Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie Review

"These guys from Toronto... they're blowin' $#&% up!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 24, 2024

For the sake of brevity, let's assume if you're perusing this review you're already well aware of Triumph, know their hits, are familiar with their descent from Canada into lower North America in the heyday of the 1980s, remember their breakup and mourn their sudden disappearance, and that you're here as a longtime fan, eager for more. For you, I found myself asking a single question: how best to describe a loose, breezy, vicarious rock doc like Rock & Roll Machine? In a 2022 interview with Blabbermouth, Triumph drummer Gil Moore calls it "a story of ups and downs, of right turns and left turns." Elaborating, "it's not a consistent story. It doesn't go A, B, C, D, E, F, G. It's all leaping all over the place. One minute somebody's crying, the next minute someone's yelling. It just goes to so many places and there are so many people that are commenting from different lenses that I think it makes it interesting... It's a series of stories. It's woven together into one story, but really what it is you open the next door and you go, 'Oh my God. What's on the other side of this door?' I don't know whether it's a house of mirrors or a house of horrors or what it is. There's a surprise every minute." Having watched Rock & Roll Machine twice now, that might just be the perfect synopsis.

But in a 2021 interview with The Metal Voice, guitarist Rik Emmett, while admitting he enjoys and approves of the relative truth of the documentary, explains "you're not getting my story," seeing as "Gil [Moore] owns the brand... you're gonna get a little bit more of Gil's angle." He goes on to say, "Truth is perspective. Truth is a point of view. And everybody understands that. It's just everybody also has this sort of ego thing where they go, 'Yeah, but my truth is better than his.' 'My truth is way more important than hers.' And that gets back to that vanity thing again about how you have to let go. So the documentary, you're talking about trying to find truth from an integration, and I'm saying compromise and collaboration, yes, you get a kind of an integration, but what I'm showing you here, that's only two dimensions. There's more to this than just what you see."

The result is a decent doc, courtesy of Banger Films (who've covered everyone from Iron Maiden to Rush to Alice Cooper), but hardly an excellent one. It quickly skips along the surface of the band's catalog, performances and albums like a slick stone on a still pond, rarely pausing to dive deep or get as personal as it purports. Longtime fans will likely be left begging for more -- both in terms of runtime and interviews -- while new inductees to Triumph and its rise and fall may wonder what all the fuss is about in 2024. Rock & Roll Machine does a fine job reliving the glory days, highlighting the band's surge in popularity, expanding on the means by which the heavy metallers stormed the States and approached huge stardom. As a time travel device, it transports you. It's almost possible to feel the verve and the electricity, the race to the top, the excitement, the awe... and then, just like Triumph, it sort of... fizzles. Credits. Sorry kids, that's all you get. A brief tease, a tiny taste, an appetizer really. For a film trying to recall a feeling and an experience, it works. As a story of success and sudden failure, it plays more like an episode of VH1's Behind the Music, and even then, the show at least attempts to peel back key layers. Rock & Roll Machine seems satisfied with simply being and enjoying, which is a-okay if that's what you're looking for. Not so much if you're craving insight, an understanding of band-breakup trauma, or real heart-to-heart moments from the Canadian rockers.

Expectations are a killer. Directors Sam Dunn and Marc Ricciardelli have every right to offer a doc that merely puts you there. So my complaint may not be your complaint. If you're itching for a flashback to younger days and younger memories -- if you were there when it happened -- a nostalgia trip may be just what you need. The chances of someone discovering Triumph by way of Rock & Roll Machine are fairly slim after all, and you might already know all there is to know. Hop in, buckle up, and slap the button marked "Lay It On the Line". Belt out the lyrics to "Hold On" and enjoy your visit to the '80s. While you're there, stop by Pizza Hutt for a $5 lunch buffet, buy the latest ZZ Top album on cassette for $3.95, and fill up the time machine with gas that would be expensive at seventy cents a gallon. But if your return to the 2020s leaves you feeling empty, consider that a band like Triumph, no matter how suddenly they vanished from the spotlight, deserves something more substantive than an occasionally heartbreaking walk down memory lane complete with musings about what might have been had Rik and his mates had figured out how to get along with budding stardom and each other.

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rock & Roll Machine's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is the more than acceptable mixed bag you've come to expect from music documentaries released in high definition. Comprised of striking, newly filmed interview segments and all manner of archive and vintage footage, photographs and clips from the '80s -- some of it originally shot in low quality SD -- it's a bit all over the place, with ample instances of macroblocking, subpar clarity and numerous other video issues. Again, though, you've watched these sorts of productions before and you've come to understand this is as good as it gets. Thankfully the bulk of the presentation is just that: as good as it could possibly look. Interview sequences, whether via a prepped set or following a musician from location to location, aren't exactly consistent, but they do boast nicely balanced contrast leveling, convincing colors and deep black levels. Detail is quite good too, whether in photographs, vintage analog film footage, or interview sequences, at least until more throwback footage arrives to remind you of the constant disparities. All told, there's not really anything worth complaining about. The encode itself doesn't appear to suffer from many shortcomings and the overall experience is a solid one.

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The biggest disappointment on the disc is the lack of a proper surround mix. However, the documentary was originally released in stereo, features primarily vintage stereo audio segments and front-heavy interviews anyway, and still sounds pretty good (all things considered). Interview voices are intelligible and well-prioritized at all times, dynamics are reasonably affecting for a stereo mix, and the fidelity of the archive footage audio bits is about as good as you could ask for. A fuller 5.1 remix would have potentially created more immersive and engaging visits with the band on stage, looking out over the surging crowds, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. For a low-budget rock doc, this'll suffice.

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

It's been a hot minute since I've reviewed a Blu-ray release that doesn't even have a menu, much less any extras. But here we are. Rock & Roll Machine is as barebones as it gets.

Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rock & Roll Machine is a decent rock doc that could've been so much more. If you're looking to relive former days, it might just be enough for you. But if you're longing for a deeper, borderline invasive understanding of Triumph, its members, its breakup or its rise and fall, you'll be left wanting. The same could be said of the film's Blu-ray release, which offers solid video and little else to get excited about. Regardless, adding this one to your cart will be a no-brainer for lifelong fans of the band. Anyone else? Approach with caution.