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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Full Frame
  • Dual Layer (RSDL 85:21)
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Mono
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Teaser trailer - Bouncer, Malcolm, Secret Policeman's Ball
  • Featurette - V.D. Documentary
  • Production notes - History Of Sunbury
  • Animated menus
  • Music video - Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs

Sunbury Rock Festival - 30th Anniversary

Umbrella Entertainment/AV Channel . R4 . COLOR . 97 mins . PG . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Thirty years ago Australian rock gurus had an idea, not a terribly original idea, but a grand one all the same. They set out to organise the largest concert the country had ever seen, booking only Australian acts, and they did it with unprecedented success. Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs would headline it, 35,000 people of all ages would attend, and entry would cost a very reasonable $6.

After reviewing the director's cut of Woodstock last year, I’m finding it far too easy to draw comparisons between the styles of presentation used for both these films. Sunbury is in essence a very similar ‘film’ to Woodstock, with both being more of a behind the scenes docomentary than a look at just the concert itself. You might say it was more of a gaze at the people than at the music. There are the interviews with those in attendance, the ‘fuzz’, local publicans, organisers, band members and random drunks. There are also a plethora of shots of young men and women skinny-dipping in a dirty old creek, footage which looked almost eerily identical to that from Woodstock. Ohh, and there is some footage of the concert as well.

However, it's going to get tiresome if I just sit back and compare the two features, after all, the Woodstock documentary won an Academy Award, and the Sunbury presentation on the other hand... well... not quite, actually not even close! But don’t let this take anything away from Sunbury for a second, as this disc is still lots of fun, and I’m talking all ages fun, not just for those oldies still floating around unable to quit smoking the dope or to move on from the ‘60s. Come on, you know the type – they still have the long hair, listen to old scratchy records and have children with names like ‘Sunbeam’ and ‘February’.

I know this will sound sooo clichéd, but for the above mentioned hippies Sunbury was more than just cheap drugs and rampant nudity, and the music was much more than just catchy tunes and sweet-happy lyrics like today’s pop-culture crowds. The whole notion of Woodstock and its Australian cousin Sunbury had more to do with the encapsulation of their idealistic hippy lifestyles. When people talk about the ‘60s and ‘70s it is the music that is discussed just as much, if not more often, than the actual events and politics of the time, even though the events and politics were essentially the catalyst for the whole movement and music. Call them hippies, call them naive, even call them poorly dressed, but these naive poorly dressed hippies knew how to put on a show, and more importantly they knew how to have a bloody lot of fun while doing it.

  Video
Contract

This will have to be my final comparison between the Sunbury and Woodstock discs, and it does pain me to constantly compare the two as they are uniquely different, but the fact remains that while the Woodstock disc got a full digital remaster and a Dolby Digital 5.1 transfer, our Sunbury doco has been somewhat left behind, receiving absolutely no restoration whatsoever. That’s right my long haired hippy friends, we are stuck with the original mono soundtrack, but hold on for a second, we’ll get to the video details first.

Video quality is painful, especially early in the presentation. Things do tend to improve as the film progresses, but the grain is high and film artefacts are constant, and by constant I mean hundreds of those annoying little black spots popping up all over the screen. Worse again are the dirty great big scratches down the cells which pop up pretty frequently. This feature has aged thirty years, but in comparison to many other films of this vintage it is clear to see that this Sunbury footage hasn’t been looked after at all well.

There aren't too many faults with the transfer itself. The detail of the footage is of such generally low quality that any mastering faults could pretty much go unnoticed even if they did exist. With this said I don't think I should harp on about the video quality for too much longer, because generally the artefacts and grain are at a level we really should expect for a cheap Australian film of this age. If you can stick with it past the opening ten minutes you’ll notice that the quality dramatically improves, so try not to let the intro alarm you as it does improve to a standard which is quite acceptable considering the material and age.

  Audio
Contract

The audio, as mentioned above, lacks remastering and as such remains in its original mono format. Overall it is surprisingly clear and is without any major flaws, clicks, or dropouts. The sound of course lacks any power, depth and bass, or what I like to call ‘oomph’. Lip synching is fine and any noise or background fizzing and hissing is at a level where it is only noticeable during quiet scenes when the volume has been pumped up high. Overall the audio sounds just as good as it would have been when it was first recorded thirty years ago, and with that in mind one can’t complain too much.

  Extras
Contract

Amazing, a thirty year old local release that has a good array of extras – this must be a first. We have six extra tracks of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, including the songs Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy, Oop Poo Pa Doo and four more. There is also a 26 minute featurette of the Aztecs playing live at Melbourne Town Hall, and a brief documentary about rock stardom and V.D.(!) There are also a couple of trailers for some other Umbrella released DVDs such as Malcolm, Bouncer and The Secret Policeman's Ball. Overall this is a fair bit of added footage and it's all worth checking out, especially for any Billy Thorpe and the Azetcs fans out there.

  Overall  
Contract

On the whole this is a good value and highly entertaining look at the classic days of rock‘n'roll in Australia. The lack of remastering is a little disappointing, but to be expected considering the lack of wide appeal that this disc will attract – which is a real shame. If you were there on Australia Day some three decades ago, or wish you could have been, then this disc will be right up your alley. If you hadn’t even heard of Sunbury until reading this review then perhaps it's about time you got a healthy tasting of some good old ‘70s rock? In other words keep an eye out for this disc and you won’t go wrong either way!


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1205
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      And I quote...
    "The kids aren’t clean-cut or even clean really, but Sunbury had that wholesome hippy feel to it that means much more than just the music, the hair, and the lack of clothing."
    - Nathan Clark
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-636
    • TV:
          LG 80cm
    • Speakers:
          Pioneer
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          standard s-video
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