Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2021

The internet can be a treacherous place, as probably most anyone nowadays can attest. Kind of similarly to the way some people act when they get behind the wheel of a car, denizens of various internet sites seem to think they're anonymous havoc wreakers able to get away with anything their little black hearts desire, with no one around to hold them responsible for their actions. I've personally had any number of people hiding behind anonymizing avatars and/or screennames go positively ballistic about various reviews of mine, to the point that some threatening emails have actually been forwarded to various police types. On the other hand, there actually are moments when the internet seems to be at least close to realizing part of its potential to help bring people together, and in that regard an online aggregation known as the AF Gang might be a prime example. The AF Gang was initially formed by fans of the British band Idles in order to discuss concerts and the like, but it rather quickly morphed into an all around support group, and as such it tended to reflect a rather unexpected aspect of the band itself: namely, simple human concern and caring. "Concern" and "caring" might not be the first two descriptors that come to the front of mind when thinking about music that has (according to the band, inaccurately) been described as "punk" or "post-punk", but the members of Idles as revealed in Don't Go Gentle come off as, well, kind of gentle in their own peculiar ways.

Now some might take issue with the adjective "gentle" being used to describe a band that is frequently beyond raucous onstage, with lead vocalist Joe Talbot basically berating the audience at various points (there's a rather funny sequence where he "dedicates" the song White Privilege to a smashed guy in the front row who, according to Talbot, has had "too much beer"), but then there's the "private" Talbot on hand in the first person confessionals and/or interviews included here, coming off as an almost nerdy quiet type. This is the case with many of the rest of the band as well, with an almost shocking disconnect between their stage personas and how they are in "real life". The documentary gives at least some background on the guys and the formation of the band, as well as their efforts to bypass the so-called music "industry" by basically doing everything themselves, but the real interest here may be the personal stories not just of the band members, but of their fans and the interconnectedness everyone seems to feel. There are some passing allusions to both sociopolitical unrest in the UK, an element that might have been better explicated for us dunderheads on this side of the pond, as well as various other social issues involving either the band members themselves or their litany of fans, with the "mental health" support of the AF Gang coming into play at various times.

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. All of the contemporary interview footage looks great, with appealing detail levels so that things like Dev's burly red beard can be seen in all its individually haired glory. Some contemporary onstage material has some deficits in both clarity and shadow detail, but the biggest ebbs in quality here come courtesy of the expected downgrade in terms of some of the archival material. A lot of the older video material, including some scenes that look like they were culled from news broadcasts of various bad behaviors in the streets by activists, is definitely ragged looking, and at times some of it struck me as having perhaps been upscaled.

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks, and as is often the case with these music- centric documentaries, while the surround track definitely opens up the proceedings in the performance sequences, the fact is the performance sequences tend to be utilized as interstitials, and so surround activity definitely ebbs and flows. The surround track definitely adds some extra energy to the thumping low end the band delivers in its live performances. All of the interview segments feature clearly delivered monologues and/or conversations. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Exeter Live SWX Bristol (HD: 6:59)


• Mother Live SWX Bristol (HD; 3:09)


• In Memory of Matt Day AF Gang (HD; 1:42)


• Japan (HD; 4:02)


• Member Spotlight - Bowen (HD; 1:24)


• Member Spotlight - Dev (HD; 00:57)


• Member Spotlight - Joe (HD; 2:12)


• Member Spotlight - Jon (HD; 2:11)


• Member Spotlight - Lee (HD; 2:44)


• The Early Years (HD; 3:23)

Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frankly wasn't all that aware of Idles before this documentary arrived in my review queue, but I have to say I kind of like their "balls to the wall" performance style as well as their almost weirdly sweet natured selves when they're not on stage. In this regard, I was perhaps humorously reminded of how funny I found it when I read an interview with Alice Cooper years ago where he was going on and on about the genius of Burt Bacharach, since Cooper and Bacharach would hardly seem to be stylistic bedfellows. The bottom line of both that memory and this documentary is that what you see is not necessarily always what you get, but where Don't Go Gentle: A Film About Idles really excels may be in its depiction of the connection between a band and its fan base, as well as the online community they all have forged together. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements are kind of goofily enjoyable as well. Recommended.