Rating: 
Summary: Some Give And Take Here
Review: This was a two day event that I attended back in '89, held on the football field at Cal State Dominguez College in California . It wasn't promoted very well, so it didn't do very
well as far as attendance. I remember they were filming the whole thing and have been waiting for this to come out. Here it is, and it's a mixed bag. I don't recall Timothy Leary being there, and even if he was, I don't think it warrants the producers of this DVD to put him on over the bands while they are playing. I wanted to see the bands performing. If they absolutely needed Leary to sell this, they should have put him before the band segments. There are some good performances here,
if you don't expect to see everyone young again. Not all of these bands were at Woodstock. Mark Farner will tell you that Grand Funk was not invited. Let me get what I consider the low points out of the way first. Iron Butterfly,Humble Pie,Spencer Davis all consisted of original members with a bunch of heavy metal looking people that looked like they came from the Troubador.It's A Beautiful Day was actually there,and turned in a great performance,but are not seen here. Mark Farner,Melanie,Country Joe McDonald,Canned Heat,Leon Russel & Edgar Winter,& Electric Flag were all good. The reason to buy this DVD is Blood Sweat & Tears!
Rating: 
Summary: As bad as it gets
Review: Absolute crap. You got Leary yammering on about whatever DURING many of the songs.
You got "It's a Beautiful Day" listed as one of the performers but you just get to hear one of their songs while watching footage of an Apollo mission.
You got some very old, very tired folks trying to play in front of a crowd of about four hundred people who just want to eat their sandwiches and leave.
I wasn't aware that Grand Funk Railroad or B S & T or Iron Butterfly were at the original Woodstock, but then, there's a lot I don't know. Like what ever posessed me to buy this bus wreck in the first place.
I thought it would be cool. It's not.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Days of Peace, Love and Dirty Underpants!
Review: Ah Yes, memories of Woodstock. Three days of peace, love and dirty underpants happened way back in 1969. The smell of stale undies was so bad on Yasgur's Farm that the crowd was asked to move on by the local constabulary. Well, it is 20 years later, they're back, and most of them still haven't changed their underpants. The reason why they don't walk as briskly as they did back in '69 isn't because they are 20 years older, it's because their underpants have stiffened. On Love's "Forever Changes" album Arthur Lee sang: "Oh the snot has caked against my pants, It has turned into crystal..." Well, in this case it isn't snot that has caked against their pants....and it smells worse than ever. But that didn't stop this from being a wonderful event, even in it's putrescence! Order your copy NOW!!
Rating:
Summary: What brainchild put THIS mess together?
Review: As soon as I loaded disc one and pushed play, I knew this release was a terrible joke. It should be called "The Timothy Leary Show". Who in the world would want spaced out Timothy Leary incoherently rambling on about God knows what on a dvd? If that wasn't bad enough he does it OVER many of the performances!!! Couple that with amaturistic video effects and superimposed images over the musicians as they play...ah nevermind. It's all been said before on here so it's redundant to continue.
This release will find itself in the bargin bin in no time. DO NOT BUY THIS no matter how cheap the price gets. I give it 1 star becuase it's not permitted to give any less.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Make The Same Mistake I Made!
Review: Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the performances. Vision was O.K. - I could even live the faux psychadelic effects, and the sound was good. Why oh why everytime there's an instrumental break do we have to put up with Timothy Leary crapping on about heaven knows what?? Surely with the high tech wizardery available to DVD producers these days we could at least have the option of switching Leary off. The DVD went back on the shelf and will stay there. US$20+ down the toilet. Save your money, don't make the same mistake I made.
Rating:
Summary: close the book
Review: First and formost, I love so much of the culture that came out of the 60s.
