Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 5, 2025

Audiophiles who are either old enough or, well, young but hip enough to collect vinyl may have experienced the rather odd "Japanese exclusives" that were a regular part of the LP (and even CD) generation, where top flight global acts would give live performances in Japan and then recordings of those concerts would be released only in Japan, leaving frustrated collectors to arrange getting them (something that was particularly convoluted before the internet). Kind of interestingly in that regard, Rhino's website mentions that Deep Purple's Made in Japan album was supposed to be exactly that sort of insular "national" release, but evidently wiser (marketing?) heads prevailed, and while the album did debut in Japan, it became a major global smash for the band after it became available everywhere. The album was so successful in fact that it has been named as one of the all time best live concert albums ever released, and perhaps the only downside to the band's tour of Japan is that there is no video included here.

Since there's no actual video content on this release, I've included several shots of menus with the tracklist (see the video information below for more information about navigating around the Blu-ray disc). That said, the track list does not provide the actual performance information which is included elsewhere in the release, so I'll repeat it here:

1. Highway Star (Osaka, Aug. 16)
2. Child In Time (Osaka, Aug. 16)
3. Smoke On The Water (Osaka, Aug. 15)
4. The Mule (Tokyo, Aug. 17)
5. Strange Kind Of Woman (Osaka, Aug. 16)
6. Lazy (Tokyo, Aug. 17)
7. Space Truckin’ (Osaka, Aug. 16)

Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There is no video content on the Blu-ray disc other than static menus. I've provided several screenshots of the menus, and this is a fairly straightforward authoring job that displays different colors as you navigate through the tracks. The titles are white until selected, which turns them to a red-orange color. If you're playing a track and move to another one without actually starting it, the track playing turns to gold, and the one you've moved to changes to red-orange (look at screenshot 2 where "Child in Time" is playing, and then see screenshot 3 where I navigated to "Smoke on the Water" while "Child in Time" was still playing for an example).

Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once again, Rhino and Warner Music Group offer fans a nice assortment of audio options, including Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 for Steven Wilson's 2025 remixes, and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 for the original 1972 stereo mix. Also once again, Maestro Wilson has brought his considerable expertise to the project, and both the Atmos and 5.1 options significantly open up the proceedings without (thankfully) making the rapturous crowd sounds too overwhelming. One of the things that actually kind of surprised me was in going to the original stereo mix and hearing how kind of "hiss"-y the high end is throughout that version, something that has been completely ameliorated in all of the 2025 remixes. There are some interesting variations in midrange and low end between the Atmos and 5.1 tracks, and I would encourage fans to actually listen to the album all the way through in all three (four, including the original) versions to hear some of those differences, but on the whole both of the surround tracks offer beautifully spacious renderings with "natural" sounding hall ambience. Instruments are nicely splayed in the surround channels, but again commendably I never felt (as I sometimes do) that vocals were ever buried in the mix.

One potential downside for some audiophiles is that toggling between audio codecs via the menu starts the song over.

Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another absolutely astounding set from Rhino and Warner Music Group, and as always with these releases, one fan's "main feature" may be another fan's "supplement", but with an assumption most reading this review will be considering the Blu-ray disc the prime attraction, here's what else this release offers:

CD One: Original Album (2025 Steven Wilson Remix)

1. Highway Star
2. Child In Time
3. Smoke On The Water
4. The Mule
5. Strange Kind Of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

CD Two: Osaka, August 15, 1972

1. Highway Star
2. Smoke On The Water
3. Child In Time
4. The Mule (Drum Solo)
5. Strange Kind Of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

CD Three: Osaka, August 16, 1972

1. Highway Star
2. Smoke On The Water
3. Child In Time
4. The Mule (Drum Solo)
5. Strange Kind Of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

CD Four: Tokyo, August 17, 1972

1. Highway Star
2. Smoke On The Water
3. Child In Time
4. The Mule (Drum Solo)
5. Strange Kind Of Woman
6. Lazy
7. Space Truckin'

CD Five: The Encores

1. Black Night (Osaka, August 15, 1972)
2. Speed King (Osaka, August 15, 1972)
3. Black Night (Osaka, August 16, 1972)
4. Lucille (Osaka, August 16, 1972)
5. Black Night (Tokyo, August 17, 1972)
6. Speed King (Tokyo, August 17, 1972)

Single Edits


7. Black Night (German Single Edit)
8. Space Truckin' (Mexican Single Edit)
9. Smoke On The Water (U.S. Single Edit)

All of the CDs and the Blu-ray disc come in mini-LP covers (the CDs are in "gatefolds"). Also included is a fantastic 40 page book with a wealth of background information, a ton of photos (including a cool little section on Deep Purple's Japan exclusive releases) and production credits. A replica poster is also included. The entire set is housed in a box that measures approximately 6" wide by 7 3/4" high by 1 3/4" deep (purple?).

Deep Purple: Made in Japan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a reason I named Audio Blu-ray as a category in my top spot a couple of years ago in our annual Top 10 lists, and another reason I cited Rhino and Warner Music Group in particular as providing fans with typically exceptional releases. Deep Purple probably hasn't been quite as well served in the high definition era as, say, Pink Floyd, but this spectacular sounding Blu-ray should help alleviate that deficit. Highly recommended.