Queen / Queen Rock Montreal 4K blu-ray (2-disc set)

ALL REGION • 2 x 4K Blu-ray Audio with Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Mix. Bonus live Aid performance and rehearsals (not 4K) •  Release date: 10 May 2024

• 1981 performance shot on film
• New scan of the 35mm negative
• Full Frame (as shot) and WIDESCREEN versions both in 4K
• 4K UHD has SDR / HDR dynamic range options.
• Dolby Atmos Mix. 5.1 and stereo versions of audio 
• Live Aid performance and rehearsals (upscaled to HD but not 4k)
• Live Aid in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and stereo
• Region-free discs

Queen Rock Montreal captures the world’s most iconic rock band at the very peak of their live powers. Recorded in 1981 and recently released as a record-breaking digitally restored IMAX concert film, this landmark moment in the band’s history is now being released as a double 4K Ultra High Definition blu-ray.

Queen Rock Montreal presents Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon at their most exciting and exhilarating. As Brian May puts it, this is Queen “live and dangerous.”

Queen were on all-conquering form when they returned to Montreal, Canada for the fourth time in November 1981 to play two huge concerts at the 18,000-seat Forum. This pair of Montreal concerts marked an historic moment for Queen. After their massive success in the 1970s, the band entered the 80s bigger than ever, with the hugely successful The Game album producing their two biggest ever US singles in Another One Bites The Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love (both No. 1 in the US), followed by the UK No.1 single Under Pressure.

Queen’s return to Montreal came after almost two years of touring, including their very first tours of South and Central America, which saw the band playing two nights at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium to more than 150,000 devoted fans. As a result, when the band arrived in Canada in November 1981 they were in electrifying form.

“Montreal is one of our favourite cities, it’s a great audience there, very full of energy,” says Brian May. “We’d played this particular venue, The Forum, several times before, and it was always full of really enthusiastic people giving us a lot of energy back.”

The original concerts, which took place on November 24 and 25, 1981, were truly ground-breaking. They were arranged specifically to be filmed for a full-length concert film to document their live show. Director Saul Swimmer planned to shoot them using state-of-the-art Double Anamorphic 35mm footage, which allowed it to be projected on a gigantic, five-storey high screen. Backstage tensions between the members of Queen and Swimmer could have caused problems, but instead they propelled the band to new heights. “We were very, very hyped up, some of the tempos are really fast, there’s a lot of really incisive, angry playing,” says May.

Queen Rock Montreal features a rawer version of the band who had released Bohemian Rhapsody half a decade earlier, showcasing their unparalleled musicianship, soaring vocal power and unstoppable live energy. “There’s no one on the stage apart from us,” says May.

Says Taylor: “It's fascinating to now realise how free we were on stage in 1981. It's a four piece, just the four of us in Queen, and to see Freddie. It's like being on stage with the band because the cameras are very high quality for the time. I've never seen anything that makes you feel quite so involved with the performance.”
 
From Freddie Mercury’s opening cry of “Hello Montreal… long time no see. You wanna get crazy?” through to the thrilling climactic one-two of 'We Will Rock You' and 'We Are The Champions', the energy rarely lets up – and even then only for signature ballad 'Love Of My Life'. The powerful vocal acrobatics of Mercury, May’s dazzling six-string pyrotechnics, Deacon’s rock solid heartbeat bass, Taylor’s unstoppable rhythmic display, and not to mention the unique combination of all four voices – Queen Rock Montreal shows the total cohesion and individual strengths of four musicians who were, as Brian May says, “at the top of our game”.

 This 2x 4k blu-ray set also includes the most famous 21 minutes in rock & roll history – Queen’s electric performance at Live Aid, upscaled to high definition for the first time ever and with brand-new stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos sound mixes, along with Freddie Mercury & Brian May performing 'Is This The World We Created…?' later that evening. 

This is a pre-order. Queen Rock Montreal is released on 10 May 2024 via Mercury Studios.

Disc 1: 4K Blu-ray - Full Frame Version

Run Time: 119 minutes

Queen Rock Montreal 
Video: Ultra High Definition Full Frame SDR & HDR
Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM Stereo

1. Intro  
2. We Will Rock You (fast)
3. Let Me Entertain You
4. Play The Game
5. Somebody To Love
6. Killer Queen
7. I’m In Love With My Car
8. Get Down Make Love
9. Save Me
10. Now I’m Here
11. Dragon Attack
12. Now I’m Here (reprise)
13. Love Of My Life
14. Under Pressure
15. Keep Yourself Alive
16. Drum & Timpani Solo
17. Guitar Solo
18. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
19. Jailhouse Rock
20. Bohemian Rhapsody
21. Tie Your Mother Down
22. Another One Bites The Dust
23. Sheer Heart Attack
24. We Will Rock You
25. We Are The Champions
26. God Save The Queen

Queen Rock Montreal Commentary from Brian May & Roger Taylor

Live Aid
Video: 1080p
Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM Stereo

1. Bohemian Rhapsody 
2. Radio Ga Ga
3. Hammer To Fall
4. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
5. We Will Rock You
6. We Are The Champions
7. Is This The World We Created…? (Mercury & May)

Disc 2: 4K Blu-ray - WIDESCREEN Version

Runtime: 105 mins

Queen Rock Montreal 

Video: 2160p Ultra High Definition Widescreen SDR & HDR
Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM Stereo
Subtitles: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch

1. Intro  
2. We Will Rock You (fast)
3. Let Me Entertain You
4. Play The Game
5. Somebody To Love
6. Killer Queen
7. I’m In Love With My Car
8. Get Down Make Love
9. Save Me
10. Now I’m Here
11. Dragon Attack
12. Now I’m Here (reprise)
13. Love Of My Life
14. Under Pressure
15. Keep Yourself Alive
16. Drum & Timpani Solo
17. Guitar Solo
18. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
19. Jailhouse Rock
20. Bohemian Rhapsody
21. Tie Your Mother Down
22. Another One Bites The Dust
23. Sheer Heart Attack
24. We Will Rock You
25. We Are The Champions
26. God Save The Queen

Queen Rock Montreal Commentary from Brian May & Roger Taylor

Live Aid rehearsals`
Video: 1080p
Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM Stereo

1. Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Radio Ga Ga
3. Hammer To Fall