Ok, thats out of the way. Now, I realise that this was don in 89, and that is when I first saw the original documentry of 69, and it blew my mind (14 years old). I also realise that this was done before the Woodstock 99 Pepsi load of crap. '89s intentions were obviously a lot more sincere that the '99 Woodstock. But I ask you, people who were there and all, what the hell happened to you in the '80s. It was like the 60s never even happened. My generation grew up in the most horrible decade ever. It's like you just gave up by '72. There has never been a cultural shock to the system like the late 60's before or since and now that its be said and done and the powers that be know how to package it and co-opt it into at least a tax write off, I fear that its going to take some serious measures to get any conscienceness or change. If Marylan Manson isn't shocking and dangerous, I think it might be up to terrorists to start rock bands and infiltrate the american youth culture market. Thats the only thing that might raise an eyebrow. Obviously thats not what Id like to see, but the only shocking youth movements these days are Columbine shoot'm-ups and Neonazis. Perhaps maybe you folks evolved too fast for people raised in the 50's.
Growing up on My Three Sons and Leave It to Beaver and than taking Belladonna and peyote, probably would be bananas. But your generation raised my generation. And it was you that put Reagan and Bush Sr. in office. I realise that my generation isn't that hot, either but you had an ace in the hole. You caught them with their pants down. I do respect people in this film. But I'm dubious of the self patting of backs, when therse so much to do for the future.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhere between agonizing and embarrassing
Review: I realize that musical skills may fall off with age, but there is no excuse for this mess. To being with, the musicianship is not much beyond the garage-band level. There may be some talented musicians in these acts, but there is no evidence that they practiced or rehearsed for this concert.
OK, even if we cut them a break on performance skills out of respect for their role in rock history, that still leaves the problem of the poor decisions the DVD producers made. First, they unforgivably had a cachectic Timothy O'Leary narrating at length OVER the music. Second, there are also visual interruptions with 60s newsreel footage playing over the acts. Finally, there are the very amateurish video effects that were added to the performances.
There is food for thought here though. Consider that Melanie, who was one of the sexiest women on the 60s musical scene, has let herself go to the point that she is dangerously overweight. Young people should take heed about maintaining a healthy lifestyle to keep this from happening to them. You can really go to seed in a mere 20 years.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect example of how to make a lousy DVD
Review: I'm 46, and don't really care for a lot of the new music, so I look to reissues on CD and DVD of bands that I missed the "first time around." This 3 DVD set looked promising, but whatever possessed the producers to have Timothy Leary blather on and on through the performances is far beyond me. There is also an attempt to make the video "psychedelic" with cheezy video effects. This said, the performances of Blood Sweat and Tears are great, and even have new life in them. I also thought Mark Farner's band was great. Alas, most of the other bands are simply sad echoes of what they were, with filler musicians who seem very out of place. If this DVD was re-released WITHOUT Timothy Leary and the cheap effects, it would be a much better product.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty BAD
Review: Looks like an outdoor concert that could have been in your backyard with the amount of people there. Timothy Leary's comments make up most of the DVD and do not need to be included-he cuts into performances with his relentless rambling on about nothing--Canned Heat was good-Iron Butterfly was good-it had the original bass player (Lee Dorman) the guitarist Eric Braunn (who died a few years ago) was there but where was Ron Bushy(drummer) or Doug Engle (lead vocals)? The singer in this lineup was terrible -I saw this group a few yrs later when they had Bushy, Dorman, and Engle-lots better than this lineup--Electric Flag was good with Nick Granvities (only original member) on lead vocals-- I wish they had interviews with the musicians and named the current members instead of having to listen to the Leary Crap!!!! My advice is to stay away from this one--its no Woodstock material----
Rating: 
Summary: STOP THE WHINING! GOOD DVD!
Review: this dvd isn't as bad as some have stated. no, the special effects aren't top notch, and leary does appear quite a bit. but nobody talks about the bands...yes, the bands. remember them? some of these bands are the best music has to offer from that time period. so stop whining about the stuff that is so unimportant, and start focusing on what is, the music. enough said! peace!
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