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

At first sight and after reading the press release I was disappointed with this commemorative box set. On a second thought when I bought the DVD I changed my mind but I still think that the ultimate release of the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair is yet to be done, period.Woodstock Music and Arts Fair (1969) along with Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Atlanta Pop Festival (1970), and Isle of Wight (1970) are the only festivals of the sixties and early seventies that were properly recorded both on audio and video formats. Nevertheless it has been more recently that parts of the recorded material has been released after being stored for almost 40 years, while another bunch still remains unreleased.Woodstock is not only one of the best known festivals of all the times, but it is also the most complete testify of the summer of 1969 festivals in USA: Newport 69 (June 20 - 22), Newport Jazz Festival (July 3 - 6), Newport Folk Festival (July 16 - 20,), Atlanta International Pop Festival (August 1 - 3), and Texas International Pop Festival (August 30 - September 1). Almost all the music performed at Woodstock was carefully recorded (hello Eddie Kramer) and filmed (when rain and humidity allowed to), something that didn't happen with the other 1969 festivals (maybe "Got no Shoes Got no Blues" film for the Texas Festival but this one is of an inferior quality).I have reviewed previous re-releases of this film and its soundtrack and most of my comments refers to the music, the missing artists, the wrong order of featuring (with no indication of which day actually is) and cut short performances. I do understand the amazing work done over the film and it really deserves the prizes and recognitions won over the past, but I think it's time to go a step ahead and dust off the unique material stored for 40 years (D. A. Pennebaker did something about it with the Woodstock Diary DVD set).I think it's really a shame that Warner Home Video had lost the chance to do a definitive edition of the festival. It should have been a fantastic opportunity to have included long forgotten artists and to expand even more those already known performances, even though there is a large quantity of officially filmed material that still remains unreleased and it has only been partially available as bootleg videos. By the way you need more than a source to get all the video music available (Woodstock Film in all its incarnations including this box set, Woodstock Diary, Woodstock Lost Performances).There are artists not included in any of the releases of the festival: Sweetwater, Quill (just seconds of film on Woodstock Diary), Incredible String Band (same quote as for Quill), Ravi Shankar (same quote as for Quill) and Keef Hartley Band.Also there are artists with very well known extra material officially filmed not included in this box set: Richie Havens (3 extra songs, 2 of which are in Lost Performances), Country Joe (complete performance), John Sebastian (1 song), Swami Satchidananda speech, Arlo Guthrie (2 songs), Blood Sweat and Tears (4 songs one of which is available on Lost Performances), Janis Joplin, Credence Clearwater Revival (2 extra songs), Grateful Dead, The Who (the band has included various portions of their performance on The Kids are Alright DVD), Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1 song), Crosby Stills Nash & Young (at least 1 song with Young actually performing). These performances are one of a kind and the best recorded examples of the 1969 summer festivals in USAThe Box Set:- Amazon -exclusive bonus DVD: All of them are never before released. Perfect live performance by Grateful Dead (I have the same performance on an "alternative" release but this one is amazing). Same goes for J Airplane and this is completely new for me and it seems that all their performance is finally released on video (I miss a couple of songs one of which is Plastic Fantastic Lover). Country Joe & The Fish looks fine in the dangerously wet stage. The featurettes are really interest but too brief in my opinion since they are from the people that actually made the festival.-Woodstock: Untold Stories: All performances are amazing and worth to be seen, most of them are unreleased (40 years on the shelves!!) and a "must-have" to anyone interested in rock / blues music. Joan Baez is great but I missed the songs available on Woodstock Diary. Country Joe is fully filmed and same quality (I got the video!). Santana looks great and sounds incredible (I can't believe that only two numbers were filmed, I think the whole set is filmed as it is the soundtrack). Canned Heat is pretty well covered since Going Up the Country is included on Lost Performances (a terrible quality image indeed) and Woodstock Boogie is the only number still unreleased in its full length. Mountain's "Southbound Train" is finally complete (edited version on Woodstock Diary). The Deads number is really an invaluable example of a 60's live performance of the band (All the boys are here, Pigpen, Jerry, Bobby, Billy, TC, Phil and Micky). Creedence is fine and resurfaces in all its form. The Who performance is a different matter since their portion shown on film has been always too abridged (on Woodstock Diary was added "My Generation"). They performed TOMMY!! and also Heaven or Hell. At least "We are not gonna take it" is finally included as during a long time its name was used for "Summertime Blues". J Airplane looks fantastic (Oh! that's Nicky Hopkins on Piano). J Cocker appears singing the same song performed the day before by Blood Sweat & Tears. Johnny Winter number is edited as it is shown on Woodstock Diary (drum beat and guitar slide introduction are missing - the song lasts actually 8+ minutes), Paul Butterfield is excellent.A special mention to The Who. They were one of the few British acts at Woodstock and Chip Monk introduction is very unusual and amazingly polite (Ladies and gentlemen please warmly show your appreciation for a band that came especially for this festival... a warmly welcome for The Who). Once again I think their whole performance is filmed and recorded (just take a look at "The Kids are alright DVD"). By the way there is a well known unreleased video (with time counter) of their set taken from the stage right camera that actually shows a handful of additional numbers, even Pete kicking the cameramen on stage and the seconds after the Abbie Hoffman incident (this same source was used for the additional Hendrix material included in the definitive edition of his performance).About the interviews they are very interesting for those people that are really into the history of the festival and all the 60's events. Great stories about filming, setting the Eclairs and getting the proper lights on the stage. I missed some people that must be in any Woodstock related project: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman (the pair that actually put the money), Arthur "Artie" Kornfeld, and John Morris.In all I recommend this box mainly for the extra material included which is really fabulous.Please note that Sony is currently releasing the complete sets on CD performed at Woodstock by J Winter, Santana, J Airplane, Sly and the Family Stone and Janis. Rhino is about to release a mamooth like compilation of chronological assembled set of performances including more than 30 previously unreleased material.

