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Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, The Who, Crosby Stills & Nash, Jefferson Airplane ... see more see more... , Arlo Guthrie , Richie Havens , Jimi Hendrix , Carlos Santana , Sha Na Na , Ten Years After , Canned Heat , Country Joe and the Fish , Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , Johnny Winter , Bill Graham , Janis Joplin , Country Joe McDonald , Keith Moon , John Sebastian , Stephen Stills , Hugh Romney , Sly & the Family Stone , Joe Cocker and The Grease Band , Johnny Casino & the Sha-Na-Na , Alvin Lee , David Crosby , Grace Slick , Graham Nash , Jerry Garcia , John Entwistle

This iconic musical documentary covers the three-day 1969 music festival on the property of Max Yasger's farm that symbolized the late 1960s in terms of musical, social and political ideology of the e... read more read more...ra. American audiences are introduced to Ten Years After, featuring guitar great Alvin Lee. Jimi Hendix, The Who and Joe Cocker give riveting performances. As naked flower children romp, the New York freeway is closed because of traffic congestion. Music lovers leave their cars and travel on foot only survive torrential downpours of rain, food shortages and non-stop music. Jefferson Airplane gives the wake up call with their song "Volunteers Of America." Crosby, Stills and Nash deliver a memorable performance. John Sebastian gives an impromptu set with a borrowed guitar from Tim Hardin. Santana, Sly and The Family Stone, Sha-Na-Na, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens and Joan Baez also appear. The movie did big box office business and a successful three record set sold millions of copies. The Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin performed but were not shown in the film. The Dead's Jerry Garcia recalled that it was the worst live show the band ever did, ironic for a band known for their spirited live performances. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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90% liked it

8,564 ratings

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100% liked it

20 critics

R, 3 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Michael Wadleigh

Release Date: March 26, 1970

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DVD Release Date: September 25, 1997

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Flixster Reviews (680)

  • fb619846742
    April 9, 2012
    fb619846742
    A beautiful, transcendent, enormously important film about music, culture, passion, and people, and how for three days in 1969 more than 500,000 people came together to celebrate music and each other in the prime days of the hippie age. Director Michael Wadleigh has compiled some... read more of the most layered, genuinely powerful music from the age in which music mattered (unlike today's generation which is buried by artists who exemplify misogynistic, narcissistic, and selfish traits), and when a group of people this large felt like family. This movie has a "Dazed and Confused" sort of feel to it in the sense that you feel like you are part of this crowd, watching Jimi Hendrix shred his guitar, or a heroin-addled Janis Joplin screech and holler as the crowd stands in awe of the kind of music that existed during these days. More importantly, this film serves as a unique time capsule that fully encompasses a culture paranoid about the Vietnam War and its affects, but still at ease with their lives and open to creating new friendships. One of the best documentaries ever made by far, and a film I will probably want to re-visit numerous times just so that I can wish my generation knows how far we have fallen in what is considered to be "good/great music".
  • theunknownhobo
    January 20, 2011
    theunknownhobo
    I could literally watch this movie every day and it is not just for the music. The actual documentary, that I think a lot of pretentious viewers over look, is a stunning gaze into the eyes of the generations that have passed us and given today so much of what makes it good in mus... read moreic, morals and peace. I am a giant fan of most of the musicians that do play magnificently through out but more to the point I am a fan of the people who were truly real, before television turned us into retards. I feel this movie should be seen more as a documentary of American culture and that of the time, rather than being tarred with a narrow minded brush of music movie.
  • ajv2688
    December 13, 2010
    ajv2688
    This is actual footage from Woodstock, if you love 60s rock and roll or just want to know what it was like to be there, this is the movie for you. It's really very interesting, I highly recommend it.
  • hobster1
    September 14, 2009
    hobster1
    Sprawling, historically significant documentary about the concert that occurred on Max Yasgur's farm at Bethel, New York in August 1969. This chronicle does more to explain the 60s counterculture than perhaps any other record. Using split-screen techniques, director Michael Wad... read moreleigh, shows us performances, mixed with interviews of both the artists and attendees. The many logistical problems that occurred in putting on this show are ignored in favor of presenting an idyllic view of "3 Days of Peace & Music". Not particularly honest, but consistently entertaining, nonetheless.
  • stormyweather980
    August 15, 2009
    stormyweather980
    I didn't think I'd like this movie nearly as much as I did. The concert performances are good, even from the artists I'm not wild about, but to me what makes this movie excellent isn't that but just how free everybody seems. Makes me wish I would've been alive and couldn't been t... read morehere at Woodstock! Probably the best documentary I've ever seen yet.
  • binky013
    December 30, 2008
    binky013
    Still one of the best music documentaries ever made. Maybe the greatest assembly of musical talent ever assembled for a concert. So many great musicians who died before their time. Martin Scorsese cut his teeth as a music documentary editor and assistant director on this baby.... read more Jimi Hendrix is the guitar maestro of all time; he still mesmerizes me every time I see him. Wish I could have experienced him live . . .
  • Chiefilms
    March 7, 2008
    Chiefilms
    Probably one of the best documentaries ever, one could argue that the film needed more live music but the performances they do show are amazing.
  • Ivan6655321
    April 26, 2012
    Ivan6655321
    "3 days of peace and music". This has been the phrase that has been most associated with the monumental music event that is "Woodstock". But this documentary film itself, aside from being able to highlight just that in an epic (it runs for a staggering 3 hours and 50 minutes) and... read more almost hypnotic kind of way, is a definitive benchmark in documentary filmmaking.

    Today, it can be particularly debated that what happened in "Woodstock" is but a niche manifestation of an obscure state of mind not representative of what America really was at the time. There's also some who may argue that the far out, violence-free miracle that has occurred at that vast dairy farm at Bethel, New York is merely a temporary illusion of transcendental happiness completely demystified by what happened at Altamont Speedway (see "Gimme Shelter") when the Rolling Stones held a free concert there less than four months later; a tragically sobering event (one homicide and 3 other deaths) that is commonly regarded as the "Anti-Woodstock".

    But still, after more than 40 years since the figurative birth of this 'hippie' counterculture generation at this legendary music festival, "Woodstock" the documentary is truly potent and also often times genuinely powerful and moving in its truly flawless documentation of both a fragment of social history and a particular highlight not just of pot-induced rock and roll but the unparalleled sway of music in general.

    Director Michael Wadleigh, supported in editing and directing by the likes of Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese (both were then-unknown), who painstakingly covered the whole festival with an unbounded passion and goal to cinematically present and capture "Woodstock" not simply as one of those rock concert documentaries that usually come and go but as a simulated experience of what it could have been to walk through mud and smoke some weed at the time, has pulled off the nearly impossible by way of how he has put this massive Aquarian assemblage into a cohesive cinematic whole without sacrificing the minute details of almost everything that has happened there. So, although "Woodstock" the documentary is a solidly realistic time capsule of a film that has finely preserved the era itself, it has also transformed, after all these years, into a timeless film that is as much a thing of envy for free willing, flower-minded folks today as much as it is a perfectly documented curiosity piece for present social scientists.

    But aside from being limited into what it merely is (a documentary film), what this documentary can be specifically proud of aside from the very content itself is its utter display of great cinematography and skillful editing. Jumping back and forth between simple interview footages and complex multi-image coverage of every musical performances ranging from that of Richie Havens' to that of Janis Joplin's and Jimi Hendrix's (all spine-chillingly great performances, mind you) that seemingly converge in a trance-inducing visual feast, the film, as it progresses, slowly changes form from being your usual documentary feature into a full-fledged experience; from your usual cinematic collage into a kaleidoscopic wonderland.

    As equally fascinating as the musical performances themselves are the slices of existence during the 3-day event that were finely captured by Wadleigh and company's ever-observant lenses with poignant subtlety, which is what makes it a documentary film that is on the league of its own. Just like the great "Gimme Shelter", "Woodstock" is also devoid of any post-production voice-overs or narrations that may simply render the whole film as thematically contrived and emotionally artificial. Instead, the film lets the whole event and all the people speak for themselves in a quasi-surrealistic presentation of images and music that has been masterfully put together to create a potent statement on its own with little to no spoken words.

    Commonly branded as the definitive rock concert documentary, I think it's much more than that. For many people including myself, "Woodstock" is not just a simple music festival. Boundless in its audacity and rich in love, it is a cultural revolution that has thankfully found its place in the annals of socio-cultural history, much the same way as how this film has deservedly found where it truly belongs: in the shortlist of the most important documentary films ever made.
  • littlecharmer1959
    September 13, 2009
    littlecharmer1959
    An epic documentary, not just of the musical acts and the festival itself, but as a snapshot of the time. Top class performances with equally fascinating interviews and crowd shots. A wonderful look at a very special moment in history. Favourite performances would be Joan Baez, J... read moreefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Country Joe ("One, two, three, what are we fighting for?") and of course Jimi Hendrix
  • Dracula787
    June 14, 2009
    Dracula787
    This legendary documentary about the legendary concert manages to live up to an almost impossible challenge: being able to encompass a three day long event that has been built up far beyond what it probably actually was. The film runs well over three hours and features one or tw... read moreo songs from most of the most memorable acts that were there that day. Ultimately though it, isn?t really the music that?s most memorable but the documentary material about the hippies in the mud and the townsfolk reacting to it all. I don?t really have many complaints except that the quality of the music does very a lot and I also wasn?t much impressed by all the split screen, I liked the solid images a lot better than the divided footage.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Few documentaries have captured a time and place more completely, poignantly, and for that matter, entertainingly. Full Review

Donald J. Levit
February 16, 2012
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Those who do appear are good, with some for the ages. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
June 17, 2009
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

A seminal docu on any number of levels, musically, sociologically, and historically, Woodstock is a unique chronicle, at once summing up the zeitgeist and signaling the end of an era; for once Oscar v... Full Review

Phil Hall
June 11, 2009
Phil Hall, EDGE Boston

A funky curio that defines the mood and spirit of its time, but which seems dated in many good and bad ways. Full Review

John J. Puccio
June 6, 2009
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

If the film isn't the best rock documentary of the best rock concert of all time, it will do until something better comes along. Full Review

Pete Croatto
April 10, 2009
Pete Croatto, Filmcritic.com

a dazzling reminder of a simpler, younger time and the brief promise it attained. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
November 9, 2005
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Everyone is there, from Wavy Gravy to Janis. Full Review

Steve Crum
October 23, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Wonderful document of its era; music reigns supreme still

Jon Niccum
July 11, 2003
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

A fascinating time capsule

Chuck Rudolph
July 25, 2002
Chuck Rudolph, Matinee Magazine

Sprawling and overlong, it's nonetheless a valuable time capsule. You get the impression nothing could take the place of being there to witness the legendary event firsthand.

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