The Kids Are Alright on DVD |
In 1979 when The Kids Are Alright had
its theatrical release, The Who no longer existed. Keith Moon had died in 1978 and the
group had not yet reformed with Kenny Jones and John "Rabbit" Bundrick. Even
before Moon's death, the group had lost a tremendous amount of momentum -- the slide
started after the release of Quadrophenia, with Townshend and Moon succumbing to affluenza
and Entwistle and Daltrey pursuing their own projects.
Besides, punk had introduced a new attitude, one at least
partially based upon the rejection of the big-arena-filling "rock dinosaurs" --
a group that included the flagging The Who. The Kids Are Alright was, if nothing
else, a powerful argument for The Who's punk credentials -- it celebrated the band's
joyous yawp and anarchistic energy. It was a jolt of pure rock'n'roll adrenaline and it
turned this casual The Who fan into a true believer.
In my opinion, The Kids Are Alright -- rather than Who
Are You? -- was responsible for reviving the group's popularity and career momentum.
Some folks might not consider that an unblemished
accomplishment, since the surviving members of The Who spent most of the intervening
decades milking their back catalog and their fans' nostalgia in an endless stream of
"final" tours, Broadway shows, and Vegas reunions -- but we can't blame director
Jeff Stein for that.
Actually, Stein's real brilliance in making TKAA lay
in never succumbing to the temptation to aggrandize The Who -- the film doesn't take
itself or the band too seriously. In fact, it casts an amused eye at the trappings
of rock celebrity, while never condescending to the music itself. The music is the real
star -- and, in the climactic studio performance of "Who Are You?" the film
creates a catharsis that leaves the audience feeling elevated simply for having been moved
by it. We walk away knowing who we are, and strongly suspecting we know who The Who are,
too.
That's great filmmaking.
This new two-DVD edition of The Kids Are Alright is
packed with cool stuff. First, it looks and sounds significantly better than any previous
video incarnation -- which is not particularly high praise, but is not meant to belittle
the technical quality of this release at all (it's superb).
The telecine transfer is sharp and rich (mostly -- some of
the original footage is taken from mid-'60s video) and the sound has been remixed to 5.1
(DD and DTS) from the original multitrack sources. At its best, the sound is breathtaking
("Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"); at its worst (old TV
footage), it's simply what it is, which is all we could really ask.
The film has been restored to its original 109-minute
running length, and there are about 100 minutes of additional footage and different camera
angles. The second disc is given over to extras, interviews, and some comparisons that
highlight the restoration of the original elements for the DVD release. It's mostly pretty
solid stuff, although I could have done without the trivia games and interactive "The
Who's London" featurette.
All in all, The Kids Are Alright is a DVD that gets
it overwhelmingly right. Just as it did 25 years ago, it reaffirmed my faith in the
restorative power of rock'n'roll and reminded me anew of why The Who mattered -- and how
much.
I call that a bargain -- the best I ever had.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com
