Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 18, 2024

Any historical annals of so-called "rock operas" might cite efforts like Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy and/or Quadrophenia as having beaten American Idiot to the punch, release date wise at least, but there's little doubt that Green Day's foray into this idiom may have had at least as much impact as any of the previous trio. Green Day had already established themselves as a force to be reckoned with courtesy of several previous well received and profitable albums, but American Idiot seemed to capture a certain almost generational zeitgeist, and has continued to be one of the band's best remembered efforts. Warner is doing the album proud for a 20th Anniversary release, offering a nice package that includes four CDs (track listings are included below), as well as two Blu-ray discs and some fun non disc swag.

The two Blu-ray discs in this package are:

Blu-ray Disc One: Heart Like a Hand Grenade (1080i; 1:36:39)

This 2015 documentary supposedly offers a Behind the Music-esque look at the making of American Idiot, and while there is some passingly interesting material on tap here, mostly in some of the candid footage caught of the guys, there's a curious lack of actual information about things like songcraft and the actual recording process. That may make this less than a complete success for those wanting an in depth analysis of how the band wrote and then constructed the album, but there is still some good footage in both the recording studio and later live performances that will probably at least partially sate appetites. That said, anyone looking for really insightful analysis into either the music or the recording process may come away wanting.

Blu-ray Disc Two: 20 Years of 'American Idiot' (1080i; 1:49:57)

There's probably a more overall satisfying look at the album and its legacy to be found in this newer documentary, which still includes a bunch of archival video but also more contemporary interviews with the guys, who seem somewhat amused that they've made it long enough to actually celebrate an anniversary like this. The interplay between archival concert performances and interviews and current day outings provides this piece with a rather commendable sense of perspective.

Bonus Material on Disc Two:

• BBC Live (HD; 27:07) features performances of St. Jimmy, Give Me Novacaine, She's a Rebel, Welcome to Paradise, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Jesus of Suburbia. These don't vary hugely from recorded versions, but are all high energy and staging wise kind of stripped down when compared to some of the more pyrotechnically infused live performances seen in some of the other concert footage available on the Blu-ray discs.


• Later. . .with Jools Holland features:

  American Idiot (HD; 3:43)

  Boulevard of Broken Dreams (HD; 4:35)

Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots 1 through 9 are from Heart Like a Hand Grenade. Screenshots 10 through 18 are from 20 Years of 'American Idiot'. Menus of the two Blu-ray discs are shown in screenshots 19 and 20.

Green Day: American Idiot 20 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Records with AVC encoded 1080i transfers (mostly) in 1.78:1 for the two main presentations detailed above. Heart Like a Hand Grenade fares considerably worse than the more freshly produced 20 Years of 'American Idiot', as might be expected. While Heart Like a Hand Grenade bears a release date of 2015, it was actually obviously shot (at least in part) a good decade or so earlier, and as such there's an "upscaled home video" look to a lot of this presentation. Parts can actually look reasonably well detailed and sharp, but there are a number of typical bugaboos like macroblocking, noise and pixellation that show up. 20 Years of 'American Idiot' can admittedly show some of these same issues in the archival footage, but the newer interviews and concert footage are all great looking for the most part.

Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both of the Blu-ray discs offer DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. Surprisingly just about all of the live performance material sounds absolutely first rate, with excellent fidelity and dynamic range (yes, there is at least some dynamic range despite the band's punkish sensibilities), and with vocals and instrumental forces really well balanced and nicely prioritized. The surround tracks open up the soundstage during live performances and probably give a more forceful account of the midrange and low end, but the stereo tracks all sound fine in my estimation. There are occasional quality variances in Heart Like a Hand Grenade in particular, but I think at least some of those are inherent to some of the lo-fi technologies used to videotape things. Spoken material in both documentaries is typically presented without any issues whatsoever.

Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As I so often have said with "multimedia" releases like this, one fan's supplement may be another fan's main feature, but with an understanding that most people coming to this site may have a primary interest in the two Blu-ray discs outlined above, the remaining CDs have the following tracks:

CD 1: American Idiot

1. American Idiot
2. Jesus of Suburbia

I. Jesus of Suburbia
II. City of the Damned
III. I Don't Care
IV. Dearly Beloved
V. Tales of Another Broken Home

3. Holiday
4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
5. Are We the Waiting
6. St. Jimmy
7. Give Me Novacaine
8. She's A Rebel
9. Extraordinary Girl
10. Letterbomb
11. Wake Me Up When September Ends
12. Homecoming

I. The Death of St. Jimmy
II. East 12th St.
III. Nobody Likes You
IV. Rock and Roll Girlfriend
V. We're Coming Home Again

13. Whatsername

CD 2: B-Sides & Bonus Tracks

1. American Idiot (Live)
2. Jesus of Suburbia (Live)
I. Jesus of Suburbia
II. City of the Damned
III. I Don't Care
IV. Dearly Beloved
V. Tales of Another Broken Home
3. Holiday (Live)
4. Are We the Waiting (Live)
5. St. Jimmy (Live)
6. Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Live)
7. Favorite Son
8. Shoplifter
9. Governator
10. Too Much Too Soon
11. Are We the Waiting (Live)
12. St. Jimmy (Live)
13. Give Me Novacaine (Live)
14. Homecoming (Live)

CD 3: Demos

1. American Idiot
2. American Idiot (Alt. Version)
3. Jesus Of Suburbia
4. Holiday/Blvd. Of Broken Dreams
5. Are We We Are/St. Jimmy Opera
6. Novacaine
7. She's A Rebel
8. Radio Bagdad
9. Cluster Bomb
10. Wake Me Up When September Ends
11. Homecoming (Nobody Likes You)
12. Everyone's Breaking Down
13. Just Another Year
14. Lowlife
15. What's Her Name

CD 4: Live Irving Plaza, NYC, Sept 21 2004

1. American Idiot (Live)
2. Jesus of Suburbia (Live)
3. Holiday (Live)
4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Live)
5. Are We the Waiting (Live)
6. St. Jimmy (Live)
7. Give Me Novacaine (Live)
8. She's A Rebel (Live)
9. Extraordinary Girl (Live)
10. Letterbomb (Live)
11. Wake Me Up When September Ends (Live)
12. Homecoming (Live)
13. Whatsername (Live)
14. Minority (Live)
15. We Are The Champions (Live)

The package also includes a really nicely done insert booklet which includes great writing (Rob Cavallo contributes an introduction) and lots of stills and credit information. On the more whimsical side, stickers, pins and an arm patch are also included. All of the discs come in their own cardboard sleeves, with the main album offered in a quasi-gatefold.

Green Day: American Idiot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Many years ago in my life as a musician I led a rather large mixed voice community choir of around 60 to 70 people, and I used to put together "themed" concerts several times a year where I'd do both choral arranging and provide full instrumental pre-records as accompaniment as well. One of the funnier themes I did was "Songs You Never Expect to Hear a Community Choir Perform", and we undertook everything from Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild to Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Whatsername off of American Idiot. Those two latter choices actually made me momentarily cool to my then teenaged sons, a coolness maybe I may now be able to probably again only momentarily reclaim by introducing them to this exceptional release. Video quality may be on the variable side, but audio is fine and actual content is outstanding, and the rest of this release, including the CDs and non disc swag and packaging, is outstanding. Highly recommended.