Customer Reviews

Shine a Light [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

If you are a Stones fan, then just buy it and enjoy; the negative reviewers miss the point. Towards the end of a long and fantastic career it's all about the band having fun; for the viewer its all about watching them experience that joy. And if you feel the need to quibble about the price or production values, then you shouldn't be buying such a DVD in the first place. The BluRay looks wonderful and the concert is nice and 'up close'. One of the most interesting aspects is watching how MJ tries to control the band with a raised eyebrow or nod here and there, or moving to gently push KR back to center when he goes 'off the plot'. It beats me why anyone would quibble on little details that aren't relevant to the central theme - its a celebration of one of the world's true entertainment super-groups. Relax.

One notably good movie I've seen lately, on Blu-ray. Martin Scorsese's "Shine a Light" filming of some live Rolling Stones concerts is not only great, good music, but one of the best examples of the possibilities of HD 1080p TV and Blu-ray. Mick Jagger (and Ron Wood) look like gargoyles. Mick is amazingly thin and spry for some one who is 65 years old, if memory serves, and bounces all over the stage, like he did in his twenties, like a cricket who drank a lot on coffee. Keith Richards looks like a zombie undead superannuated version of Captain Jack Sparrow. Charlie Watts, who must be nearly 70, now looks the youngest of the lot. But it's all about the music!

Beautiful, sexy guest Christine Aguilera and sings and jumps around in the highest pair of spike heeled boots I've ever seen a woman be able to stand on - must be 5-6 inch heels? While she looks really sweet, she shrieks the lyrics.

The music in the film, despite the guests, is much better when Jagger sings alone. Typical of the great Rock concerts the Stones have been doing for 40+ years. We never thought they would be when they started out, but the Stones have become the default Kings of Rock after the breakup of other groups like the Beatles, Doors, CSNY etc. That having been said, their best tunes still come from the sixties and early seventies, best from their period on London records and when Brian Jones was alive, "Let it Bleed" and before.

Intercut in this is parts of a mid `60's interview with Jagger and the Stones, like Scorsese used in his definitive Dylan documentary "No Direction Home"!

Buddy Guy helps Mick sing the Muddy Waters blues song "Champagne and Reefer". Unfortunately, Guy shouts the lyrics, overloads the mike and makes the anti-cocaine message nearly unintelligible.

The Stones music is loud and concert-like and the Blu-Ray sound will test the limits of your sound system.

But the most amazing thing is the video effects, the huge array of high intensity lights and strobe lights which Scorsese shoots off repeatedly and uses to backlight and then solarize Mick Jagger to a complete white.
This is what Blu-Ray can do!

If you have Blu-ray and 1080p capable HD TV, this is really a demonstration DVD!

i will be very short because all i can say this disc as a concert blu ray presentation is just best of the best.
stones are still amazing and like i have said before watching this on blu ray is just amazing picture and a sound is a five stars so as you can tell i will rate this disc as a 5 star concert.

This concert is fantastic - yes, the Stones are getting up there but it's refreshing to see these guys having fun in their latter years.

It's no secret that Scorsese is a huge Stones fan - their music is featured in many of his films. But the way this concert is shot is a little strange...the sound is highlighted in the shot. So if Keith Richards is featured on the screen, you primarily hear his guitar. If it's Charlie Watts, you hear his drums. Not just a little louder than the rest of the music...like the rest of the band is in the background. Maybe there's a way to turn this off? The soundtrack doesn't do this.

Overall, the Blu-ray is very clear, the setlist is great, the featured artists like Jack White are cool, but Scorsese's attempt to reinvent the live-concert-film wheel takes it down a couple notches. Give it a rent before you buy.

Great concert footage and sound along with very funny vintage footage and gag inserts. One of the best concert films I have ever seen. All my friends who have borrowed it love it. Highly recommended, especially if you have a big screen and good sound system.

Excellent showcase for one of Rock's finest bands. Special guest appearance of Jack White was incredible. There is a reason why the Stones have endured and Scorcese totally gets it. I highly reccomend this movie.

That's a good show. Any one who saw the Stones start trail 45 years ago, must agree they overpass the time like no others did it.

I recommend.

Jose Carlos (Rio de Janeiro Brazil)

An awesome demo of what's possible with Blu-ray. Looks and sounds wonderful. Scorsese did an amazing job too.

MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1 / Region Free
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: Yes
Running time: 2:02:02
Main feature size: 41,135,339,520 bytes
Disc size: 49,534,583,745 bytes
Average video bit rate: 30.59 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4613 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4613kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 4116 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 4116kbps (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps)
LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 1536kbps

Subtitles: English / English SDH / French / Spanish
Number of chapters: 21

#Supplemental Featurette (HD, 16 minutes)
#Bonus Songs (HD)

This review does not comment on the excellene of the film: that's been done elsewhere, and suffice it to say, that if you're a Rolling Stones fan, you will like this movie.

I have the latest BluRay player (as of Aug 2008): the Pioneer Elite BDP-05FD, with the latest firmware (1.02). This BD takes FOREVER to just give me the splash screen (over a minute: a minute in fact to the "loading" animation). THen about half the time, it freezes: no pause, no chapter skip, nothing but a blank screen. Ejection and restarting is the only cure. This might be a defective BD, but there is no message. The same issue occurs on my Playstation 3...

BluRay is still just getting started, and there continue to be teething issues. I have about 10 other BDs now, and Shine a Light is the ONLY one with these sorts of issues. Sigh.

Five stars for content, three star for BD play problems.

Eddie O