Product Details

• Actors: Jimi Hendrix
• Directors: Peter Pilafian
• Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Legacy
• DVD Release Date: July 10, 2012
• Run Time: 72 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B007ZC92CI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,654 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

This special, expanded edition of Jimi Plays Berkeley showcases some of Jimi's finest ever performances filmed over two concerts at the Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970. The film documented the political unrest and student uprisings in Berkeley juxtaposed against such legendary Hendrix live performances as "Johnny B. Goode," "Star Spangled Banner," "I Don't Live Today" and "Purple Haze."

This deluxe edition also includes:
A new, digitally restored transfer from the original 16mm negative. More than fifteen minutes of newly discovered, previously unseen documentary and performance footage of such classic songs as "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," "Machine Gun" and "Hear My Train A Comin'" not featured in the original film release.

THIS IS A COMPLETELY UPDATED VERSION FOR 2012 AND ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 82 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Hodge-podge editing and no new surprises here September 16, 2003

By Krishna M. Sadasivam VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Clocking in at a woeful 56 minutes, this DVD represents only a fraction of the two concerts JImi performed on May 30, 1970. The packaging itself comes with a nice booklet that explains the background on how the concert was filmed, and the events that unfolded with it after JImi's unfortunate demise. The only 'real' bonus footage is a complete 5.1 surround sound audio for Jimi's second concert (which is essentially a different mix to the newly released Jimi Plays Berkeley CD, also available.)

In all fairness, the sound for the video has been substantially overhauled. But, the haphazard edits and shaky camera movements that plagued the original documentary (rockumentary?) still exist. One would have figured that today's technology could have at least fixed the 'shaky camera' problems, but I digress.
Pciture quality is clean - though one can clearly see the limitations of the original equipment used to record the show. Given that it's one of only a handful of live Hendrix videos available, one can't be too picky I suppose. Highlights include Jimi's screaming rendition of "Johnny B. Goode", "Star Spangled Banner/ Purple Haze", and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", only because these songs are more or less complete. The other songs on the DVD are all significantly edited down from their original length.

One interesting tidbit gleaned from the accompanying booklet is that Experience Hendrix was not able to include any outtakes because they haven't been turned over 'by the previous administration' that controlled the guitarist's legacy. Which probably means that Alan Douglas or Michael Jeffery's estate is probably sitting on the rest of the film.

Jimi's performance itself warrants 5 stars, but given the sheer lack of extra material, my rating stays firm at 3 stars for this release. Mildly recommended.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars THEY DID THE BEST WITH WHAT THEY FOUND July 12, 2012

By Mo Lindsey

Format:DVD

The 2012 extended version is similar to the 2003 release but there actually is new footage of Hendrix in the 2012 extended version. I can pick out some differences.

1) The 2003 intro with credits has "Pass It On" being dubbed over it as the camera pans across the stage passing Mitch playing on his drum set and pass the amplifiers before stopping at an illustration of Jimi. In the 2012 release it shows this same panning but the audio is the actual audio of the footage. It turns out the actual song that they were playing in that clip was "Machine Gun" and not "Pass It On" because the panning then continues after the Jimi illustration to show the real Jimi rehearsing on "Machine Gun".

2)In the 2012 release the footage of Jimi inside the limo is dubbed over with commentary from someone talking about Jimi as a performer which is ok because you hear the people in the limo say little to nothing anyway.

3) In the 2012 release there is 1970 film footage of random people sharing their opinion of Jimi to the film crew thats filming them. This is shown right before the footage of Jimi blazing on "Johnny Be Good". The footage of the people wasn't on the 2003 release but the "Johnny Be Good" footage is the same.

4)In the 2003 release "Hear My Train A Coming" is so edited that it was criminal. In the 2012 release theres some significant footage added that wasn't in the 2003 release. The problem is that they also added protest footage mixed in (I assume because either they couldn't find the actual footage of those parts of Jimi's performance or the footage was damaged beyond use so they added protest footage as filler.) but you do hear most of the 2 solos that Jimi played in the song and you do see him perform significant portions of the solos. In some of the lost footage you can see his amazing finger work on the fret.

5) The 2003 release shows footage of the damage done to the entrance of the concert by people trying to break into the show with audio of someone talking about the insensibility of such actions. In the 2012 version that same video is divided up by lost footage of Jimi tearing it up on "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) from the 1st show. This performance was not featured on the 2003 DVD so this is terrific footage. The problem is that you have to tolerate quick snippets of the "people breaking in" footage and a brief audio of a kid singing the praises of Jimi.

6) Right after the first "Voodoo Chile" performance theres footage of 2 Black men talking about how great Jimi is. One of the men said something that struck me as morbidly prophetic. He said "..I believe that Black folks and White folks should try to see Hendrix while they have the opportunity because he's putting everything that he can into his music and I don't know how long he's gonna last.". I was struck by that comment considering that Jimi died almost 4 months after that show. That clip wasn't in the 2003 DVD.

7) In the 2012 release you get more audio of "Machine Gun" with snippets of lost footage of Jimi playing it but they added a great deal of riot and protest footage as visual filler. They added 30 seconds of lost film footage of Jimi playing just after the start of the guitar solo and about 10 seconds of footage at the tail end of the solo.

8) In the 2012 extended version Michael Jefferies' name was cut from the original 1971 credits......I liked that.

Everything else is roughly the same including that cool footage of Hendrix dropping to his knees and playing guitar with his teeth right in front of that teenage girl who seemed happy and almost in disbelief at how close Hendrix was to her.

The riot footage and video of random people just seem like filler but it also maintains the initial impression of the 1971 film as a partial snap shot of the turmoil that was happening during that time in that area.

My hope for this extended version was that they'd be able to piece together lost concert footage with the concert footage that was already in the film and show us a good portion of both shows with all protest and riot footage cut out but I guess that they couldn't find enough lost footage to pull that off. So should you buy this? If you're a Hendrix fan I think that you should because what you do get are extra peeks into certain performances that fans were deprived of seeing for a loooooong time. Plus I assume that they did the best that they could to piece together the existing footage with the lost footage they had.

P.S. The 2nd set audio does sound better.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY JIMI PLAYS BERKLEY ON DVD November 5, 2003

By Luke H.

Format:DVD

This DVD is a favorite not just to me but alot of people out there Hendrix fans mostly. I ordered this DVD from amazon and recieved it a few days latter. I loved the DVD I mean of course it was just like the orginal JIMI PLAYS BERKLEY but the sound quality was unbelieveable. JIMI PLAYS BERKLEY was never released on DVD until now the music is so vibrant this is a must have for you Hendrix fans (including me). The bonus features are all audio but the thing that brings this DVD to 5 stars is not just the music but The booklet which gives you an inside on the filmmakers and the story behind JIMI PLAYS BERKLEY +plus very rare photos in the booklet hope you enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!