Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

My ex and I saw Bob Dylan perform in 1984, a superb concert. My ex was and is a huge fan of his and as he doesn't own a TV (yes really!) I invited him to pop over and watch this on Netflix. The music is of course fabulous, Desire is my favourite Dylan album so it was a treat to hear so much from it. On the whole we both really enjoyed this. For me, the highlights were Bob and Allen Ginsberg at Jack Kerouac's graveside. his interactions with Joan Baez (where they are talking about each marrying other people - wow), Scarlet Rivera (so talented) and the section about Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter. However, I wasn't too impressed with the fake present-day interviews. I felt they were distracting from the main event which for me was the footage from 1975 and the real interviews. This made my ex-husbands Father's Day mind, I'm sure he went home to listen to some of his vast Dylan music collection.

I found this Martin Scorsese 'story on film' as a Criterion Collection DVD at my public library. It apparently originated as a Netflix production.

I am pretty close to contemporary of the musicians profiled here, I am just 4 years younger than Dylan. I of course remember him well but I never really cared for his music. I was not, and am not, a fan.

Still, I really enjoyed this documentary. In 1975 Bob Dylan, his musicians, and some of his friends embarked on what they named the 'Rolling Thunder Review.' Why that name? Someone had described a series of thunder sounds during a storm as rolling thunder and Dylan just liked that name, nothing more significant than that, they explain.

The participants, in the end, thought the tour was very successful, it was fun and it allowed them to share their poetry and music with many. But financially, it was not. They played in mostly smaller venues and often receipts were not sufficient to cover the expenses.

Bob Dylan always drove the bus from site to site, at least that is what is depicted. He and Joan Baez were in their mid-30s and had a very close relationship, and loved to harmonize in song.

My favorite was Scarlet Rivera who, on the tour, was called The Queen of Swords. She was a marvelous violinist and was part of the band, often standing adjacent to Dylan as she played her accompaniment.

There are several fictional stories included, the most interesting involves Sharon Stone meeting Dylan when she was still a teenager, and joined the tour. Not as a musician but she just did odd jobs, all this before she started her acting career. And we find out, it was all fiction. Dylan and Stone never met back then.

I admit, I used the fast-forward through most of the Dylan performances, his singing just grates on my nerves. But that didn't take away from the overall impact of the film, really enjoyable to "peek behind the curtain" during those years that I was starting my own career and my children were being born in 1969 through 1976.

As "Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese" (2019 release; 142 min.) opens, Dylan is performing Mr. Tambourine Man solo. We go to today's Dylan, who claims "This was so long ago, I don't recall a thing. I wasn't even born!". At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is directed by longtime Dylan admirer Martin Scorsese. Here he brings a work of mostly fiction, although of course the concert footage is real. You may recall that during the 1975 Rolling Thunder Review, Dylan filmed a ton of footage, which eventually was released as "Renaldo and Clara" in early 1978 (more on that later). Basically Scorsese was handed the unused footage and told "do with it what you want". As if Scorsese would decline that opportunity! While they are of course very different films (and thankfully this one doesn't run 4 hours, which was the original running time of "Renaldo and Clara"), there are clear parallels between the two. In then end, "Rolling Thunder Review" also rambles quite a bit, and I found it of most interest for the concert footage, and the current interviews (all fictional). Nevertheless this is really a "must-see" for any and all Dylan fans. Now almost 50 years later, this footage is most interesting from a historical perspective. (I remember seeing "Renaldo and Clara" with a buddy of mine in a movie theater in London in the summer of 1978, and we were just dumbstruck about it. Can't recall if we stayed for the entire 4 hour showing.)

"Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese" was released on Netflix in 2019, bypassing theaters altogether. I didn't have Netflix in 2019, and only recently stumbled on it. Please note that this is currently rated 93% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. Of course don't take my word for it. If you like Dylan, and in particular his Rolling Thunder era (including his vastly underrated 1976 album "Desire"), I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

Brilliant live stuff but too much fake to make it to a 10.

I am a huge Bob Dylan fan. All of it. This era in particular. The choice of songs and variety of musicians was so unique and brilliant. The glaring omission of Mick Ronson is unforgivable. They don't even mention his name a single time! His guitar work during this tour provides a constant swirling tapestry of melody, solos, and originality that deserves a documentary on its own. Shame on Bob. RIP Mick!

The music and footage is great and could stand on its own. The rest as many have mentioned is pretentious drivel.