Bob Dylan World Tours:
1966 – 1974 (Documentary)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Documentary: C+
Once again, instead of a concert collection, the somewhat
misleadingly titled Bob Dylan World Tours: 1966 – 1974, a title that
suggests lost concert moments. Instead,
we get two hours of interviews with more people who know Dylan, particularly
photographer Barry Feinstein.
Obviously, the stills are nice and the interviews of interest to fans,
but the title promises much more than it can deliver.
Director Joel Gilbert just did this kind of thing before
with the 1966 Tours – Home Movies release, but the title there did not
quite boarder on false advertising as this one does. It remarkably runs two hours and will make fans and those who
want to wax nostalgic happy, packed as it is even literally with memorabilia
beyond the stills, but it is better than expected for what it really is and is
cautiously recommended to the most curious.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 was shot in NTSC tape and is
clean, if not great. The Dolby Digital
2.0 is barely stereo, has no Dylan music and is simple at best. The combination is instantly dated, but
passable. The only extras to speak of
are two brief, extra interview clips with Bruce Langhorne and Iggy Young, but
that is it. Let’s hope this is the end
of these programs, because I cannot imagine how much longer they could keep
this going. Gilbert should either try
something very different next time or quit while he is ahead.
- Nicholas Sheffo
