Product Details

• Actors: The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Santana
• Directors: Michael Wadleigh
• Format: AC-3, Director's Cut, Dolby, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Restored, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 3, 2010
• Run Time: 225 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002CSC5EC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,453 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #54 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Documentary
  • #61 in Movies & TV > Blu-ray > Music Videos & Concerts
• For more information about "Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music (40th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The three-day Woodstock music festival in 1969 was the pivotal event of the 1960s peace movement, and this landmark concert film is the definitive record of that milestone of rock & roll history. It's more than a chronicle of the hippie movement, however; this is a film of genuine historical and social importance, capturing the spirit of America in transition, when the Vietnam War was at its peak and antiwar protest was fully expressed through the liberating music of the time. With a brilliant crew at his disposal (including a young editor named Martin Scorsese), director Michael Wadleigh worked with over 300 hours of footage to create his original 225-minute director's cut, which was cut by 40 minutes for the film's release in 1970. Eight previously edited segments were restored in 1994, and the original director's cut of Woodstock is now the version most commonly available on videotape and DVD. The film deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and it's still a stunning achievement. Abundant footage taken among the massive crowd ("half a million strong") expresses the human heart of the event, from skinny-dipping hippies to accidental overdoses, to unpredictable weather, midconcert childbirth, and the thoughtful (or just plain rambling) reflections of the festive participants. Then, of course, there is the music--a nonstop parade of rock & roll from the greatest performers of the period, including Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Canned Heat, The Who, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Sly & The Family Stone, Santana, and many more. Watching this ambitious film, as the saying goes, is the next best thing to being there--it's a time-travel journey to that once-in-a-lifetime event. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
1969 was a year unlike any other. Man first set foot on the moon. The New York Mets won the World Series against all odds. And for three days in the rural town of Bethel, New York, half a million people experienced the single most defining moment of their generation; a concert unprecedented in scope and influence, a coming together of people from all walks of life with a single common goal: Peace and music. They called it Woodstock. One year later, a landmark Oscar®-winning documentary captured the essence of the music, the electricity of the performances, and the experience of those who lived it. Newly remastered, the film features legendary performances by 17 best selling artists. Bonus content includes: • NEW retrospective The Museum at Bethel Woods: The Story of the Sixties & Woodstock.

Stills from Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music Director's Cut

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 08/03/2010 Run time: 225 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money., July 8, 2009

By 

J. Garaguso "progressive sounds" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music (Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Director's Cut) (DVD)

I also have this movie in it's many various incarnations. The Blu Ray 40th Anniversary, the original VHS and DVD release, as well as the director's cut DVD. So I go and by this 40th Aniversary DVD for my office (which unfortunately does not have a Blu Ray player) specifically because I wanted the extra performances that are on the other 40th Anniversary discs. Creedance, Johnny Winter, The Who, Canned Heat, Airplane, etc. Wrong! Not here. Even the extra documentary footage that's on the other 40th Anniversary release of Wadleigh, Dale Bell, Scorsese and many others speaking on the events surrounding the filming of the movie is not here. Just some cheesy Story of the Sixties film. Totally dissapointed. What really made me angry is that there's no disclaimer stating that there's huge differences between this "40th Anniversary Edition" DVD and the others that are available. I just gave it away.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Seat in the House, October 28, 2001

By 

"pianogirl904" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woodstock - 3 Days of Peace & Music (The Director's Cut) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Having been born in 1980, I missed the original Woodstock concert by 11 years (plus about another 18 as that's probably how old I would have been to go to a concert like that). However, through my constant viewing of VH1's special, I have become a huge fan of the music of that era. While I love listening to the music of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and such, what I have always longed for is a chance to actually watch them perform. While seeing them perform live is highly unlikely (seeing as how Jimi and Janis have been dead for 30 years and JA did their big reunion a decade ago), watching this documentary is about the best chance I'm going to get. While I would have loved to have been there in person, one thing that I love about this movie is the view that you get. From seeing Ritchie Havens' foot tapping during "Freedom" to watching the expressions on the faces of JA's Grace Slick and Marty Balin as they traded leads on "Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon"), you definitely have the best seat in the house when you watch this movie. I watched the entire video in one sitting, glued to the t.v. the whole time (except when I got up to dance to Santana's "Soul Sacrifice"). From the interviews with the townspeople to the interviews with the hippies (my fav was the one with the stoned guy as he walked out of the Port-a-Sans) to the incredible music, I think this documentary captures the event very well. The only complaint that I have is not having more footage of the live performances. I would have loved to have seen Sweetwater at their best or Grace Slick belting out "Somebody to Love" or "White Rabbit". Maybe someday they'll release separate video versions of the individual sets played by the artists...that'd be awesome! In the meantime, buy and watch this video...you'll have a great time!!

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is amazing!, July 24, 2001

By 

Cathleen M. Walker "geminiwalker" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Woodstock - 3 Days of Peace & Music (The Director's Cut) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In a time when music videos have reached epic high-tech proportions twenty-four hours a day with the flick of a switch it was a delightful afternoon for me as I sat back to re-visit a piece of high-life history with the jaundiced eye of the political cynic. I loved this video. I loved the music. Indeed, I studied the undercurrent, with the interest of political science as I've been studying it, in hopes of gaining more insight, and I did. I also had fun, and I'm sure I will have fun every time I watch it. Why is it that everyone looks so YOUNG? (sigh) From Arlo Guthrie to Richie Havens to Joan Baez to Carlos Santana to Janis Joplin to Sly and the Family Stone ah, youth is wasted on the young! And the side interviews and shots of young people wading their way through the crowds, and the over riding theme of peace, love and anti-war...anti-capitalism as well, which more recent Woodstocks have not been able to copy. Woodstock I still has much to teach us, it's not just a walk down memory lane. If you do decide to pick this up, I can only hope you have as much fun with it as I am!