Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 23, 2013

Gilbert Gottfried might want to take note: when a country experiences a devastating tragedy, smart celebrities don’t make jokes about it (even if those jokes are funny—at least for those with politically incorrect senses of humor), but instead offer to help in some way. Gottfried found himself a social pariah after he Tweeted some inappropriate punch lines about the horrifying calamity that struck Japan in 2011 after the island nation experienced one of the most massive earthquakes on record and then suffered through a cascading series of resultant tragedies including a tsunami and the near complete meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor (rather interestingly, an event that provided an interesting subplot on Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom: The Complete First Season). While it may seem a bit self serving for Aerosmith to decide that the only way they could aid the ailing Japanese was to fly right over and charge them for the privilege to see the band in concert, this record of their Japanese tour proves that the band is still in amazingly fine form (if perhaps a bit under rehearsed) and at least willing to make themselves available to their fans, some of whom flew for hours to get to one or more of these concerts. As enjoyable as the live performances captured on this Blu-ray undeniably are, some of the sweetest footage is actually of the guys interacting with their fans. Tyler especially seems quite touched by some of the people he interacts with.

The bulk of this outing is in fact a collection of performances by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and crew given around Japan to hordes of screaming fans (and not just Japanese fans, either), interspersed with more personal moments. Some of these include the guys visiting the Hiroshima Memorial, which is shot superimposed over newsreels of the devastation taken shortly after the atom bomb devastated the region. The guys also visit a curio shop of sorts where a collector’s edition of a knife causes a lot of interest. But the real drawing card here is going to be the performance footage, and the good news is the guys sound viscerally exciting (and frankly excited), giving raw and at times just slightly sloppy renditions of many of their best loved material.

Tyler has always been one of the most charismatic rock front men on this side of the pond, a kind of pint sized American version of Mick Jagger, strutting and dancing across the stage and letting loose with raw, unvarnished vocals that are always powerful if not always incredibly nuanced. The band here is absolutely amazing most of the time, with Joey Kramer beating the heck out of his kit and keeping things absolutely propulsive. Joe Perry delivers superb guitar accents that are incisive and punchy. Brad Whitford And Tom Hamilton are shunted just slightly off to the side some of the time throughout these performances, but they each contribute to the band's vivid and aggressive sound.

Aerosmith hasn’t been totally drama free over the course of its many years in the limelight, but as one rabid Japanese fan mentions in an on screen interview, at least they never kicked any of their members out. This fan insists that Aerosmith is all about “love”. Some may want to quibble with that assessment, especially given some prickly moments shown backstage where Tyler isn’t always thrilled with how on the fly rehearsals are going, but the fact is these guys are true rock survivors. That may not put them in the same category as the poor souls who pulled through the horrible tragedies visited on Japan, but it should count for something.

Aerosmith’s set list includes:

• 01. Draw the Line
• 02. Love in an Elevator
• 03. Livin’ on the Edge
• 04. Hangman Jury
• 05. No More No More
• 06. Mama Kin
• 07. Money on My Back
• 08. Toys in the Attic
• 09. Listen to the Thunder
• 10. Sweet Emotion
• 11. Boogie Man
• 12. Rats in the Cellar
• 13. Movin’ Out
• 14. Last Child
• 15. S.O.S. (Too Bad)
• 16. Walk This Way
• 17. Train Kept a Rollin’

Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Aerosmith Rock for the Rising Sun is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision (an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment) with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is a really sharp looking high definition presentation that benefits from some relatively normal stage lighting during the performance footage, lighting that avoids the typical bugaboos of banding and posterizing. Colors are very accurate and nicely saturated. Director Casey Patrick Tebo exploits different stocks and looks here, including some black and white segments, but fine detail remains consistently strong throughout the entire piece. Contrast is also very strong and consistent, providing ample if not overwhelming shadow detail.

Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Aerosmith Rock for the Rising Sun features both a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as well as an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these tracks support both the talking heads and music performance elements quite effortlessly. The 5.1 mix has some really boisterous low end which really helps to bring Aerosmith's music fully alive, and my hunch is most will want to opt for that mix. There is quite a bit of conversation scattered throughout this enterprise, however, so for those without a surround set up, the LPCM track will more than suffice. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is quite wide.

Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bonus Tracks include:

  Lick and a Promise (1080i; 3:32)

  One Way Street (1080i; 6:47)

Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Aerosmith Rock for the Rising Sun may in fact be self-serving on the part of Steven Tyler and the boys, at least in terms of the band's putative "human interest" angle for going to Japan, but putting that aside (which some may not have such a cynical reaction to as I did), this video provides ample evidence that the band is still in generally great shape. There are some moments here where one gets the feeling that they haven't had quite enough time to get their act together, but they play together with such camaraderie and energy that it's easy to overlook very minor stumbles. This Blu- ray offers great video and audio and comes Recommended.