The Buddy Holly Story is a well done biographical drama given life by an Oscar-worthy performance from none other than Gary Busey (yeah, there was a time when he wasn’t completely nuts). The direction and pacing was also fine-tuned making for a nice drama.
The Buddy Holly Story
(1978)
Genre(s): Drama, Music
Twilight Time | PG – 113 min. – $29.95 | August 12, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Steve Rash Writer(s): Alan Swyer (story), Robert Gittler (screenplay) Cast: Gary Busey, Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
PLOT SUMMARY
The Buddy Holly Story sketches the tale of the rock-and-roll legend, a Texas boy (GARY BUSEY) whose musical imagination changed the face of popular music. Busey and his on-screen bandmates (CHARLES MARTIN SMITH and DON STROUD) played and sang Holly’s landmark songs — including “That’s Be the Day,” “Maybe Baby,” “Peggy Sue,” and “Not Fade Away” — live for the film.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5
Along with a 6-page booklet, the only features include an Audio Commentary with Director Steve Rash and Actor Gary Busey and the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:37; HD).
VIDEO – 4.5/5
The Buddy Holly Story takes stage on Blu-ray finally presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio, after years on DVD in Full Screen, and with a 1080p high-definition (MPEG-4 AVC codec) transfer. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw where, for the most part, detail levels were excellent and colors vibrant; the only drawback is either for exterior stock footage or other outside scenes which are rougher around the edges. Still, the transfer appears to be clean and free of obvious debris.
AUDIO – 3.75/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track meanwhile is serviceable though some dialogue is a tad too light, but ultimately it is saved by the musical numbers which help give the lossless track some good depth.
OVERALL – 3.25/5
Overall, The Buddy Holly Story is a well done biographical drama given life by an Oscar-worthy performance from none other than Gary Busey (yeah, there was a time when he wasn’t completely nuts). The direction and pacing was also fine-tuned making for a nice drama. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time might be light on features but the video and audio transfers are both more than adequate and a certain upgrade over its DVD release.
Published: 08/20/2014