Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Stereo)
• Subtitles: None
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Chrome Dreams
• DVD Release Date: August 20, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000SQLC1W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,476 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Music Video Dist Release Date: 09/18/2007

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Insight into a Unique Phenomenon, September 5, 2007

By 

Mr. John L. Ward "John Ward Byrd Brain" (Manchester, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Byrds: Under Review (DVD)

I have just spent an entire afternoon viewing this. If you are in any way interested in the The Byrds then you will find this attractive little package to be truly enthralling. If you are a Beatles fan as well and you enjoyed the 'Anthology' DVDs then this certainly will not disappoint. It begins with a highly intelligent analysis of the ferment that mid 60s America experienced. From then on all the Byrds albums (except the reunion one from 1973 on Asylum)are examined in some depth. Throughout all this, the highly knowledgable experts consider just what it was that made this wonderful band so special. A most welcome quality is the way it gives roughly equal time to each phase in the group's history - and so the second disk is devoted almost entirely to the post 1967 period. To this end there are lengthy and extremely thoughtful insights from latterday Byrds, John York and Gene Parsons. To top it all the extremely versatile Mr York has written and performed on 12 string guitar, a most engaging little score that initially has you wondering which early Byrds album it comes from. Up to now the best biography has been Johnny Rogan's 'Timeless Flight Revisited'. This latest release would serve as a superb companion piece to that. I've been a Byrds'devotee ever since first hearing them on Radio Caroline in the summer of '65 .... but I learnt a great deal from this.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, October 10, 2007

By 

Garry Daniel (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Byrds: Under Review (DVD)

I have been a fan of the Byrds since 1965, and I expected great things from this DVD. There isn't a lot out there, visually, on the band, so this was a real treat.At least until I watched it. There are no complete performances, and many times you'll see a performance without music...just someone talking over the scene. Only two former Byrds were interviewed, those being John York and Gene Parsons. Yes, I understand that many Byrd's members are no longer walking the Earth, but NO CHRIS HILLMAN? NO ROGER MCGUINN? VERY LITTLE CROSBY? As much as I enjoy the latter day Byrds with both Mr. York and Mr. Parsons, I would've enjoyed the viewpoint of some of the remaining founders. The box does say that neither CBS or some of the band members endorse the documentary and the producers were probably very limited in their interview sources, but I wonder why the above mentioned members chose not to participate. Anyway, I was not impressed with this DVD. Why can't someone produce a DVD using complete performances of the many Byrds phases? The footage obviously exists. I paid 21.00 for this DVD and will probably sell or trade it. You can get all the information on the set from Johnny Rogan's excellent book on the Byrds. This is less than the Byrds deserve.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ALBUM-BY-ALBUM RETROSPECTIVE, October 20, 2007

By 

Mark "a longtime record buyer" (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Byrds: Under Review (DVD)

As a longtime fan I was pleasantly surprised to find this a fresh retrospective on the Byrds that is well worth seeing.

The program opens with a look at the folk and rock background from which the original members emerged. Then how the Byrds forged an original sound that fit between Dylan and the Beatles.

After that, the history is simply traced album-by-album, with documentary footage and snippets of songs from each album. Disk I covers the first 5 albums, "Mr. Tambourine Man" through "Notorious Byrds Brothers." Disk II finishes out their run on Columbia from "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" to "Farther Along".

Other reviewers complained this was "not what they expected". Thanks to them I wasn't looking for something else.

Truthfully this may not "entertain" those unfamiliar with the Byrds and their music. The surviving original Byrds - Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Chris Hillman - do not appear as commentators except in brief archival footage.

Surprisingly, that didn't bother me -- I found it refreshing. A Byrds fan who has read "Timeless Flight Revisited" or the Byrds CD booklets, or seen other rock retrospective DVDs, pretty much knows what they have to say at each point in this story. So it was kind of nice not to have to sit through yet another reiteration of their perspectives.

Instead, they are rightfully the subjects of this history, where their music and careers are evaluated by some highly qualified commentators.

Johnny Rogan, author of the superb Byrds biography "Timeless Flight Revisited" is the commentator with most wide ranging knowledge of the band and its history. Van Dyke Parks (who played keyboards on "5D"), John York (bass player in "Dr. Byrds" period), Gene Parsons (post-Clarke drummer), Rolling Stone rock writers, and a guitarist from the legendary session band "Wrecking Crew" offer unique perspectives on various albums and periods. John York is especially well spoken on music in general and how the Byrds fit into their time.

The result is no simple rehash.

If you are a fan of the Byrds, or want to learn more about them and their music, this is a pretty good place to start.