Synopsis:

Think Shagadellica but without Austin Powers! The Ghost Goes Gear is a highly musical film surrounding the adventures of the Spencer Davis group, a British pop group of the mid 60's. Spencer Davis brings his group to his parent's manse in an attempt to save it from creditors. The "Ghost going Gear" is actually a ghost that inhabits the mansion. In an attempt to bring the ghost up to par musically, the band plays and sings throughout the whole of the picture. Along with several other British pop groups destined for not quite-success.

Audio:

The audio for the film is presented in a mono platform. Wholly unremarkable in it's presentation, the audio does a fair job in conveying the musical textures of the film. Not bad but not good, simply OK. A Director's Commentary is included with Spencer Davis and British Humorist Martin Lewis. Other than the host of Austin Powers mentions, the commentary revolves around the British musical scene of the 60's and the bands presented here that were supposed to skyrocket to stardom. Except for the information on the bands presented and the overall feel of the times in which this music was presented, the commentary was without any technical information or any other stuff that would have proved interesting. A few moments of anecdotal humor and explanations of British "isms" actually make the commentary momentarily interesting.

Video:

The quality of the film looks more like a 1st generation videotape than a digitally enhanced DVD. The images are soft and not very clearly defined. While there is no bleeding of colors, the imagery contained on the disc is fairly well presented. There was a degree of flecking and there were also some scratches but other than that, the images were adequately established. Additionally, the widescreen presentation is enhanced for 16x9 TV's.

Extras:

Talent bios and the commentary are the sole extras on the disc.

Overall:

Other than seeing and hearing a really young Steve Winwood perform, the film is abysmally boring and very, very dated. From the opening score-The G G G G Ghost (I'm not kidding they actually sing it just like that!) to the end of the film, I was just amazed at how far television has come in 30+ years! Part The Monkees, The Ghost Goes Gear is an amazingly bad look at the British pop scene post the Beatles. It bears saying that this is the first time that this film has ever been seen on these shores…and understandingly so. It was treated to a premiere for the release of the disc but other than that, no fan fare. It's campy, corny, sad and unfunny. However, if you are a fan of these groups, this is definitely your disc. Skip it