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The Film (5/5)
In 1978 Martin Scorsese was knee-deep in his work in the film New York, New York (coincidentally a musical) when "The Band" approached Scorsese with an offer to make a film of their last ever concert. Scorsese decided to take the time off from his own film to direct the concert film, but rather than treat it is an another concert film, and a side project he took the whole affair quite seriously.
Scorsese recruited a 9 person camera crew led by cinematographer Michael Chapman, and including such greats as Laslo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera as well. Scorsese planned out each shot with the crew and "The Band" meticulously, and the film that resulted The Last Waltz has gone down as one of the greatest concert films of all time.
I will be forthright in admitting that I am not a huge fan of the Band only being familiar with a handful of songs. That being said Scorsese both in the concert segments, and the outside interludes he filmed separately manages to catch a band exiting their career at their peak. It is a thrilling, and very energetic performance captured perfectly by Scorsese.
Audio/Video (3.5/5)
Eureka used an existing HD Master from MGM as the source for their restoration of the Last Waltz. As such there are limitations in the quality of the transfer, but overall things look quite nice and natural here. Detail is quite solid, and colors are warm and well-reproduced. Blacks occasionally show some crush, but overall it's a minor complaint.
Audio is handled by a DTS-HD 2.0 mono track, and a recent 5.1 remix. The 5.1 is the way to go here as the sound of the concert begins to truly explode from one's speakers.
Extras (4/5)
Eureka puts together a truly solid package for their Blu-ray release of the Last Waltz. We get multiple commentary tracks, featurettes, galleries, trailers, and more.
Overall
One of the great concert films of all time, has finally gotten a nice elaborate release. The Blu-ray looks and sounds solid, and has a nice slate of extras. RECOMMENDED.
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