R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie Review

Old adventures in lo-fi.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 3, 2015

By rather serendipitous chance, the release in my review stack right before R.E.M. by MTV just happened to be Kingsman: The Secret Service, a film which starts with the unforgettable grinding guitar sound of Mark Knopfler on “Money for Nothing,” and the equally unforgettable falsetto voice of Sting proclaiming “I want my MTV," the sound of which will instantly conjure up memories of 1980s cable television and certain niche channels, at least for those of us of a certain age. For you young ‘uns out there in the reading audience, as incredible as this may sound, there was a time when MTV actually broadcast music videos and interview segments with, you know, actual musicians. I know, I know, it’s almost too confounding to believe, but as someone who was there (and sprang for my first cable box in order to get MTV), I assure you it’s the honest to goodness truth. As the press materials accompanying R.E.M. by MTV mention, there was a symbiotic relationship between the fledgling music network and the nascent superstars from the very beginning, with R.E.M.’s first release appearing mere weeks before MTV fired up the astronauts saluting a somewhat whimsical flag atop the lunar surface. This often extremely enjoyable compendium of archival material crafts a generalist history of R.E.M. while perhaps subliminally also charting the course of MTV itself.

Longtime fans of R.E.M. may find the data points provided by a huge array of archival footage fairly unremarkable, as old time MTV footage gives a bunch of background information on how the quartet originally met, with stops by such iconic locations as Wuxtry Records in Athens, Georgia or the old abandoned church where members of the band lived and where the band gave one of its most successful first “big” performances (meaning before hundreds of audience members, hardly the tens of thousands they would know in their arena rock days).

What tends to resonate more than the pure “history” is the simple and at least initially ingenuous commentary of the band members. Would anyone other than Michael Stipe go on a bit of a rant about the vaunted goals of most rock musicians, i.e., unlimited money and fame, and then disparage it all, saying “radio doesn’t deserve me yet”? Watching Stipe become a bit more media savvy as the band begins to experience first regional and then national success is quite instructive, as is watching his evolution from a kind of introverted geek (with oversized glasses and flowing locks—yes, flowing locks) to a more extroverted frontman is also fascinating. Stipe’s somewhat startling change in image is also kind of fun to see. In the early MTV clips, he could almost be an extra in The Big Bang Theory. Later, with a somewhat harder (shaven head) look, he might be buddy of Jesse Pinkman’s in Breaking Bad.

The earliest items culled from the MTV archives are amazingly lo-fi when seen from the vantage point of our high tech 21st century broadcast and cable perspective. On what looks like about a five by five stage, the guys sit and pass a microphone between them as they answer fans’ questions. There’s a bit of humor even here, early on, with one befuddled acolyte complaining that he can’t understand Stipe (either figuratively, in terms of any given lyric’s imagery, and literally, in that Stipe’s famously mumbled delivery makes things unintelligible). Even some of the other band members state in interviews they don’t want to know (explicitly at least) what Stipe means in his songs.

Some of Stipe’s deadpan and self deprecating humor is also on display, as when he states he’s been doing a poor Patti Smith impersonation all these years. But there’s some touching information here as well, including the perhaps unlikely friendship that Stipe enjoyed with Kurt Cobain (and Courtney Love), after grunge started to make waves, actually helping to raise R.E.M.’s boat in the process.

While never earth shattering from a purely informational standpoint, R.E.M. by MTV is an often fascinating compendium of video components, and the guys in the band come off as relatively unaffected by their enormous success. In fact Stipe seems to be close to tears during his speech at the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He may have lost his religion, but he obviously found another support system.

R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

R.E.M. by MTV is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Rhino Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1 (occasional archival material such as some supplements is in different aspect ratios). As should probably be expected with a patchwork quilt like this, video quality is highly variable. Some older video is rather ugly, looking like it's been sharpened (see screenshot 9), with rather large halos accompanying both humans and inanimate objects within the frame, even aside from ghosting. Even archival elements that don't suffer from that particular anomaly can look pretty soft and ragged, with decent but never amazing levels of detail (see screenshot 1). There are some brief snippets of more contemporary concert footage which look relatively sharp and appealing, but ironically what "pops" in the truest high definition way here are shots of still images (see screenshot 2). Colors are somewhat variable as well, but look generally accurate, at least given an understanding of older video sources.

R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

R.E.M. by MTV defaults to an LPCM 2.0 audio track, though there is also a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option available. The 5.1 mix sounds a bit phasey in spoken moments, but opens up the snippets of tunes considerably, especially on the low end, where things resonate quite winningly. That said, the 2.0 option actually suffices more than well enough, since this is after all mostly a spoken word piece with musical accompaniment intruding with fair regularity, rather than vice versa. There is no damage to report and both tracks offer very good to excellent fidelity, dependent upon the original recording environment.

R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes: (1080i; 18:48)

  Peter

  Politics

  Golf

  The Hornblower Affair

  The Year 2000

• Bonus Scenes: (1080i; 19:06)

  Find the River
  Live in Cologne 05/12/01

  Imitation of Life
  Rock AM Ring 06/03/05

  Bad Day
  Live at Rolling Stone Milan 03/18/08

  Man-Sized Wreath
  Live at Oxegen Festival 07/12/08

  (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
  R.E.M. in Athens, Greece 10/05/08

• Trailers:

  REMTV Trailer (1080i; 00:32)

  R.E.M. by MTV Trailer (1080i; 2:26)

R.E.M. by MTV Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This often appealing piece isn't so much Inside the Music as Inside MTV's Archives, and as such it serves as a more than adequate overview of R.E.M.'s rise to superstardom as well as the ostensible music video channel's importance in helping to market bands back in the heady days of the eighties and nineties. The interview segments with various band members are a lot of fun and should appeal to even those without much interest in R.E.M. per se. Video quality is a bit variable due to the manifold sources, but audio fares quite well. Recommended.