Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 22, 2020

We’re living in an age where printed media like magazines and newspapers have given way, at least in part, to online sources, and so for younger folks in particular, it may seem like ancient history to talk about a time when people got their information or entertainment news from printed media like magazines and newspapers. In that regard, Rolling Stone has become such a cultural icon that even some older folks may find it hard to remember a time when there wasn’t a Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge is a largely invigorating if occasionally kind of annoying documentary that charts the history of this publishing phenomenon, one that was birthed in 1967 in San Francisco, just a bit after the “peak” (LSD inspired or otherwise) of the so-called Summer of Love, and in the wake of the now legendary Monterey Pop Festival, which was one of the first music events the (then) newspaper covered. That coverage aside, as is recounted in the first episode of this multi-part HBO production, co-founder Jann Wenner wrote in that very first issue that Rolling Stone aimed to be something more than “just” a rag devoted to rock ‘n’ roll, and in fact co-founder Ralph Gleason mentions Wenner talking to him early in the planning stages about how the as yet unnamed Rolling Stone could be different from other music-centric publications like Britain’s Melody Maker. Wenner’s prescience meant that Rolling Stone covered “cultural” issues related to music, especially those understandably linked to the so-called “youth movement” which was perhaps exemplified by things like the Summer of Love and the Monterey Pop Festival.

While Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge takes a more or less chronological approach to its subject, it's that "more or less" part that may play into my assessment that, structurally at least, this undeniably fascinating documentary can be a bit on the annoying side at times. That's due to the fact that, kind of like longtime Rolling Stone contributor Hunter S. Thompson on one of his celebrated acid trips, the documentary tends to dart off into various sidebars for no real discernable reason. Many, maybe even most, of these are interesting in their own regard, but seem kind of willfully shoehorned into the proceedings, as in an early detour through a meeting with Ike and Tina Turner that really seems to have little to do with the actual formation of the publication. But that said, it's often in these "sidebar" vignettes that some of the documentary's most visceral information is shared, including several detours dealing with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Probably unavoidably, Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge turns out to also be a more personal tale about Jann Wenner, and even though relatively discursively at times, the documentary charts a rather interesting evolution both professionally and personally for Wenner that in its own way may reflect larger cultural changes and/or sensibilities. But it's in the increasingly dominant intersection between news and entertainment that Rolling Stone probably found its most distinctive voice (and perhaps most lasting cultural contribution), and it's also where Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge also really excels. So many almost random incidents managed to kind of fall into the various reporting laps of notable Rolling Stone contributors, some of which ended up making headline news, like the Hearst kidnapping, but what's frequently kind of bracingly energizing about many of the interviews is how a lot of these people were relatively inexperienced beginners when they started with Rolling Stone, and who were just kind of "feeling their way" as they went. (Even a cultural icon like Annie Liebowitz is on hand here pretty much stating she was a rank beginner when she started shooting photos for Rolling Stone.)

Occasional talking head segments or voiceover (by Jeff Daniels) can be on the slightly pretentious side, as in the brief recap of Elvis Presley alerting us to the fact that he was the "king of rock 'n' roll" and then providing a litany of reasons why, but for the most part there are some really heartfelt and inherently interesting interviews that fill up the six episodes of this piece. Much as the magazine itself did, some of the content of the documentary tends to start tipping away from music into the political arena, but the reporting fire lit by Wenner and Gleason seems fully alive in such latter day participants as Matt Taibbi.

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (mostly) in 1.78:1 (as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, archival video and/or stills can often be in narrower aspect ratios). The contemporary interview segments all look sharp as a tack, with nice, consistent detail levels and an accurate representation of the palette. There are occasional "arty" effects and framings thrown in by director Alex Gibney which can occasionally add a bit of deliberate softness, but on the whole all of the contemporary sequences are very nice looking. The archival video and even some of the stills are another matter, though, with some of the video looking fairly ragged and even in some cases offering very little general detail, let alone fine detail. While there's an undeniably heterogeneous appearance to this piece, as there often is in documentaries cobbled together from so many different sources, overall quality here is fine, and some of the ragged archival video has historical importance that outweighs any technical limitations.

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. The surround track definitely opens up some of the musical elements, but as should probably be expected, those elements are often used either as brief interstitials or even as background for voiceover, which is often deliberately mixed forward. As such, the stereo track may well suffice for even some ardent audiophiles. Some of the archival musical performances suffer a bit from inherent limitations, but on the whole the tracks sound clear, without any real damage or other distractions. All of the contemporary interview material as well as Jeff Daniels' narration sounds clear and problem free.

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A Bonus option on Disc Two of this two disc set leads to extended interviews with the following people:

• Cameron Crowe (1080p; 3:44)


• Ice-T (1080p; 2:25)


• Gus Wenner (1080p; 1:52)


• Jane Wenner (1080p; 1:35)


• Janet Reitman (1080p; 3:23)


• Matt Taibbi (1080p; 3:11)


• Victor Juhasz (1080p; 3:19)

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge charts a remarkable half century course taken by Wenner and his cohorts with one of the most epochal publications of its era. This is a fantastically interesting documentary that features a wealth of great interviews and a ton of equally enjoyable archival video and audio. Technical merits are solid, with an understanding that some of the archival material has inherent technical limitations. Highly recommended.