Blu-Ray Review: Woodstock Director's Cut
Warner Bros. Distributes Michael Wadleigh Concert Film
Jun 8, 2009
Woodstock. It's a potent symbol and a real love-it-or-hate-it proposition. For some, it represents a utopia that was almost within reach: the idea that peace, love, dope and electric guitars would usher in a new era of enlightenment. That is, before the triple shot of Altamont, the Manson murders, and Woodstock '99 killed the dream.
For others, Woodstock is the symbol of lycergic excess, over-aged hippies blathering on about "grokking" and "the avatars of the New Consciousness," and the stranglehold the Baby Boomers have had on popular culture since the 1960's.
Now Warner Bros. has reissued Woodstock: The Director's Cut to Blu-Ray in a lavish box set. After the disappointment that was the 1997 DVD, does this box set do justice to "the ultimate rock concert movie?"
Woodstock Director's Cut: Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone
On August 15, 1969, 50,000 people were supposed to descend onto Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York for the 3-day Woodstock Music & Art Festival. However, when 500,000 hippies arrived, organizers accepted the inevitable and turned it into a free festival, taking a bath on the entertainment costs.
Director Michael Wadleigh and his gang of longhairs (which included Martin Scorsese) recorded the event on Éclair hand-held cameras. Often, they got up and personal with the musicians while they were performing, catching such "you were there" moments as a fan jumping onstage and scamming a cigarette from Canned Heat vocalist Bob Hite.
(Someone clearly had it hard for The Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick: images of the curly-haired singer are all over this film.)
Is Woodstock "the ultimate rock concert movie"? That depends on your tolerance for spacey jams, dreamy folk, and boogie blues (Ten Years After guitarist Alvin Lee was clearly trying to get paid by the note during "I'm Going Home"). However, if Santana, The Who, or Sly and the Family Stone's sets don't move you, officially consider yourself dead from the waist down. It helped that all the bands were young and hungry: no past-their-sell-date reunions such as the ones that infested 1985's Live Aid.
Other moments of note: an acid-addled Carlos Santana wrangling his Gibson SG during "Soul Sacrifice," Country Joe McDonald playing his iconic "Fixin' to Die Rag" ("And it's one, two, three, what are we fightin' for? Don't ask me I don't give a d**n/Next stop is Vietnam") on a borrowed Yamaha acoustic, Crosby, Stills and Nash playing "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" for only the second time ("We're scared s******s!"), Jimi Hendrix deconstructing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his white Strat, and a visibly pregnant Joan Baez singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."
This Blu-Ray is rated 14A for good reason: there are images o' plenty showing hippies doing drugs, getting naked in a nearby pond, and rolling in the mud. One sequence features a couple slowly disrobing before enjoying an intimate moment in the tall grass.
People who complained about the wretched transfer on the 1997 DVD reissue should rest easy: Wadleigh and his gang worked overtime to clean things up. Given that there was only so much they could do with the original film stock (filmed on Éclair hand-held cameras), it's pretty impressive how clean they managed to get the footage. And yes, those "in your face" concert moments still thrill.
Blu-Ray Extras
Are you sitting comfortably? Cause this could take a while.
First off, there are over 2 hours of performances that never made it into the film, ranging from the stunning (Credence Clearwater Revival) to the pretty cool (Mountain, Johnny Winter) to the embarrassing (The Grateful Dead: as Jerry Garcia said, "We've always blown the big ones"). You can watch them all, or arrange them as a custom playlist.
"Woodstock: From Festival to Feature" shows the cast and crew offering their memories of how the film and the festival came together. Keep in mind that most of this is archival, not new material. For instance, the Michael Wadleigh interview is from the 1970's show Playboy After Dark.
But the only real stinker is "The Museum at Bethel Woods: The Story of the Sixties and Woodstock." Hosted by Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid (who would've been 11 when Woodstock happened), it's an infomercial for the aforementioned museum.
Other items include a reprint of the 1969 Life magazine that commemorated Woodstock, an iron-on patch, reprinted ticket stub and notes from festival-goers to each other, plus a Lucite block showing 4 different images from the festival.
The Final Analysis
Strip away the cultural baggage that accompanied Woodstock (the film, the festival, the myth) and what do you get? A pretty awesome concert film filled with some of the best names of the era.
If you're a member of the Woodstock Generation (either chronologically, or in spirit) then this Blu-Ray is a no-brainer. But even regular music fans should check it out: it's one of the most intimate concert films ever made, and a testament to a time when the Age of Aquarius could've potentially happened.
Woodstock Director's Cut: Three Days of Peace and Music gets a 9/10.
Fun Fact: Twelve years after playing Woodstock with Johnny Winter, bassist Tommy Shannon joined another classic blues band, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.
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