“The Bee Gees – In Our Own Time” Blu-ray Review
Commemorating a sterling 50-year career of beloved music, Eagle Rock Entertainment will proudly release In Our Own Time, a revealing look at the history of The Bee Gees. On In Our Own Time, brand new interviews with Barry and Robin Gibb, as well as Maurice Gibb shortly before his 2003 passing, tell the compelling tale of their family business. With a half-century of memories, and the amazing video clips to go with it, the Gibb brothers go through it all, and no stone is left unturned. Interweaved with live performances, TV and film clips, and early, rare videos of the band, this 116-minute documentary lavishly illustrates The Bee Gees experience.
Synopsis
The Bee Gees remarkable candor on the disparity between their incredible successes and their heartbreaking lows make In Our Own Time essential and dramatic viewing even if one is only a casual fan. Robin, Barry, and Maurice Gibb offer revealing and personal commentary on each step of the journey: their burgeoning childhood stardom in their native Australia, their first flush of success in London, the break-up and inevitable reunion, the phantasmagoria of fame ricocheting from Saturday Night Fever, and their work as songwriters, penning tunes not only for themselves, but Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers, and Dolly Parton. It is, in essence, the history of pop music itself spanning the ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond. The DVD ends on a note of hope: Barry and Robin singing anew those classic songs again for the camera, leaving the door open to more Bee Gees chapters. Most profound is the way the life and death of Andy Gibb is treated. We learn he desperately wanted to be a Bee Gee and his brothers wanted him in…but life has a cruel streak. This chapter gives the DVD its gravitas. Barry and Robin have never really explored this with any degree of finality. Until now.
I really enjoy these kind of documentary/concert hybrids that Eagle Rock puts out occasionally. I’m usually so overwhelmed by the fact I have no idea who these artists are half the time that I can’t really focus on or enjoy the concert because I have no idea what I’m listening to. Thankfully In Our Own Time is a nice hybrid that explores the Bee Gees history and mixes it with plenty of live footage and interviews.
Aside from their name I really didn’t know anything about the Bee Gees so to watch this documentary it definitely provided a nice little stepping stone into their world. Of course it was provided with a sad addendum with the death of Andy Gibb which was talked about at length towards the end of the film. Prior to that there is plenty of live footage and playback of some of their classics (as well as Robin and Barry performing some of the songs again for the first time since Maurice’s passing in 2003).
It’s definitely not the happiest of documentaries but it does provide hope in some form or another. While I didn’t get much out of it simply because I knew so little of their previous work, I was still able to enjoy the documentary for what it was. For fans it’s definitely something that will be Recommended; otherwise if you’re just as casual listener you can probably get away with a mere rental.
The Blu-ray
Eagle Rock Entertainment brings Bee Gees – In Our Own Time to Blu-ray in a standard Elite Blu-ray case. The usual double-sided jacket from Eagle Rock is included, although no booklet is found inside (at least my copy didn’t have one).
The video arrives in an AVC encoded 1080i transfer and with the footage being a mixture of eras as well as sources (live, studio, interview, etc.) it definitely ranges in terms of quality. Overall though it’s a pretty standard mixture for a documentary and as such there really isn’t too much that will be offputting to the average viewer. As is usual with Eagle Rock releases, the concerts boasts three audio tracks as well, a DTS-HD MA, DD5.1 and a PCM track. All three have their merits, but it’s the DTS-HD that is the king of the listing here, as it has a nice spread about the room and represents the individual musical styling’s quite well whenever the concert footage kicks in.
Sadly there are no extras, but as the documentary itself is already nearly two hours long I doubt there would be much left for fans to want to view anyway. Overall a strict Rental unless you foresee yourself watching a documentary multiple times.
The Bee Gees – In Our Own Time is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.