rdtprog
This is the review of the Blu-Ray version of the movie that i saw for the first time in theater a long time ago. There is a improvement of the picture quality compare to the DVD version, but nothing as good as a Blu-Ray of today. What is so interesting about this movie is that it's not only a music concert, it's a lot more. There is some fiction images throughout the movie along with behind the scenes and real day life action footage with each members of the band. The musicians played a role by illustrating the story of the songs like characters in a movie.
The movie starts with the arrival of the crew and the band in Manhattan by car. The city where the show has a important meaning to the movie. There is some entertaining behind the scenes footage, that had took place during the show. It's a real treat to see the manager takes on his crew members who had let circulate some pirates posters of the band. There goes down the drain the merchandising profits! And not only that, but we learned that a robbery of the show's profits had been stolen!
Now for the actual live footage! To have footage of the legendary band is a rare historical moment and i have never been disappointed by the quality of the footage, a little dark with no visuals, because the music was so appealing to me. The idea of illustrating the show with a story is not a bad idea, but at times, i was missing the joy of seeing the band play their instrument, it's the case, especially during the song "The Song Remains the Same", who is one of the best Led Zeppelin songs, along with "No Quarter", simply because for me that's the songs that are the closest to Progressive rock with their nice atmosphere. Another highlight of the show is the 15 minutes drum solo of John Bonham, who is captured nicely by cameras.
The extras contains more songs, and more footage of the conference press talking about the robbery that i was talking earlier in my review. After 38 years, it's easy for me to give this a 5 stars, because it's still a great music to hear today despite some flaws on the quality of the footage, but put in the context of the 70's and restore on Blu-Ray, it's nice to watch. The 5.1 mix also add a new dimension to the whole experience.