Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 11, 2021

Maybe sometimes it can be better not to be offering an “authorized” biographical documentary about a superstar, especially if that superstar might have a skeleton or two in his or her closet. Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll is arguably just such an enterprise, one which touts its “unprecedented exclusive access” and how director Jon Brewer was “personally selected by the Berry Estate to produce and direct the inside story” of its iconic subject. That “inside story” seems to have been massaged a bit by those who obviously care for Berry’s legacy, and as such this admittedly engrossing piece may come off as a hagiography more than anything. For those aware of at least alleged blemishes in Berry’s past, that aspect may ironically seem (given a racial aspect which the documentary does handle with a bit more alacrity) like whitewashing.

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll hits all of the major biographical data points without faltering, with a huge array of talking heads, including several Berry relatives, providing insight along the way. There are copious archival stills and some video, and an appealing portrait of a trailblazing musician is pretty easily accomplished. The documentary also gets into some of the obstacles Berry faced along the way, as alluded to above in my statement about the documentary's handling of race relations. But Berry also had at least a few "issues" that accrued at various points, and it's here that Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll may simply not want to pry too deeply into things. While a number of these "problem areas" are addressed, they're often referred to discursively, dismissed as "fake news", or simply not really explored in any great detail.

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This documentary gets some bonus points for style, as evidenced by screenshot 2, just one of several "dramatizations" that see black and white and color mixed together appealingly, with typically excellent detail levels. All of the contemporary talking head sequences look sharp and natural, with nice fine detail levels throughout. Some of the archival video and stills are understandably more ragged looking, but there's nothing overly problematic throughout.

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Some may wish that Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll had included a surround track, but the documentary's LPCM 2.0 audio suffices perfectly well for what is really a talk fest, interrupted interstitially with music. All of the interview segments and the vast majority of the archival video sound fine, and there are no problems at understanding anything, meaning the lack of optional subtitles may not be a complete hindrance for some potential consumers.

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Extended Interviews

  Alice Cooper (1080p; 17:57)

  
  

  Charles Berry Jr. (1080p; 6:33)

  
  

  Gene Simmons (1080p; 5:09)

  
  

  George Thorogood (1080p; 4:30)

  
  

  Ingrid Berry (1080p; 10:04)

  
  

  Jimmy Marsala (1080p; 4:29)

  
  

  Joe Bonamassa (1080p; 7:29)

  
  

  Joe Perry (1080p; 8:14)

  
  

  Nile Rodgers (1080p; 5:25)

  
  

  Nils Lofgren (1080p; 13:26)

  
  

  Steve Van Zandt (1080p; 6:05)

  
  

  Johnny Rivers (1080p; 4:14)

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'N' Roll Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The interviews both in the documentary and included as supplements on this Blu-ray release really make Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll indispensable for Berry fans. The documentary itself would have probably been better served had it been at least a bit more "fearless" in addressing some of the allegations (and, frankly, proven incidents) involving some of the more troubling aspects of Berry's life. That said, Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock 'n' Roll is a fantastic place to start, though those interested would probably do well to explore the "rest of the story" (as Paul Harvey used to say). With caveats noted, Recommended.