Review of Great Balls Of Fire

Introduction

Great Balls of Fire tells the story of legendary musician Jerry Lee Lewis, played by Dennis Quaid and starring Winona Ryder as his young cousin (and teenage bride to be).

Jerry Lee Lewis became a star with his controversial hit "Whole Lotta Shakin` Goin` On", released in 1957, a song that combined his ferocious piano playing with suggestive lyrics that at the time appalled many Americans. Lewis followed Shakin` with the classic "Great Balls of Fire", an all-time great rock n` roll tune, but he then hit the self-destruct button, marrying his 13 year old cousin, a move which caused outrage and saw him cast out into the wilderness by record companies, radio stations and the public. Lewis was undeterred and kept going, which paid off in the late 1960s when he once again became a successful artist recording a number of hit songs. Lewis has continued to perform ever since, with a vast catalogue of available.

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and is of above average quality, with vibrant colours and a reasonably sharp image. There is limited grain on the print and the occasional spec of dirt. The image is steady and has excellent contrast.

The visuals themselves look very authentic, with costumes, vehicles, props locations and sets looking very believable. Of particular note are the haircuts!

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, which really is a shame because a movie that features this much music really deserved a high quality Dolby Digital 5.1 remix to really shine.

As it stands, the sound is pretty good, with the music well reproduced and making the best of the sound format. The vocals and dialogue are very clear, and sound effects are effectively delivered.

Features

As usual with MGM back catalogue releases, the only extra on offer is the trailer, accessed through fairly uninteresting static menus.

Conclusion

Great Balls of Fire does a good job of telling the story of rock and roll wildman Jerry Lee Lewis, and the difficulties he faced in the 1950s with music that really was ahead of its time. Dennis Quaid is superb as Lewis in this film, putting an amazing amount of energy into his performance and delivering a very believable character. There are also excellent supporting performances from Alec Baldwin and a young Winona Ryder.

One of the highlights of the film is the excellent music, which was re-recorded for the movie by the great man himself, with Dennis Quaid lip-synching during the performances, although apparently playing the piano himself (and doing a very good job of it).

The video and sound are both good, but the lack of extras when so much documentary footage must be available is disappointing. For example, I would have liked to see to real footage of Lewis performing in the 1950s to compare with the recreations in the movie.

One of the better rock-star biopics and well worth watching.