This past September 15, 2004, THE RAMONES co-founder and lead guitarist Johnny Ramon died after a long time battle with prostate cancer. Johnny Ramone, whose real name was Johnny Cummings, co-founded THE RAMONES in 1974 along with fellow bandmates Joey Ramone (vocals), DeeDee Ramone (bass), and Marky Ramone (drums)--the only remaining member of the original band. The RAMONES, gained critical acclaim and a huge following in New York’s underground music scene at the time performing in clubs such as CBGB’s, is widely credited for bringing the "punk rock" genre to the forefront. THE RAMONES were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. The passing of Johnny Ramone coincides with the release of the band’s first official DVD release, THE RAMONES: RAW, distributed through Image Entertainment by the remaining members of THE RAMONES extended family and friends. And I have to say that there has been no other DVD releases until 2004, so let me add that this is a long overdue project.

Pinioned between THE RAMONES RAW main feature are some uncut clips of the following RAMONES classics, taped at various international locations over the years including:

• Blitzkrieg Bop

• Teenage Lobotomy

• Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World

• Rockaway Beach

• Cretin Hop

• I Don’t Want You

• Judy is a Punk

• I Can’t Make It on Time

• Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?

• Rock N Roll High School

• Pinhead

• Takes It As It Comes

• She’s the One

• Sheena Is a Punk Rocker

Notes: Take It As It Comes is a DOORS song, covered by THE RAMONES who are joined onstage by Robby Krieger! This is a bootleg performance is captured on a bootleg video tape so quality is shaky at best. Cretin Hop is from a sound check performance from a 1980 concert in Rome, where the band plays in broad daylight in front of a sprawling castle in the background, with barely anyone in attendance. The bulk of the clips on here are night time clips taken from the same show in Rome.

THE RAMONES: RAW is basically a video pastiche on the career of the influential punk rock legends. There is a slickly-edited main feature on here running nearly two hours that celebrates the band’s 20 year history. This documentary alternates between live concert footage, behind-the-scenes handheld camera sequences of the bands backstage antics, and on-the-road diary all in one feature. Then the disc contains an extensive Special Features section which contains more TV appearances, concert footage, outtakes, etc. that amounts to nearly three more hours of nirvana for Ramones fans. As a standalone feature, THE RAMONES: RAW is all over the place. There is no real beginning or end to the narrative. The concert performances, the backstage footage, and the road diary are presented in the same patchwork manner. And much like THE RAMONES music, its fast moving and entertaining and the band’s humor shows right through (such as the inclusion of the NIGHT OF THE LIVIND DEAD music over a horde of fans charging the band). THE RAMONES: RAW also gives a glimpse behind the boys personalities, including who the funniest one is, who the quietest one is, and who the real partiers are. One thing I noticed is that some of band members from various line-ups are not evened mentioned, such, there is not even a word about Richie. I find it odd the guy performed on three albums and he doesn’t even qualify as a benchmark nor is seen in any of the older live footage. Tommy Ramone is not mentioned a whole lot either.

THE RAMONES: RAW is presented in the 1.33.1 full frame format. The musical performances, back-stage footage, and road diary all vary in quality according to the age of the source elements—some earlier concert clips are obviously film, but the bulk of the material viewed here is from a VHS camera quality. The DVD transfer is generally satisfying and colorful, but does reveal the limitations of the source material. The older footage can appear a bit washed out and faded. Sadly, Image Entertainment presents the disc in Dolby Digital Stereo mix only. Image usually goes all out by incorporating DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks on all their music DVDS, but did not do so here. I can only surmise the single disc THE RAMONES:RAW contains so much material there was no room for a 5.1 sound mix. The soundtrack here is crisp and clear, but lacks the power, depth, and sound field utilization that a DTS or DD 5.1 would provide to THE RAMONES music. Like the video portion, the source materials are dated and are not evenly presented. The soundtrack should have been engineered better so as to at least give each clip a matching tones and volumes. From the Bonus Features menu, you’ll can select from the Audio Commentary by Johnny Ramone, Marky Ramone, and DVD Director John Cafiero. There is also another 30 full length concert film from a Spanish concert show called I RAMONES. There is another menu called TV Appearances that contains the following RAMONES television appearances.:

• Eddie Vedder inaugurates THE RAMONES into the Rock & Roll Hall of Home, 2002.

• THE RAMONES appear on THE SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST SHOW.

• THE RAMONES do sketch comedy on THE HOWARD STERN SUMMER SHOW.

• THE RAMONES appear on the awful UNCLE FLOYD SHOW and perform 2 songs: I Just Want to Have Something to Do and Do You Want To Dance.

• MTV 120 Minutes interviews Joey Ramone on the break up of THE RAMONES.

• THE RAMONES exhibits their comedy skills with Gilbert Godfried on USA UP ALL NIGHT
  

The remaining two hours of outtakes are boring, leftover behind the scenes handheld camera footage from the main feature, that absolutely ad nothing to the value of THE RAMONES: RAW.

THE RAMONES: RAW is an entertaining look at the background and song catalog of these New York Punk Rock greats. The DVD contains over four hours of RAMONES-related material guaranteed to please not only the hard-core fans but the casual ones too. If the disc has any weaknesses whatsoever, it is the complete lack a 5.1 sound option. I know they packed the DVD with so much material that there is no room for one, but if Image made this a two disc affair, then there would be plenty of room such an important addition. Or they could have removed some unnecessary things (like the nearly 2 hours of useless deleted scenes) to make room for a Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 soundtrack.

 RAMONES: RAW is available from DVDEmpire.com