A film of Queen's July 27, 1986 gig at Budapest’s Népstadion, the first Western stadium rock show to take place behind the Iron Curtain, is to be screened in cinemas worldwide.
The 40th anniversary screenings of Queen Budapest, to take place on October 7, will deliver the most immersive presentation of the performance to date, with the film having been meticulously restored in 4K from the original 35mm footage by Sir Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand. The upgraded footage also features newly remixed audio from the original multitrack recordings.
The film is of major significance to Queen fans as it represents the last filmed live performance of the band with Freddie Mercury, showing the quartet at the height of their powers as a live act. Documenting the band's acclaimed Magic Tour, it find Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taytlor performing hits such as We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, A Kind Of Magic, Under Pressure, Who Wants To Live Forever, and Bohemian Rhapsody, plus an acoustic arrangement of the traditional Hungarian folk song Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt.
The deeper meaning of the gig was also not lost on the four men on stage.
"For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes," recalls Brian May. "It was a forbidden thing to listen to rock bands like us, so to see them play in a live show would have been unthinkable. This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person and interact with us, was a huge emotional moment for them and also for us.
"It felt like a very big deal – you could feel that incredible energy. There will never be an event quite like that again. Perhaps the most memorable highlight of all was performing that beautiful Hungarian folk song, which Freddie and I had learned for the occasion. Not a dry eye!"
"When the audience just started singing, we realised, Wow, music really can be a great cause," Roger Taylor remembers. "We did love to think that the music could transcend the politics, the political barriers, and that was sort of part of our ethos, to actually bring the audience into the show and make them feel part of the show.."
“Peter Jackson’s team have done a magnificent job of restoring the original film footage, at the highest resolution ever," adds May. "It's pristine and the quality is breathtaking. I think you’re going to love it. For the sound, we’ve been able to do some top quality restoration work as well. Now, in IMAX and movie theatres, it’s going to be definitively the most real experience ever of us, Queen, in our glory days. I think people will get lost in it and even forget they're watching a film."
As long time fans of Queen we were thrilled when they asked Park Road Post to restore the Budapest Concert footage," Peter Jackson comments. "It has been a rare privilege to breathe new life into such an iconic moment in music history. We look forward to a whole new audience participating in the original band’s final live performance, captured on film. They will rock you!"
Watch the performance of Radio Gaga below.
The 4K restoration of Queen Budapest will have its world premiere at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon on September 15, hosted by the National Film Institute of Hungary, as part of the festival’s program celebrating restored and rediscovered cinema. A UK premiere will take place in London on September 30, with further details to follow.
Queen Budapest will be accompanied by a multi-format package via Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music, internationally and Hollywood Records in the U.S. and Canada on October 30. The soundtrack, newly remixed from the original multitrack by Queen’s studio team, will be released alongside the Blu-Ray, DVD, CD & Digital editions as a 3LP vinyl set for the very first time. It can be pre-ordered now.
