Bee Gees-One Night Only (DTS) (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-Bonus Interview (18:57)
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	110:30 (Case: 130)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (63:46)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Michael A. Simon
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Bee Gees Celine Dion
Case	Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI	$39.95	Music	Bee Gees

    Some time ago I had the pleasure of reviewing one of the first dts Region 4 DVDs. At the time I made the comment that there were a couple of DVDs that would be very well received if re-issued with dts sound. One was Tina Turner - Live In Amsterdam, whilst the other was Bee Gees - One Night Only. And so you can guess exactly how quickly it took me to say "yes" to reviewing this DVD!

    It was with great pleasure that I sat down with what is almost like an old friend. The original issue of Bee Gees - One Night Only, reviewed nearly two years ago, was perhaps the best music DVD I had reviewed up to that time. Despite the passage of nearly two years and the release of a heck of a lot of music DVDs, it remains one of the best examples of the genre and an essential inclusion in any DVD collection. Of the music DVDs in my collection, there are very few that get a regular view but Bee Gees - One Night Only is certainly one of them.

    So with that pedigree to live up to, just how does Bee Gees - One Night Only (DTS) compare? Well, put it this way - the original release is now supplanted in that essential list of music DVDs. Losing some minor extras (namely a booklet and background notes) but gaining the dts soundtrack, this is one of the best music DVDs around - musically, visually and aurally.

    Recorded at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas at a one night stand (hence the title) in 1997 to celebrate thirty years of their music, it was also their first US concert in nearly a decade. This is just the ticket to remind those (very) few who may not have heard of the Bee Gees just how very good they are. Whilst they reached the height of their popularity during the disco era, this indicates the wide range of the Bee Gees across the 1960s and through the 1990s. This is a bunch of seasoned veterans getting out on stage doing what they do best - performing.

    This is d*** good music, at a d*** good concert where even famous people like Olivia Newton-John got up and danced. The original release was something special indeed and so is this, and if you have the capability to play dts sound, this is definitely one of those essential Region 4 dts DVDs that should be in your collection.

Video

    The original release was described as "a d*** fine transfer and amongst the best I have seen amongst music DVDs". This dts equipped re-release is just as similarly described. In just about every respect this is identical to the original release in video terms.

    This means that the transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and it is not 16x9 enhanced. It also means that this is a sharp and very nicely detailed transfer. The only problem that I could note about the transfer is the odd lapse in focus here and there. Detail remains very good and it is as clear a transfer as you could wish for in a music DVD. There is no issue at all with colour bleed in the transfer and the hint of low level noise in the earlier release is absent here.

    The colours come up very well in the transfer, although there are just the odd hints of the usual problems in concert videos of trying to handle the wide variety of stage lighting. This is a vibrant transfer with some nice rich tones. Blacks are very nicely rendered, having depth and consistency.

    There did not appear to be any MPEG artefacts in the transfer. Being super-critical, the only film-to-video artefacts appear to be some moiré artefacting at 0:18, some barely noticeable aliasing near Robin's foot at 14:47 and some cross colouration in the microphone at 73:22. There were no obvious film artefacts in the transfer.

    This is a RSDL format disc with the layer change coming at 63:46. This is during an artificial fade to black which is about as reasonable a way of handling this issue in a concert video as there is. Sure it is a little noticeable but not really that disruptive to the flow of the concert itself.

    Regrettably, no effort has been made to rectify the lack of subtitles in this re-release.

    The only real blemish in the video is a slight pause and jump in the video (and audio) at 44:20. This may just be a rogue issue, but repeated cleaning does not seem to have had any effect in eliminating the jump.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are three English audio soundtracks on the DVD; a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a dts 5.1 track. I listened to the dts soundtrack in its entirety and only sampled enough of the other soundtracks to satisfy myself that they seem to be the identical soundtracks to those on the original DVD release.

    The music and vocals came up very well in the soundtracks, although I could perhaps have wished for a bit more emphasis to the vocals in the dts soundtrack. There did not appear to be any audio sync issues in any of the soundtracks.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack made limited use of the rear surround channels, apart from some audience ambience, but the front surround channels were well-used to produce a very well-balanced soundtrack. The bass channel gets a really good workout here, and is a very good example of how bass should be used in a concert environment.

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is a much different style and sounds somewhat dull after the 5.1 soundtrack. But after listening to it for a while, it is a nice even soundtrack that will provide much enjoyment for those who cannot utilise the 5.1 soundtrack. Obviously it lacks a little in the ambience effects.

    The dts 5.1 soundtrack is also lacking a little in the rear surround channel department, again apart from some general audience ambience. However, this lack in the rear channels is adequately covered by the rather more present sound afforded by the dts format. Adding the additional bass into the surround channels certainly produces a rather nice encompassing sound that really does not want for the sake of more rear surround presence. The bass channel gets a good workout here, and this is one of those rare soundtracks where turning the volume down a little produces a very nice ambient background music, and where cranking the volume up to eleven produces a thumping sound that really forces the body to react to it. Really nice stuff, even if the vocals could have been a tad more forward in the overall mix.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The original release was one of the first music DVDs I reviewed that actually had much in the way of extras. Whilst some have been lost to make way for the third soundtrack, this remains a reasonable enough package in all the circumstances.

Menu

    A nice, disco themed menu, with some nice audio and minor animation enhancement.

Interview (18:57)

    A reasonably lengthy interview with the three brothers which is quite informative and a nice addition to the package. Presented in a Full Frame format that is not 16x9 enhanced, and with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.

    As far as we have been able to ascertain, this is similar in content to the Region 1 release.

    The concert itself remains one of the very best available on DVD in Region 4 and the re-release DVD with the addition of the dts 5.1 soundtrack means that Bee Gees - One Night Only (DTS) is one of a half dozen or so music DVDs that should feature in every collection. I cannot recommend this concert highly enough.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall