Rating: 
Summary: 180,000 people, plus or minus
Review: A typo that slipped past a copywriter on the back of the "Outtakes" CD in this collection has already been repeated by a reviewer here; so it can stand correction. 20,000 people more or less attended Monterey Pop over the three days of the festival, not 200,000 people. The fortunate people who attended this event sat, by modern standards, in a very small venue.
Rating:
Summary: Great Experience of a Pivotal event (shame about outtakes)
Review: The original Monterey Pop movie was a long time favourite in the UK across 1970s and 1980s at late night cinema shows and so it was interesting to see the whole shooting match repackaged with a lot of extras, for someone who clearly only was aware of the event retrospectively from the other side of the Atlantic.The quality both picture and sound transfer given when the original movie recording was made in 1967 are excellent. The original movie (Disc 1)is still a great record of an event which now visually looks even more like a very middle class event in a large classical/jazz concert setting - the contrast in amenities with the Woodstock concert a few years later show how much things quickly changed (plus my own memory of similar UK outdoor concerts!). Also the sheer range of talent on display with many west Coast groups getting their first taste of early stardom underlines what a pivotal event Monterey was before stadium and arena rock took their toll in later decades. The key reason for this box set being outstanding is definitely Disc 2 with the full Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix sets in their entirety showing in abundance why they were such charismatic performers and people who saw them before their untimely deaths have such fond memories. The third disc of Outtakes while having a perverse attraction given the sheer range of artistes represented, and with some unexpected pleasures (notably Association, Big Brother, Buffalo Springfield,and Quicksilver) which leave you beging for more from these and others who appeared and are not represented here (notably Grateful Dead and Steve Miller Band for me), sadly has too much dross (notably Blues Project, Al Kooper and Tiny Tim)and the Byrds and the Mamas and Papas reconfirming what the CDs of Monterey indicated which is these were sub-standard live performers against their peer group at that time. Sad postscript for me is Cream's management turning down the invite for them to appear at the Festival - one of those great "what if's" comparable with the Jeff Beck Group not appearing at Woodstock I fear.
Rating:
Summary: Essential but not complete. Where's Janis?
Review: I begrudgingly give this DVD boxed set five stars because this is a fantastic, albeit incomplete, document of the most important rock event in history. Everyone who considers themselves to be a rock fan should own this set. Having said that, the filmmaker's idea of "complete" is questionable in terms of the long-awaited outtakes disc, especially when you consider that he devoted five, count 'em five, outtake songs to Tiny Tim, and only one (??!!!) to Janis Joplin, who was considered "the star" of the festival as stated by Mama Cass in her commentary included in the package. (Not to mention Big Brother guitarist James Gurley, who received equal praise at Monterey as did Janis.) This sad state of affairs is beyond explanation. Why wasn't Big Brother and the Holding Company accorded their entire set instead of one token song, which is "Combination of the Two?" There is very little footage of the singer that exists at all, anywhere. Knowing that there is an entire set of her landmark performance stored somewhere in a vault is maddening. The Grateful Dead are also missing in action. Sadly, the liner notes in the package proclaim them to be one of the outstanding acts of the festival. Even if there was scant little footage captured, it could have been included. I'd much rather watch them than suffer through five ditties of Tiny Tim in the green room. Despite the peace and love vibe, you can imagine yourself if you were there, slapping him upside the head for being an annoying idiot. Laura Nyro, who supposedly bombed at Monterey, is given two outtake songs, but it's interesting to discover that she was quite captivating. (The festival review included in the booklet states that Nyro and the Byrds were the low point, which again makes one wonder why the filmmaker chose to highlight three Byrds songs on the outtakes disc, rather than BBHC/Janis.) The Mamas and the Papas are bestowed with their entire set on the outtakes disc; no surprise since they were the ones who founded the festival. In the commentary by John Phillips, he states his group turned in the worst performance of the festival. Not true; they were excellent, as highlighted on this