The Who -- The Kids Are Alright Special Edition (2 discs) [DVD]

You can't go wrong with the contents. This is vintage Who, with some literally smashing performances. All of them are on top form: John's bass playing is very under-rated, and truly stunning; Roger's voice is perfect; Keith is unique and brilliant; and Pete is the great Intelligent Yob. This film captures them from their early, fairly embarrassing moments as a Mod band, to the magnificence of their mid-70's performances. The film reminds us of what a pioneering band they were, and make the punks who came after them look like the pale imitators they were. Bands like The Damned smashed their equipment, but not with Pete and Keith's determination. I still can't understand how he could whack his guitar about and then still play it in tune afterwards (as on Sparks). Negative points? There's no cohesion in the film, no attempt to tell a story - it has all the appearance of someone sticking bits of film together at random. And as others have said, there's no additional footage on the DVD, nothing extra. Still, that's what happened with CDs when they first came out - they were just records copied onto CD, and this is a video copied on to DVD.

One of the first, but still one of the very best rock movies. This non chronological approach to the history of The Who was originally fortuitously released at exactly the right time following the death of Keith Moon, which signalled for many the death of The Who itself.
The balance of speech and music is just right. Pete Townshend was always one of rock's most interesting interviewees and Moonie's natural wit is evident from the opening sequence featuring the band's legendary appearance on the Smothers's Brother's show, and reaches full fruition on the wonderful Russell Harty interview sequence, snatches of which are scattered throughout the film.
The music naturally speaks for itself, and unlike modern videos it isn't interrupted by speech. Also unlike even more modern videos the viewer isn't sent dizzy by cameras cutting ridiculously from one shot to the other every two seconds - see the Coldplay Live for a prime example of this irritating tendency.
I have loads of music DVD's, including recent ones by the likes of the aformentioned Coldplay, U2, REM, Red Hot Chilli Peppers -decent bands all. However, it was only when I saw 'The Kids Are Alright' again that I remembered that despite the often incredible modern special effects, the modern filming, and the modern hype, that ultimately non of these bands could actually hold a candle as a live act to The Who in their heyday.
The only other music videos which can even be compared to this are: The Beatles Anthology, as classy a product as everything associated with the Fabs; the Rolling stones Four Flicks, although great as this is I'd still have preferred a really good video of the Stones in their prime (when are they going to release 'Gimme Shelter' in the UK?), Led Zeppelin's DVD, musically fabulous, but Zep never had anything like the wit, warmth and personality of The Who, and The Who's other essential video 30 Years Of R n B, although this contains too much post Moon stuff.
No, for me 'The Kids Are Alright' remains just about the greatest rock music film ever.
The superior sound and picture quality on this DVD release, together with the second disc of extensive and interesting extras, makes it worth buying even for those of you who like me have the old VHS version.

Say what you like about the haphazard way this movie intercuts vintage footage with more recent stuff, and how chronology goes out the window. The Who always gave the impression of a band in complete and utter chaos - even though they were anything but. You don't get to be one of the top three rock bands in the world by being full-time chaotic.

But the film enjoyably reflects and plays up to that image by throwing footage at the screen from all over the archives, cutting to and fro with no apparent logic. But it's The Who. Being mad bastards was part of the stage act, which tragically started to seep into their real lives. The Stones? Great band, but boring. The Who never got the same recognition, but this mess of a movie somehow enhances the band, in spite of itself.

Having previously owned the DVD, the Blu-Ray is a worthwhile step up in quality. Obviously, some of the vintage video-sourced material from the 70's still looks bleary, but the Shepperton Studio-filmed concert footage looks (and sounds) incredible, having been lavishly restored on state-of-the-art computers. Footage that was previously included on the VHS version at the wrong speed has been adjusted. Film damage has been fixed. The sound has been remixed into the best possible quality (there's a good doco in the extras that describe the process).

Most will put the disc in the player and go straight to 'Won't Get Fooled Again' - good choice. Turn it up loud and enjoy. Then play the rest of the movie and enjoy it again. We might get a 'South Bank Show' type documentary on The Who in the future, but do we need it? Nah - this will do nicely.