Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Bohemian Rhapsody
February 16, 2019
Bohemian Rhapsody - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
Bohemian Rhapsody is a monster hit earning more than $200 million domestically and $800 million worldwide. It has also been one of the biggest Awards Season players; in fact, some consider it the favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar. On the other hand, its reviews are barely in the overall positive level. Are the moviegoers and Awards Season voters right and the critics too cynical? Or is there something other than the movie itself that is winning people over?
The movie begins in London in 1970. Farrokh Bulsara, who is going by Freddie now, is working as a baggage handler at the airport. His father is quite upset that he goes out every night instead of worrying about his future. This night, Freddie heads out to a pub and likes the band, Smile, so much he wants to meet them backstage. While there, he meets a woman, Mary Austin, and asks her where the band is and compliments her coat. Mary says it’s from Biba’s, while her friend helpfully points out Mary works there. When he meets with the band, it’s just Roger Taylor and Brian May, as their lead singer just quit to join a band that’s going places. Freddie offers to take his place, but is immediately dismissed... until he sings for them. Instantly, he’s in the band, but they still need a bass player.
Meanwhile, Freddie decides to head to Biba to meet Mary again. Mary compliments Freddie’s daring fashion sense and they become an item. Cut to the next scene and the band has a new bassist, John Deacon. The performance is... well, Freddie’s enthusiasm and stage presence overcomes minor problems like him singing the wrong lyrics. Cut to the next scene and the band is stranded on the side of the road because they have a flat tire, which is a pain, because they are selling out tour dates and need to get to them. Freddie suggests they are not thinking big enough going to pubs and universities and they need to record an album, even if it means selling the van. Next scene. They’ve sold the van and they’re about to record an album.
Hey, it’s “Seven Seas of Rhye”. I’m one of those people who think “Seven Seas of Rhye” could be their best song.
I’m going to stop the plot summary there, because we’ve hit the first of two rather major flaws in the movie.
Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t a bad movie, but it isn’t Oscar-worthy either. It has two major flaws. Firstly, there’s too much story for a movie, even one that more than two hours long. The film has to cram in too much and they do so at the expense of any connective material, as well as historical accuracy. For example, Freddie Mercury knew the band before the lead singer left and it actually took a while to form going through a few bassists. That’s fine; musical biographies often have to compress details like that for the sake of the story. Messing with the band’s breakup to add to the drama is more troubling, but a minor complaint. On the other hand, messing with the chronology of Freddie Mercury’s AIDS diagnosis is a little harder to take. Changing something as serious as that just to make the Live Aid performance the climax of the film is just crass, in my opinion. This time compression also means the movie lacks complexity going for shallow takes on a lot of major events in the film. If you are a fan of the band and were around during these events, but were hoping to learn more, then you will likely be disappointed.
On the other hand, the film also has some major assets, top among these is the music. I don’t think it is unfair to say that without the music, this movie would not have connected with audiences. In fact, I think they could have made the film a 90-minute concert reenactment without any of the plot and I think it would have done just as well in theaters. To be fair, the acting in the movie is stellar, include Rami Malek in the lead, but the rest of the cast also does a lot with a script that’s not too concerned with fleshing out too many characters. The film does have some genuinely emotional moments, and connects more than it misses. It just isn’t an award-worthy film and shouldn’t be a major Oscar contender.
The extras begin with the complete 22-minute long Live Aid concert performance. ... Yeah, the studio knows why people spent money going to see this movie in the theaters. Up next is Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie, a 16-minute look at the actor’s performance in the movie. The Look and Sound of Queen is a 22-minute making of featurette, focusing on recreating Queen, both musically and stylistically. Finally, Recreating Live Aid is a 20-minute making of featurette about the iconic performance that serves as the climax of the movie.
This is a solid collection of extras, but not as much as I was expecting, given its box office performance.
Bohemian Rhapsody doesn’t rise above the musical biopic genre. Enough works that it is worth checking out, but it isn’t award-worthy. There are enough extras on the DVD / Blu-ray / 4K Ultra HD that many will want to pick it up. In fact, the full Live Aid performance alone will be worth the price of the Blu-ray for many.
Video on Demand (Movie Only)
Video on Demand (With Bonuses)
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The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek, Joseph Mazzello, Lucy Boynton, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Ace Bhatti