Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		1.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 21, 2013

To paraphrase a certain famous quote from Cool Hand Luke , “What we have here is not a failure to communicate.” For once in the annals of home entertainment, a label is being completely upfront about releasing upscaled material, even branding their releases as SD Blu-rays. That may seem like a contradiction in terms, but when we’re regularly confronted by even major labels either wittingly or unwittingly putting out upscaled material, at times at least seemingly surprised that anyone even noticed, it’s downright refreshing to have Eagle Rock Entertainment simply state the obvious, so that no real caveat emptor should be required. The real (perhaps some might argue the only) draw on this new line is the lossless audio each features.

Perhaps against considerable odds, melding the Scorpions with the Berlin Philharmonic turns out to work remarkably well. While members of this august classical ensemble seem somewhat bemused by the rock show ambience of this concert (keep your eye on some of the players—they seem to be laughing about it all), the actual musical content here is amazingly sound (no pun intended). Klaus Meine’s plangent tones cut through the mass of the band and the orchestra rather well most of the time, and the propulsive rhythm section, including Rudolf Schenker’s impressive guitar work, always a Scorpions hallmark, really blends extremely well with the Philharmonic, under the direction of Christian Kolonovits.

Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unfortunately, Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory's upscaled AVC 1080i transfer (in 1.74:1) is one of the worst looking upscales I've personally ever seen, one which is almost a textbook case of every artifact and/or anomaly that upscales are often (sometimes unfairly) decried as having in abundance. Stair stepping, moiré, and aliasing are just downright rampant, to the point that this is almost unwatchable at times. Things tend to be at least marginally when we're afforded close-ups, with only one or two people being shown, but the midrange and wide shots of the audience and the full stage are frankly just abysmal.

Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are some slight but still noticeable balance issues slightly affecting the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mixes on this Blu-ray, mostly to do with the vocals versus the orchestra. Some of this may in fact have been due to microphone placement, for in some of the "group sings", there are no issues whatsoever. Fidelity is excellent and as might be expected in a Scorpions concert, dynamic range is extremely wide. The guitar work is especially nicely rendered, clear and cutting without sounding even slightly strident.

Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview With the Band (1080i; 11:42)


• Director's Cut includes:

  Hurricane 2000

  Moment of Glory

  Here in My Heart

Scorpions with the Berliner Philharmoniker: Moment of Glory Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone who doesn't pay attention to the branding of this release is in for a major shock when they start to see the frankly pretty abysmal video quality. That's at least partially offset by the mostly excellent audio quality. Slight balance issues are probably a niggling concern, and most Scorpion fans will probably appreciate this release, at least if they accept it more or less as an audio Blu-ray.