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MPI Home Video presents
Hard Rock Treasures (2006)

"It's a badge of honor to be included in the world's largest memorabilia collection."
- Don Bernstine

Review By: Rich Rosell   
Published: February 02, 2007

Stars: Don Bernstine
Other Stars: Mancow, Zack Wylde, Duff McKagan, Rita Gilligan, Ian Paice, Tony Iommi, Sarah Hodgson, Jimmy Page, John Entwhistle, James Lott, Scotty Moore, Angie Marchese, John Doyle, Herta Manba, Edith Ippolito, Mark Zakarin, Alf Weaver, MIke Love, Brian Wilson, Jeffrey Foskett, Ron Blair, Rick Nielsen, John5, Dave Amato, Richie Sambora, Norm Harris, Peter Frampton, Brian Johnson, Doug Fieger, Christine Gould, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Tommy Thayer, Ace Frehley, Dimebag Abbott, Vinnie Paul, Matt Sorum, JY Young, James Hetfield, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton, Corey Taylor, James Root, Chad Smith, Fred Schneider, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Matt Roberts, Scott Weiland, Dave Kushner, Michael Anthony
Director: Martin Melhuish

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 01h:25m:53s
Release Date: October 31, 2006
UPC: 030306775098
Genre: special interest

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B	B-	B	B-

DVD Review

In the annals of cool jobs, Don Bernstine certainly seems to have one of the cooler ones. He's the Manager of Acquisitions for The Hard Rock Cafe, and in simple terms that means he pals around with rock stars and tries to entice them to give up some piece of rock history to be displayed at a Hard Rock property.

And in Hard Rock Treasures cameras follow Bernstine around to auctions, tour buses, goes backstage at concerts and into the homes of big name rockers as he gathers up iconic pieces of the past. He isn't called the "Indiana Jones" of rock for nothing, and while this disc is admittedly a bit fluffy around the edges, it does give rock fans a chance to sort of look behind the curtain into some of music's biggest names. And if nothing else it shows that they're often as much packrats as I am.

There's a veritable gaggle of famous rock faces who sit down with Bernstine spread across the 85-minute runtime—including Jimmy Page, Ian Paice, Dimebag Darrel Abbott, Rick Nielsen—and they all cough up some valuable mementos, toss out some anecdotes, and basically show off their own collections. There are tours of warehouses where bands like Aerosmith or Styx store their past tour goodies, but for me the most curious bits were when Bernstine would visit the home of a musician. Nice digs all the way around, but when he sat down with Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi I was fixated on the fact that Iommi has a couch with a flowery print. It just seemed weird to me on some strange level that the guitarist for Black Sabbath would have such a "normal" piece of furniture.

Bernstine also puts in a visit to the temperature-controlled Elvis Presley Archives, bids on Freddie Mercury's trousers at Christie's, and shows off the installation process of the rock memorabilia at a new Hard Rock in Detroit. There's a bit of supposed history on how the restaurant's whole hang-guitars-and-things-on-the-wall idea came about (hint: it was Eric Clapton), and it's stressed how every piece is authenticated before it can be displayed. As host, Bernstine comes off as a likeable, unassuming guy, and even though he's been in the rock game for a long game, he seems genuinely humbled to think that a legend like Jimmy Page knows who he is.

This wasn't as blatant a shill for the Hard Rock as I anticipated going in, though to be honest I now really have a desire to visit my local one in Chicago to look around, so maybe the pitch was just under my conscious radar. But for all the mentions of Hard Rock, the charm of this is the up-close visits with the musicians who hand over the clothes from this tour (B-52s Fred Schneider) or the car used in that video (Metallica's James Hetfield), because at the end of the day it offers a measurable, tangible connection to rock fans that goes beyond just the music.

This isn't a hard-hitting exposé, just a moderately lightweight but very watchable doc filled with famous musicians, interesting stories, and all sorts of items that have some significance in the world of rock music.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.85:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation sports bright colors, with pleasant, natural fleshtones. Some of the archival performance footage varies in quality, but the interview segments with Bernstine all look strong. There is some minor flicker in a few spots to mar an otherwise nice transfer.

Image Transfer Grade: B-

 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: A pair of audio choices are available in 2.0 stereo or 5.1 Dolby Digital surround, and for what is largely an interview-driven title, the stereo track will provide a more than adequate delivery. The 5.1 mix, however, does offer a larger, wider feel to the music used as transitions and backgrounds, making the entire program sound noticeably fuller and deeper.

Audio Transfer Grade: B

 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 28 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
2 Documentaries
1 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Extras include what are essentially three longform deleted scenes, in the form of A Visit with Dimebag Darrel and Vinnie Paul (16m:08s), Backstage with Slayer's Kerry King and Judas Priest (14m:27s) and Tour of the Hard Rock Vault (16m:03s). The Dimebag/Damage Plan material has a lot of what's already in the final cut, while the Slayer interview is altogether new. Likewise with the Bernstine tour of the Hard Rock warehouse, on what he calls an "average day at the toy store." Also included is an insert promo for the coffee table book Treasures of The Hard Rock Cafe.

The disc is cut into 28 chapters, with optional English subtitles.

Extras Grade: B-

 

Final Comments

Rock fans will want to make this a rental at the very least. Very enjoyable stuff, and if nothing else, this makes me very jealous of Don Bernstine's job.

Recommended.

 

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