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| Special Features: |
Languages: English
Dolby 5.1 Surround sound
Aspect ratio 4X3
Scene selections
Wolf Trap concert footage
Alexander’s campfire song
Theatrical trailers
“Bearing Straight” music video
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| Video Format: |
Full Frame (1.33:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
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| Subtitles: |
None
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| Captions: |
No
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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The Ballad of Bering Strait is a great documentary. It's Hoop Dreams good. I'm not kidding. It makes you feel wonderful to be alive. What makes it even better is the fact that it is about the unlikeliest of subjects: a group of teenagers who have formed a country music band try to make it big in Nashville. Okay, maybe not the unlikeliest of subjects, but here's the wrinkle. . .this band of teenagers is from Russia. Got your attention? Good. It got my attention. Got it, and kept it, and not in a "wow, what a novelty" kind of way. The thing is that Bering Strait is a really good band. No novelty here, folks. They're such a good band that this self-avowed country music hater went directly to Best Buy and bought their album. They're such a good band, that I watched the movie and all of the extras twice within twenty-four hours. They are, in fact, such a good band that every person who reads this needs to go out right now and buy the documentary, watch it twice, and then go out and buy the album.
This is the stuff that dreams are made of: seven Russian music students learn from their classical guitar teacher how to play country music, and a few years later, are discovered by an American art dealer who happens to hear them in a club in Russia. That art dealer knows somebody at Arista Records, and gets the kids an audition. The rest is history.
The Ballad of Bering Strait has everything, heartbreak, triumph, struggle, and a little bit of politics. One couldn't ask for any more from a documentary. . .except for more Bering Strait.
The documentary alone is enough to recommend this disc, but there are plenty of extras for those who balk at the price.
Picture Quality: 10/10
Shot on video, presented on DVD. Need I say more?
Sound Quality: 10/10
Crystal clear, just as it needs to be.
Easter Eggs:
None found.
Extra Features: 10/10
Includes a half-hour-long concert that only whets one's appetite for more Bering Strait.
The Final Word:
Get it. Okay, so that's two words.
Michael Dziura
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