The Van Halen Story: The Early Years (2003 Video) User Reviews

Incredibly amateur

[dandelion-83999 · 1/10 · 27 April 2019]

It looks like they pieced together pieces of other documentaries. There's very few people actually interviewed for this documentary and one of them is some guy who works at guitar center. There's some people who are only heard and not seen and, frankly, I'm not sure I believe they are who they say they are. There isn't much new information here so don't waste your time unless you want a laugh.

If You Love Van Halen, Skip This Documentary

[peter-gaeta · 1/10 · 8 March 2020]

Terrible documentary. Terrible musically. Terrible cinematically. Terrible historically. Someone should make a Van Halen documentary - this isn't it.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[otto-hoering · 1/10 · 11 January 2021]

No Van Halen music was used, and no members of Van Halen were interviewed.

Excellent documentary of one of the most innovative bands ever!

[ChrisG1975 · 10/10 · 24 February 2004]

Okay, first off to warn people, this DVD is NOT endorsed by the band, so therefore, there is no popular songs, or videos of songs, in this DVD. What you do get is 60 mins (the only drawback...too short!) of great stories about one of the greatest bands in history, told by friends, ex-employees and ex-bandmates.

Alot of these stories you will never have heard before, and the unseen pictures are fantastic! There are a few interviews with Diamond Dave, and also some with Eddie and Alex Van Halen. The only drawback is the length, and the laughable extras. Otherwise....great documentary! Now hopefully the band will put one together!

If you can get over the fact that there is no actual music done by the band, take a look!! Fascinating!!!

A music documentary without any of their music

[user-64086 · 1/10 · 2 June 2021]

You know it's a trash documentary when they can't even include actual music from the subject artists.

A whole bunch of generic heavy metal riffs just don't cut it, especially since Van Halen isn't heavy metal.

Unwatchable

[nicroozeboom · 2/10 · 2 October 2020]

Lazy, disorganized gossip and hearsay. This band deserves a lot better.

Nothing to See Here

[wookietower · 3/10 · 14 October 2020]

This looked like one of those shows that would've aired in the middle of a Saturday afternoon on some random cable channel back in the day. There's virtually nothing in this "documentary" that reveals anything interesting about the band. It's all interviews with former stage hands and childhood friends who talk about how much VH partied back in the day. Not a lot about what went into making the music and the archived "interviews" with the band sound like they were recorded with a tape recorder that was 10 feet away from the person talking.

Great stuff!

[trimblair · 8/10 · 11 July 2021]

Interviews and clips. Not enough VH music for me. Great documentary. Lived it!