.

 

There is little reason to NOT pick up either the Blu-ray or the HD-DVD for this release, it’s just that spectacular and is sure to not disappoint even the most curious Queen fan.  If for no other reason it demonstrates just how good a concert can look and sound and brings that experience into the home like never before!  Funny thing is, Queen is still a band that is setting new benchmarks even all these years after the death of Mercury.

 

 

For more from Queen, try these links:

 

 

A Night At The Opera (DVD-Audio 5.1 Multi-Channel Album)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/185/Queen+-+A+Night+At+The+Opera

Plus Classic Albums making-of DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3771/Classic+Albums:+Queen+-+A+Night

 

Freddie Mercury Tribute 10th Anniversary Concert DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/132/Queen:+Tribute+To+Freddie+Mercury

 

The Game (DVD-Audio 5.1 Multi-Channel Album)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/214/Queen+-+The+Game+(DVD-Audio)

 

Queen – Greatest Hits Volume One DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/59/Queen+-+Greatest+Video+Hits+1

 

Under Review: 1973 - 1980

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3485/Queen+-+Under+Review:+1973

 

We Will Rock You (DTS DVD)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/133/Queen:+We+Will+Rock+You+(DTS)

 

 

 

-   Nate Goss


Marketplace


 
 Copyright © MMIII through MMX fulvuedrive-in.com