As an audio/visual experience, the Blu-ray presentation leaves little to nitpick over. The stage lighting is made up of lots of sultry reds and moody blues, but a remarkable amount of detail is evident throughout. If any complaints can be lodged, they concern minor (and very infrequent) instances of soft focus. But otherwise, the 1.78:1 AVC encode is a stunner.
As for the audio, there's nothing to whine or moan about there either. It is, in a word, awesome. Heard in DTS HD Master Audio, the soundtrack is flawless. Each instrument, with all it's various nuances and subtleties, remains distinct throughout each performance. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 PCM stereo mixes are excellent as well, so no matter what your sound system is capable of there is a more than sufficient mix available.
As if all that wasn't enough, as a bonus feature there is about forty minutes of additional performance footage from a July 31st, 2008 concert in Florida. Most of the time is spent featuring all four members in solo spots (no complaints there), but also included is a dynamic run through of "Duel Of the Jester & the Tyrant." This footage is presented in a unique way, with an array of several smaller screens allowing for simultaneous views, each from a different angle. This could be considered distracting I suppose, but I quite enjoyed the difference in presentation from the main program.
Eagle Rock Entertainment has done right by Return To Forever and their fans, both old and new. Return To Forever Returns - Live At Montreux is nothing short of a standard-setting Blu-ray concert release and is unlikely to leave anyone disappointed.
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