Rating: 
Summary: Yes, this is the greatest rock concert film of all time!
Review: Martin Scorsese, the one director who can make film sing, captures The Band's farewell concert as a celebration of musical passion of religious zealotry perfectly wedded with expert craftsmanship. Coming along for the ride are some of the finest musicians of the 20th Century: Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young among others. Scorsese's camera soars, tracks, and dances around his subjects, bringing them off the stage and into your consciousness. The Band members themselves prove to be insightful, honest if rather surely as interview subjects. They do provide many amusing anecdotes about both the creative process and their direct participation in the rich history of American music. As the opening titles insist: This film should be played loud. When done so, The Last Waltz will literally set your feet to tapping and your soul to flying. Many many of my gray days have hit the road in the wake of watching this film. If you are a fan of great music, don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to imagine a better DVD of this film
Review: MGM really did an outstanding job with this release. The movie itself is justly celebrated as one of the greatest concert documentaries of all time. The Band is brimming with energy and they play their farewell concert, and the music sounds fantastic in the 5.1 mix. You don't even have to be a huge fan of The Band to enjoy this movie, as long as you like classic rock. There are so many guest stars that join The Band, including Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, The Staples Singers, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and many others. There are two outstanding commentary tracks on this dvd. One of them features director Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson (of The Band). Over the course of the film, they provide a great deal of insight into the making of the documentary. Equally valuable is the second audio commentary, which features many participants (the other surviving Band members, a few of the guest performers such as Dr. John and Mavis Staples, and several crew members, among others). Although the many participants were recorded separately, the track tightly edited with nary a dull moment. A nice touch: you can select a subtitle feature which will bring up the name of the person who is speaking while the commentary plays. If all that weren't enough, the 20 minute featurette contains good recent interview footage with Scorsese and Robertson. And there is a 12 minute outtake which is an all-star jam session (the instrumental jam itself isn't all that exciting, but with that kind of line-up it's well worth watching). Even the Still Photo gallery had more care put into it than most dvds, with the photos divided into three sections, many featuring captions to identify what we're looking at. The movie itself looks and sounds so good, it justifies the purchase. But the supplemental material puts this way above the 5-star level.
Rating:
Summary: Levon Helm (of "The Band") is awsome
Review: There's plenty of reviews of how great this film is. Read all the reviews, check it out anyway you can... but buy it... you'll love it............ Also, check out Levon Helm (member of "The Band") on a CD titled "The Muddy Waters Tribute Band with special guests: You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Dead and Gone (on the Telarc lable.... copywrite 1996).............. and if you can get you hand on a VHS copy of a PBS show called "Great Drives: Highway 61", Levon Helm hosts the show and does some great tunes....... I'd love to see PBS's "Great Drives" series (aired in 1997) put on DVD. Maybe if enough people bug (e-mails etc.) the folks at PBS television, they might just do the show on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: when the best rock band and movie director collide ...
Review: It's a worn-out formula nowadays. Bob Dylan did it, Chuck Berry did it, and Luciano Pavarotti does it all the time. They also do it every time somebody dies, and in this case you don't even have to be a musician. Yeah, I'm talking about that dreary event, the celebration concert with guest musician buddies. But there are exceptions to the rule, and this is definitely the case here. To celebrate that they were quitting the 'god---n impossible' life on the road after 16 years, The Band gave a farewell concert in San Francisco, on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. To join them, they invited artists who represented the rich and varied array of styles that went into their musical melting pot: Rock'n' Roll, Blues, Folk, New Orleans R'n'B, Country, Gospel, Rockabilly ... who would sing their own numbers backed up by them. They, noblesse oblige, brought in their first mentor, Ronnie Hawkings, a man who sure knows how to entice a teenager into joining a rock'n'roll band, and Bob Dylan, of course, (who had just released Blood on the Tracks and Desire), Joni Mitchell (The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira her most recent albums), Neil Young (Tonight's the Night and Zuma were his latest solo efforts), Muddy Waters (who would release Hard Again, his best late day work the following year), and many, many more I have no space here to mention. All top-notch and in their musical prime. Well, and Neil Diamond. The result was a concert that can only be described as dazzling and magical. The Band do ecstatic versions of some of their best songs and the guest appereances are also amazing, Van Morrison does what's probably the best version ever of Caravan, Muddy Waters proves why he is the M-A-N, chile, The Staple Singers send a shiver up your spine that can rend you comatose for life, and Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton bring the house down with their scorching six-strings and then they burn the ruins to ashes. All this just to quote a few. But I have a minor complaint here, the movie only features