The Movie: This was the first time I'd ever seen this movie, and I know that a lot of people really loved this movie. Cami said that a lot of people even described some people as telling her it changed their lives. Well, it didn't change my life, or her life, it is still a pretty good movie.

It's loosely based on real life events from writer/director Cameron Crowe's life, as a young teenage kid going on tour with a big rock band, writing an article for Rolling Stone magazine. In the case of the movie, it's with a fictitious band, "Stillwater"... an up and coming band that is on the edge of making it really big, but who is still trying to work out the kinks between their own members. Meanwhile, this young, starry-eyed kid manages to keep it real throughout the whole experience of all the action, the booze, the drugs, the girls, and his overbearing, overprotective mother.

Like most good movies, love is a big factor in this film. Finding it, losing it, discovering what it really means, etc. etc. etc. building relationships, friendships, lovers, family, etc. etc. etc. And it's all put together in a way that makes it all very real. There were definitely some incredibly well constructed scenes in this movie, particularly the one in the plane, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Plenty of drama. Risk. All that.

So yeah. It didn't change my life, but Almost Famous is most definitely a worthwhile movie, and a wonderful piece of dramatic artwork. Characters of great depth, and an engaging plot filled with ordinary people in extraordinary situations... you can't go wrong. And all the location shots in and around San Diego were pretty darn cool to me too.

The DVD: This is the original DVD release of this movie that I'm reviewing, not the director's cut version that was released some time later.

Well, I guess I'll start with the video -- fantastic. Bold, clean, crisp picture, with just that little bit of film grain coming through to remind you that yes, you're watching a film, not a video. Virtually no compression artifacts, nothing really to complain about.

The DTS 5.1 surround audio was even more impressive, with a beautiful, open clarity that puts you right in the middle of all the excitement. And the music, a combination of classic rock songs that never sounded better and the new "Stillwater" music created just for the movie, just blew me away with a nice, punchy mix. For a movie with practically no special effects, this is one of the best sound mixes I've ever heard.

This disc isn't super heavy on the extras, however, since the high bitrate of the DTS audio track doesn't leave room for much else. While you do get a "making of" documentary and a fully produced anamorphic widescreen trailer, along with a "Stillwater" music video, everything else is text. You do get the text of some of Cameron Crowe's original Rolling Stone articles though, which is kind of a cool touch.

Overall, quite an impressive "movie-only" version DVD of excellent quality as far as the experience of the movie itself goes. But, if you're a really big fan of this movie, I'll have to recommend the "Bootleg Cut" 3 disc special edition version, which includes such things as director's commentary (which I'm sure would be pretty good on this movie), deleted scenes, and a special extended director's cut (along with the original theatrical release), among other stuff.