Why so much hype?

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

First off, every rock fan must see this film. Other reviewers have touched on the important highlights. What strikes me, here in 2006, is that the film should also be seen by everyone attending the current U. N. conference in NYC. It is the perfect model of the eternal love/hate struggle between the entitled moral front and it's financial base. The promoters of this event seem earnest in their wish to put on a show for the the kids and ultimately have to get in bed with the financial world in order to do it. Otherwise, there would be no Happening. The kids, however, seem to feel that the show should be "on the dole" as some sort of socialist entitlement. A fine idea, except for the fact that The Queen doesn't sponsor Rock concerts. For that, you need Capitalist pigs. Rikki, the most innocent of the promoters, rants on about how the business people "only care about bread man." But, why shouldn't they? They are business people, not rock fans, and are doing what they do to feed their families, stay out of bankruptcy and only incidentally provide Art to the masses. Rikki learns the hard way that the rewards of good intentions are often poxed with hate and misunderstandings. He stands on the stage trying to reason with an unreasonable mass of stoned kids, looking like a Mother trying to tell her infant children to "p... in the toilet." Of course, the kids don't understand and seem to want Rikki's blood. They view him as the mouthpiece of the Capitalist pigs, when all Riki is trying to do, is to pay for the year he spent putting The Happening together. This was not to be. Rikki & Company wound up in Bankruptcy(the reason that the film wasn't released for 27 years), abandoned by the very kids he wished to identify with and undoubtedly, converted from a good intended kid into a total Capitalist pig himself. If Awareness and Tolerance were the goals of the sixties youth culture, then the Isle of Wight is a testament to the utter failure of that ideal. One can only hope that events of history are not lost on future generations. However, 36 years after 1970... just like 36 years before, Awareness and Tolerance still spring eternal/occasional and in 2006, the history books seem to be gathering more dust then ever. Maybe John Lennon should have sung "Imagine all the people, aware and accepting of the slings, arrows and virtues of both capitalism and socialism." But, that just doesn't roll off the lips as sweetly. Art can turn bitter without a hated, but essential financial plan, and vice versa. ...and the band played on.

For fans of the musical acts that performed at this one of a kind concert, Isle of Wight is a must-see look. The interview sections are not of the high quality of those of Woodstock where you might have taken away something from what was being said. Here it's mostly a lot of ultra-hippie types (one who apparently gave his 3 year old son acid and pot), as well as some British fellows who run the concert. These interviews are OK enough on their own, and maybe the biggest liability from Lerner on this end as well as the music is in the editing. It's only a 2 hour film, which regrettably (like Monterrey Pop) is way too short in viewing such a monumental moment (and fleeting one like Altamont) in such a short running time. Still, almost every musical act is worth checking out in their limited time frame, and a little extra sadness comes along in seeing that a few of these people didn't live long after the concert ended. Some of the memorable acts include the Doors (all too brief of course), Jimi Hendrix (ditto), the Who, Miles Davis (in different form from his 50's days), Ten Years After, the Moody Blues, and Free.

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.

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.