disc. Hats off to the Association, who proved that they were a progressive, musical force to be reckoned with. I would have reveled in being able to witness more than just one Association song ("Along Came Mary") in lieu of five, I must repeat, five pathetic Tiny Tim songs. URRGGGGH. And if you also own the Monterey Pop complete CD boxed set, you will know that the Electric Flag was introduced as the greatest band in the world, considered a top act at the time. Give me five of their songs featuring the great Michael Bloomfield instead of five of Tiny Tim's, pleeze. I hate to keep being a cranky head, but another incredibly annoying addition is the "expert" commentary about the Jimi Hendrix performance. This guy, with his pedestrian music reviewers' pomposity, sets forth the lamest comments imaginable. (Such as: "And I might add that you have to be very confident in your masculinity to wear a pink feather boa.." or "nice flairs, Jimi." etc.. GROAN.) Well, don't let my grumblings keep you from purchasing this set. You'll find yourself wondering why more wasn't included too, but the complete Jimi and Otis performances are worth the entire price, plus you have the original film, which was incredible, and some great, if incomplete outtakes, and tons of info and features to sink your teeth into. Plus the fantastic, candid shots of the many hip and beautiful people in attendance. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Far beyond my expectations
Review: I bought this mostly as a pop culture document: jimi going nuts during wild thing, footage of flower power--but what i got was so much more. Smoldering sound. I have DTS and this sounded unbelievable. Very pleased. The outtakes disc is a pleasure as well. Ravi Shankar's performance was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and to a previous "reviewer": no, Pennebaker doesn't utilize "his" technique later used in Woodstock. To my knowledge he never placed multiple images on the screen as he had nothing to do with Woodstock (other than influence those filmmakers). Yes, too bad about the Dead playing beyond the limitations of the camera crew and thus winding up on the cutting room floor. They still could have added the existant 10 minutes of footage as a suppliment, even if it ends abruptly.
Rating: 
Summary: The video quality is nothing to worry about!
Review: I was worried spending this much money on a set that more than one person complained about video quality. I am here to say there is nothing to worry about. The actual film's disc looks and sounds great, as do the Jimi and Otis disc. People seemed to have the problem with the bonus disc. Yes, there was one camera angle that has big black hairs in it. That only shows up durring two acts, and for a total screen time of maybe 5 minutes. Otherwise, the picture quality is fine, actually much better overall than the new McCartney "Back in the US" DVD is. I almost didn't buy this based on those other reviews, because I am usually quite critical of product quality, and usually end up agreeing with negative reviews. Boy, am I glad I took the chance on this one anyway. There are some great surprises in this box, like wonderful performances from people I wasn't familiar with, and terrible performances from people I thought would be great. The Byrds doing "Hey Joe" was so amazingly bad it made me laugh. Any garage band could have done a better job on that, but it's not the DVD's fault. There are many hours of enjoyment in this set and they did a good job putting it all together. There is a lot of information available here too, both in the dialog tracks and the very nice book included. I am very glad I bought it, and am betting you will be too.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the DEAD!
Review: Too good to be true but where is the dead. I would have love to see JERRY even if the performance was cut.
WOW WE
I now understand the JIMMY experience. Thank you
Rating:
Summary: Why can't Amazon.com provide decent information?
Review: When I am about to spend $... on a DVD, you would think I could find out if it is wide screen or full screen. You would think I could see a list of the songs on the DVD's. And I would hope someone in the reviews would say if Pennebaker uses his irritating technique that drove me nuts on his Woodstock movie, and that is putting 2,3 or 4 pictures on the screen at one time. I do not want to watch tennis(one picture to another and back again)...I want to watch a concert. I give it 5 stars, but I have not bought it yet, but I was there and it was worth 10 stars easily in person, and I would love a couple answers to these questions. Peace
Rating:
Summary: who we were
Review: buy this dvd. put the outakes in the player. turn it up,find your good chair, indulge or wish you could, push play, and remember who we were.
