Rage Against the Machine-The Battle of Mexico City (2000) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Music |
Menu Animation Gallery-Photo Featurette-Interview With Noam Chomsky Featurette-Interview With Marcos Featurette-Pre-Show Segment Featurette-Tom Morello's Tour Of Mexico City DVD-ROM Extras-Rage Context |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
Running Time | 68:37 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (50:12) | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Joe Demaio |
Studio
Distributor |
Sony Music |
Starring |
Zack De La Rocha Y. tim K. Brad Wilk Tom Morello |
Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
RPI | $29.95 | Music | Rage Against The Machine |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | Unknown | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | Yes | ||
Subtitles |
English Spanish |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Rage Against The Machine: The Battle Of Mexico City is a presentation of a live concert by the band on October 19, 1999 in Mexico City.
This live performance was part of the launch of the band's Battle Of Los Angeles album and this is the reason for this title's name. This concert was the first performance by RATM in Mexico and both the band and audience obviously enjoy the show. This concert is held in a relatively small venue but the crowd is very enthusiastic with this feeding back to the band.
Inserted between the live tracks are a number of documentary segments highlighting the Zapatista movement and other issues facing the Mexican population. These clips do disrupt the flow of the performance and would have been better presented as an extra.
This disc was originally planned for an August 2001 release but this was then moved back to September 2001. Unfortunately, when produced this first disc had a serious sync issue and thus was not publicly released. This version of the DVD has had the error corrected and has been released.
1. Testify 2. Guerilla Radio 3. People of the Sun 4. Calm Like A Bomb 5. Sleep Now In The Fire 6. Born Of A Broken Man 7. Bombtrack | 8. Know Your Enemy 9. No Shelter 10. War Within A Breath 11. Bulls On Parade 12. Killing In The Name 13. Zapata’s Blood 14. Freedom |
The documentary footage seen during the main feature is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The live concert performance footage is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. If the documentary footage had been included as an extra, it would have been possible to present this at its original aspect ratio and provide 16x9 enhancement for the concert footage.
The transfer is consistently sharp throughout with high levels of detail always visible. Some small amount of low level noise is seen during the transfer when the video footage is presented in slow motion. This low level noise is never distracting to the viewer. Excellent levels of shadow detail may be seen throughout the transfer. Often concert footage will display little detail in the darkly lit crowd scenes but this transfer always displays high levels of information.
The colours displayed during this transfer are always vibrant and well saturated. The palette is heavily influenced by the stage lighting design and consists mainly of reds, whites and blues.
No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time during the transfer.
A number of small aliasing artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 4:22, 5:19, 6:01, 9:41 and 13:14. Each of these artefacts are very minor and are only minimally distracting.
No film artefacts are present during this transfer.
A set of English and Spanish subtitles are provided on this disc. These subtitles are provided for both the song lyrics and the documentary sections of the feature. I extensively sampled the English subtitles and found them to be consistently accurate.
The layer change occurs at 50:12 at the start of chapter 18. As this is placed between live tracks it is only minimally disruptive to the viewer.
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The lyrics during both mixes are always clear and easy to understand.
No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected during the transfer.
The surround and subwoofer channels were used extensively throughout the 5.1 mix. The surrounds were used for crowd noises as well as instruments and vocals. I found this mix distracting but it may appeal to many viewers.
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The animated menus are presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This is a collection of 10 shots from the live performance.
During this interview, Zack and Noam discuss the impact and design goals of the North American Free Trade Agreement and Globalization. This is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with dual identical PCM audio tracks and two empty English subtitle streams.
This is not really an interview but is a prepared video statement by Zapatista rebel leader Marcos. This is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with dual identical PCM audio tracks and two empty English subtitle streams.
This short segment contains footage of the band flying into Mexico, rehearsal and sound checks. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a PCM audio track.
During this segment Tom takes a quick tour of sights in and around Mexico City. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a PCM audio track.
This is a flash presentation, for both Windows and MacOS, providing details about NAFTA, Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), National Autonomous University Of Mexico (UNAM), diversity, globalization and Indie Media. A collection of eight documents from EZLN and Subcomandante Marcos are also provided.
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Both versions of this film appear to be identical and I therefore would have no preference for either version. I have seen reports that an uncensored version of this disc was to be released in Region 1 but I have not been able to confirm this. If an uncensored version becomes available this would be my version of choice.
The Battle Of Mexico City is an excellent performance that manages to capture the intense live action of the band and should be considered a must-have for all fans.
The video transfer is very high quality but unfortunately is not 16x9 enhanced.
The PCM and Dolby Digital surround mixes should easily satisfy all viewers.
An interesting collection of extras is included on this disc providing additional information on the political causes supported by the band.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Toshiba 1200, using S-Video output |
Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |