Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: DVD: DVD

Product Description

From Amazon.com

For Led Zeppelin fanatics, this 1976 feature The Song Remains the Same is a treasure of searing live performances, particularly welcome in light of the sad scarcity of such visual material from the band's great decade. Despite the group's road weariness after a long tour, their final, three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 1973 was full of the old power. Performances of "No Quarter," "Whole Lotta Love," "Black Dog," "Dazed and Confused," and "Stairway to Heaven" underscore Zep's charisma. Trouble is, you don't get an unbroken performance here. Viewers have to wade through a mishmash of documentary insight into the lives of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, as well as fantasy sequences supposedly inspired by the thoughts and fantasies of the band's individual members. It's mostly garish and silly, but there are some nice elements, especially insights into the late Bonham's life. The DVD doesn't offer much in the way of add-ons (a theatrical trailer is about it), but there is also enhanced viewing for 16 x 9 televisions. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

159 Reviews

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(13)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (159 customer reviews)

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Great, But Still Fun., Nov 29 2007

By

carlos vala jr (toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same (Collector's Edition) (2DVD) (DVD)

Finally what many Zep fans have hoped for, a remastered rerelease of The Song Remains The Same. I know i have and that is strange because i never thought that the performances are all that great. And over the years the band has come out and said that they too don't think they played well at those New York shows ( the bootlegs of the Los Angeles shows are far superior performances). But this is the only official document of that tour so we cling to it, we come back to it, even though the band's playing is sloppy and tired. But it still is fun to watch, just to see a young Led Zeppelin in their heyday. And that tiny stage. Here they were playing arenas and stadiums and they had a stage set that was right for a 2000 seat concert hall. There are a few good performances such as the extras Misty Mountain Hop and Celebration Day and the Ocean. There just isn't enough of them.

The package is nice, it comes with a set of lobby cards, some reproductions of movie premiere tickets and newspaper clippings. Most importantly the picture quality and sound quality are vastly improved, it really does sound and look beautiful. And if you don't already know, the film isn't completely live. When the band got back to England they weren't happy with what they filmed so they set up the stage in Shepperton studios and reshot many scenes and you can see some times that Jimmy's guitar playing isn't in synch with what we hear and see. Also the film was shot over 3 nights in N.Y and the band was told to wear the same clothes for all shows to make it look like one show, but John Paul Jones wears different clothes on each night and the editing reflects that. You see JPJ wearing 3 different outfits in one song. Sad really. One last thing i would like to add is why with todays technology, they didn't give us an option to watch the film with or without the fantasy pieces, which i always found boring. So there you have it, not a great film, but still a fun snapshot of the band when they ruled the land.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Awesome, Aug 9 2009

By

Brian O. Sullivan "70s guy" (Stouffville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same (Special Edition) (2DVD) (DVD)

This a classic cult film from the 70s. Be sure your television or viewing device is hooked up to a decent sound system and crank it up !

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A sad legacy for a great rock band, Nov 20 2001

By

Gerald B. Johnson (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (Widescreen) (DVD)

If this wasn't the only concert film available of Led Zeppelin it wouldn't be such a tragedy.. but it is.

This is a second rate concert at best. At the time it was released Plant himself acknowledged its shortcomings, saying it simply had to be released, regardless of the calibre of the music. His words were to the effect that it 'certainly wasn't magical'. And it isn't.

For those of us lucky enough to have heard/seen a magical performance of Led Zeppelin in their prime, this concert representation is a pathetic farce. It doesn't even scratch the surface of the brilliance of the band.

On top of the mediocre performance, the editing is simply brutal. The 'dream' sequences spliced in and out of the concert footage are rather silly and beside the point, and even the live footage is so butchered that the sound/images don't match half the time.

As for the 'dream' sequences themselves.... the fact that the makers of this film are trying to 'liven up' a Led Zeppelin concert should be your first clue that something is wrong.

It's not that this film is so bad that bothers me, it's not terrible... it's just mediocre. BUT THAT'S THE PROBLEM! Led Zeppelin was one of the best rock bands of all time.. anyone watching this who had never seen a 'magical' concert would scratch their heads and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Let's pray that somewhere, sometime, someone digs up some magic from the video vaults and shows the kind of mind-blowing concert that these guys were capable of.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, because it's Led Zeppelin!
After sesing this movie in theater, i have bought the DVD and now the Blu-Ray. Simply because it was a great experience of watching this band on film when i was young, and i have... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Rock Yours

3.0 out of 5 stars The Song Remains The same
The title of this DVD more than explains the slight monotony of the content, which is cleverly disguised by the producer introducing all manner of unrelated scenes and events to... Read more

Published on July 26 2009 by Leigh Harris