one song (The Shape I'm in) sung by Richard Manuel, one of the most soulful and moving singers that ever walked the face of the earth. This gives the newcomer a somewhat off-balanced account of how vocal duties were shared in The Band, as one can deduct that Levon Helm sang almost everything with a little help from his friends Rick and Richard. And Levon is darn good, but Richard is the shhh ....sheer top of the heap. Casting these trifles aside, the movie is a masterpiece. Direcrted by a Martin Scorsese in a state of grace (those were the days of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull), and beautifully darkly photographed by Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), Michael W. Watkins (later X-Files direcror and producer), and Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate), this was to be more than your average rock concert documentary. The filmmakers were set on an ambitious goal, to show what it is and what does it feel to play great music. And they achieved it in such a way that we mere mortals get to feel what it is to be up there on the stage, enraptured, playing that great music to an enthusiastic and receptive crowd. The featurette that is one of the DVD bonus add-ons shows how Scorsese had these sheets of paper with the lyrics of each song to be played written down in one column, the main moments of each performance in another (when a singer would join in the chorus, or the guitar solo was to begin, or a special part of the lyric would be sung, etc), and the camera shots and movements for each moment in a third column. This is called making the best of the means of your art instead of just doing anything that would do, and it shows on the screen in a way that leaves you breathless. Watching Scorsese frantically directing the movie like a tightrope walker with no net to fall down on must've been worth another documentary. They had only one take for everything, mind that, and I guess that's what might have attracted such a brave and audacious director as Scorsese: Jumping into the unstopping swirling midst of life and trying to extract art out of it with just spotlights and cameras. Souns enticing, isnt't it? And for no money nor any promises of getting more you-know-what than Frank Sinatra.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss This Classic Concert Film
Review: Possibly the Greatest of all Rock Concert Films. Until I saw The Last Waltz, I was somewhat ignorant of The Band's music. I never cared for their classic hits, and I dismissed their critical acclaim as requiring a taste that I didn't care to acquire. After seeing this film, I now regard The Band as one of the great groups in the history of Rock. On Thanksgiving Day, 1976, The Band got together at San Francisco's Winterland auditorium to play what was supposed to have been their last live performance. To go out with style, The Band enlisted the talents of a dizzying array of guest artists. And, for good measure, they hired Martin Scorcese to film the thing. The film switches between live concert footage, interviews, and a few numbers that were recorded at an MGM soundstage. The music is the highlight of The Last Waltz. Sometimes Jazz fans say that audio recordings rarely capture the magic of live Jazz. Similarly, there was a certain "magic" to The Band's music that was rarely captured before this film was made. Career-topping performances of The Band's now-classic repertoire, combined with first rate guest performances from legends like Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Eric Clapton (to name just a few) made for a fine evening of music. Fans of all styles of music will appreciate the mature musicianship of a group that had spent the previous 16 years on the road together. Given The Band's level of playing, plus the great performances from the invited guests, and the fact that Martin Scorcese was in charge of filming the show, it's no wonder that the film turned out so well. Martin Scorcese himself interviews the members of The Band. Most of these interviews are interesting, too. This is particularly true when the guys start talking about the history of Rock and their respective musical influences. The music is so good, though, that you're almost always glad that the music is starting again. As you would expect, the DVD offers a marked improvement over the old VHS format in both image and sound quality. The image is widescreen, and crystal clear. All of the music has been remixed using today's best technology. The concert footage has a deep, rich, warm sound. The DVD also offers special features (including a selectable 5.1 digital audio track, for those who have the system to support it). For the DVD, original guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson has written some great liner notes with the kind of trivia craved by people who actually read liner notes. Among other things, Robertson tells us how they chose the unusual combination of guests, which was "to pay respect to some of the musical influences that inspired the whole era," and Robertson also reveals that before the show "the crowd had no idea who was performing besides The Band." Talk about being pleasantly surprised! There are certainly some flaws in this movie, but it is still a truly great concert film. IMPORTANT NOTE for FANS of RINGO and RON WOOD: Their names are listed in the credits, but there's almost none of these guys in the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for a fiver
Review: I got this DVD at my brother's recommendation for a fiver in Heathrow Airport, and it was good value at that. Good American music and a very well shot concert movie (well, it is Scorsese!) The interview sequences are intersting and as a Chaucer fan I delighted at the intro to the Canterbury Tales being read out. I was unfamiliar with the group's music before seeing this, and whilst they aren't a patch on Creedence Clearwater Revival I still admire their music. An interesting insight to a little segment of rock history.
