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starring: Richie Havens, Joan Baez, John Entwistle, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltreydirected by: Michael Wadleigh
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786303182575
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Compilation, Dolby, Letterboxed, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 6303182577
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: August 03, 1994
Running Time: 225 minutes
Sales Rank: 2135
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: March 26, 1970
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
The three-day Woodstock music festival in 1969 was the pivotal event of the 1960s peace movement, and this landmark concert film is the definitive record of that milestone of rock & roll history. It's more than a chronicle of the hippie movement, however; this is a film of genuine historical and social importance, capturing the spirit of America in transition, when the Vietnam War was at its peak and antiwar protest was fully expressed through the liberating music of the time. With a brilliant crew at his disposal (including a young editor named Martin Scorsese), director Michael Wadleigh worked with over 300 hours of footage to create his original 225-minute director's cut, which was cut by 40 minutes for the film's release in 1970. Eight previously edited segments were restored in 1994, and the original director's cut of Woodstock is now the version most commonly available on videotape and DVD.
The film deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and it's still a stunning achievement. Abundant footage taken among the massive crowd ('half a million strong') expresses the human heart of the event, from skinny-dipping hippies to accidental overdoses, to unpredictable weather, midconcert childbirth, and the thoughtful (or just plain rambling) reflections of the festive participants. Then, of course, there is the music--a nonstop parade of rock & roll from the greatest performers of the period, including Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Canned Heat, The Who, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Sly & The Family Stone, Santana, and many more. Watching this ambitious film, as the saying goes, is the next best thing to being there--it's a time-travel journey to that once-in-a-lifetime event. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Woodstock Nation Rocks Out!
This is the seminal rock film of all time. I remember reading about the concert in "Rolling Stone", wondering about going, it sounds pretty good. But I was still in high school on the west coast, and the surf was up that summer. Then, when it hit the television news, the whole thing took up a life of its own...spontaneous combustion! Then the three-record set came out, the movie came out, the poster came out, the magazine coverage, and the books. With the passing of time, it's great the director's ... Read More
Rating: - The counterculture's finest moment
Something happened in the '60s, and we're still feeling the effects of it now. Even as I type these words, my neighbors on the other side of the apartment wall are playing rock music REALLY LOUD -- I even like what they're playing, though I'm not sure what band's album it is. For better or worse, rock music and its attendant baggage have had an enormous effect on our culture: I would even go so far to say that a certain energy has been raised, and continues to be raised, by this sort of music.
... Read More
Rating:  - BUY THE VHS - not the DVD
Read the other reviews.
I bought the VHS to see if it was better than the DVD. It is! Better video AND sound quality. Warner Home Video did a poor job on the DVD version. It is NOT truly widescreen (as you will see if you buy the VHS). It is more pan-and-scan full screen. You WILL get a better movie by buying the VHS and copying it to DVD.
Rating: - Woodstock "Raw" Three day event
They say that Woodstock is coming out on blue-ray in 2009, Fitting I since it will be the 40th Anniversary. But I do have a question for Warner Bros who own the outakes to the footage of the 1969 concert.
If there's a DVD worth of Jimi Hendrix performances not used in the original documentary but were edited and released to the public, Imagine what other performances exist of bands who performed at the concert.
If you read up on the making of the film, they say original runtime ... Read More
Rating: - Greatest Concert Film Ever So Why No Reissue?
A great film, and would be a five star review based on content, but this is the same exact DVD released at the start of the DVD era, and there's no excuse for that. This would be one of the few films I'd actually watch the entire special features dvd, and with 296 hours of unused footage, there's bound to be some great deleted material in there, not to mention the chance to do "where are they now" interviews with not only the performers and event planners, but they might also be able to track down some of the ... Read More
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