Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same [Blu-ray]

The line forms here for the world’s greatest and possibly most influential band – Led Zeppelin! With Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love and more signature performances, this mesmerizing movie built around Zep’s famed ’73 NYC concerts is convincing proof why. Band members supervised the Re-mastering and Dolby 5.1 Re-mixing of the film’s image and sound. In addition to their performances, fantasy sequences and at-home glimpses of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham, this 2-disc Special Edition has over 40 minutes of newly-added extra features including: Two (2) never-before-released songs in rare performance footage: Celebration and Over the Hills and Far Away; Vintage TV Footage: Drake Hotel Robbery during the New York Concert Stand; Robert Plant BBC Interview and Tampa Concert Band Arrival. Also available in Hi-Def and Blu Ray!

For Led Zeppelin fanatics, this 1976 feature The Song Remains the Same is a treasure of searing live performances, particularly welcome in light of the sad scarcity of such visual material from the band's great decade. Despite the group's road weariness after a long tour, their final, three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 1973 was full of the old power. Performances of "No Quarter," "Whole Lotta Love," "Black Dog," "Dazed and Confused," and "Stairway to Heaven" underscore Zep's charisma. Trouble is, you don't get an unbroken performance here. Viewers have to wade through a mishmash of documentary insight into the lives of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, as well as fantasy sequences supposedly inspired by the thoughts and fantasies of the band's individual members. It's mostly garish and silly, but there are some nice elements, especially insights into the late Bonham's life. The DVD doesn't offer much in the way of add-ons (a theatrical trailer is about it), but there is also enhanced viewing for 16 x 9 televisions. --Tom Keogh