Movie Reviews for Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

	List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $8.20 You Save: $21.79 (73%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: DVD See more DVD releases

Movie Reviews of Led Zeppelin

Movie Review: OH MAN!
Summary: 5 Stars

Any Zep fanatic knows the sinister stories swirling around guitar mastermind Jimmy Page. No matter how much you love the man's music, one has stop to give thought about a person so openly intrigued by (and/or involved in) the occult. The man truly worked to cultivate an image like that of a wizard, only I don't think people realized it at the time. Does it surprise anyone that the band was seriously into Tolkien?

To give fans a view of that perspective all these years later, and to clarify our reflections on the powerhouse band that was Led Zeppelin, Page holed up somewhere in a studio for a few years to craft this beautiful, breathtaking film. It is much more than a concert movie -- it plays like a mystical adventure, sort of like the Lord of the Rings played out to music from stages across Britain and America.

Page looks like a Dark Lord when he takes the stage -- hair black and stringy, clothes hanging off his body in the semblance of a cape, wheeling his guitar around as though a wand. Robert Plant, on the other hand, comes off as the iconic hero, the Lord of the Light if you will -- his voluminous golden hair stretching forever, his innocent smiles to his worshipers, the slightly naive sound of his sexual squeals during intense jams. Jones and Bonham, meanwhile, stay on the sidelines, as though they might jump to one or the other's side in battle at a moment's notice.

If you are now or ever once were into Led Zeppelin, I cannot recommend this movie enough. The picture clairty and sound quality are amazingly intense and perfectly restored. The editing is superb. The song selection is classic (especially the acoustic tracks on disc 2). And get this: each of the menu sequences has its own short film 3 to 5 minutes in length that help play the story out further. If Page had had the proper time and technology back in the day, this film is what The Song Remains the Same would have been, without the cheesy fantasy sequences. The two don't even compare. In some ways, they are different sides of the same kind.

Here's a question: Did Zeppelin ever have a completely bad song, one that just plain SUCKED? I argue no, and that by that litmus test they are the greatest band of them all. Further, I love Jerry Garcia, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix. But Jimmy Page might have been the greatest of them all. Maybe it was the dark magic after all...

Movie Review: My First And Best DVD
Summary: 5 Stars

Movie Review: Awesome--It is everything & as good as everyone says it is!
Summary: 5 Stars

The only thing that bothers me is the content of the review that indicates that the was a lot of manipulation of the video, changing around sequences and such within songs. Knowing that makes these DVDs seem a bit slick and produced. But, otherwise, this is the best live rock film or video material I have ever seen. The two DVDs are a bargain. Even if you are not a big Led Zepplin fan, I would think there is plenty here for nearly every rock fan to to enjoy and watch repeatedly.

I did see Zepplin live in the day, and these DVDs really capture what it was all about. One drummer, one guitarist, one bassist (organist/mandolin player) and a vocalist, on a simple stage, who could utterly fill a hall and capture an audience. The world's greatest live rock and roll band was surely never the Rolling Stones (although, the Stones may have been the greatest rock band). It was either Led Zepplin, The Who, or Bruce Springsteen. And there has never been video document near the equal for the latter two that these DVDs are for Zepplin. And I do not think that even Springsteen is putting out the kind of show he was in say 1980. I do not know how this kind of magic really comes about, or why it is or isn't sustained, but it is captured on these DVDs.

A major plus to the DVDs is to be able to see up close just how good the musicianship is--Page and Bonham. (I agree that Jones is sort of relegated to the shadows, but I think Jones himself has said that the theatre of the show was really Plant and Page.) I think Plant is fantastic on these DVDs, too. This is not easy music to make, and he sings very true to the recorded versions with power, precision, and emotion. To me, here he is the epitome of the charismatic rock god. He is for the most part just standing on the stage, but his presence is palpable.

I have lots of bootleg Zepplin audio. I liked the "How the West Was Won" CDs, but not as much as I thought I would.

I thought I had had pretty close to my fill of these songs, as wonderful as they are. But I have watched or had these DVDs on in the background over and over since I bought them.

Movie Review: Trampled Under Sound
Summary: 5 Stars

For any Zeppelin fan or indeed any music fan, this DVD is a must. I find it quite amazing that this 2 DVD set is as cheap as it is because the content is priceless and in this day and age, a rare example of true value for money. Although the set is packed with glorious moments I am very partial to the opening of the second DVD, an absolutely stunning version of 'Immigrant Song' that makes the album version seem, dare I say...lame. It's just an absolute stunner and, honestly, I would've started off the whole package with it myself because it's a real mood-setter for the rest of the content. I recommend turning that volume knob as high as you can get away with when you insert the second DVD and be prepared to sit there slack-jawed.

Another thing I found very interesting and that cracked a huge smile on my face is one of the bonus materials that's included on the first DVD which is of them doing a 4-song set (which runs for an amazing 31 minutes) for Danmarks Radio in 1969. About 30 teenagers get to sit cross-legged around them (my God, little did they know the history they were getting to watch unfold before them) and at first they're not too sure what to make of it but by the end they're bobbing their heads and the band have them eating out of their hands. It's just very funny if you look at it from a historical aspect and what would happen to the bands popularity and the impact they would have on people throughout their career; talk about a precursor. In this pathetically sad era of manufactured, corporate rock and rap rubbish that's spewed out and forced onto radio and T.V. in an effort to make money one only has to watch this little 4-song set to see what real charisma, talent, dedication and musicianship can do. Led Zeppelin won over that little audience in a matter of 30 minute's with no advertising, colouring books, clothes, pens, backpacks and all the other b.s. you can't help but trip over these days.

It's all about the music...and to word play off one Mr. Robert Plant on the DVD in 'Stairway to Heaven':

"Do you remember Led Zeppelin? Priceless."

Movie Review: Finally a concert record worthy of Led Zeppelin!
Summary: 5 Stars

And what a blinding and deafening glimpse it is!

Spanning their entire career, we are treated to marvelously sharp film and video matched with absolutely crystal clear audio that will literally slam you back into your livingroom couch. The balance between the instruments so lacking in the numerous bootleg CDs floating about is replaced with Jone's tight basslines, Bonzo's crackling drums, Plant's soaring vocals, and Page's trancendent guitar tones. At points, this could be mistaken for stripped down studio basic tracks, but the spontaniety of Zep's live performances assure us that this is the real deal.

TSRTS was a mediocre testament, that was always obvious. For any other band to be playing at the level depicted in that film, it would be a great document of their live act. But this is Zeppelin, and we always knew that they were at their very best live. Sure, there are moments in that film that pushed the blood through your veins like no other concert film before (the unbelievable sprawl of Dazed and Confused, for instance, and the title song), but when compared to this new DVD, it pales, pales, by comparison. Here you will find far superior versions of many of the songs included in that film. The new version of Moby Dick alone, with Bonham playing at blistering speeds that, even when seen and heard, cannot be believed, is worth the price of this DVD.

What makes these discs special for me are the versions of some of the less frquently heard songs. Trampled Under Foot, Sick Again, these have always been favorites of mine, and to hear them live, well...

As for a tried and true classic, the 1980 version of Kashmir from Knebworth is crunchingly heavy with it's huge lurch of a riff. It shows a band that, despite signs of age in the lines of Plant's face and Page's painfully thin drug wasted physique, was as good, if not better, then they had ever been. Absolutely.

The albums have always testified that Led Zeppelin was the most powerful rock band ever. Memories, especially 70's ones, fade and die away. This DVD set is the band's legacy as the greatest live act ever.

Immortal Gods, live at last!