Tweet
Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: December 1st, 2017.
Director: Colin Hanks
Cast: Jesse Hughes, Josh Homme, Bono, The Edge, Julian Doro, Matt McJunkins, Dave Catching
Year: 2017
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
On November 13th, 2015 a group of nine terrorists launched a series of coordinated attacks on behalf of the Islamic State. Their intentions were to kill as many people as possible and cause an affront to western culture itself. For this reason, they hit a soccer stadium, some of Paris' cafes, and the Bataclan concert hall where, at the time of the attack, The Eagles Of Death Metal had just taken stage in front of a sold out crowd of 1500 people. The attackers started firing randomly into the crowd, detonated explosive vests, and left eighty-nine people dead. Police made their way into the theater but at that point, there was only so much that could be done. The band survived the attack, but their merchandise table guy, Nick Alexander, did not.
Colin Hanks' documentary Nos Ami takes a look at what happened that night by way of interviews with the band members and various survivors of the attack. These are heartfelt, emotional and at times, difficult to watch and Hanks' decision not to include footage from various news sources showing the horrifying aftermath of the attack was the right thing to do. When you're hearing first hand what happened from those who were there, you don't need it.
As this plays out, the documentary shifts gears a bit and explores the unique relationship that exists not just between the band members (with a focus on Jesse Hughes' longstanding friendship with Josh Homme, who was not on tour with the band when this happened) but also with their fans. As we see the band interact with some of the fans that were there that night, we get a feeling for the camaraderie that exists because of their shared experiences. Music may be what brought them all together in the first place but clearly, after what happened, the connection is stronger and more personal now.
You can check out a trailer for the feature here:
In addition to interviewing the members of Eagles Of Death Metal and their vans, we also hear from Bono and The Edge from U2. They were rehearsing in Paris the night of the attacks and did what they could to help the band.
To Hanks' credit, he manages to keep politics more or less out of the feature, but at the same time, he doesn't skirt away from controversial statements that Hughes made in the aftermath of the attacks, in which he accused Muslim members of the venue's security team of being 'in on it.' But this isn't the focus of what we watch her, again, it's about friendship and the strength required to move on after experiencing something as horrible as this - and we see it first hand towards the end of the film in a moving sequence that documents the band's return to Paris, a big first step in moving on.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The feature is framed at 2.00:1 and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. Taken from a variety of different sources - cell phone footage, TV broadcasts and newly shot content made specifically for this documentary - it's understandable that the video quality is inconsistent but for the most part things look quite good. The newly shot footage is crisp, clean and clear, while material culled from other sources is less than perfect.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is of pretty solid quality, particularly when it comes to the music used in the feature. It's here that the track really shines, spreading out the band's music through all 5.1 channels pretty effectively. Quieter moments are also handled well, with dialogue coming through clean, clear and concise. Again, some of the material taken from inferior sources obviously doesn't sound as good but for the most part, the audio here is very good.
There are no extra features on the disc, just menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Eagles Of Death Metal: Nos Amis doesn't just focus on the tragedy that happened at The Bataclan, it goes further than that and explores how these events brought the band and their fans closer together and how they band members themselves overcame their experiences to keep going. It's genuinely moving, powerful stuff. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray is barebones, but the presentation is solid and this release comes recommended.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
