THE MOVIE

Part documentary, part concert, this 1997 film by Jim Jarmusch follows Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse on their 1996 concert tour. The band consists of drummer and vocalist Ralph Molina, guitar player and so-called comedian Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampedro, bass player Billy Talbot and of course guitar player Neil Young.

It is cut together with interviews with Neil Young and the other band members, these are carried out by the filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. Then there are interviews with Larry Cragg, Elliot Roberts (manager), Keith Wissmar (lighting wizard) and Scott Young (Neil's father). There is also behind the scenes footage (from 1970s and 1980s) of the band, on the street, in hotel rooms, in convenience stores, the list goes on. Songs on this DVD include; F@!# Up, Slipaway, Barstool Blues, Stupid Girl, Big Time, Tonight’s The Night, Seden Delivery, Like a Hurricane and Music Arcade.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The Year Of The Horse was filmed in Super-8, as well as and 16 mm and Hi-8. And while this type of film stock can be used to create really ‘arty’ look in movies, I don’t think it does anything for this presentation. Detail is quite poor and this concert/documentary just looks all grainy and indistinct, then there is a heap of shimmering going on in the background, making this DVD quite difficult to watch. The black and white scenes looks marginally better, being a bit more contrasty, but still, I’m sure I’ve seen VHS tapes look better than this.

The packaging says that this DVD has an aspect ratio of 4:3 full frame. The aspect ratio is actually somewhere between 1.78:1 and 1.33:1 like the film, Once Were Warriors. This presentation also appears somewhat out of whack, with more black on the top of the screen than on the bottom. Colours aren’t the best either, looking rather washed out.

Audio:

The Year Of The Horse has an English Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack (default) and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack. Interestingly, the 2.0 channel soundtrack is very quiet, at least when you compare it to the 5.1 channel soundtrack. The 5.1 channel soundtrack is okay, but dialogue isn’t always that clear, it tends to bleed out from the centre channel a little bit. At least there didn’t appear to be any audio synch problems. Low frequency output is okay, but it could’ve used a bit more grunt in my opinion. Then there is this strange echo effect audible in the rear channels, it is distracting and made me consider going back to the 2.0 channel soundtrack a number of times.

THE EXTRAS

Interviews
You can pick from ‘Frank Sampedro, Billy Talbot & Ralph Molina’ or ‘Neil Young & Jim Jarmusch’. Visual quality (1.33:1 full frame) here is appreciably greater than the main presentation, however that shimmering problem is still persistent in the background. Audio quality (Dolby Digital 2.0 channel) on the other hand is not so great, it is quite difficult to hear the interviewer and you’ll have to turn the volume up a bit. Total running time is around 48 minutes.

Production Notes
This is split into four sections; director’s notes (8 pages), Jim Jarmusch - writer/director (8 pages), L.A. Johnson - producer/cinematographer (5 pages) and Jay Rabinowitz - editor (2 pages). All but the first section, are just laid out like biographies.

The Band
Like above, this section contains yet more textual information. This time there are two options; History of Neil Young & Crazy Horse (13 pages) and Neil Young Biography (8 pages).

Trailer
If this trailer communicates anything, it is the fact that this film was made by ‘The Legendary’ filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel sound and it runs for around 2 minutes.

SUMMARY

If you like Neil Young, then this DVD might appeal to you. Bear in mind that the transfer is not the greatest though. Visually speaking, it’s a bit of a nightmare (with stacks of grain and shimmering) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired.