Wonderful character development!

Overrated

A different way of telling a story

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Rockshow (1980) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The title to this concert film is quite fitting as it covers the 1976 U.S. tour by Paul McCartney and Wings. I've seen countless shows of The Beatles as well as McCartney solo but this was the first time I had ever seen a complete (or near complete) show by Wings. I wasn't really sure what to expect especially since I've read some negative things about this film but for the most part I thought the documentary was highly entertaining and the concert was great. I've read a few people complain about the actual look of the concert and while it isn't nearly as well filmed as shows today, for its time the thing still looks pretty good. If you watch many concert films recorded from this era they pretty much look like this. With that out of the way, the music is what's really important and we've got some major winners here. The entire concert is a blast with many great hits, some lesser known tunes and everything from loud rock to some quieter ballads. The best way to see this film is in its uncut, 139-minute glory, which was remastered and re-released in 2013. This includes several great songs that were missing from the previous theatrical version including a wonderful and touching version of "Blackbird." Other great tunes include "Maybe I'm Amazed," "Let Me Roll It," "My Love," "Silly Love Songs" and the rocking "Band on the Run," which has quickly become my favorite song from McCartney. McCartney and the band show a lot of energy throughout the show and I especially liked the softer, acoustic side.

Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles band, Wings, embarked on a massive world tour (Wings Over The World) in 1975/6 - probably the first of its kind. It ended up at Wembley Arena (aka the Empire Pool) in late 1976, and made its way onto record as Wings Over America that Christmas.Rock Show is the theatrical movie edited from the footage of the Seattle concert from that tour, dropping about 10 songs from the 30 or so in the full show. It should not be confused with the hour-long TV documentary called Wings Over The World.This show, well filmed and brilliantly performed and recorded, features the classic Wings of Venus And Mars and Speed Of Sound, and is probably the best filmed record of Paul McCartney at the height of his performing abilities.Edited to add:15 May 2013Having just watched the 2013 restoration edition, this is the first time I have seen Rockshow at the cinema. Restored and remastered, the missing songs have been restored and they are just as good as the rest. My videotape copy was 4:3 aspect ratio, so it was pleasing to see it for the first time in 1.85:1. The sound was excellent - crystal clear, even if sometimes the mix lost parts of the sound (it was a little too toppy for my taste).Two criticisms: one, some of the camera-work was out of focus (not much you can do about that!) and, two, only the audience was in stereo at my showing: the music was a single sound source from the screen. I don't know what they will have done for the Blu-ray.

...at a theatre--but not a movie theatre. For some reason this played at a huge concert hall in Boston for one week only. I was a little disappointed by it.I mostly loved it. Paul McCartney and Wings were a great group and (I heard) always put a good show on. McCartney is always full of energy and charisma and it shows in this movie. Also the sound, where I saw it, was fantastic. They had TWENTY speakers set up so it was VERY loud but clear. Still, I can only give the movie a 7. Why? It was horribly directed. Half the time it was filmed too far away and during "Live and Let Die" (with strobe lights) I couldn't tell what was going on. There's also no directoral credits which should tell you something. Also the film was very grainy--they seem to have spent most of the money on the sound recording.So, it is worth seeing if you're a Wings fan. Otherwise you might not like it.

This video has been out of print for over 10 years. It shows up from time to time at Beatles trade shows and can be found in older video rental stores. Hopefully this will be remastered for DVD someday and include extra moments from this 1976 Seattle show, such as Ringo Starr greeting Paul on stage after the encore.My videotape leaves out several songs present on the complete Wings Over America cd. This is odd because there is a trailer at the end of the tape that includes "Lady Madonna," which was cut from the 1981 Thorn/EMI release, which I believe is the last commercial release of this video. A few years ago VH-1 aired the show in its entirety the week "Flaming Pie" was released. Sir Paul has gone back and remastered a few Wings cds in the new 5 channel stereo format, so hopefully this will finally become available again. In the meantime, try to find the double cd "Wings Over America," which is also out of print but not hard to find.