Rating:
Summary: Levon Helm (of "The Band") is awsome
Review: There's plenty of reviews of how great this film is. Read all the reviews, check it out anyway you can... but buy it... you'll love it............ Also, check out Levon Helm (member of "The Band") on a CD titled "The Muddy Waters Tribute Band with special guests: You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Dead and Gone (on the Telarc lable.... copywrite 1996).............. and if you can get you hand on a VHS copy of a PBS show called "Great Drives: Highway 61", Levon Helm hosts the show and does some great tunes....... I'd love to see PBS's "Great Drives" series (aired in 1997) put on DVD. Maybe if enough people bug (e-mails etc.) the folks at PBS television, they might just do the show on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Review
Review: The Last Waltz is a final tribute to the great music of the late 60's and early 70's. It marks a farewell to rock's finest era. The lineup is argueably the finest collection of rock musicians ever assembled and the performances are trancedent. Wisely Scorsese's film concentrates on the stage performances. The interview segments that sporatically appear in the film aren't that interesting, but they do prove context for the song selection. Probably the weakest thing about the film are The Band's performances on Scorsese's sound stages. These numbers lack the intensity that the Band gives in their concert performances. The Band themselves are awesome in their own concert numbers, rivaling the cuts on Rock of Ages. Since they are so many guests, the film limits the amount of the Band's performances. The guests are stellar with the highlights being: Joni Mitchell's Coyote, Neil Young doing Helpless, Dylan with Baby Let Me Follow You Down, and a show stopping Caravan with Van Morrison. Only Neil Diamond strikes a sour note. Even the guest stars pale to the Band's own numbers especially with Robbie's firey guitar work that night. The Last Waltz a piece of history, an amazing concert, and a brilliant send off for an era of great music. Image: 1:85:1 picture looks great, good detail and sharpness. Compare with the trailer and be amazed. The print is very clean and few dirt specks appear even in dark areas. Sound: as it should be is excellent, I listened to the 2 Channel and it rocked. 5.1 also included, but sounds weaker on two speaker setups. Extras: commentary with Robbie and Marty is Robbie dominated and is rather dull. A documentary is included that focuses on them and I would reccomend it instead. The second track is a wonderful commentary from a variety of sources. It is structured and edited into a form that resembles that of the interview segements in the film. Scoreses' crew, rock critics, and Dr. John, The Hawk, Garth, and Levon take turns telling behind the scenes stories. It has a wonderful introduction that prepares you for true tales and tall that you are about to hear. It's worth it alone for The Hawk's background story on the Band and anything Dr. John says is brilliant and a hoot. Well worth a listen. There is an interesting ten minute jam session at the concert with the amazing lineup of Young, Starr, Wood, John, Garth, and Levon. Also included is a photo gallery and trailer.
Rating: 
Summary: some perspective
Review: I saw the original film in the theatre many years ago and have treasured the memory since, but I must make note of Levon Helm's comments about it in his autobiography 'This Wheel's on Fire'. Levon was deeply wounded by Robbie's increasing authority over the Band culminating in his decision to close out the band in this extravagant fashion. The music was great, but Band fans should check out Levon's angle in the book. The movie is all Robbie. As Ronnie Hawkins said after viewing the preview about Richard Manuel, the great pianist & vocalist in the Band, "Was Richard still in the group when we did this?" Check out the book too!
Rating:
Summary: Rocking!
Review: I have to admit that before seeing this movie, I wasn't a big fan of the Band, but their performance on this particular night really rocked. Kudos to Martin Scorsese for bringing us closer to the intimacy of the group in live performance. This intimacy is only hightened by the fact that the director seems to have made a concerted effort not to film the audience. There are also some wonderful performances by other musicians such as Joni Mitchell and Muddy Waters. I have to say though that Bob Dylan had to be the worst performer on the night and I was glad when everybody else got up there to help him out. Apparently when Scorsese showed the initial cut to Neil Young's manager he was furious as Neil had a huge cocaine booger hanging from his nostril. Somehow Scorsese managed to cover it up.
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