Rating: 
Summary: Gimme more!
Review: A fantastic release of an old favorite! The Rolling Stones aren't just a rock band but an institution ala The Beatles. This documentary of their 1969 Tour is an amazing piece of musical history as it goes from the frenetic Madison Square Garden shows to the Muscle Shoals studio sessions and finally the infamous ill-fated Altamont free concert. Richards and Taylor form a brilliant guitar duo, Wyman and Watts an unshakeable rhythmn section to go with Jagger's frontman genius as evidenced by the fabulous performances. The additional supplements are definitely a treat as well. Now if the venerable Mr. Allen Klein can somehow get himself to release Ladies And Gentlemen...
Rating:
Summary: Who's Fighting and What For?
Review: "Gimme Shelter" is a lot of things. It's one of the greatest rock and roll films ever made. It's one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It's one of the best glimpses of a moment in time ever recorded, and it's a lasting crystallization of the point in time when the ideals and dreams of the 60's died and the hedonism and self-preservation of the 70's kicked in.The Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin are famous for making documentaries about bible salesmen, old women in decaying mansions, and artists creating art. "Gimme Shelter" is doubly a shock because these somber and almost grim documentarians have been able to put across a rock and roll film that gives you a feeling of the power of music and the freshness of the spirit that the Stones brought to the table. In these moments, captured in 1969, you can see the point where the Stones make the step from rock stars to phenomena, and you see where the wall between artist and audience spawns from. "Gimme Shelter" follows the Stones from touring and recording to their free concert at Altamont Speedway. The film breaks with documentary tradition and gives us a skewed timeline, interspersing concert footage and recording sessions with newscasts about the aftermath of Altamont, the Stones in the screening room watching footage of Altamont, and scenes of negotiating the final details before Altamont goes down. The Altamont concert itself is a marvel to behold, to witness what was captured by the gang of camera operators wandering through the crowd (including George Lucas). From drug dealers to painted hippies, Hells Angels to fathers and sons, from whimsy to terror. "Gimme Shelter" follows the show from it's chaotic first moments of parking wherever, ingesting whatever and acting however, to scenes of fast and random violence springing up around the stage as well as on stage. All of which culminates in the murder of a man right in front of the stage. All captured on beautiful, grainy 16mm with no tricks and no cheats. The DVD is packed with great supplementary materials. A commentary from David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, deleted scenes (including a great backstage scene of Ike, Tina and Mick hanging out), the full excerpts of the KSAN radio broadcast which is used occasionally in the film, trailers, photos and a small feature on the restoration of the print. If you've seen "Gimme Shelter" before, you've noticed that the sound and image lack a lot. Criterion has completely restored the visuals to crystal clarity and given the audio tracks a much-needed shot in the arm. This film has never looked so good and never sounded so good. The Stones have been the focus of several movies and a gang of media coverage, attempting to look beyond the gamefaces and see the real Stones. Very few have succeeded. "Gimme Shelter" is filled with moments where the Stones forget to pose, forget to put up a pretense and respond with real shock, real anger and real regret. This is the anti-"Woodstock." Besides all that, you'll rarely see the Stones in such top form and sounding and looking so good. If the shots of the band in action don't get you, then the shots of the crowd alone are worth the price of admission. Rock films are seemingly a dime a dozen, and no one tends to care enough to make them real FILMS. "Gimme Shelter" is the antidote to the callous rock film tossaway, a film with as much brains as attitude, a film with a message as well as a soundtrack, and most of all, a film so much greater and so much deeper than the surface could ever lead you to believe.
Rating:
Summary: No sympathy for the devil
Review: This Concert/documentary whatever you want to call it is truly very good, in fact until this moment, my favorite concert dvd was Metallica's S&M but that has just changed my man, yes it is violent, yes it is tragic, but by god man, it's true, everybody blames it on the angels, they were out of line yes, that is true but they did help in the end, for instance, when a guy pulled out a gun, it was an angel who stopped him, don't get me wrong, I have no sympathy for those animals but I must admit to the facts that they were trying to help but some of them got out of line. Anyways, the picture and sound are 5/5, I love all the behind the scenes they have and it's mixed in DTS 5.1 sound which is never bad, good show, 4births, 4 deaths and a whole lot of scuffles.
Rating:
Summary: UTOPIA
Review: Incredible ! I've seen two or three times GIMME SHELTER in local theatres's late night screenings years ago ; the copy was very deteriotated and the colors washed out, in short the movie then could only satisfy the die hard fans of the Rolling Stones. Criterion has literally resurrected this documentary that is bound to please music fans and movie lovers altogether. Of course, the Rolling Stones performed in Altamont some of their greatest songs like "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Satisfaction" or "Under my thumb" but the musical pleasure you will feel is going to be spoiled by the violent events that took place during the concert. Illegal substances, alcohol, intolerance and an amateurish organisation led to a tragedy. A DVD for your library.
Rating:
Summary: A day of Peace, Love and Understanding - it's not.
Review: An amazingly gripping spectacle where at times you want to look away and you can't. The documentary's completely mesmerizing final 30 minutes highlight the Altamont Concert of 1969 which shows the literal "Death of Innocence" of large rock concerts of the "Love Children" era. One follows the 1969 Rolling Stones concert tour from city to city and, unlike modern movies, we see and hear a song played through all the way from beginning to end. Interwoven between the masterful musical performances is the development of the details for the final "free" concert in San Francisco including the incorporation of the "Hells Angels" as security. Even if one is a Mick Jagger fan, he/she cannot help but be struck by the amazing phoniness of Jagger as he spiels the same "ad libs" at the same spot in each of the concerts on the tour; and also be amazed at his total naivete at the Altamont Concert when he thinks that people are going to actually listen to him and do what he wants them to do just by telling them. And when the final scene is played out, we realize that the Hells Angels have indeed done the job they were asked to do. They stopped a person who pulled out a gun near the stage from using it. Whether it was drawn to be used against them or Mick Jagger, we will never know.
