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| Category | Music Video | Theatrical Trailer(s) | None |
| Rating |
| Other Trailer(s) | None |
| Year Released | 1998 | Commentary Tracks | None |
| Running Time | 130 minutes | Other Extras | Menu Animation - Disk 1 & Disk 2
Featurettes - Disk 1: Back Stage Pre-Show, Fans, Dan Braun & Production, JB & The Light, New Stage Featurettes - Disk 2: Interacting with the Fans, Rob & Joe, Kirk and Guitars, Big Mick, Final Destruction, Flaming Dude, Bob Bender Photo Gallery - Disk 2 (approx. 1000 stills with accompanying audio) Multiple Angles - 3 songs - 5 angles DVD-ROM Enhanced |
| RSDL/Flipper | Disk 1: RSDL (62:43), Disk 2: Single Layer |
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| Start Up | Movie | ||
| Region | 0 | Director | Wayne Isham |
| Distributor |
Polygram |
Starring | James Hetfield
Kirk Hammett Jason Newsted Lars Ulrich |
| RRP | $49.95 | Music | Metallica |
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| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | MPEG | None |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | Dolby Digital | 5.1 |
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | Soundtrack Languages | English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
English (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
| Theatrical Aspect Ratio | N/A | ||
| Macrovision | Yes | ||
| Subtitles | English | ||
I must admit to not being a heavy metal fan, and basically being unfamiliar with Metallica other than by name. However, there is a lot of energy captured on this disc - I have no doubt that this would be even more so when you are there in person. Nonetheless, even though it got a bit much for me towards the end, and I had to turn the sound down a little, I did have to admire the musical ability of these guys - ably demonstrated during Bass/Guitar Doodle.
This transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 4:3, not 16x9 enhanced. There are two discs in this set. The first disc is the concert proper with about half of the extras. It is an RSDL disc. The second disc is the encore songs along with the other half of the extras.
The transfer is not all that sharp, with certain camera shots being quite fuzzy. Shadow detail is fair, though there is some low level noise present during some of the blacker scenes. I have no doubt that this would be much worse on VHS.
The colours were passably rendered. There was a fair bit of chroma noise present, particularly during heavily blue-lit sequences, but this never became anything more than a minor distraction.
No MPEG artefacts were seen. Aliasing was somewhat of a problem with this transfer, with the floor of the stage in particular being problematic, even to the stage of generating some moiré artefacts. Film artefacts were non existent since this transfer was direct to video.
The first disc of this set is RSDL formatted, with the layer change occurring at 62:43, between Chapters 11 and 12. This is reasonably placed, though I would have thought an extra second or two would have put the change in a better spot. The second disc of this set contains the encore songs, and it is certainly most appropriate to put a disc break at this point rather than at any time during the concert proper.
This disc features 3 songs which take advantage of the multiple angle feature of DVD. The 3 songs that are formatted thus are; Ain't My Bitch, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Wherever I May Roam. These songs feature 5 separate angles for the majority of the song. Angle 1 is the conventional angle with cuts between the performers. Angle 2 focuses on the lead singer, James Hetfield. Angle 3 focuses on the bass guitarist, Jason Newsted. Angle 4 focuses on the guitarist, Kirk Hammett. Angle 5 focuses on the drummer, Lars Ulrich. These are a fantastic innovation, and would be superb for anyone who wished to study the technique of one or other of the band's members in detail.
The words to the songs were quite easy to make out, and quite profane at times, as was the intersong banter - definitely not for younger ears!
There were no audio sync problems.
The music was heavy metal (duh!).
The surround channels carried crowd noises, with the band mixed L/C/R. I compared the 2.0 stereo mix with the 5.1 mix and noted that the 2.0 mix was much more bass-heavy. On the other hand, the 5.1 mix had more clarity. Overall, I preferred the 5.1 mix to the 2.0 mix.
The .1 channel was heavily utilized.
The video quality is acceptable.
The audio quality is good.
The extras are sensational.
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© Michael Demtschyna
3rd June 1999
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| DVD | Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output |
| Display | Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 4:3 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
| Audio Decoder | Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer |
| Speakers | Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer |