The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert [DVD] [2013] [NTSC]

it was like stepping back in time, i had forgot half the bands and people who had taken part.

Be aware that most of the negative comments are about the 10 year anniversary version which was the Queen+ segment of the show only.This review is about the 2013 BR / Double DVD edition.Before this arrived I wrote:This was pretty hard to get on VHS even, so a DVD/BR version is welcomed, however it may not be quite as good as it sounds...I was there at the front and one reason this never came out in full was the first half acts who were not happy with performance / sound.Given the large number of acts, the sound and quality was always going to be less than perfect and that wasn't the point of the day.Looking at the track listing for example, we see Def Leppard / May on Now I'm Here, however DL played a number of their own tracks.Also this is upscaled SD, not true HD, and this is shown by the fact that there is a 3 disc DVD version and 1 disc BR version.The only definitive version would be the full TV coverage, of which the only copies out there will be well worn VHS.I am looking forward to finally getting this, and reliving one of the best concerts ever, however I am willing to bet it is not the "full" experience.============One comment noted that I was not being misled about full HD vs SD. Indeed this is the case, however I was simply stating that I wished there were an HD version.Assuming the concert was filmed on tape, as opposed to digitally, which would have been standard at the time, this could be rescanned in HD. That's how we get old films in HD!In any case the concert is great, wonderful to relive it, however as I suspected, it is not complete.This version excludes Extreme's "Love of My Life" and "More Than Words", Def Leppard's "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked", Spinal Tap, U2 and Mango Groove from the opening acts segment of the show, and Robert Plant's "Innuendo" from the Queen+ segment of the show.This is not Queen's fault, so I am happy.

I bought the Blu-ray version of this and was looking forward to the best possible picture and sound quality - as well as of course an exciting concert.The concert itself is indeed brilliant with numerous supporting stars singing and playing along with Queen and the sound quality too was excellent. The picture quality however was very poor, being grainy, and of far worse quality than I would expect from a Blu-ray or DVD. This is a shame as I have other Blu-rays and DVDs of concerts from the same era which are of far better picture quality. It is for this reason that I have awarded it 4 stars as opposed to 5.Having said all this, the concert is so good that it is certainly worth buying this and trying to ignore the poor picture quality.

I was lucky enough to be at the event all those years back (as well as the last Wembley concert and Knebworth) and dearly wish the producers at the time had the foresight to film this with 35mm cameras so we could enjoy the full spectacle in HD but, alas, this was not to be. What we have is a Standard Definition recording of a truly memorable event.With the above in mind I have owned the show on home taped VHS, Laserdisc (and still have it somewhere), DVD and now, Blu Ray. The Blu Ray restores some of the fantastic opening acts such as Extreme who put on their own mini Queen concert and so impressed me on the day and now, many years later with their approach. Brilliant stuff and perfect for the day. In addition we have most of the Queen plus friends event (the Robert Plant Innuendo track is still missing) plus some good extras such as the rehearsals with George Michael (when he was good!).A lot has been written about the show so I won't go over that now. Most will be wondering is the Blu Ray worth it and to this question I would say 10/10. You have over 3-hours of brilliant performances with, probably, the best picture and sound you can get considering the source. At a tenner or so it is an absolute bargain.Picture quality, considering this is standard definition, is generally fine with the close-ups particularly good. The crowd shots such as Radio GaGa hand-clapping are a bit of a blur as you might expect. Note that the image is presented 4:3 or square in shape and is actually formatted so that the usual 'wide' setting on your TV is negated so you will have to resort to zoom (bad!) if you want a full screen on a 16:9 set. Please remember it was filmed/video recorded this way so it is not a fault! Previous DVD release was re-formatted by the producers to fit a 16x9 shape and they used the usual means to do this (cut off top and bottom and a bit a stretch) so the 4:3 actually means you are watching the show as it was recorded. Sound quality is very good with a DTS Hi-Res format that I have not seen/heard before but it comes across well with a good, punchy, soundtrack. All sounds very good at decent volumes.For me one of the key benefits of the release is the pop-up menu meaning you can go to any track from the opening bands (Guns and Roses Paradise City perhaps) to one of the Queen tracks (anything with George Michael - 39....!) with ease. There are so many great moments the ease by which you can select a particular track make the purchase of the Blu Ray worth it. No disc swapping either!This is an interesting development in presenting SD material on Blu Ray but so far I have purchased 2 (the Bee Gees being the other) and have been very pleased with both. Hope to see more classic shows to come.Highly recommended - buy now before it goes up!

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