Customer Reviews

Jimi Hendrix - The Uncut Story

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

35 bucks for a 3 hour documentary! Please. Some good stuff though, esp. when the family talks about the insight to some Hendrix lyrics. I never heard that before. It is unauthorized so of course it doesnt have any Hendrix music. Buy it used, I would have added two stars if they sold it for 20 dollars because it goes into a lot of detail and has some great intervieews and was overall a good production.

I think that you can fit more than 50 minutes on one DVD these days. They trick you into paying $35 by putting this documentary on 3 DVDs like you're getting more.

Wait for it to come out on TV, which wont be long. Try to see it though if you like Hendrix though because it's a very comprehensive look into his life and even though it was obviously low budget, another reason not to pay 35 dollars, it covers a lot with great detail and was very ambitious. Great interviews from family and girlfriends, musicians, producers, and even Jimi's old football coac)and you get a lot of perspective into Hendrix as an artist and as a person. The people that made it were obviously big fans. But its not something you'd see more than once which makes it not worth the price.

Chances are that you're already a fan of Jimi if you're considering buying this. You'll probably already know when he was born, that he moved to England and that he is dead. Somehow or other this DVD manages to stretch that information into 3 hours! Don't be bamboozled by the fact that there are 3 DVD's in this set, each DVD is only 1 hour long? There is no footage of Jimi in concert or anything of interest musically. I don't understand why they didn't just put all the documentary on one DVD and had a second DVD with him in concert with the Experience and the 3rd DVD with the Band of Gypsy's...now that would be worth buying......this just isn't.

I am giving the documentary 3 stars because there is some good interviews and tells the story of Jimi Hendrix with a lot of detail. It was well put together by the film makers. But at the same time I am taking a star away for making a Hendrix documentary without Hendrix music and another star for charging so much for a documentary that is not much longer than a regualar movie. I agree with the other reviews that it is definitely worthwhile for a documentary and as far as documentaries it is one of the better docuemntaries about a musician that I have ever seen, but c'mon a Hendrix documentary without the music.

Yes it is overpriced, but there are some interesting tidbits on this documentary. I like the music too and hear a lot of people complaining about no music...well, hell, go buy the great music dvds available and quit whining just because you don't like documentaries that much (that shows in some of the ratings, for real). I found the first disk of the three the most interesting, though all three had something to offer. I do think it could have been put on one disk that said part 1, part 2, and part 3.

I was pleased with many of the people who were commenting. The real Hendrix family and people like guitarist John McLaughlin. Someone said it was subjective. I would tell that person that his/hers memories on someone are also subjective. I would also say that most of history is subjective in some way or another. The documentary is not a science as far as I know, so words like subjective should be tossed out on this type of review.

Jimi Hendrix: An Illustrated ExperienceFinally, I sure am glad that Janie wasn't involved with this project and I still don't know why the judge ruled in her favor. If I'm not mistaken, she wasn't even born when Jimi died. Leon, his aunt (who was wonderful in this documentary), and his other blood relatives were involved. Who better to tell a story than those that lived with Jimi or spent time in the studio with him? (and gosh...now Janie has "co-authored" a book about Jimi...talk about subjective and biased...I sure wouldn't pay $45 for it and her having signed some copies is sure no incentive. Who is she and what has she done other than rip off the real Hendrix family and people that performed with Jimi?)

First, don't buy it. You can search and find free downloads on the net. This is a pretty good documentary. My main problem is the fact that the people being interviewed were not identified. Sure you can tell if it's Pete Townshend or Jeff Beck or Chas Chandler. But some of Jimi's old friends or family members, you have no clue. You have to guess who it is. Same with some of the critics interviewed.

Yes, it would have been nice to have his music and concert footage included, but you can blame the so-called Hendrix estate for that. Jimi would be appalled if he knew his music was controlled by people not even related to him such as his "sister" by marriage. What a joke. His brother is the true heir.

I was really surprised to see lack of stellar reviews for this video. I guess not having the endorsement of Experience Hendrix Foundation really does carry a lot of weight. This is by far the most complete and insightful Hendrix documentary I have ever seen. The Experience Hendrix Foundation did not support this documentary so they did not allow his actual music to be a part of this feature. That is a real shame. Many close friends and relatives are interviewed in this film. I found the words of his brother especially insightful when he talks about growing up with Jimi and gives his interpretations to the lyrics of some of Jimi's most heartfelt songs. Not all of Jimi's family life was positive and many details the family would not like to talk about are presented in this documentary. It is no surprise they would not endorse his. At the same time, it comes off as fair and honest and much of the testimony comes from family themselves. I learned more about Hendrix's childhood here than I did from 2 books: 'Scuse Me While I kiss the Sky or Krammer's Experience Hendrix. The evils of Jeffreys is well documented here as well. A very comprehensive narrative of his life as traveling rock star worked to death is given incorporating facts, events or stories I have heard scattered across other sources. Again, I learned a lot of new stuff as well. I give this 5 stars because it is the most complete Hendrix documentary so far. A lot of previous characters from the other documentaries make appearances here but there are a lot of new people as well. Production-wise, these videos are straightforward and would not be fit to air on MTV or cater to attention deficit. These videos are meant to inform and not entertain. I guess this could be another reason for the low ratings. Whatever, I just write this to let you know that this is a must for real Hendrix fans.

As stated many times by others, there is no Hendrix music on this documentary. All the footage and photos of Jimi have been used many times before. There's only a few minutes of actual Hendrix interviews in the entire set. There's nothing to identify who's being interviewed till the last segment. Luckily I knew or was able to figure out most of them, but that showed a distinct lack of professionalism on the part of the film makers. The script leaves alot of false impressions, too. Jimi only had a few friends in Harlem. He only played the Apollo in a talent contest. He was not considered hip uptown. That's why he went to the Village. There were other gaps and omissions in the narration that seem strange in a documentary of this length.

On the plus side, there are some wonderful interviews with family members and friends, and I wish they'd added more from these people. We get to hear from Jimi's brother Leon, his aunt, cousin, childhood friends, football coach etc. Fantastic stuff, and more than worth the low price this set is currently selling for. We also get some great input from Jimi's girl friend Kathy Etchingham, numerous friends, fellow musicians (I thought Juma Sultan in particular made some very insightful comments), engineers Eddie Kramer and Andy Johns, etc. It's great to hear from these people (and there's a lot of them). The quality of these interviews are why I still gave this four stars. They make up for the obvious weaknesses.

To me, this is an essential addition to any Hendrix fan's collection, and as pointed out by another reviewer, if you want concert footage, there are several good DVDs available.

These people are crazy. This is a 5 star production. I have seen it a few times and am buying it to watch it yet more. Awesome Hendrix documentary of his life and his music. Great buy!!!

I just watched this 3 dvd set. It isn't as bad as some reviewers have stated. I am a huge JIMI fan and have seen all of the dvd's out there about him and this one is very interesting. While there is no music from Jimi in it, the background music is very Hendrix like. They don't show any complete performances but there are rare clips of Jimi played throughout the dvd's and many rare photos shown.It has a lot of good interviews with Jimi's friends and relatives.It is really worth getting for the less than $10 price.