Considered one of the greatest rock films ever made, The Last Waltz finally comes home to DVD with a new 5.1 soundtrack remastered by Robbie Robertson, and excellent special features.

The Band decided to give up concert tours in 1976 and decided to go out in real style, booking the Bill Graham's San Francisco's Winterland for its final gig. What started as a concert turned into a rock history event, with incredible guest stars from start to finish. On Thanksgiving night, lucky ticket holders were treated first to dinner followed by ballroom dancing. The Winterland had been spruced up for the event, hanging chandeliers over the stage and borrowing a set from the opera house in San Francisco. Atmosphere set, the Band also decided to record the event and got a young, up and coming director named Martin Scorsese to direct the film. Taking time off from his production of New York, New York, Scorsese, who loved The Band's music, was willing to do the concert and hired some of the finest photographers to help him. The results were incredible and defined the rock movie as never before. The concert itself featured The Band favorites, all played with a new energy , as the members realized this was their last gig. Levon Helm's vocals and Robertson's guitar work were outstanding, as was Garth Hudson's beautiful keyboard work. Richard Manuel's songs hauntingly captured his dark side, an ominous foreboding of things to come for the tortured artist. Rick Danko's vocals and guitar work also reflected The Band's deep musical connections to various styles and genres. Their versatility was brought forth even more by the appearance of the guest stars that made the concert such an incredible event. The stars were there to pay homage to the group they all admired so much for so many years. The variety of guest stars included former band members, coworkers, neighbors, influences, and fans. Ronnie Hawkins was first out with "Who Do You Love", a rock stable that had been a trademark of the group when they were backup with Ronnie as The Hawks. The Band had been originally formed by Hawkins. Dr. John brought in his southern influences for the number "Such A Night". Next up was Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, harmonizing on "Helpless" and Neil Diamond, who feeling a bit out of place sang a collaboration between himself and Robertson. Mitchell returns for "Coyote" followed by Paul Butterfield and his harmonica playing the blues along with the Band for a rousing rendition of "Mystery Train". The Chicago Blues was well represented by Muddy Waters doing "Mannish Boy", followed by "God", Eric Clapton, doing an upbeat version of " Further On Up The Road" . Clapton on more than one occasion expressed his great love of The Band and its music. At one point he wanted to quit Cream to join The Band. During his number, Clapton's guitar strap breaks and Robertson takes over on guitar which leads to an improvised guitar duel between the two. A show stopper was performed by Van Morrison with "Caravan", who was a neighbor of Robertson's and his performance, full of energy, brings the house down. Bob Dylan is next out for three numbers, "Forever Young", "Baby Let Me Follow You Down", and for the finale the entire guest lineup is brought back out, accompanied by Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones and Faces, and Ringo on drums for "I Shall Be Released". Those are the concert numbers but Scorsese and The Band shot three more musical selections for the film later on in 1977 on MGM's studio lot. First, The Staple Singers are featured in The Band's signature song, "The Weight", and the performance is breathtaking and soul stirring. Emmy Lou Harris is featured in a country number, "Evangeline", that accurately reflects the group's country influences and The Band's film theme" The Last Waltz", written by Robertson, closes out the film as the stage slowly pans back and fades away. All of the events were put together beautifully by Scorsese, who had worked earlier on another rock film, "Woodstock". The concert night was magical, and Scorsese took the work from the six cameras to capitalize on all that went on. Even the mistakes which normally would have been disastrous to a live filming worked out. During Paul Butterfield's number, all the lights went out except one, adding just the right atmosphere for the number. Muddy Water's number almost didn't get on film, as the cameras were running out of film and all but one were being reloaded. His performance is captured mostly by the one operating 35 mm camera at the moment. Interspersed between numbers are comments from The Band, all interviewed by Scorsese. They talk about life on the road and it's adventures, each expressing their own personal memories of life in The Band. Levon Helm and Robertson are featured the most in these sequences. All these sequences were filmed at The Band's hideaway, lovingly named Shangri-La.

Picture-The film is present in widescreen, enhanced for 16X9, with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film looks brand new and images are sharp. Colors are rendered beautifully and not a speck of dirt is visible on the disc. I was amazed at how good it looked, even though the film was not digitally remastered for this Special Edition. MGM obviously took very good care of the original film. Sound-The newly remastered soundtrack takes full advantage of a surround sound home theater system, with discreet sounds through all channels. Robertson did a very good job on the remix. The film starts out by displaying a sign"Play This Film Loud", and I found that would be the best way to enjoy this concert. It was a bit lacking in the bass department, and while the sound is full and mixed well, the subwoofer doesn't really get too much of a work out.

Added value is what makes this more than just a concert disc. Two full length commentaries are provided on the DVD; one by Scorsese and Robertson. Most of this commentary is provided by Robertson but Scorsese does come in occasionally with technical details about certain events during the concert. Robertson reflects on the concert event on the whole, as well as the individual numbers with guest artists. The second audio commentary has other surviving Band members, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm. Helm's voice is just about totally shot but he contributes greatly to the commentary. Others participating and filling in on this second commentary track include the assistant director, producers, some guests such as Ronnie Hawkins, Mavis Staples and Dr. John, and writers about the event. This second commentary also includes a text identifying option, which briefly flashes the name of the speaker on the screen, which is helpful since so many contribute to the commentary. Other extras on the DVD include extra footage of the second jam session at the end of the concert, which went on until the film ran out, , a making of featurette with Scorsese and Robertson filmed for the 25th anniversary, still galleries of the concert with captions, original artwork, posters and the premiere in New York. The packaging includes an eight page booklet written by Robertson that contains background information and his reflections on the event.

Now you can own one of the great events in rock history and MGM did a fantastic job on the DVD for all of us to enjoy again and again. Excellent transfer, remastered sound, and significant extras make this disc a must have for rock fans everywhere.