Rating: 
Summary: all the who
Review: The one good thing about this DVD is that all members are present. The sound quailty is good, but the camra work is of poor quality. All in all it has a good selection of songs,tempo
and raw energy. For Who fans it is a must, as the latest Who material has a great big void, no John, as he was the driving force of the band and he will be missed along with Keith.
Rating:
Summary: Electrifying Footage but Still Chopped Up
Review: The sound and picture are in much better shape than on the first release. On the first edition four of the first five songs ("Can't Explain", "Young Man Blues", "I Don't Even Know Myself" and "Water") were largely untouched. Heaven and Hell had some of its footage sped up slightly but otherwise was just as electrifying as the other four numbers. From there the film became a slice and dice of patchwork concert footage that looked a like a badly pieced together jigsaw puzzle.
The bad news is that the editing is still a hatchet job. The concert is still out of order. "Tommy" was played in the middle of the show not at the end. Much of the material is cut. The Shakin' All Over/Twist and Shout" medley has at least a third of its content missing as does "Magic Bus". "Substitute" and "Naked Eye" are missing completely. In the case of the "Naked Eye" footage that may be a case of copyright blocking presentation. The footage does exist and can be seen on the "Message to Love" DVD. The content from "Tommy" is a mess. The "Overture", "It's a Boy", "Eyesight to the Blind", "Go to the Mirror", "I'm Free" and "We're Not Gonna Take It" are all presented as fragments edited into song form. "1921", "Amazing Journey/Sparks", "Tommy Can You Hear Me", "There's a Doctor", "Smash the Mirror" and "Tommy's Holiday Camp" were omitted the first time around and haven't been inserted. Most of the editing is smooth enough but the gaps are still glaring.
The saving graces for this film (and especially this release) are the parts of it that have been done right. The interview with Townshend is enlightening and enjoyable (though allowances have to be made for his sense of drama). The picture is much clearer than before. The sound is vastly improved. It's noticeable everywhere but particularly outstanding on the bass and drum tracks. Keith Moon's drums sound the way they should. It's amazing how much of what couldn't be heard before can be heard clearly now. The same can be said of John Entwistle's bass lines. Anyone wanting to understand and appreciate his contribution to the group should be watching this issue. The re-master places his contribution where it should be rather than burying much of it as happened with the first release. And then there's footage that has been left intact. This is some of the most electrifying concert footage ever captured on film, period. The Who were a blistering band that made playing rock sound and feel like a matter of life and death. If nothing else this film captures that. As such it's an invaluable historic record for anyone wanting to know what makes rock and roll tick.
But, it's still not what it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: Great Performance
Review: This is one of few films that captures the Who on tour as they originally were. There are no "substitutes" on this film. They play a collection of their early hits, including "I Can't Explain," "My Generation," "Magic Bus" and more. They also give an outstanding performance of "Tommy." Everyone in the Who had their part: Pete with his windmill, Roger with his twirling microphone, John with his incredibly fast bass playing, and Keith giving it all he's got on drums. This is a great film.
Rating: 
Summary: Who Performance: 5 Stars; DVD Performance: 2 Stars
Review: This Who concert from 1970 is everthing a Who concert from that era should be: Exciting, energetic, moving,... you get the idea. The one thing it isn't on this DVD is complete, and for all the bells and whistles that the format offers, the producers of this concert video passed them up, and it leaves the watcher feeling a little left out. Let me count the ways..... 1. No Dolby 5.1. There are multi-track recordings of this concert that could have been converted to 5.1, but this simply uses a simple stereo mix, probably from the original film. 2. Why truncate it? I have numerous DVDs that last well over 2 hours, with the 5.1, plus audio commentary and other goodies, but this one cuts numerous songs completely out, and absolutely edits Tommy to pieces. This is particularly disappointing, considering that is generally considered the highlight of the shows from that era. Why? 3. No extras. The Hendrix Band of Gypsys has a nice documentary about the show, and extra Hendrix info, but this: Zip. Geez, 3/4 of this band is still alive! Can't get any quotes? No other behind the scenes? No Outtakes?
I suppose if it weren't that the show iself was so amazing it wouldn't matter as much, but what you do get leaves you panting for more. Maybe there're going to do the Live At Leeds treatment, and re-re-issue it later until they get it right. I hope not. Only 1 re-issue to get it right would work for me just fine.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT CONCERT. NO BONUS FEATURES. OK SOUND. B-
Review: Well, I really and honestly DO love this DVD. Then again, I am a huge fan and am completely biased. But I'll try to be objective.The Isle of Wight Festival was another milestone in the Who's career and the performance is utterly fantastic. However, this DVD release is really lacking. When compared to Led Zeppelin's 2DVD release last year, it is easy to see that the Who's Isle of Wight concert was quickly pasted together and thrown onto DVD in order to capitalize on their reunion gigs. Where the Led Zeppelin 2DVD took years to put together and has incredible 5.1 stereo sound, Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 sounds like a discount job. Entwistle's bass should BOOM, but it doesn't. The sound mix is very average. If you are a total fan, then get it...you'll like it. If you are a fan of earsplitting, booming WHO tunes, then you might wanna get one of their newly Remastered reissued CD's, because this is going to leave you shrugging your shoulders asking, "Where's Moon? Where's Ox? Where's the BEEF?!"
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