It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

OK, there's no denying this documentary does a good job of capturing the spirit of the time in which the festival occurred--we get plenty of interviews with scraggly hippies in the crowd voicing their opinions about how the concert should be free to the people and how their love for the music is being exploited by The Man--yet when it comes to respectfully showcasing that very music what do we end up with? Abbreviated, often truncated versions of timeless, classic performances that I'm positive was the reason the majority of the buyers of this DVD purchased the disc in the first place.From a bit of research, it appears this first turned up on VHS tape back in the mid-90's so its two hour length makes sense when considering the limitations of that medium (a two-hour, SP speed videotape was considered about the maximum length to get good video/audio reproduction without causing undue stress on the tape). However, when it came time to put this on DVD, it seems there was no extra effort to put out a proper release of this event, one that should have necessitated at the very least restoring the FULL-LENGTH versions of the majority of songs that appear in this movie. With all the great musical performers at this show, there is definitely a guaranteed market to return this minor investment and probably negate the very criticisms that I'm mentioning here.Not only that, but the DVD is two-sided with each side only running an hour in length. Um, wtf? Why double-side it when a single side of a DVD can easily hold 2 hours worth of material? I know this DVD has been marked-down for sale at under $10 at most sites, so it's not a tremendous burden to purchase if you absolutely must obtain it, but still it's sad the missed opportunity they had here to release something that could have joined Gimme Shelter and Woodstock as a great document of a key musical and cultural event that was presented with the best modern technology can offer.To quote the very words that someone voices during the film, "we blew it."

Rory Gallagher & Taste - raw energy and talent - stole the Isle of Wight festival. They had 3 or 4 encores. Fusion of jazz and blues. Rory mixed all genres of blues - from acoustic, Mississippi Delta, Chicago.He combined a guitar style with his singing - that made the guitar sound like an extension of his voice. Wailing away.Eric Clapton was like a sheep in comparison to this Celtic tiger.Some songs include: Bullfrog blues, Used to be, Cant believe its true. For the last time. Sinnerboy. Messin with the kid, What in the world.Hes played with the greats - including Jack Bruce in Rockpalast concerts. Playing with Muddy Waters in London was the highlight of his career.

If you're hesitating about seeing this, then stop, decide you're going to, and seek out this movie record of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The roll call of acts is breathtaking: top of the tree we have The Who, The Doors, and Hendrix, then we have Jethro Tull, Leonard Cohen, Ten Years After, Free, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Taste, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, and, er, Tiny Tim. Otherwise we see something of the atmosphere of the festival away from the main stages, focusing on the attendees and the organisers, and this is also interesting. But it is the music which draws you, with fantastic sound recording and up close filming of these wonderful acts. So many of these people have passed on during the 1970s, 80s, 90s: so good to have a permanent record on film of their work. Is it a better film than 'Woodstock'? It's a close call.

This is a good rockumentary. It pretty much captured the events surrounding the last great pop festival of the 1960 era (even though it took place in 1970). It pretty much showed how greed and a more commercial element began to creep in on the rock and roll and how it was beginning to lose its innocence, much like it did at Altamont the previous December. He even shows how many artists were beginning to suffer burn out, as was the case with Jimi Hendrix, who unknown to everyone was making his last major concert appearance in England. Unfortunately, a few weeks later he would die from barbituate intoxication. However, the only complaint I have about the film is that Murray Lerner tended to not to show all the songs as they were performed in their entirety. For example, only the last three minutes of Ten Years After's performance of the song "I Can't Keep From Crying" is shown. On the compact disc of the festival, the song is featured in it's full-length. Another, example is how he seemed to cut the Free classic "All Right Now" to ribbons. This is very annoying for a person who was a huge fan of the song. This also can be seen with Emerson, Lake and Palmer's performance of "Rondo". But even with all its flaws it is a good film.