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Stop Watching It
Review: This is a wonderful DVD set - and I've played it over & over since getting it. There are some tracks I do skip past sometimes, but on the whole this set is so deep and rich it is incredible. Having so much of the Who set on the "outtakes" disc is really good; though it would be even better to be able to seamlessly go from "A Quick One" to "My Generation". I never got to see The Who play live, but I did see the Airplane numerous times. The three songs represent them well and it is fantastic to 'time-travel' back; only complaint - I want more! Not enough people have seen Michael Bloomfield play and at least we get one track here. Or Larry Taylor playing bass (Canned Heat) - he is SO into it! Reminds me - how do you describe Jack Cassady without something like this? I first saw Hendrix about a year after this was filmed; I found this performance to be astonishing but not as overwhelming as that 1968 experience (ooh!). I could go on and on!
Rating:
Summary: Complete? Nope. Essential? Yep.
Review: This collection was given to me as a gift from my wife this past Christmas. I was familiar with much of the material on this boxed set (except for the Out-takes disc and the full Otis Redding performance), and I was impressed with the digital transfer and sonic enhancements. A young co-worker of mine has a rock festival memory that spans all the way back to Live-Aid(!), and he was eager to view this DVD set. He couldn't believe it! Imagine ' a bunch of well-scrubbed Bay Area kids back in 1967 went home to their breakfast tables on Monday and said, 'Hey! Guess what I did this weekend?' Contrast that to Woodstock two years later, which wasn't really that groovy a place to be, judging from the New York Thruway, the weather, the lack of food, the bad strain of brown acid in circulation, etc. Let's not even discuss Altamont, and especially not Woodstock '99. D. A. Pennebaker's film documents the music festival before it became corrupted by egos, money, television, damned fools and finally, corporate sponsorships. Monterey was the first of its kind and unfortunately, the last of its kind, which is why this film still has legs. Sure, there's a lot of quaint, silly stuff there, but it's very much of its time ('Dig yourselves, man, because it's groovy ' it's really groovy!'). The music, for the most part, still holds up. Despite the title, this is far from the 'complete' festival, but Pennebaker cops to that in his liner notes. There's a long list of artists who appeared at the festival and weren't filmed, and a few who were filmed but wouldn't cooperate with release of footage and/or soundtracks. In other words, it's as 'complete' as it could legally be. Disc Two, The Outtake Performances, contains acts and songs that weren't included in the original film (Disc One). Tiny Tim makes an appearance, as does Laura Nyro, with additional performances by Big Brother & The Holding Company, Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & The Papas, Jefferson Airplane and The Who, among others. The third and final disc contains the Jimi Hendrix Experience ' Jimi Plays Monterey, and Otis Redding ' Shake! This (almost) complete Hendrix performance has been available on VHS for years, but never quite like this. The new 5.1 surround mix is nothing short of spectacular ' you won't believe it's possible that only one man was playing a guitar. And be sure to check out Charles Shaar-Murray's voice-over commentary. The Who's guitarist, Pete Townsend, also includes an interview in which he reflects on the backstage tensions at Monterey between The Who and the Experience (who gets to destroy a guitar first?). While this account doesn't quite square with those he made earlier, Pete's got other problems now. Just as poignant as Hendrix' sudden and all-too-brief star turn is Otis Redding's set. Like Jimi, Redding toiled for years on the chitlin' circuit. He achieved a modicum of success. Just as Hendrix did, Redding won over the audience and broke through to mainstream success. Unfortunately, scant weeks after achieving stardom, Otis and most of his band died in a plane crash. Redding's powerful set at Monterey gives us a glimpse of what could have been. The Complete Monterey Pop Festival is far from complete, but it's absolutely essential viewing, and now might be a good time to spring for that surround system while you're at it.
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