Dennis Miller - The Raw Feed - on DVD

Either Dennis Miller had an epiphany a couple of years back or we "misunderestimated" him in previous years.

Granted, we hadn't seen Miller a lot; we'd caught a couple of "Weekend Updates" from Saturday Night Live, but other than that our Miller was strictly "Miller light" via appearances on The Tonight Show. He'd always struck us as a typical Hollywood liberal, except that he was more cerebral than most.

But over the past couple of years, at least since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on US soil, one of us has changed. And we don't think it's us, since we were subscribers to the so-called "right" in our political leanings long before that and 9/11/01 and its aftermath merely reinforced our opinions.

Yet now Miller still seems cerebral, and more than a tad arrogant (as he did before), but now we also find him very funny. Go figure.

So now we have this HBO special, taped before a live audience in Chicago that at times doesn't seem to know if it should laugh or jeer. The audience angst seems most noticeable when Miller goes on a tear against left wing hypocrisy and stupidity, the sort of things we conservatives will find the funniest. Actually, watching the audience here trying to decide whether to laugh or cry is quite funny as well.

Anyway, this concert appearance was recorded just before the US-led attack on Saddam Hussein's regime, so while the general political tone is correct, it's more than a tad out of date now. Still, the humor is biting and right on and covers many more issues than the War on Terrorism; we look forward to seeing his follow up now that the war in Iraq has moved on to the point where US forces are now either mopping up or helping to rebuild.

Miller also aims his sights at other areas of leftist folly, such as bemoaning the US dependency on foreign oil while fighting increased production at home. He looks at technology, Catholicism, racial profiling, the increasingly ludicrous and hypocritical ACLU, and much more.

You may not agree with his viewpoint, though you should, but you gotta admire the man's turn of phrase.

The DVD is presented in the full frame 4:3 "traditional television" aspect ratio, unfortunately, and this is a shame given the state of the TV art these days. It also means that owners of 16x9 TV's will have to stretch and/or zoom the picture to fill their screens to avoid eventual burn in.

Audio is Dolby Digital surround and is unremarkable - but that's fine when the presentation amounts basically to one man standing on stage for an hour.

There are no extras.

Dennis Miller, the Raw Feed, from HBO Home Video
60 min. full frame (4:3, not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital surround
Starring Dennis Miller

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think