Video:

Seemingly shot in digital video (much like Spike Lee's Original Kings of Comedy), Fade to Black's anamorphic widescreen presentation can look soft at times. Shooting digitally in dark conditions often leads to a certain color bleed that hampers the picture's sharpness, and it is evident here. However, there are few transfer flaws visible in the DVD presentation; the picture looks very close to how it probably looked in the theater.

Audio:

For whatever reason, the Dolby 5.1 track was surprisingly under whelming. Most of the sound is kept up front, with only crowd noise piped into the back speakers. It's the difference between watching a good concert in front of you or feeling like you're at a good concert, with the music coming at you from all sides.

Extras:

From Mercy to Madison Square is a fairly interesting half-hour documentary describing all the background leading up to the show, the show itself, and a bit on the aftermath. It is put together well and ends up, because of its focus, being more informative than all the non-concert clips in the film combined.

The only clip of the film with any conflict or drama ended up on the cutting room floor. A deleted scene called "Mastering" shows a bit of the last tweaks to "The Black Album" – arguments about backing vocals, samples, etc. It's incredibly interesting, and would have been a great bit in the film.

The theatrical trailer and the music video for "Encore" are also included. Sadly missing are the other "The Black Album" videos, including the excellent clip for "99 Problems."

Final Thoughts:

Even with its flaws, Fade to Black is a must-own disc for all hip-hop fans. While it doesn't mark any new territory in the concert film category (mainly due to its lack of focus), it is still an enjoyable ride.