Bohemian Rhapsody Blu-ray Review: A Moving Portrait of a Band and a Man Who Became Music Royalty

Bohemian Rhapsody follows the formation of Queen from their early days as a band called “Smile” who hires Freddie Mercury after losing their lead singer through the band’s heyday and ends with their legendary Live Aid performance. And while the film tries to cover over two decades of events in a short amount of time, this film is also about Mercury’s life and his struggle to live in his true identity.

The film is nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor. While I don’t think that Bohemian Rhapsody will take best picture, Rami Malek definitely deserves his nomination and the win. His performance as Freddie Mercury is astounding and truly convincing. While Malek’s talented acting is at the heart of this performance, becoming Freddie Mercury took a lot more than just acting. He needed to sound, move, and dress like Freddie Mercury. Instead of choosing to work with a choreographer, Malek hired movement coach, Polly Bennett, to help him achieve the mannerisms and stage movements of Mercury. Combined with the stunning costume design of Julian Day and the subtle yet effective make-up to transform him even more, Malek becomes Mercury in this stand-out performance.

The film as a whole is a good watch, though in trying to cover so much history over just over two hours, it is obvious certain moments had to be sacrificed and other moments had to be left out completely. But what does emerge is the portrait of an influential band and their dynamic lead singer whose legacies are still influencing listeners today. A group of four artists whose talent and collaboration shine through in the music of Queen both on and off the screen. But outside of the story of Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody also captures the struggle of a gay man living in a time before acceptance whose life was cut short by the AIDS epidemic.

Besides the feature film, the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack includes: the complete Live Aid movie performance that was not seen in theaters, “Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie,” “The Look and Sound of Queen” and “Recreating Live Aid.”

Bohemian Rhapsody is rated PG-13 and has a runtime of 135 minutes. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack is out now from 20th Century Fox.