Rating:
Summary: Mick and Keith are the best band in the Universe!!!
Review: This Is their Best performance in The Rolling Stones history.
This is my favrite band . And this is my favroite music video
RAP is the worst music eminem is the stupidist man in music history!! THE ROLLING STONES [ROCK!..]
Jumpin Jack Flash is a gas gas gas!!!
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Documentary
Review: The Rolling Stones 1969 tour of America brought about significant change to the culture. After Woodstock, the counterculture in America was at its all-time peak. The festival helped show a nation that the hippie ideal could work as hundreds of thousands got together for three days and co-existed in a state of love, peace and happiness. The Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway in California was supposed to be the Woodstock for the West Coast. The scene that unfolded at the concert helped bring all those feelings to a crashing halt. Marred by violence and death, the show shattered the ideal and in many ways marked the end of the 60's and an era and brought about the me generation of the 70's. Gimme Shelter is a documentary of the tour and specifically the Altamont concert. We go behind the scenes and see in chilling detail the events that unfold leading up to the concert. This release is exceptional as we get never before released footage and the 40 plus page booklet would be worth buying by itself.
Rating:
Summary: Superb look at The Rolling Stones' ill-fated 1969 tour
Review: Gimmie Shelter is The Rolling Stones' documentary on the band's ill-fated 1969 North American tour in support of the album Let it Bleed. We see the band performing at Madison Square Garden playing songs like Jumping Jack Flash and Love in Vain among others, which was also released on the classic 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. We also get to see the band record Brown Sugar and Wild Horses from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers at the legendary Muscle Shoals Studios in Alabama. However, the most famous bit from this classic movie was the ill-fated performance in Altamont in December of 1969 which was toted as a West Coast Woodstock but turned out to be anything but when a fan was killed by The Hell's Angels and rioting by the crowd caused the band to stop performing a few times. Musically, this film has great versions of Sympathy For the Devil, Under My Thumb, Jumping Jack Flash, Love in Vain and many other great Stones classics. I first saw this movie when I was 9 in 1985 and enjoy this film seeing as my mom is a huge Stones fan. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: the late 1960s, without the rosy spectacles
Review: Despite the bad sound and grainy film quality, this is a riveting, brutal documentary that focuses on the 1969 free concert at Altamont Speedway that was envisioned by the Rolling Stones as a fun time for everyone to "get it on", and ended with chaos and someone being killed, which is shown in the film. With the Hell's Angels in charge of security, and a vast crowd in a senseless and often aggressive drug induced stupor, watching this evolve is like looking into the abyss of the damned. The mid and late '60s were not the flower-power love generation years some remember through rose-tinted lenses, they were very often violent and hateful, as anyone who saw the rabble "express themselves" at the 1968 Democratic Convention can attest. There are people who blame the outcome of this concert on the Hell's Angels, but this film proves that they were only a part of the problem. There is also much pretension: Guys in suits trying to be hip and cool, and Melvin Belli, the celebrity attorney of his day, making sure he gets his 15 minutes of camera time. The Rolling Stones (at this point Mick Taylor had replaced Brian Jones, who had died in July of that year) seem to be out of place in dealing with their fame, and trying to "act the part", as well as being in a fog of substance abuse. Mick Jagger is the one that appears to be the most "in control", and he tries his best to bring calm and order to the concert crowd, to no avail.
There are short sequences of other groups, like the Jefferson Airplane, and musically, perhaps the best part in the entire film is Tina Turner, as she sings "I've Been Loving You Too Long" all the while using the microphone as a substitute love interest.
Total running time is 91 minutes. All or in part, the songs performed by the Stones are:
"Honky Tonk Man"
"Brown Sugar"
"Gimme Shelter"
"Jumpin' Jack Flash"
"Love in Vain"
"Satisfaction"
"Street Fighting Man"
"Sympathy for the Devil"
"Under My Thumb"
"Wild Horses"
"You Gotta Move"
Rating:
Summary: A Startling Glance Into The Heart of Darkness
Review: All the muddy good vibes of Woodstock were negated after Altamont. The 60's, one of the most tumultuous and violent decades of the last century, were officially over. These hapless filmmakers were supposed to film the Stones on tour in America, what they got was the decade's dying last breath. This documentary is like having a front row seat as Manson orchestrated the Helter Sklter murders, it's quite shocking. In terms of a concert film, it's probably a little disappointing. Considering the Hell's Angels keep beating people up (including a member of the Jefferson Airplane) it's not surprising that the Stones sound so horrible. From a voyeuristic point of view, this film is unprecedented. The murder on screen happens so fast they probably weren't even aware of what they were seeing as it happened. They have to slow down and freeze frame the shot to even see it happen. Lurid and horrifying. As far as DVD's go, this is a Criterion DVD so you know it's KILLER. You get tons of bonus stuff, commentary from the filmmakers, a studio mix session and more. As a Stones document, it is priceless. The behind the scenes footage (and Madison Square Garden footage) is remarkable. And I love the Stones in Muscle Shoals working on what would become the 1971 masterpiece LP Sticky Fingers. Watching Keith listening to the Wild Horses playback is a rare privilege.
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