Cliff & The Shadows – The Final Tour
(Eagle DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Concert: C+
Before his huge solo career that reached everywhere but
the United States, Cliff
Richard was the lead singer for The Shadows, a Pop/Rock band that was once
called The Drifters, but changed their name to expand beyond England. This worked and even included an appearance
as SuperMarionettes in the feature film Thunderbirds
Are Go! (1966, reviewed elsewhere on this site) at their peak. They broke up in 1969, but are back together
for their last concert 50 years later as featured on Cliff & The Shadows
– The Final Tour, now on DVD from Eagle.
The long show is a combination of their hits (like Living Doll) and many 1950s and 1960s
songs they did not originate. Richard
has much to say in between songs and never does any of his solo hits. The audience seems happy to see them and all
time fans are obviously there. It is the
end of an era and you can feel it as you watch.
Running about 2 hours, Richard can still sing well enough, but unless
you like their music, you may feel a bit lost.
Still, it has its moments and is worth a look if you are curious.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is softer than
it should be, even by being a recent HD shoot at 1080i. Color is not bad, but maybe a Blu-ray would
work better. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix
and 2.0 Stereo has barely any surround information and there is not too much
difference in the two. The only extra is
a behind the scenes look at the band.
- Nicholas Sheffo
