Blu-ray Review: Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson & The Band

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

In 1965 Bob Dylan went electric and hit the road to hostile audiences across the globe that wanted the folk singer to remain acoustically pure like Woody Guthrie or the Weavers. The way the shows were set up, Dylan teased the audience by only playing his acoustic guitar for the first act. He was the Bob Dylan they adored and emulated. But after an intermission, the curtain would go up and Bob Dylan would be fronting five musicians who would be amplify his vision of folk rock. The crowds would boo and scream as if they were toddlers forced to eat all their acorn squash. Years later these musical revolution would be appreciated via bootlegs of “The Royal Albert Hall” concert. But at that time, the five musicians were the most hated people on the planet for ruining Bob Dylan. Who were these guys? Turns out they had a rather long history together before they went on tour with the icon. Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band gives the history of rose up from this musical battle to become superstars on their own.

The documentary begins with Robbie Robertson back in the studio. He is working on a new song called “Once Were Brothers.” The song is about his time with The Band and allows him recount his life and how he ended up on that stage with Dylan. He recounts how a part of his life was visiting his mother’s relatives at the Six Nations Reserve while growing up around Toronto, Canada. He begins playing the guitar right as the rock and roll explosion of 1955 happens. This leads him into joining a band. Eventually he hooks up with rockabilly act Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. Hawkins is from Arkansas and Robbie has to journey deep into the American South to be a part of them. He also becomes friends with Levon Helm, the drummer of the Hawks. As the local musicians quit Ronnie’s band, Robbie replaces them with guys he knew in Toronto including bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel and organist Garth Hudson. The become a tight unit as they stay on the road for years playing clubs. Eventually they split from Ronnie and make Levon the front man. But they’re still playing smallish nightclubs until one day when Robbie is taken to a recording studio and he bumps into Bob Dylan. He needs a band for his US and Europe tours. Robbie goes into detail of how it’s a street fight every night with the audience. There’s footage from D.A. Pennebaker’s camera of the hostility. It gets so bad that Levon Helm has to quit and go to work on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. But Robbie sticks it out and gets rewards two ways. First he meets the woman that will become his wife in Paris. Secondly Bob’s manager takes them as clients and wants them to record a record without Bob. He gets Levon back in the fold and they record demos in the lower part of a house in Woodstock, New York. Two great things come from that basement, the songs that become their legendary Music From the Big Pink and the sessions that make up Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes.

The Band become big without just being Bob’s back up band with songs such as “The Weight,” “The Shape I’m In,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and others. Although the film shows how they keep coming back to Bob including footage of their tour in 1974 when people finally appreciated their sound. Robbie recounts how things go dark for The Band when three of the members get hooked on heroin and other drugs. He can’t stand it and he wants his brothers to take time away from the band to clean up things up. This leads to them putting together one last huge show at the Winterland in San Francisco with an all star guest line up that includes Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. The show is captured by Martin Scorsese for the hit concert film The Last Waltz.

Robbie show the warts and deals with how tensions grew worse after the Band began their break. Levon accused him of taking too much credit for writing the music. And this led to the Band reuniting for a few years in the ’80s without inviting Robbie back. He doesn’t use the film to settle scores with his old bandmates. Three of the five members have passed on so they don’t completely get their say outside of vintage interviews. The film seems aimed to give us a chance to enjoy what they were beyond the vinyl. There’s a lot of archival film clips and hundreds of photos documenting their rise and falling apart. This isn’t a bunch of talking heads. There’s a lot of music to go with the words.

The one big thing to remember is that you should have a copy of The Band’s The Last Waltz Blu-ray since you’ll want an encore after Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band finishes.


The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the details in the clips and photos from their time in the basement in Woodstock. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1.

The film was reviewed via streaming so we’re not sure if there’s bonus features.

Magnolia Pictures present Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. Directed by: Daniel Roher. Screenplay by: Daniel Roher. Starring: Robbie Robertson, Martin Scorsese, Levon Helm, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. Rated: Unrated. Running Time: 101 minutes. Released: May 25, 2020.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.