Rating: 
Summary: DVD wish list
Review: Like some other reviewers, I saw "The Kids Are Alright" when it debuted in theaters in 1979; in fact, I saw it in a theater about a dozen times (and several times on HBO) before it made it to video. What's missing from all video releases is the first 4 minutes or so of "A Quick One," a 2-minute interview with Townshend in which he describes how he wrote that song, and a 1-minute montage of interview clips with all four band members between the Monterey "My Generation" and "Won't Get Fooled." A further mystery can be found in the closing credits, when we're shown a list of songs that appeared in the film. Among them are "I'm a Boy," "Heat Wave," and "I Can See for Miles," none of which are anywhere to be found in the movie. Were these cut before the film went into wide distribution? (Also, the credits say Rick Danko appears in the film. Presuming this is the late Danko of The Band, where is he? In the 50-60 times I've seen this movie, I've never spotted him.) Let's hope that when this film makes it to DVD, it's in the form of the original cut that contained all this music. Let's also hope that the DVD uses the original videotape source material for the Smothers, Pontiac Stadium, etc. segments that were originally shot on video, rather than that washed-out video-to-celluloid process used in the theatrical release. A pretty big wish list, I know, but I can dream, can't I?
Rating: 
Summary: "My Friends Call Me Keith, You Can Call Me John!"
Review: This is one of the best documentaries of rock and roll- ever! I enjoyed the interviews (John claims now he's got money and too old to enjoy it; Pete warns people not to come to close to him while performing or he'll "probably kill you", and Keith chats with Ringo Starr). I enjoyed the videos (Happy Jack and the obscure Cobwebs and Strange- the latter featuring a killer drum solo by Moon the Loon, of course). I agree I was disturbed by them only including part of "A Quick One" (they also cut out an eyepatched Keith Richards' introduction). Then of course, the highlight is the performances- "My Generation", "See Me Feel Me" (Woodstock), "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", working in the studio on "Who Are You", and Keith's final performance with the Who ever- "Won't Get Fooled Again" closes the show. So long, Keith, we miss you.
Rating:
Summary: Gets better with age¿ mine, that is!
Review: As a second-generation Who freak, I latched on to this incendiary group right around the year Keith Moon uncharacteristically faded away in his sleep. Soon after, I saw the original "The Kids Are Alright" in the theater and bought an early Embassy VHS tape. Now that the DVD version is out, I think that technical comparisons between 1978 and 2003 will pale against the real story: The Who was the greatest live band and one of the greatest rock groups ever.The film begins and ends, in a way, with their trademark smash-up finale. The Who, once they began playing, were like a runaway locomotive: imagine Keith Moon as the pistons, John Entwistle as the deep coal fire, Roger Daltrey as the howling whistle, and Peter Townshend as the engineer pushing the knobs and pulling levers. The whole thing veers out of control, and yet, it never becomes a wreck until the last song (according to the era), when by force of smashed guitars and bludgeoned drum kits, the incredible sound is strangled and mashed to a pulp, leaving only feedback and smoke bombs. As Townshend says in one of the film's interviews, he's not himself onstage, and probably close to hurting someone who gets in his way (remember Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock?). The funny thing is, The Who's shows are a conjurer's trick of sound and sight. These smash-up performances began as a corny gimmick that took on a life of their own: Townshend, in a 1964 London gig, accidentally rammed his guitar into the club's ceiling while trying to spin it theatrically in the air. He was told afterwards to use the same move again, and the rest is glorious history. The spontaneous combustion in The Who's music gets full airing in this film by an amateur director. It captures nearly all of the group's distinct periods: early club days, Mod incarnations, Monterey Pop festival, the "Tommy" and Woodstock era, and the mega-70s appearances. Interviews as a group, or as individuals, span nearly their whole career (while Moon was alive and kicking), and at the end of it all, you get the sense that, as unpolished and ragged as they come across to our modern eyes, The Who defined that overused musical term, honest. Ironically, there's a contradiction when Townshend - who comes across as an unwilling but committed leader - laments to an interviewer that the band is often chained by its history, and yet, no one is willing to break the bonds of ritual between The Who and its fans. In the two performances that director Stein staged in May 1978, the group crash through "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," and it's clear even to Who freaks that Moon was in sad shape, physically, and gamely keeping up, musically. Townshend parodies himself with arm-swinging and acrobatic leaps; it's almost The Who by the numbers. But when the last note sounds, the ecstatic response from the audience is proof of how much people love The Who and how the music wound its way into so many churned-up teenage souls. There have been bands since who've trashed their sets and gone to the edge, but there's really only one Who.
Rating: 
Summary: Anarchic view of a great rock band
Review: I saw "The Kids Are Alright" in the theater when it was first released, and the video version suffers only from the amputated "A Quick One While He's Away" number from the infamous Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus. Probably had something to do with the Stones' fickleness (Jagger reportedly felt upstaged by The Who). Jumping from the hilarious "My Generation" on the Smothers Brothers show in '67 to "Baba O'Riley" in '77 and back to 60s footage ("I Can't Explain", "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", etc.), the film is a Who fan's look at this astounding band, in all their contradictory glory. The movie doesn't try to delve into the tensions of the group's history, or try to unmask Keith Moon's hollow rave-ups and jests. Any Who fan would know these things going in. The real fun is in watching episodes from various phases of Who history, all jumbled and crashing up against each other. There's humor here, too: Moon's deadly hilarious "interviews" with Ringo Starr, a montage of his hotel smashing days, and John Entwistle's skeet shooting of gold records. One thing clearly stands out in "The Kids Are Alright": The Who were one of the premier live bands of rock & roll, and it was ironic that the film (for which several numbers, including a savage "Won't Get Fooled Again", were specially recorded) marked the end of the band as most people knew it. When Moon died in '78, the lunatic spirit that propelled The Who for so long was gone. Long live The Who. A restored, re-mastered version of this film is long overdue.
