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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Feast of Friends (Blu-ray) (1970)

Feast of Friends (Blu-ray) (1970)

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Released 3-Dec-2014

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Documentary Additional Footage-Feast of Friends: Encore (34:44)
Featurette-The Doors are Open (53:49)
Featurette-The End (16:01)
Booklet
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1970
Running Time 39:30
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Paul Ferrara
Studio
Distributor

Shock Entertainment
Starring Jim Morrison
John Densmore
Robby Krieger
Ray Manzarek
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music The Doors


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Linear PCM 96/24 2.0
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
German
Spanish
French
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     In the short period between 1967 and 1971 The Doors (Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek) created some of the most poetic, powerful, hypnotic music ever, songs that still resonate 40 years later such as The End, used to such effect by Francis Ford Coppola in Apocalypse Now (1979). And in Jim Morrison, the original Lizard King, The Doors had one of the most charismatic and complex lead singers to ever walk a stage. Morrison died in Paris in 1971; he was just 27 years old. No less than with the death of other rock icons such as Jimi Hendrix, an era died with him.

     In 1968 Paul Ferrara started filming the band on the road, at play and in performance using a 16 mm Arriflex camera. The resultant footage created Feast of Friends, which was never completed and after Morrison’s death the footage only existed in bootleg form. That footage has now been restored under the supervision of Ferrara and released on this Blu-ray.

     Feast of Friends is still a fragmentary and disjointed film, less a documentary than a series of unrelated “home” video footage of the band sailing, riding in a limo, Morrison playing around on a piano or backstage footage of Morrison tending to a bloodied female fan who has been hit with a chair at the concert. There is chaotic concert footage of fans storming the stage and being thrown off by security and bemused Police looking at Morrison writhing on the stage! In truth, this footage really does very little to explain The Doors phenomenon and influence except for one thing; the film includes an improvised live performance of The End that is powerful and mesmerising. If you wanted to know what the fuss around The Doors was all about, and why their legacy endures, this is the place to come.

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Transfer Quality

Video

       Feast of Friends is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the original ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Given the 16 mm SD origins of the material this looks pretty good. The footage has been restored but there are still some inevitable marks, artefacts and softness in some of the footage. Colour is also variable and grain is evident as might be expected. However, some of the footage, such as the performance of The End, is wonderful given the lighting conditions with deep blacks and great shadow detail.

     English, German, Spanish and French subtitles are available for the spoken dialogue, but not the song lyrics.

    The video is variable, but always fully watchable.

    RSDL change if applicable

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of English DTS-MA HD 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0 stereo.

     The default audio is the LPCM 2.0 which is surround encoded. The DTS-MA HD 5.1 mix had more separation of the instruments but it did feel a bit unnatural and to me the LPCM 2.0 track seemed clearer and more solid. Vocals and dialogue (such as it is) are clear in either track. The sub-woofer on the 5.1 was pretty much superfluous.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     Feast of Friends is just over 39 minutes in length but this is more than compensated for by the extra features included on the Blu-ray.

Feast of Friends: Encore (34:44)

     Consists of footage not used in Feast of Friends. Some are parts of segments or extended scenes already in Feast of Friends, the rest mostly the band in relaxed mode. This footage has more marks and artefacts and some of the source material was quite soft or overbright. The most interesting segment is the recording session for Wild Child. In 1080p.

The Doors are Open (53:49)

     In 1968 The Doors travelled to England. This is a black and white documentary made by Granada Television focussing on their performance at The Roundhouse in September 1968. The performance is intercut with images of protest and crime in America and the Vietnam War, suggesting that the music of The Doors was subversive and contributed to civil unrest! However, the concert footage is worthwhile and the band performs When The Music’s Over (one of my all-time favourite Doors songs), Five To One, Spanish Caravan, Hello, I Love You (with Ray on vocals), Backdoor Man, Light My Fire and The Unknown Soldier. A fascinating look at 1968! In 1080i; some of the protest footage is poor, although the performance looks quite good.

The End (16:01)

     In 1967, very early in their career, The Doors went to Toronto to perform at the O’Keefe Centre for the Canadian Broadcasting Commission. This extra includes recollections of the event from John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Danny Sugerman, a psychedelic introduction to the band by Noel Harrison and a rather sanitised performance of The End. In 1080i, with a couple of interlacing errors noticeable.

Booklet

     A twelve page booklet with articles about the making of Feast of Friends, by Paul Ferrara, and The Doors are Open, by Len Sousa, plus credits, restoration credits and colour photographs.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region A US version of Feast of Friends is identical to our release.

Summary

     Feast of Friends is a must for fans of The Doors, but this film will also be appreciated by those who are interested in rock music in an era which somehow felt less controlled and more full of larger than life performers. It is not too much to say that the music of The Doors is timeless and that Jim Morrison was truly one of a kind.

     The video and audio are fine, given the source material. The extras are interesting and round out a good Blu-ray package.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Tuesday, December 09, 2014
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

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