Grateful Dead’s ‘Long Strange Trip’ Movie Coming to Home Video
Long Strange Trip, the award-nominated four-hour documentary about the Grateful Dead, directed by Amir-Bar Lev and produced by Martin Scorcese, will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital formats on Nov. 9.
The movie, originally released last year, includes material from across the band’s career in a story that Mickey Hart called “charming” and “heartfelt." “But it's sad in some ways," he added. "It's not a date movie. I wouldn't take my wife to see it.”
“Long Strange Trip brings together never-before-seen performance footage, vintage interviews and other candid moments unearthed from the Grateful Dead's vast vaults," the producers said in a statement. "The film also includes newly captured conversations with surviving members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir, as well as many other characters and pranksters from the Dead universe.”
You can watch the original movie trailer below.
The deluxe edition of the home-video release will, like the other versions, contain the original documentary, a new 5.1 surround mix and a new commentary track. Its exclusive content includes the band’s first-ever overseas performance in its entirety, shot during their visit to London in 1970 for the Hollywood Festival. Clips from the performance were used in the film, but the full recordings have never previously been made available. They were found around 2003 by band archivist David Lemieux. “I came across a couple of unlabeled cans of 16mm film," he explained.
"I loaded the first reel onto the Steenbeck film viewing/editing table and was amazed by what I saw. Not only rare, exceptional quality material from the performance at the Hollywood Festival, but loads of other terrific footage, showing the band at a Warner Bros. Records party in London (Pigpen surrounded by suits!), at a photo shoot ('that's one uncooperative bunch of musicians!'), at a rehearsal hall performing 'Candyman' vocal harmonies and, most exciting of all, backstage at the festival. This is truly some of the most remarkable, candid, and interesting footage in existence of the Grateful Dead and we're thrilled to be releasing the entirety of this wonderful historical document."