YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO READ A REVIEW OF THIS CONCERT?

The best finale of all time. Is somebody really going to have to come this far to decide if they want to buy this MONUMENTAL DVD?





It's really good, okay?

Great Movie-Music

Received the movie quickly, very good quality and of course the movie and music is awesome.

The Band - A Musical Paradigm

I too was absolutely mesmerized by this film. So wonderfully captured; the time, essence and images of a group so filled with talent, we will never find again, I fear. I grew up with the Band's music remembering their songs in middle school and later high school. They were highlighted in Peter Fonda's great depiction of the rebellious 'Easy Riders'. And when I heard Robbie say, '16 years on the road', I was incredulous that someone didn't break the run years earlier. The road had 'taken the great ones' So for Robbie Robertson to quit when he did amongst the angst of the rest, especially Levon, 'Levon wears his war-wound like a crown', is understandable beyond reasonable. How gracious to play back-up to such a host of big names and at the same time perform your best songs so well. Just wonderful! To see Robbie featured in this film in no way detracted from its purpose and overall theme to say good-bye and thank all the folks who provided impetus and encouragement to their music. Robbie was the most expressive and articulate of the team and toward the end, was a surrogate father to those not enduring so well on the road due to substance abuse. He had had enough and you could hear it in his interviews. Even at the time of the filming, Robbie was separated from his wife and living with Scorsese. If indeed, there were objections to the final cut, these could have been made in plenty of time for editing. Lord knows they had the footage. Only after the final production do we hear cries of imbalance. Sigh. Put a sock in it.
Having said that, if I was consulted for the final cut, I would have featured Richard Manuel and Levon Helm's phenomenal voices. They were the heart of 'The Band' as was Robbie's stunning lead guitar. But the film does capture the essence of the group's synergy. The value of this group as a whole, exceeds by a thousand times, the sum of it's individual parts. In short, they were awesome when cooking on all 5 cylinders. But, the world sometimes is very cruel with these things. They want, want, and want more to the demise of our best, not realizing how frail they really are. The Band had given more than enough and since their music is immortal, we can all go back and listen, over and over again. With the 'The Last Waltz' we now can watch it too.