“Rainbow Bridge” was one of a series of avant-garde/art-house movies with a rock soundtrack during the “Easy Rider” era. Here’s a quick look at some of those films, a mix of the indulgent and exploitive, the innovative and inspired:
“The Song Remains the Same” (1976): Late to the game, perhaps, but Led Zeppelin were not to be outdone in the self-indulgent concert-documentary sweepstakes. The performance footage was actually drawn from a 1973 stand at Madison Square Garden, but took three years to fashion into a film as the band tinkered with “fantasia” vignettes from each band member. Where else are you going to see Jimmy Page climb a mountaintop to meet a hooded wizard or Robert Plant wield a flaming sword? Golden gods? Perhaps. “Lord of the Rings” super fans? Undoubtedly.