|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 A TOUGH ONE FOR MURRAY LERNER Jan 01, 2010
As is true of some, or many, of the previous Amazon reviewers of this film, if you expected it to be focused on the music being played, as he did in his films on the Who, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan (the last named at Newport), you will quite justifiably be disappointed. This is a story of an event, the gathering of 600,000, mostly young people, on an island off the coast of England, to attend a Rock Concert. It is not a filming of a Rock Concert. To my perception, there is minimal attention to that aspect of the Happening, save as it showed something about the totality of the event. That may not be to your liking, it may be a weaker film than if it had taken the focus many potential viewers prefer, but, there you are. He made the film he set out to make (whatever may be the unexplained reasons for doing so) and forbore making the film that he has shown he can create with excellence.
While I, too, expected a film similar to the one on Dylan, which I saw recently, the real purpose became evident within a short time after the scene setting opening. For me the shift in direction of my attention did not frustrate me, since it gave me a chance to see what his raw materials allowed him to show about crowd events, differences in reactions among performers,and differences between performers and management. Unfortunately. he was limited by the obvious fact that it is not possible to add footage after 20 years lag (the period in which the raw film was simmering before Lerner was able to get a commission to do the job). What he had on hand was what he had to work with(and, happily, he did not interview participants twenty years after the fact which can often be an exercise in collecting distorted memories). How good is the end product. Quite good for a television special, quite inadequate for an in-depth study of interesting hypotheses which emerge from what is shown in the film. I give it an above average rating because it should be of considerable interest to viewers who have read and seen interviews and remembrances of the events, without having a chance to see any part of these events themselves.
If you want to see the largest event of its kind in Rock history, Isle of Wright had fifty percent more people than Woodstock, this is probably the best (non-fiction) film you are going to see on the subject. If you expect in-depth analysis, you will have to search the academic literature (as I have not). If, as I said before, you want an appreciable view of the music being played and sung. you will not find it here. ( I should note that this sort of gathering and psychic/emotional motivation and response, is hardly unique in history, there have been periods in American, as well as European (and other culture's) histories, in which they were commonplace and far more intense. However, there was no motion picture camera turned on participants in these events in the 1840's, as there were on the Isle of Wight in 1970.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 WORST ROCK FESTIVAL FILM EVER! Nov 21, 2009
I could go on and on, but briefly - if you are a filmmaker and you spend 100 times more time in your film showing gatecrashers throwing rocks at a tin wall than you do Miles Davis fronting one of the greatest jazz bands of all time, or Jim Morrison or Jimi Hendrix giving their last performances, than you are an idiot. This film is an agony to watch for any true music lover. Also, one last word folks (and this is true for Altamont too), don't judge the motives of the entire love and peace generation by the results of an incompetently organized rock event. As Seth and Amy would say, "Really!"
 good film, has last Jim Morrison performance Aug 18, 2009
It says on the DVD box this film is "highlights" of the Isle of Wight, so that eing said, its a good highlights film. It's 2 hours long but seeing how it was released straight to DVD, why not make it 4 hours long?
The orignal Woodstock film was 3 hours long (directors cut 40 more mins added) but the also used a double screen alot to get more in the movie, I wish this epic even was given the same treatment.
You had sych historical recordings....The Doors......Jim Morrison's last libe stage peformance and he sounded great! Jim didnt want the spot lights in the band, so they are shown playing in almost total darkness and when they do "The End" it just has that great feeling to the song, I wish they showed more of the Doors or release the complete performance of them.
One thing I like about this film was the realism, I get so sick of hearing about "wooodstock" that it was 3 days of Peace and LOve....BS! The hippies crashed the fences and didnt give a crap about the promoters and other men and and women who put the festival on. Feeling they can just storm in and not have to pay for an event and just stiff the promoters to have to dig in their own pockets to pay the artists and everything else, With Woodstock, the promoters already had a film and record deal signed and wasnt too concernd about tickets but they still took a huge financial hit, but Isle of Wight, same crap, young punks tearing down the fences to get in, too cheap tom pay 3 pounds, it wouldnt kill them, but them all crashing the fences cost the promoters their asses!
Great documentary about the so called "love child" generation that were just as selfish and spoiled as the ME generation, same crap, different title.
Wish the film were longer but it is what it is.
BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS DVD FOR A LONG TIME Jul 04, 2009
I FOUND THE FULL VERSION OF "THE ISLE OF WIGHT" ON AMAZON. IT HAS MANY OF THE BANDS THAT PLAYED AND NOT JUST ONE. ALSO, IT SHOWS WHAT WENT ON BEHIND THE SCENES. I AM VERY PLEASED. I HAD ORDERED 2 LAST YEAR, 1 FOR ME AND ONE FOR MY SON AND COULD ONLY GET ONE. SO I WAS VERY EXCITED TO FIND THIS!
A Darker Woodstock Mar 17, 2009
There was definitely tension in the air at this festival. The movie captures this wonderfully with some great footage between the acts. Lot's of spaced out hippies wondering what is happening with their revolution...
The performances are inspired though. It's a great thing to see Miles Davis, The Doors, The Moody Blues, Kris Kristofferson, Hendrix, The Who, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen all performing at the same event. One sympathizes with Kristofferson. He couldn't seem to engage the audience at all, who were so worked up at that point that all Kris could do was walk off stage. You can pick up on the different attitudes the people had over in Europe at that time as opposed to the Woodstock footage. This crowd was angrier, and less willing to put up with with anything it seems. I can imagine that some of these people would turn to punk in the coming years. The great outdoor music festivals had run their course, I think. Though arguably there have been a handful of very successful ones since then.
|
| |
|
![Message to Love - The Isle of Wight Festival [VHS]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/P/A0000000.01-._SL160_.jpg "Message to Love - The Isle of Wight Festival [VHS]")
![Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51734pRq2%2BL._SL75_.jpg "Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]")
![Gattaca [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VfE5rU9OL._SL75_.jpg "Gattaca [Blu-ray]")
![Resident Evil [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51m8P3lO%2BnL._SL75_.jpg "Resident Evil [Blu-ray]")
![Run Lola Run [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gTXpHYF7L._SL75_.jpg "Run Lola Run [Blu-ray]")
