Woodstock (1970)

The three-day Woodstock music festival in 1969 was the pivotal event of the 1960s peace movement, and this landmark concert film is the definitive record of that milestone of rock & roll history. It's more than a chronicle of the hippie movement, however; this is a film of genuine historical and social importance, capturing the spirit of America in transition, when the Vietnam War was at its peak and antiwar protest was fully expressed through the liberating music of the time. With a brilliant crew at his disposal (including a young editor named Martin Scorsese), director Michael Wadleigh worked with over 300 hours of footage to create his original 225-minute director's cut, which was cut by 40 minutes for the film's release in 1970. Eight previously edited segments were restored in 1994, and the original director's cut of Woodstock is now the version most commonly available on videotape and DVD.

The film deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and it's still a stunning achievement. Abundant footage taken among the massive crowd ("half a million strong") expresses the human heart of the event, from skinny-dipping hippies to accidental overdoses, to unpredictable weather, midconcert childbirth, and the thoughtful (or just plain rambling) reflections of the festive participants. Then, of course, there is the music--a nonstop parade of rock & roll from the greatest performers of the period, including Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Canned Heat, The Who, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Sly & The Family Stone, Santana, and many more. Watching this ambitious film, as the saying goes, is the next best thing to being there--it's a time-travel journey to that once-in-a-lifetime event. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

Woodstock - 3 days of Peace & Music

Perhaps we need this mind-set of Peace
in today's society (without the dope smoking).
There has to be a better solution to keep this
Country safe (other than WAR)! November 20, 2008

Tickling My Inner Flower Child

Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music was far from the straightforward Discovery Channel-type documentary that I imagined. There was none of the typical narrative, offsite interviews of resource persons, or anything post-event.

This film was made at the very heart of the festival, making the 3 or so hours of footage feel indeed like 3 days, as it spanned across all sub-plots of the event. There were closeup shots of the musical performances down to the foot-tapping, the literally dirty fingers tuning the guitars, and hands wildly beating on the bongo drums. There were casual interviews with the young organizers at work, the bewildered (some annoyed) locals, the toilet cleaner who took great pride in making the portalets "pleasanter" for the kids, and all kinds of hippies, some even offering the film crew smokage.

The film likewise captures the ironies - hundreds of thousands of stoned young people and not one violent incident, a financial disaster becoming a landmark event of the century, a film that nobody else wanted to do that saved a flailing film company, and a sense of unity in the backdrop of social unrest. And for these, it became so much more than the ultimate concert film. The rawness of it all combined with excellent editing gave the audience the surreal experience of what it would have been like to participate in those 3 days of peace, love and rock and roll. And it makes you wonder, as I did - had I lived in America in the late 60s, would I have gone to Woodstock? September 30, 2008

MUSIC, PEACE AND... MUD

I'm a nostalgic semi-old rocker who would have love to be there during that era. So that movie is kind of a must for me, since I have a quite extensive collection of rock concert videos. Like everyone, I saw that movie in somekind of form, on TV or during nostalgia trips at Much Music (Canada's MTV). This version of Woodstock -the movie differs from the one we all saw in a few ways: First, and I quite can't explaine why, It does not follow the chronological order of the festival. Exemple: Richie Haven's performance, which opened the festival, is in the middle of the second DVD. Same for Country Joe McDonald... Also, it is hard to know exactly what happened. Did it rain once? Twice? But, apart from those historical questions, there is also a few benefits: The audio is far better than the cheesy and thin sound that we all remember from the original movie. Everything sound clear and true, with some kind of treatment that give almost the impression of "being there"...some kind of reverb and stereo spatialization. Ther is also bonus performance; 2 form Jefferson's Airplane, one from Country Joe McDonald and the Fish, and one from Jimi Hendrix that include a great unaccompanied guitar jam...
Anather point: I'm not crazy about the double-faced DVD. Mine arrived loose in its box, and was quite scratched. Still works though. Last: One can't watch those scenes about hippies and the "peance and love" generation and it's confrontation with the "straight" word without a smile and somekind of amazement...

Pierre
September 30, 2008

What a time

I have enjoyed watching this movie several times I had just missed going to the festival so this is almost as good. Just not as much mud or excitement I think I would have been very tired after three days of peace and music not to mention all the dope you could have taken. But I enjoyed the movie and anyone that likes the sixty's would enjoy it and some of the young people might learn some stuff. September 23, 2008

To young to know what it was about

I am only 26 years old and i don't know what it was but woodstock caught my interest. I know that i would never expierence something like that so i thought if i watch this movie i might get a better idea how it was back then. I really enjoyed this movie and for the 4 hours of the movie i felt like i was there(with my surround sound). I did get a great feel what it was all about. September 22, 2008

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