InsidePulse DVD Review – Awesome: I…Shot That!

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(Credit: amazon.com)

Directed by
Adam Yauch

Cast:
Mike D …. Himself
Adam Horovitz …. Himself
Adam Yauch …. Himself
Mix Master Mike …. Himself
Money Mark …. Himself
Doug E. Fresh …. Himself
Alfredo Ortiz …. Himself


The Movie:

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the DVD for Neil Young: Heart of Gold, which was a moving, laid back Concert film in which Director Jonathan Demme let Young’s music tell a story all its own. With Awesome, I…Shot That!, that mentality completely goes out the window. Filmed Beastie Boys concert at Madison Square Garden, the film is a visceral experience like I’ve never seen in a picture like this.

What sets this apart from any other Concert film ever made is the way it was shot. What the Beasties did, was pass out 50 cameras to fans at random. Given the simple instruction to “keep filming” the fans simply had to show the madness from their perspective. I can’t even tell you how happy this idea makes me, as each of those fifty people can now call themselves film makers and has an experience that they’ll take with them for the rest of their lives. This is a way of connecting with a fanbase that is unique and inspiring.

As for the footage and the editing of Awesome itself, the movie is intended to be an extremely primal experience and on that level, it succeeds with flying colors. The film could also give you seizures from the sensory overload that takes place while watching it. For the experience of “being there”, no Concert film I’ve ever seen has come close to this. I may not have been able to watch the Beasties get their “Root Down” live, but I feel like I have. Bottom line is, if you love the band, you’ll love this movie, if not; you may want to skip it.

Score: 8.0/10


The DVD:

The Video

This is a really tough one to call. While the print on this disc is perfectly fine in my estimation, the entire film was shot on digital cameras passed out to drunken Beastie Boy fans. This thing’s not going to look as if Conrad Hall shot it. The movie is presented in 1.78:1.

The Audio

The Audio for this is equally wild, as the voices of fans goes in and out, but never loud enough to cover the music of the Beasties. The film’s soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 5.1.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Short films, Intros, Multi-Grid, Trailers, Alternate Voice Tracks, “Hidden Detours”

Audio Commentary with the Beastie Boys – This is a fun enough track, but not one of real consequence. The boys don’t exactly have a lot of insight, but are sounding like they’re having a lot of fun.

A Day in the Life Of Nathanial Hörnblowér – Nathanial Hörnblowér is the pseudonym used by Adam Yauch who actually “directed’ the picture, but here the role is played by David Cross, who I’m assuming can be talked into anything to get a laugh. Here he’s dressed in German hiking gear and a huge red wig and beard. This should be a little funnier than it is, but it’s still pretty entertaining to watch Cross act a fool.

A Cappella Vocal Tracks – Not sure how cool this really is, but this track eliminates all sound other than the vocals of the performers.

Full-length Alternate Angle of Multi-Cam Grids – This is an alternate angle feature where you can watch seeming all of the cameras at once. The feature is pretty overwhelming as there’s so much going on and all at the same time. It’s a neat feature, but almost too much to be able to watch all the time.

Special “Hidden Detours” Feature – This is a branching option with more grid work and alternate angles.

World Tour Intros and Shout Outs – These are a series of little skits that were filmed during the Beasties world tour. There are several little features such as fans requesting songs as well as the Band members being really goofy and taking down ninjas and such.

Trailers – You get two versions of the same trailer here, one of which is a “red band” trailer so you can get the full version of the film’s title. The trailer itself is AWESOME as its got a typical Hollywood voice over that “In a world…” and acts like the film is an Action movie.

Score: 8.0/10

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Awesome…I Shot That!
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

8
THE VIDEO

5.5
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

8
REPLAY VALUE

9
OVERALL
8
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.