Back about 13 years ago, 2009 specifically, I spotted something in Best Buy that I really wanted but could not afford. It was a special, 3 disc blu-ray set of the 40th anniversary and Director's Cut of Woodstock- a movie I loved from the first time I saw it (it first came out in 1970, but I was only 13 and it was rated R, so I didn't get to see it until I was grown up and it was shown on HBO and Showtime every other week. Consequently, for quite some time I saw it every other week! And this was the regular (?) 3 hour version.At the time I saw the 3 disc version at Best Buy, I wanted it, badly, but couldn't afford it. If I recall correctly, it was somewhere in the range of $70. A few weeks ago, I thought about it for the first time in years and checked to see if it was available on Amazon. Not only was it available, it was priced at $17.99. 55% off Amazon's current price of $39.96 (a prime thing. I have been a prime member since they started the program. The postage savings alone pays for the membership and adding Prime Video for nuttin' and special sales prices are all gravy.)Needless to say, I ordered it last week and the package came yesterday. It was astonishing. The Director's Cut added several performances to the film, but the best of it was the two blu-ray disc's filled with something like six hours of extras including at least another 2 1/2 to 3 hours of performances not used in the film itself, with many performances by groups completely left out of the original film including the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Melanie Safka, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Johnny Winter, and Mountain. Plus more songs from many of the singers/bands in the movie, some tripling or quadrupling the time an act is represented.THE GRATEFUL DEAD: For those familiar with the Dead's live performances, it will come as no surprise that one of the songs presented with the extras is "Turn On Your Love Light", a song from 1961, originally recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland in 1961. Bland 's version ran 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The Dead's ran thirty-seven minutes and forty-seven seconds. If you are a Dead-Head, you need to see this. If you're not a Dead-Head, you still need to see it, because you will find out just what it is that causes the super-fans to become enraptured with Jerry Garcia and friends.

Wonderful blu ray video super clear and sharp. Great sound. This is like you are seeing it for the first time. Excellent value and a must have it you like the music of the period. Fast shipping no damage perfect.

My Husband was so excited to get this woodstock blu ray. It took him back in time.

Buyers should be aware that this German Blu-ray contains the Director's Cut only and no extras. There are no performances by some of the artists listed on the front sleeve. These can only be found on the 2-disc Blu-ray Collector's edition.

Surely this was filmed 100 years ago? It was certainly another world. The innocence and kindheartedness of nearly all the people in the film is what strikes this cynic the most.The promoters who accept they are going to "take a big bath" when they realise they have to take down the fences and make it a free concert for safety reasons.The landowner who can't believe the amount of people who have come to his farmThe locals (most of them anyway) cheerfully giving food and water to the kids and commenting about how respectful they areThe kids going to a music festival but for some reason expecting and getting so much more - and then queuing to phone home and tell the parents they're okay!The performers who knew something special was happening and did their bit to make history.At more than 3 hours the film could have seemed too long but it doesn't as the performances and interviews with concert-goers mix perfectly. There are few interviews with the performers as the director recognises it was really all about the kids.It would be interesting to see present day interviews with people in the film to see their current day view on what happened at Woodstock but in the meantime we can only enjoy this living piece of history.

You could divide this film into two stories in one. There is the live performances of the bands then the story of the people who attended, lived in the area and the people organising and running the festival .The band footage is very poor. In most cases the camera is in extreme close up of the singers face totally ignoring the other members of the band. It was enough to show however how shoddy many of the performances were.Then there was the camera and interviewer going out among the audience, to the fist aid tent, to the toilet block, to the local town. Watching the rain storm and the festival turning into a mud bath. The stage announcements. This is brilliant as it captures the mood of the event and a cross section of societies lifestyles and opinions. Pure gold.

I bought this as I saw the film ages ago, but didn't remember there being so many add ons with people being interviewed. All worth it to see Jimi Hendrix still at the end of the DVD and this time all of his playing is shown.Don't recall seeing Janis Joplin last time either, plus the Classic Country Joe MacDonald, Give me an F.Loved the second number by Jefferson Airplane with Nicky Hopkins on piano, very good blues song.Basically summed up by one of the spokes people, 'Three Days of Love and Music and nothing but Love and Music!'Well worth buying good nostalgia kick.

A mess, really. This iconic festival has been a subject for scrutiny ever since '69. There was obvious a lot of recording equipment there 'cos ever so many records and home movies has been released over the years. The format it was filmed in was 4:3, so when the picture in this DVD release appears as 16:9 it's just too bad. It has been chopped dramatically. Extremely annoying.