Music Video Distributors presents

Kornography (2002)

Interviewer: "Do you have anything special that you bring with you on the road?
Munky: I have a rubber ducky."

Stars: Korn
Director: unknown

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for language
Run Time: 01h:19m:23s
Release Date: 2002-10-15
Genre: music

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
C-	D+	C+	B-	C+

 

DVD Review

Since forming in Bakersfield, California in the early 1990s, the explosive metal band, Korn, have witnessed a steady climb up the charts to worldwide success. There. Now you can go on with your day because, in essence, I have summed up with one sentence what is said in nearly seventy minutes in the recently released Kornography, an unauthorized glimpse at the eccentric rockers.

Kornography is anemic in its information about the band. What is offered in this documentary has been reported far and wide by numerous media outlets since the group found fame with their breakthrough album, Follow the Leader. In just over an hour, the viewer is taken down an already well-travelled path through the Bakersfield music scene as well as an unnecessary but stimulating look at bands that each group member were a part of before the formation of Korn. Also, by incorporating interviews with numerous fans and witnesses to Korn's climb up the California music scene, the filmmaker commits the error of taking the focus off of the band by thrusting unimportant tidbits to the forefront.

A sizeable portion of Kornography fails to be about anything in general. The program meanders from one unessential factoid to another while showing very little involvement from the five members of Korn. The back of the packaging boasts more than forty minutes of interviews with the band and those close to them. Truth be told, the total running time of Korn sightings lasts nearly as long as one song by the group. Jonathan (lead singer) and Fieldy (bass player) enjoy the majority of the attention focused on the members, though their comments seem to have little to do specifically with this film.

The core of the program may be interesting for newcomers to the band who know little about the progression of each member of the band in their career. For the veteran, and more aged fans, this is a wasted walk down memory lane. I came out knowing nothing more about Korn than I did when I sat down. A good documentary, unauthorized or otherwise, should be made about this band. This isn't it..

Rating for Style: C-
Rating for Substance: D+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Presented in full frame, Kornography is far from a stellar video presentation. The images are constantly grainy and have a soft look that hampers the overall quality of the image. Sharpness and detail are lacking, while colors are not as vibrant as they should be. Overall this is a very poor image transfer.

Image Transfer Grade: C+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The Dolby Surround track for Kornography is largely center channel focused and is nicely done for the most part. Dialogue sounds fine with little distortion, and the constant background music comes across nicely. An average, but adequate track.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Static menu
Scene Access with 17 cues and remote access
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Discography
2. still gallery

Extras Review: What is this? A disc with better, as well as more informative, extra features than the feature itself? Amazing but true. Kornography features twenty still photographs as well as a detailed discography for the band that includes single, bootlegs, soundtracks, as well as UK singles. Hey, at least they got something right.

Extras Grade: C+
 

Final Comments

Korn is an immensely talented group of musicians who blend chaos with harmony and create a sound that numerous others have tried to clone, only to fail. Kornography fails to do justice to the super group by providing little in the way of information. Skip this disc and read one of the numerous articles about the group online or in print. It will probably take less time.

Kevin Clemons 2002-11-27