Product Details

• Actors: Thomas Arnold, Karl Bartos, Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Klaus Schulze
• Producers: Rob Johnstone
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Stereo)
• Subtitles: None
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Video Music, Inc.
• DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001BTOE0Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,791 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

KRAFTWERK AND THE ELECTRONIC REVOLUTI - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a bit too broad, but I liked it, September 7, 2008

By 

Craig S. Thom (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (DVD)

This documentary attempts to cover the rise of German electronic and experimental music from the 1960s, centered on Kraftwerk. There are perhaps two documentaries here: one an overview of the career of Kraftwerk, and the other the development of native German music. I found the latter more interesting, but I enjoyed it all.

If your interest is just in Kraftwerk, you may not get enough out of this to justify the time. If you are mostly unfamiliar with German music from the '60s, picking it up, as I did, with Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream and Neu! in the '70s, then you may find the first hour as interesting as I did.

It's definitely worth the money, and it's on DVD, so you don't have to watch it all at once.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-have for any serious fan of Kraftwerk (and of electronic music), January 17, 2009

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (DVD)

I have to admit that I am a HUGE Kraftwerk fan, and when I fell on this, I just knew I had to get it. The goal of this 3 hour documentary is not simply to tell the story of just Kraftwerk, but also of the German music scene in the 60s and 70s, the Berlin vs. Dusseldorf schools of music, etc. The first hour or so brings a lot of attention to the so-called Krautrock acts like Amon Duul, Can, and Neu!, but also electronic avant-garde bands like Harmonia, Cluster, etc. Incredibly Klaus Schulze, one of my favorite electronic music artists, is interviewed extensively as well.

The second half of the documentary is more focused on Kraftwerk's career, from the first three (and later disavowed) albums on to the mainstream success that "Autobahn" was, and so on. Karl Bartos, member of Kraftwerk from 1975 to 1990, is also interviewed extensively, and not surprisingly has the most interesting insight and stories of anyone interviewed. Towards the end of the documentary, attention is given to the lasting legacy of Kraftwerk, from the influence on Brian Eno and David Bowie, to the disco scene and Giorgio Moroder (who of course recorded in Germany), to acts like the Human League (thumbs up from Bartos) and Gary Numan (thumbs down from Bartos, dismissing Numan as a 'parody'). And on and on. The 3 hours just flew by to be honest. Be aware, this is NOT a Kraftwerk concert movie (for that, check out the "Minimum Maximum" DVD) or even biography. Instead, this should be seen as nothing more (or less) than a history lesson on a particular slice of music history, which I happen to find fascinating.

There are a couple of extras on the DVD: a 10 min. further look into the Berlin vs. Dusseldorf schools of music, another 10 min. of the Karl Bartos interview, which I wish they would just give us in its entirety, and a bio on all of the people who were interviewed for the documentary, which is actually quite helpful. If you are a serious Kraftwerk fan, you will not want to miss this, period.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should really have been called from Krautrock to Kraftwerk..., November 27, 2009

By 

J Warden (Des Moines, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (DVD)

First of all, I loved this movie. Then again, I am very much into the Krautrock scene that Kraftwerk sprang from and found that very fascinating. The first hour of this movie is not really concentrated on Kraftwerk, but on how electronic music and Krautrock - anti-popular, avant-garde "rock" - came from Germany, and how it developed on different levels (academic, cultural, and 'normal' music channels) I think most Kraftwerk fans will be interested but if you're thinking "I don't give a damn about Popul Vuh, tell me about Kraftwerk" you will find it VERY boring. The filmmakers I think did Kraftwerk a great service by this, however, because they show that while Kraftwerk were amazingly innovative and fresh their cultural context was not a vacuum, however it seemed to the West when "Autobahn" was a hit. All that said, all the popular Kraftwerk stuff from Autobahn on was dealt with as well as can be expected with no big surprises to uncover. When specific pieces of equipment were discussed, I found that fascinating, but the obligatory talking heads ("Krautrock expert", "Music Reviewer") discussing records got a little bland. All the discussions by the actual musicians in the Krautrock scene (and 1 former Kraftwerk member, a coup I imagine for the film makers) were great.
The post-Kraftwerk explosion and influence I thought would be uninteresting but it was actually very watchable and engaging - starting with the drum machines on Donna Summer's hit, to Bowie's experiments in Berlin, and then to 80's pop music.
I have one tiny thing to complain about, and that's with all the talk about some great and obscure Krautrock artists, why did Faust get shafted? FAUST!?!? Only mentioned once, in passing? Maybe they weren't "typical" Krautrockers but as the movie showed, there were only a few threads linking all the Krautrock bands together and they weren't musical as much as they were conceptual......anyway, yeah, good movie!