Customer Reviews

Live at Woodstock [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Blu-ray edition of Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock is basically the same version we got on the regular DVD. The big difference here is the picture, which is really nice all things considered. After all this was almost 40 years ago, and Jimi hit the stage early monday morning after most of the audience had gone home, and the film crew were obviously at the end of their rope. There are moments of brilliance interspersed with chaos; both musically, and for the film crew. Fortunately these moments usually happen together. The audio mix on this disc sounded more faithful to the performance. I'm able to hear Larry Lee's guitar work, which was a pleasant surprise. The picture quality allowed for a few discoveries. At the end of Red House you can see Jimi had broken a guitar string. I've seen this performance many times before but had never caught that. This new line-up was a departure for Hendrix. He expanded his sound with more instruments to explore new musical landscapes. He was also under a lot of pressure from his manager not to change the successful formula of The Experience, so this was a bold move by Jimi, and when it worked it was amazing. The historic significance of this performance is obvious, and I would highly recommend this blu-ray edition of Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock.

I already owned and enjoyed this program on the 2-DVD set, and since I got a Blu-Ray player earlier this year, I decided to buy the(now-deleted) Universal Music Blu-Ray edition, since it can now be had very cheaply, due to the rights changeover of the Hendrix catalogue and the BLu-Ray reissue via Sony Music. While the main program(1080i video with DTS-HD Master Audio) does have indeed have slightly better sound and picture than the DVD edition, I should note that the supplemental section "A Second Look"(a combination of crude black & white home video footage and alternate color film footage from the Warner Bros. film crew) actually looks much worse here than on the standard DVD, with a much smearier, choppier, shakier look on both vertical and horizontal movement. This affects both the B & W and color parts of "A Second Look". The Blu-Ray presents this supplemental program at 480p resolution which should have been identical in quality to the DVD, not markedly worse. I guess I'll hold onto my DVD edition, and watch the main program from the Blu-Ray disc, and watch "a Second Look" from the DVD edition. I suspect a Blu-Ray authoring defect. I don't know if this is corrected on the new Sony Blu-Ray edition.

If you want to pick up a deleted Universal Music edition cheaply, I would say go with the DVD edition. The authoring defect on Universal's Blu-Ray edition means that I can't recommend it wholeheartedly. Yes, the Blu-Ray's audio quality is better than the DVD, but even on the main program(mastered satisfactorily for this Blu-Ray disc), the picture is only a modest improvement over the DVD.

It's Jimi's representation at Woodstock... what else do you want ? The package is very nice... you have documentaries besides Jimi's concert... 5 stars for this blu ray disc... 100 stars for Jimi.

The best on this release is the sound , it is much better then on dvd.Why no 5 stars ?Because of the aspect-ratio , this is not made for 16/9 tv's.

Every musiclover must have this in his collection...

...Not Amazon.com. Everyone is aware of the infrequent negative experiences associated with online shopping. Pull your head out and quit skewing ratings for products that you haven't even received. Why is that so hard for people to understand?! By the way, I have rated this with 5 stars to correct your douchebaggery, and I have actually seen the product.

I had very high hopes for the Hendrix footage but was sadly disappointed in the quality of the video. It should not be called "bluray". It gives the buyer the idea like the resolution is 1080P. The video is grainy and pathetic. The content is great but the quality of the disc is pathetic. Don't buy this for a high quality video concert...you will be sadly disappointed. Buy it for content only.