Every once in a while, things work out just about perfectly for a rock group. So it was for The Doors when they performed July 5, 1968 at the Hollywood Bowl. That performance has now been remastered from the original camera negatives and audio tapes. I have seen this concert film in the past and the upgrade in quality is startling, which is a testament to modern technology. The image on this Blu-ray disc has an aspect ratio of 1:78:1. The high definition transfer comes with both a 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. The original 16mm film also underwent a high definition scanning process. They even did an impressive job of reformatting the original 1:33:1 full frame to fill the widescreen frame.
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The result is a very clear picture. There is a little flickering around the edges because of the reformatting, but it is not really noticeable or intrusive. The sound of each instrument is distinct and does not intrude on Morrison's vocals. Every once in awhile there is an issue transitioning from one angle to another but again this does not handicap the overall visual experience. Maybe everything is a bit too perfect, which concerts are not, but for a glimpse of The Doors at the height of their powers, this is about as good as it gets.
The highlight of the release is the inclusion of three previously unreleased tracks, which had never been included due to technical difficulties with the original audio recordings. Now “Hello, I Love You,” “The WASP,” and “Spanish Caravan” have returned, making the original concert complete.
It was a different concert experience musically, as the The Doors were only three albums into their career. Many of their well-known songs had not yet been created, so the set list was limited to their early career period. Some of these songs would disappear from their set list as time passed and it is nice to see them performed with passion and power.
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