There’s no doubt Queen is a true hall of fame band and Freddie Mercury a transformative musician, but this bio-pic, while well produced and finely acted, feels a bit sterilized relaying Mercury’s life but keeping it within the PG-13 realm.
Bohemian Rhapsody
(2018)
Genre(s): Drama, Biographical, Music
Fox | PG13 – 135 min. – $39.99 | February 12, 2019
Date Published: 02/27/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Fox provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Bohemian Rhapsody is a celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury (RAMI MALEK). Freddie defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound. They reach unparalleled success, but in an unexpected turn Freddie, surrounded by darker influences, shuns Queen in pursuit of his solo career. Having suffered greatly without the collaboration of Queen, Freddie manages to reunite with his bandmates just in time for Live Aid. Quick Hit Review: Growing up, I can’t say I was a huge fan of Queen, though certainly enjoyed their hit songs like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (thanks to Wayne’s World), ‘We Are the Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ (sports), ‘Under Pressure’, which is my personal favorite. So going into this bio-drama, my expectations were neither high nor low and by the end… it was good. Not great, however outside of the (writing this two days after the Oscars) Academy Award winning performance by Rami Malek, certainly deserving. And the supporting performances from the likes of Lucy Boynton, Tom Hollander and Mike Myers with 3 layers of make-up (he was included for precisely one line concerning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, were all well done. However, everything else, particularly on the technical side, was rather pedestrian, including the sloppy editing (how this film won an Oscar for editing is beyond me), a neutered script which is not exactly daring and would’ve benefited from a more liberal R-rating, not to mention the direction from Bryan Singer (or Dexter Fletcher depending on what scenes he directed) was uninspiring. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance (21:55) is the full performance as seen at the end of the film and is included on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs. Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie (16:13) – This featurette takes us behind-the-scenes on Malek’s transformation to playing Freddie Mercury. Features interviews with fellow cast members and producers. No surprise, nothing about Bryan Singer. The Look and Sound of Queen (21:44) is on recreating the band for the big screen, and the process that included the contributions of Roger Taylor and Brian May, and their meteoric rise. |
4K VIDEO – 4.5/5, BD VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Fox releases Bohemian Rhapsody onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray where it’s presented in its original 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers, respectively. For the most part, this is a good looking picture on both accounts. Detail especially in 4K is sharp throughout and colors fairly vibrant and although the Blu-ray isn’t quite as rich by comparison, it’s still an impressive enough transfer. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| As one would imagine, a movie about Queen and their incredible music would take full advantage of the included Dolby Atmos track (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 on the Blu-ray disc) and this does sound amazing. Depth is in full force during the concert re-creations, where the LFE channel turns on for that extra kick, but even the quieter scenes sound great as well. |
OVERALL – 3.75/5 |
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There’s no doubt Queen is a true hall of fame band and Freddie Mercury a transformative musician, but this bio-pic, while well produced and finely acted, feels a bit sterilized relaying Mercury’s life but keeping it within the PG-13 realm. That being said, it’s still a decent film worthy of a rental and if anything else, hearing the songs in Atmos is wonderful. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.