The powerful story of the most iconic heavy metal/art collective/monster band in the universe, as told by the humans who have fought to keep it alive for over thirty years. The feature documentary includes interviews with members of GWAR, both past and present, as well as other artists including Weird Al Yankovic, Thomas Lennnon, Alex Winter, Bam Margera, and Ethan Embry, also including never before seen footage of legendary GWAR frontman Dave Brockie.

For thoughts on This Is GWAR, please check out my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its Fantastic Fest debut here.

Video Quality

This Is GWAR comes to Blu-Ray from RLJE Entertainment with a delightful high definition master that suits the film pretty much perfectly. As is typical with music-based documentaries, the feature showcases different types of material in varying degrees of quality depending on the source. The newer interview segments and candid footage looks crisp and clear with natural skin tones and some detailed facial features. With this crew we have a lot of facial hair and weathered t-shirts which appear quite detailed in HD. You also have the costumes, makeup and the water hose of blood which provides some gnarly texture which shows up well.

The archival footage used seems to be in the best shape possible given the variable quality of the source material. This includes amateur candid material and other vintage clips shot from this time period. The colors featured in the footage have a nice saturation which is presented well. The transfer does not fall victim to any compression artifacts, banding or digital nuisances of the sort. RLJE Entertainment has delivered a quality presentation that should please anyone who checks this out.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio that works pretty well with the source material, although a full surround sound track would be great to provide the immersive quality you want from these tunes. Interviews and other conversations dominate the runtime with a steady stream of interesting anecdotes and insights which are rendered clearly. The sound quality of the songs never falters, but as mentioned before the lack of a surround track cannot quite recreate the feeling of the actual concerts. Archival clips are stable without much in the way of age-related wear outside the odd moment here or there. You may want a bit more force from this presentation, but overall it holds up well in coordination with the source. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: GWAR members Bob Gorman and Mike Derks provide an insightful commentary track in which they mostly give context to the footage on screen, who the subjects are, their history with GWAR and the rock scene at large, and more while also weaving in some colorful anecdotes.

Behind The Scenes Of A GWAR Show: A four-minute piece in which you get a broad overview of the hours and hours it takes for the crew to get everything in place for your typical GWAR show.

GWAR On Empire Records: A five-minute piece in which actor Ethan Embry tells an amusing story about his experiences with GWAR through Empire Records.

The Legend Of GWAR: A three-minute conversation with a handful of different people in which they come together to piece together the mythology of GWAR.

Last Interview with Dave Brockie: An 11-minute virtual interview with Brockie for a potential show that was going to be made about GWAR that was never able to materialize. This is a really valuable addition for fans to see this legend for the last time with continued passion for the music and the fans.

GWAR From The Outside: A nine-minute series of interviews in which the subjects offer their thoughts on the internal community of GWAR and the rare space they occupy in the music scene.

Four Pillars Of GWAR: A six-minute piece on the rough-and-tumble living conditions in the early days of the band.

Slave Pit Walk Through With Michael Bishop: A nearly 29-minute tour of GWAR’s work space where pretty much every aspect of band’s development is produced.

A Message From The Scumdogs Of The Universe: A two-minute message to the consumers of this bit of physical media from the REAL members of GWAR who intend to set the record straight that this documentary is a bunch of lies.

Final Thoughts

This Is GWAR is a really fun and insightful documentary that clearly shows what exactly makes this spectacle-driven band such an enduring presence in the heavy metal scene. Director Scott Barber does an excellent job of featuring a wide range of new interviews with band members and famous fans with archival footage that helps flesh out the lore a bit further. While more dedicated fans may be able to point out angles that could have been fleshed out more, this documentary provides a pretty entertaining overview that plays well for fans of the genre and interested newcomers alike. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a vast array of special features. If you are a music documentary fan, don’t skip this one. Recommended

This Is GWAR is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.

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

Disclaimer: RLJE 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.