Queen Rock Montreal: An All-Time Concert Film After IMAX Remastering
A good movie causes enjoyment. A great movie causes wonder. A perfect movie causes appreciation. Then, there is the rare movie where you sit in your seat as the credits roll and realize you may have seen the greatest film ever. Heading into the screening of Queen Rock Montreal, a remastered and re-edited version of Queen’s 1981 performance at the Montreal Forum, the only film that held that honor was Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 masterpiece Parasite. Thirty minutes into the film, that list grew to two films.
Currently, most artists see concert films as an easy way to make more money by merely filming their performance. For all its box office buzz, the Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie was not more than a recording of a stadium concert. It existed as a sing-along and a spectacle, not a grand piece of art. A24’s re-release of the Talking Heads and Johnathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense this past fall served as a reminder of the artistry, planning and beauty that can exist in a concert film. Now, in the early stages of 2024, Queen took a film they despised and turned it into something they and the world can be proud of.
Inside the Montreal Forum, Queen’s stage set up almost feels like a spaceship when seen on the big screen. Roger Taylor’s drums sit on top of a staircase covered in lights. Smoke machines are hidden throughout the stage, and the lights above the stage move and change colors like they signal that the stage is coming in for a landing. Combined, they create a wholly cinematic effect in the footage the film’s director Saul Swimmer managed to shoot. The way the smoke-filled stage becomes an almost alien, supernatural entity when preparing for Queen’s arrival sets the stage for what will come. Yet, no one is truly prepared when the legendary band finally arrives.
Like the Superman logo on his shirt, Freddie Mercury arrives on the stage as a larger-than-life figure. His legendary presence transcends the live form and moves right through the camera into the audience in the theater. Seeing the late legend run around on stage, showcasing with his iconic vocal range and slowly stripping away layers as the show presses on is one of the purest experiences in any movie this century. Nothing can compare. One can not help but be glued to him and not look away. One reason for that can be attributed to the immense camerawork by Saul Swimmer and crew.
Much like Stop Making Sense, makes the concert feel alive with the camera work. There is no sense that shots are pre-programmed or fully planned out. Cameramen move around the stage throughout the performance capturing Mercury, May, Taylor and Deacon in fully formed glory. While Freddie captured the audience, May gets arguably the most cinematic shots in the entire film. As the smoke descends on the stage and the lighting rig changes colors and oscillates, the legendary guitarist appears as a dark figure in the colorful smoke serenely shredding away.
When talking about this film, however, the restoration and remastering of this film is simply unbelievable. What IMAX and the people behind the project managed to do with the original 35mm film is probably the best restoration work of a 1980s movie I have ever seen. The complex lighting setup, multiple angles and smoke created a noisy image that most people would struggle to update fully. Yet, the footage exhibited on screen looked like it could have been filmed yesterday. The entire band appears crystal clear with no grain throughout the film. There is one moment where there are some small white crackles on the blackness behind Mercury in a closeup. Yet, the fact that was the only “flaw” seen throughout the film is a minor miracle.
Where IMAX worked their magic was the sound mix. No film has ever produced a sound mix like this film. Aside from the fact that the quality was impossibly clear, the mix is tonally finely tuned to the point where I got chills. Mercury’s vocals suck you in, Taylor’s drums shake your seat and May’s guitar will give you chills. During the back third of the show, Brian May gives a solo that sent shivers down my spine. The stage is smokey with lights red glaring as he unleashes a solo with heavy notes of “Brighton Rock.” That is where the movie peaks artistically.
All of these aspects combine to create one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of this century. My eyes never left the screen during the entire film and I almost didn’t move my body. The latter seems paradoxical, but it makes total sense. After five minutes, my head left my body as my brain became subsumed by the images and music seen and heard on the screen. My mind shut off and let me soak in this rare achievement. I had to remember to move my hands and feet between songs so they did not fall asleep from not moving them. That is the power of this film.
Yet, this film’s biggest flaw is somehow the marketing. I only learned about it two days into its four-day run. Multiple people exited the theater commenting that they had no clue this film was coming out before seeing the show. The question of who the blame lies on is simple: Queen themselves. They were heavily involved in the re-distribution of the film, not a studio. There was no major or indie studio attached to promote the film. The main form of promotion came solely from Queen’s own social media channels.
Last year, the one-day re-release of The Abyss had a better marketing campaign than this film. James Cameron tweeted about it, the trailer made the rounds on social media and YouTube. It made it well-beyond the confines of the studio. It makes one wonder what even a small distributor like A24 or Roadside Attractions could have even done with this film to draw more people in.
While it will not reach a larger audience during its four-day run, those who saw it will have seen and will know: Queen Rock Montreal is an all-time concert film and theater experience.
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