Queen: Under Review 1973-1980

DVD Reviews | Jan 18th, 2006

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Starring Simon Bradley, Malcolm Dome, Paul Gambaccini, Chris Welch, Nigel Williamson
Written By:
Directed By:
Studio: MVD
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FLASH! AHHH! SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE! I’ve always been a fan of Queen since I was a little kid. Gotta love hippy parents introducing their kids to some cool music like Queen! I never really fully appreciated their music till later in life and this DVD is an independent analysis of their music. Really interesting if you like the band.

This DVD basically was a documentary from the UK, where a bunch of critics and music experts talk about Queen the band, their style, and other things associated with the famous rock band. Some of the experts included on the documentary were: journalist friend of Freddie Mercury, Paul Gambaccini; rock journalist & Queen expert, Malcolm Dome; guitarist & journalist Simon Bradley; Uncut Magazine editor, Nigel Williamson and other people that know their shit. Queen Under Review 1973-1980 also contains lots of rare interviews with members of the band and concert footage, which should please Queen fans.

I didn’t know what to expect when watching this DVD because I just wanted to have it since it was Queen. I always liked their popular songs, so I wanted to learn more about the band itself. I didn’t realize how brilliant guitarist Brian May was. He made his own style guitar with his Father (who both have a PhD in something smarty) and he just has this unique, original guitar style that I never noticed til now. Well I guess I did notice since I loved the Flash Gordan soundtrack. Ming’s theme alone sounded so sinister and cool. I love that movie, and Queen had a big part in making that a cult classic. They also did the music for Highlander, which is another awesome soundtrack. But anyway, you can’t forget Freddie Mercury and how excellent a performer he was. His singing was perfect, and his stage presence was memorable. Without him, there wouldn’t be Queen. Even though Brian May was an awesome guitarist. That’s what a lot of the guys said on the DVD.

The experts talked about each of their popular songs, and they spent a lot of time on “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” Two of my LEAST favorite songs from Queen. In fact, I downright hate them because I hear them at every damn sporting event. They talk about that in the documentary and how much of an impact those songs were, and still are. Who would have thought Queen would have the ultimate sport song(s) of all time. But I also liked how the guitarist guy was explaining how Brian May played the guitar and what effects he used. I thought it was really interesting but might be boring to the average viewer. Also on the DVD is a Queens quiz which I just plain sucked at but I was just guessing to begin with. This DVD is cool if you are die hard Queens but if you are looking for a live performance DVD, than you should skip seeing this.

Features:
Standard 1.33:1 Color

Audio:

Video:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo

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Rating: NR
Running Time: 103 minutes
Extras Rating:
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