The Last Waltz on Blu-ray

Starring The Band with a little help from their friends Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Dr John, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, The Hawk and others






What a lasting treat!! Given new life on Blu-ray and hi def, The Band comes back to life for their final farewell after 16 years on the road in this musical celebration of their storied career.
I hadn't seen this one in a number of years and was pleasantly surprised at how strong it remains to this day. The musical guests parade endlessly before you and lend a hand in bidding the boys adieu, each one adding their own signature style to the occasion.
Standouts for me include Van "the man" Morrison doing his classic Caravan complete with high kicks,fist pumps and some scatting thrown in for good measure. Bob Dylan and Neil Young with shockingly happy looks on their mugs are fun to watch as well. The haunting good looks and talent of Emmylou Harris add another dimension to the opus and cut through out the numbers the band members tell sordid stories of the road and Robbie Robertson carries these moments with his engaging style and deep stare. His voice had me thinking of another celebrity all the while and I couldn't figure it out until about an hour into the movie and it finally hit me, Robbie back then has an exact voice double in the entertainment world and it is that of David Duchovny of X Files fame. Give this movie another whirl and you will see/hear what I am talking about.
O.k back to the brilliance of this film. Eric Clapton puts on a clinic on the guitar along side Robertson for one song and Robertson is no slouch but Clapton makes him look like a beginner. Levon Helm in almost every song is so much fun to watch on drums and vocals, he adds an unequalled dimension to the groups appeal. Muddy Waters steals the show for most with his classic Mannish Boy and as Martin Scorsese recounts in the bonus features of the disc, they almost didn't capture his brilliance at all as Martin had ordered all of the cameras to stop so that he change film. One lonely camera was rolling out of 5 when the song started and Scorsese leaped up in a panic thinking it would be lost and ordered everyone back on camera and thankfully the performance was saved.
Little tidbits like that in the features section make this re-issue all the more engaging for the home viewer.
For an unrivaled farewell performance, look no further than The Band's Last Waltz

Rating 4 1/2 riffs out of 5


Shop the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champions Gear at NFLShop.com.