Dont Look Back (1967)

[Scottie]

Dont Look Back (The Criterion Collection) (1967)

Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in London during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist and marked a turning point in his career. In this wildly entertaining vision of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists thrust into the spotlight, Dylan is surrounded by teen fans; gets into heated philosophical jousts with journalists; and kicks back with fellow musicians Joan Baez, Donovan, and Alan Price. Featuring some of Dylan’s most famous songs, including “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Dont Look Back is a radically conceived and shot portrait of an American icon that has influenced decades of vérité behind-the-scenes documentaries.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:

New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director D. A. Pennebaker, with newly restored monaural sound from the original quarter-inch magnetic masters, presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 1999 featuring Pennebaker and tour manager Bob Neuwirth
65 Revisited, a 2006 documentary directed by Pennebaker and edited by Walker Lamond
Audio excerpt from an interview with Bob Dylan in the 2005 documentary No Direction Home, cut to previously unseen outtakes from Dont Look Back
New documentary about the evolution of Pennebaker’s filming style, from his 1950s avant-garde work to his ’60s musical documentaries, including an excerpt from the filmmaker’s footage of Dylan performing “Ballad of a Thin Man” during his 1966 electric tour
Daybreak Express (1953), Baby (1954), and Lambert & Co. (1964), three short films by Pennebaker
New conversation between Pennebaker and Neuwirth about their work together, from Dont Look Back through Monterey Pop (1967) and beyond
Snapshots from the Tour, a new piece featuring outtakes from Dont Look Back
New interview with musician Patti Smith about Dylan and the influence of Dont Look Back in her life
Conversation between music critic Greil Marcus and Pennebaker from 2010
Alternate version of the film’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” cue card sequence
Five uncut audio tracks of Dylan songs from the film
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by critic and poet Robert Polito

New cover by Eric Skillman

[SkyAntoine]

Extremely excited about this above all titles announced. A very historic film with some excellent supplements.

[popcorntreect]

One of the more brilliant rock docs I've seen. If anyone remembers Cate Blanchett's terrific performance as Dylan in "I'm Not There" - it's based on him in this film.

[beatnikslacker]

eh hem.. you know if you happen to have gotten the old 2 disk version of this from docurama a few years ago, amazon trade in credit for it is $29.40. (more if you still have it sealed).

just throwing that out there before the criterion comes out and its value goes to hell.

I know how im paying for my criterion now

[RobertLuketic]

Very curious about this release. Big fan of Dylan.

[Telstar]

Originally Posted by beatnikslacker

eh hem.. you know if you happen to have gotten the old 2 disk version of this from docurama a few years ago, amazon trade in credit for it is $29.40. (more if you still have it sealed).

Already plummeted to $14 and change. Amazon is evil.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Telstar

Already plummeted to $14 and change. Amazon is evil.

It's now worth .66 cents.

[beatnikslacker]

Originally Posted by Telstar

Already plummeted to $14 and change. Amazon is evil.

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It's now worth .66 cents.

crazy. glad I locked that in earlier.

[Laservampire]

Not much in the way of reviews here so I'll add my 2 cents.

The Criterion is a HUGE jump in quality over the old blu and DVDs.

Gone are the washed out blacks and fuzzy picture quality. Even for handheld 16mm this looks impressive. It really puts you in the room with Dylan, rather than feeling like you're watching a poor copy of someone's home movies.

As far as the bonus footage goes, 65 Revisited and the extra 25 minutes of footage are both upscaled from SD. They look like they were both transferred around the same time, so I'm guessing the extra footage is what didn't make it into 65 Revisited.

But even being SD, 65 Revisited looks so much better than the old DVD, as all of the compression artifacts are now gone (and my god, there was lots of them)

Wholly recommend if you're a Dylan fan!

[ellaharryfilms]

Originally Posted by Laservampire

The Criterion is a HUGE jump in quality over the old blu and DVDs.

Having just bought this, very excited to hear its a big jump, was already an amazing doc.