Black Sabbath - The Last Supper

Black Sabbath are possibly the most influential rock act of their generation... hey, lets not sell them short, they probably are the most influential rock act of all time. Most modern artists, of the rock variation (lets leave Britney out of this), stem at least some of their inspiration from the heavy metal revelationists Black Sabbath. You may think I’m exaggerating a touch here, but I’m sure most rock experts would have to agree that Sabbath really did change the face of rock music, and inspired hundreds of other musicians to follow suit. Even The Cardigans, possibly one of poorest pop bands of recent years, gained the courage to cover not one, but two Black Sabbath songs (Iron Man and Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath). The influence of Sabbath is certainly long reaching and continues on 'til this very day, even after their demise.

As with so many rock acts of their era, Black Sabbath ended in a bitter and twisted series of fights which separated the four original members from Birmingham. The band continued on for several years, but never as the original four, well not until more recently. Enter my clever segue. This concert is of course that more recent reunion, and titled The Last Supper this footage might very well be that. After so long apart the original members of Black Sabbath reunite for one more tour of their home town, Europe, and later on America. The Last Supper covers the basics of that 1998 tour, showing us some of the behind the scenes footage, interviews with the band members, and of course, the live footage itself.

Before I get carried away however there is some bad news. Quite a few of these videos (taken live from the tour) are massacred by interviews, cut right into the middle of the songs. Some people would see this as disrespectful, others as annoying, I myself find it disrespectful, annoying, and generally unnecessary. Include the interviews by all means, but insert them before or after each song, not in the middle of them, that just makes no sense.

This was originally released in Australia as a dubious NTSC disc, and as such has now earned itself a shiny and new PAL release. The feature is presented with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is not, repeat, is NOT widescreen enhanced. This may be seen as a waste of screen for those who own a widescreen television, but otherwise it looks quite suitable.

This is a live concert, and as such lighting, colour depth, and shadow detail are expected to be a nightmare. And surprise, surprise, that’s what we get. This however comes with the trade and is, all things considered, about as clean as could be expected. The footage is generally quite sharp with the colours being well rendered (excluding of course the problem with live lighting). Film artefacts are quite common and provide a minor annoyance, although not to any great level. On the plus side there is no MPEG artefacting or low level noise.

There are two soundtracks on this disc, Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) and Linear PCM 2.0 (1536Kb/s). Despite the benefit of surround sound use in the Dolby Digital soundtrack, it is the PCM track that gives a better range and more enjoyable performance of the concert.

The surrounds are used well in the Dolby Digital soundtrack, and the subwoofer works hard in both, especially when running the PCM audio. Black Sabbath are a heavy rock band and thus deserve nothing short of a fantastic audio transfer. A fantastic audio transfer is what we receive luckily enough, as nothing short of this could have been accepted. The band, despite getting on in years, is still able to perform a great A-grade concert and this DVD presents said concert in audible bliss.

The extras are a nice touch, but fall well short of being substantial. The disc includes some tour photos, a very extensive group biography, and a bonus featurette entitled Reunion EPK. This is nothing short of some cross-promotional plugs for other Black Sabbath reunion stock, and has that feel of being more of an advertisement rather than a featurette.

Overall this is a very well put together disc and would be a great keepsake for iron-hard Black Sabbath fans... if only they didn’t ruin the concert with those bloody interviews. If you’re a fan of Black Sabbath, or even the more modernly recognisable Ozzy Osbourne, then this should be a very enjoyable film to watch. Just remember to send your hate mail to Epic with me, asking them what the hell they were thinking cutting up the songs like that.