The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2019

For Rolling Stones fans who may have picked up The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Bremen, it may seem like “déjà vu all over again” when it comes to this “Bridges” release, since it is part of the same Stones tour from the 1990s, and features a similar playlist along with other “echoes” like some of the band even wearing the same clothes on stage. That said, according to some online sites which list the dates of various Stones tours through the decades, this Buenos Aires date actually came several months before the Bremen date, though still well into what was basically a year long tour that lasted from September 1997 to September 1998. This particular concert does have one pretty big calling card to its credit: a quick guest appearance by Bob Dylan, who of course had a considerable success with a song which he performs here with the band which some might cheekily think refers to the band itself.

The Stones gallivant through a nice selection of tunes in this concert. Fans may have some fun comparing this set list to the one on the Bremen disc linked to above (the review offers a complete set list of that concert):

• 1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
• 2. Let's Spend the Night Together
• 3. Flip the Switch
• 4. Gimme Shelter
• 5. Sister Morphine
• 6. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)
• 7. Saint of Me
• 8. Out of Control
• 9. Miss You
• 10. Like a Rolling Stone (featuring Bob Dylan)
• 11. Thief in the Night
• 12. Wanna Hold You
• 13. Little Queenie
• 14. When the Whip Comes Down
• 15. You Got Me Rocking
• 16. Sympathy for the Devil
• 17. Tumbling Dice
• 18. Honky Tonk Women
• 19. Start Me Up
• 20. Jumpin' Jack Flash
• 21. You Can't Always Get What You Want
• 22. Brown Sugar

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.33:1. This is yet another in the now long line of so-called "SD Blu-ray" releases that Eagle Rock has continued to offer Stones fans over the past several years, and for anyone who has purchased or viewed any of those other releases, this falls very much in line with them. As I've mentioned in several previous reviews of these Stones "SD Blu-rays", upscaling is pretty evident, with pretty noticeable stairstepping and combing artifacts. As with the Bridges to Bremen concert, there are some stylistic flourishes here, including more quasi-montages, and those can lead to even further lessening of sometimes already pretty wobbly detail levels. The palette looks surprisingly spry, with elements like Mick's bright yellow shirt popping quite winningly.

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks, but as is often the case with these Stones releases, the disc has been authored to default to the stereo track. I risked Stones fans showing up at my house with pitchforks and torches when I suggested that some of the vocals on the Bremen concert struck me as sounding a bit on the rough side, but things are considerably better here, which is kind of ironic since either the mix or actual mic problems during the concert means many of the backups tend to get swallowed and/or buried ("Let's Spend the Night Together" is a notable example). Mick's voice tends to rise above the fray easily in any case, and the band sounds fine, with the 5.1 mix offering nice spaciousness and a good accounting of the huge crowd sounds.

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no on disc supplements on this release. There are two CDs included which offer audio for the entire concert, but I tend to only score extras actually on the Blu-ray disc, and so my score above reflects that "tradition". The DigiPack includes an insert booklet with an essay by Paul Sexton and some stills.

The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Buenos Aires Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another high energy concert from the Rolling Stones, and the addition of Bob Dylan, however briefly, is a nice added attraction. As with the many previous so-called "SD Blu-ray" releases Eagle Rock has offered to Stones fans, this has spotty video but generally fine audio, for those who are considering a purchase.