Rating:
Summary: A collage, not a best-of...though it winds up being best!
Review: This remarkable album is not a greatest-hits collection. Rather, it, like the film to which it is a soundtrack, is director/Who fan Jeff Stein's impression of the Who. The stage power, the personal issues, the artistic ambition, are all delivered in the film by cut and pasted concert footage, video clips, and interview snippets. This cd presents just the music (except for Tommy Smothers' introduction to "My Generation") There are exciting though tinny songs of the early Who from British TV. There are riveting Tommy numbers from Woodstock. There are amazingly powerful early '70s non-album songs that rival those on _Live at Leeds_--"Young Man Blues" in particular is stunning. There is no _Quadrophenia_ material, and a cover of "Roadrunner" and a rather dull version of "Join Together" which bears no resemblance to the studio version are deleted for the cd. The real killers, though, the real jewels in the crown, the real essence of *The Who* are the songs recorded live in concert at Shepperton Studio especially for this film: "Baba O'Riley" "My Wife" (I think)and "Won't Get Fooled Again" "WGFA", especially, is their greatest moment on a legal recording. Jeff Stein in fact asked them to perform the song over, to get a more "definitive" version of it for the film. Townshend snapped, "What do you want me to do? Die onstage? Or whack that mf-er that keeps yelling "Magic Bus" over the head with my guitar?" But they did the encore, which is the version recorded here. Call this collection the "impressionist" view of The Who, if you want, but it preserves many memories of seeing this film at the midnight movies during high school for me. A great oddity, emphasis on "great".
Rating:
Summary: Hey - where's our Rick Danko???
Review: I loved the film - and would have given it 5 stars if Rick Danko had been in it, as advertised!
Rating:
Summary: Gets better with age¿ mine, that is!
Review: As a second-generation Who freak, I latched on to this incendiary group right around the year Keith Moon uncharacteristically faded away in his sleep. Soon after, I saw the original "The Kids Are Alright" in the theater and bought an early Embassy VHS tape. Now that the DVD version is out, I think that technical comparisons between 1978 and 2003 will pale against the real story: The Who was the greatest live band and one of the greatest rock groups ever. The film begins and ends, in a way, with their trademark smash-up finale. The Who, once they began playing, were like a runaway locomotive: imagine Keith Moon as the pistons, John Entwistle as the deep coal fire, Roger Daltrey as the howling whistle, and Peter Townshend as the engineer pushing the knobs and pulling levers. The whole thing veers out of control, and yet, it never becomes a wreck until the last song (according to the era), when by force of smashed guitars and bludgeoned drum kits, the incredible sound is strangled and mashed to a pulp, leaving only feedback and smoke bombs. As Townshend says in one of the film's interviews, he's not himself onstage, and probably close to hurting someone who gets in his way (remember Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock?). The funny thing is, The Who's shows are a conjurer's trick of sound and sight. These smash-up performances began as a corny gimmick that took on a life of their own: Townshend, in a 1964 London gig, accidentally rammed his guitar into the club's ceiling while trying to spin it theatrically in the air. He was told afterwards to use the same move again, and the rest is glorious history. The spontaneous combustion in The Who's music gets full airing in this film by an amateur director. It captures nearly all of the group's distinct periods: early club days, Mod incarnations, Monterey Pop festival, the "Tommy" and Woodstock era, and the mega-70s appearances. Interviews as a group, or as individuals, span nearly their whole career (while Moon was alive and kicking), and at the end of it all, you get the sense that, as unpolished and ragged as they come across to our modern eyes, The Who defined that overused musical term, honest. Ironically, there's a contradiction when Townshend - who comes across as an unwilling but committed leader - laments to an interviewer that the band is often chained by its history, and yet, no one is willing to break the bonds of ritual between The Who and its fans. In the two performances that director Stein staged in May 1978, the group crash through "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again," and it's clear even to Who freaks that Moon was in sad shape, physically, and gamely keeping up, musically. Townshend parodies himself with arm-swinging and acrobatic leaps; it's almost The Who by the numbers. But when the last note sounds, the ecstatic response from the audience is proof of how much people love The Who and how the music wound its way into so many churned-up teenage souls. There have been bands since who've trashed their sets and gone to the edge, but there's really only one Who.
Rating:
Summary: The Kids Are Alright
Review: This is my favorite movie! The best preformance by The Who is in this film. There best preformance was playing A Quick One While He's Away at the Rolling Stone's Rock And Roll Circus. The thing that pisses me off is that they only used a small section of the song and cut out Keith Richard's Introduction. If you love Keith Moon (Like I Do) get 200 Motels. Though I'll warn you it's kinda hard to find but if you do find it it'll be between 25.00 and 75.00.
Rating: 
Summary: The Kids are Alright??? Maybe??
Review: Does anybody know if the DVD version is chopped up/edited like the VHS????????? A Quick One is one of the highlights of the film, I can't believe it was atrociously tampered with. :(
Rating:
Summary: Nigel Tufnel, eat your heart out
Review: Absolutely essential for Who fans, and nearly so for everybody else. I like to think of it as the non-fiction version of "Spinal Tap." Just as funny but with better music.
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