Bob Marley just wanted everyone to live together in peace.   His music had a profound effect on millions as his songs told stories while some of them even advocated for social and political change.   He had a brief life of 36 years, but his legacy lives on and the documentary MARLEY is helping to keep that legacy alive in addition to the music that still has an impact on people today.  Before I saw MARLEY, I didn’t know much about him except for little things I heard and by listening to his greatest hits CD.   This documentary is so vital in telling his story while keeping the legend about the man and his music.   It is easy to say it is one of the best films I have seen this year.

The film traces Bob Marley’s life and how his music affected people including those who tried to influence him for their own goals (one example is the peace concert on the eve of an election in Jamaica).  You see rarely seen footage, never before seen footage, and interviews with the various people who knew and worked with Marley.   It is sad that Bob Marley sadly played around with the interviewers too much and not many good interviews exist of him due to Bob messing with them, but they do use some of the audio tapes from the Rolling Stone interview in the documentary.  It was surprising to see the Wailers as a teen boy group before they developed their better known reggae sound.   MARLEY is a good way to find out about the man, the music, and his enduring legend.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The audio commentary (for the documentary) with director Kevin Macdonald and David “Ziggy” Marley (one of Bob Marley’s sons) reveals more info about Bob, the people interviewed for the documentary, and more including how they came across the concert footage for the opening.

AROUND THE WORLD shows how Bob Marley’s music still has an impact on fans today.

The extended interview with Bunny Wailer shows that he is quite a character in addition to telling about the connection he and Bob had family-wise.

Also on the disc are 10 minutes of additional interviews with three of Bob’s kids (David “Ziggy” Marley, Stephen Marley, and Cedella Marley) as they recall some of their childhood memories about their Dad, but the theories on how Ziggy got his name is the best part.

LISTENING TO “I’M LOOSE” has a couple of the interviewees (including Cedella) respond to a rarely heard track of Bob Marley’s that was recorded late in his life.

Also on the disc is the theatrical trailer, a photo gallery where the pictures are too small, and ads for Jamaica (travel ad) and Ziggy Marley’s Legends of Reggae show on Sirius XM.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  MARLEY is one of the best documentaries I have seen that covers the influence and life of a man and his music.   Bob Marley was gone too soon and the documentary (approved by his family) is a good testament to his legend that continues to live 30 years after Bob’s death.   I wish they had more extras than what was featured, but it can be forgiven for the awesome two and a half hour film.

This DVD review is (c)8-3-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com