- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: VC-1
- Resolution: 1080i/60
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: N/A
- Rating: Not Rated
- Region: A
- Discs: 1
- Studio: A&E Home Video
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 11, 2011
- List Price: $34.95
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase LENNONYC on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
I’m pretty sure you can ask any music fan who their favorite Beatle is and they’ll have an answer for you. That being said, which Beatle may be any given person’s favorite is separate from which Beatle is the most popular or well known. It is a sad thing to know that John Lennon, for many people alive today, is probably better known for being assassinated in 1980 than for the music he produced, post-Beatles anyway.
I still have the memory of being an eight-year-old boy and waking up on that cold December morning in 1980, hearing the news on AM radio about John Lennon being killed. It is one of those moments that defined my musical life. An instant curiosity sprang up in me, even at that young age, about who Lennon was and what his music was all about.
Lennonyc, a documentary from A&E and PBS’ American Masters, tells the story of John Lennon the man, post-Beatles, upon his return to the United States and his time living in New York City seeking a normal life. From 1971, his and Yoko Ono’s involvement with the anti-war movement, through Lennon’s estrangement from Ono and exile in L.A., and back to NY again until his untimely demise at the hands of a lunatic, Lennonyc hits all the right notes telling this part of the musician’s story.
Filled with interview segments from Lennon’s band mates, producers, and Yoko herself, as well as plenty of reminiscences straight from Lennon himself, what truly anchors the film are the myriad snippets of excellent musical performances and the nearly endless trove of candid film and photo footage.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The packaging says this is 1080p, but in fact, LENNONYC is transferred to Blu-ray in a 1080i/60 VC-1 encoding. The picture looks as good as one can get given the various sources, archival and otherwise. There aren’t any problems with compression artifacts and despite being only 1080i the film sources still retain a film-like appearance, with a layer of grain present.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack offers up a big soundstage that grants clean and clear dialogue during the interview segments and an expansive mix during playback of Lennon’s songs. The mix oscillates between moments of mere big, openness and others where some discrete instrumentation are panned into surrounds.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
The bonus materials consist of some extra interview segments absent from the original film:
- Sailing
- Mission Impossible
- NYC T-Shirt Photo
- Newsmakers
- Juice Fast
- Hong Kong
- Answering Machines
- December 8, 1980
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Lennonyc is a must watch event for any fan of John Lennon. Even for someone like me, the film helped to examine this creative period in Lennon’s life from a different angle. Thankfully, the film is a celebration of the artist’s life in the 1970’s and never takes a turn into an extreme focus on the tragedy that would close out the decade.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B0040LAHA8[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase LENNONYC on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
