‘Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll’ Blu-Ray Review – A Curated Portrait Of An Unforgettable Music Icon

As with any informational piece, when consuming a documentary it is necessary to take stock of where the information provided is sourced. The new “ultimate tribute” Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll from director Jon Brewer is touted as being “authorized” by the Berry family with unprecedented exclusive access to those closest to the late, great rock ‘n’ roll superstar. While this allows for some deeply personal moments with his friends and family, and likely the participation of the big name musicians who pop up, the film automatically has a strike against it due to the need to keep Berry’s legacy as untarnished as humanly possible. The resulting feature is one that takes you through the broad strokes of the life of this artist but does not unearth anything that will knock you out. It is akin to a very well-produced television special that keeps things moving and grooving. 

Berry’s widow, Themetta “Toddy” Suggs Berry, who was married to Berry for 68 years, is one of the highlights of the film as she provides an emotional anchor to her husband’s life from a young man to the music icon that changed music as we know it today. After touching on their initial meeting – forward and successful in a way that seems very unlikely these days – Themetta breaks down the differences between “Chuck Berry” and Charles Berry, the husband and father who was loved by his family. Berry never tried to hide his past from his wife, revealing what landed him in jail during his formative teenage years which is played off as a misunderstanding. His ascent to small-time success and eventually icon status pays due attention to the most obvious moments; his early hits are covered, the racial dynamics at play between his success and that of Elvis is explored, and even his influence on bands such as The Beatles is not given the short shrift. Moment by moment the puzzle is pieced together to really show why Berry is such an important part of music history. 

Notable musical luminaries such as E Street Band members Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren, along with George Thorogood, Nile Rodgers, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons and guitarist Joe Bonamassa deliver entertaining, if not exactly groundbreaking, insight into his talent. The better moments are when they reveal a personal connection or insight into his songwriting prowess. It is as we get further into Berry’s career where we see the film clam up a bit as it nears the allegations of setting up a camera in a women’s restroom or the raid that was conducted in 1990 on his home. While not ignored, you cannot help but feel the facts are completely whitewashed and toned down significantly to ensure the participation of the Berry family in the creation of the film as a whole. With the uncertainty over truth in this respect, it makes accepting the various other facts presented in the film a tiny bit more difficult. 

The other notable downfall of this film is the inclusion of stylized reenactments that do nothing to enhance the film and distracts from the information being relayed by the subjects. This is a very indulgent practice that may seem like a good idea to the creative team but makes the film feel cheap. It may feel a bit like cheating that Brewer includes scenes from Taylor Hackford’s landmark 1987 documentary Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll alongside his new footage, but when you have footage of Berry sparring with Keith Richards then you cannot blame him for wanting to use it. Overall, Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll offers an easy-going look at one of the rock ‘n’ roll gods, but the biased nature of the production prevents it from joining the pantheon of music explorations. 

Video Quality

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll comes to Blu-Ray featuring a lot of different material in varying degrees of quality. It can be said with certainty that the movie itself and everything within it looks as technically excellent as it can look in high definition. This can be attributed to the fact that MVD Entertainment has delivered a great encode and given the film plenty of room to breathe. This company has been so great in this respect, and it is always appreciated. The archival tape footage used seems to be in the best shape possible given the quality of the source material. New interview segments look incredibly sleek and clear with natural skin tones and detailed facial features. The colors featured in the film, especially those exaggerated colors in the reenactments, pop off the screen with an immense vibrancy. There is no evidence of compression artifacts or other digital nuisances of the sort. I do not see how this could have been improved visually.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a LPCM 2.0 track that perfectly suits the source material, but is understandably restrained. As this primarily acts as an interview showcase with talking heads abound, dialogue is the focus right up front in the center channel. The archival clips do not feature much in the way of age-related wear, thankfully. Since this is a film focused on music, the sound quality of the songs themselves is pristine and fills the room in a powerful way. The two-channel presentation is enveloping in its own way, and it maintains the artistic choice of the feature. For that reason, this is a very worthwhile audio track.

Special Features

• Extended Interviews: This extra time with these figures offer moments that are occasionally even better than the actual documentary, especially the time spent with Alice Cooper. Well worth checking out if you are a fan of these figures. 

• • Alice Cooper (17:57)

• • Charles Berry Jr. (6:33)

• • Gene Simmons (5:09)

• • George Thorogood (4:30)

• • Ingrid Berry (10:04)

• • Jimmy Marsala (4:29)

• • Joe Bonamassa (7:29)

• • Joe Perry (8:14)

• • Nile Rogers (5:25)

• • Nils Lofgren (13:26)

• • Steve Van Zandt (6:05)

• • Johnny Rivers (4:14)

Final Thoughts

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll is a pleasant documentary that takes the path of least resistance instead of posing the tough questions. For some it will be enough to get a surface-level overview of the artist with personal insights from his family, while others may feel it is an incomplete look at a complicated man. Whichever side of the issue you fall on, Jon Brewer offers up a film with occasionally unwise stylistic decisions that keep it from being a pinnacle of the genre. MVD Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a nice assortment of additional interviews. Fans of Chuck Berry will want to take a look even if it is far from the last word on the artist that you will ever need. 

Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘N’ Roll  is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: MVD Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

Dillon Gonzales

Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.