Woodstock (1970)

The film chronicle of the legendary 1969 music festival.

Director:

Michael Wadleigh

Stars:

Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Roger Daltrey

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Richie Havens	...	Himself
Joan Baez	...	Herself
The Who	...	Themselves
Sha-Na-Na	...	Themselves (as Sha Na Na)
Joe Cocker	...	Himself
Country Joe and the Fish	...	Themselves
Arlo Guthrie	...	Himself
Crosby Stills & Nash	...	Themselves (as Crosby Stills and Nash)
Ten Years After	...	Themselves
John Sebastian	...	Himself
Santana	...	Themselves
Sly and the Family Stone	...	Themselves (as Sly & the Family Stone)
Jimi Hendrix	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Canned Heat	...	Themselves
Bob Davis	...	Himself

Storyline

An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.

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Plot Keywords:

drugs | woodstock | music festival | 1960s | year 1969 | 

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Taglines:

Jimi Hendrix - Crosby, Stills & Nash - Sly and The Family Stone - The Who - Santana - Richie Havens - Joan Baez - Joe Cocker - Ten Years After - Arlo Guthrie - 400,000 people - Peace - Love - Mud

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Genres:

Documentary | History | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Barnes Ltd.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Woodstock: 25th Anniversary Edition

Filming Locations:

Bethel, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$126,562

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$320,610

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wadleigh-Maurice

Technical Specs

Runtime:

184 min 184 min (1970) 224 min (1994) 228 min (director's cut) 216 min (director's cut) 215 min (DVD) 356 min (Director's Cut w/ additional & exclusive footage)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (re-release) Mono (RCA Sound System) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) 4-Track Stereo (original release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Crosby Stills Nash & Young almost didn't perform at the festival. The helicopter that Graham Nash and the group's bassist, Greg Reeves, were on was less than 25 feet off the ground when the tail rotor failed and it began to spin. The helicopter almost crashed and Nash and Reeves were almost killed when it not only made a hard landing, but just missed some high-tension power lines.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Interviewer: Okay. Go ahead.
Sidney Westerfield, Local merchant: My name is Sidney Westerfield. I'm the owner of this antique tavern, Mongaup Valley, New York State. I was here when this crowd really came. We expected 50,000 a day and there must have been a million. I, myself, was hungry for two days because I couldn't get any food! I couldn't go out to buy any food.
[laughs]
Sidney Westerfield, Local merchant: I was eatin' cornflakes for two days. And the kids were wonderful. I had no kick. It was, "Sir, this" and "Sir, that" and "Thank you, this" and "Thank you, ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

THANKS TO AT WOODSTOCK: Vinnie of the Silverspur, The Hog Farm, The Merry Pranksters AT HOME: Pete, Gloria and Herman; Norbert and Vic; Dulcinda

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Alternate Versions

The director's cut ended with a shot of a version of the Vietnam War memorial with the names of several influential persons of the 1960's and the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Find the Cost of Freedom Playing" over the scene.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Corrina, Corrina/In the Army Now/Clear and Present Danger/The Mask/In the Land of the Deaf (1994)

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Soundtracks

I'm Going Home
Written by Alvin Lee
Performed by Ten Years After

User Reviews

Serves As Both A Documentary & Concert DVD

As I have seen this many times since it first came out on in the theater and then on VHS, I now just fast-forward chapters on the DVD to the music, enjoying my favorite performances in this epic documentary of the most famous rock concert of all time.

There is a lot to enjoy, including the stuff between the music if you have never seen this before. It certainly captures the wildness of the late 1960s, the good and the bad. It really brings you back to a unique time in American history. For someone who was part of that time, things that were "cool" back then now look and sound a little stupid and naive, but it's still fun to watch. Not only do you get a ton of music, but you see a half million people weathering storms, the mess, drugs, port-o-johns, drugs, dancing, skinny-dipping, drugs, eating. You get the idea.

Music-wise, everyone has their favorites so I'll put a plug or two in for the artists I've always enjoying watching-seeing the most in this movie: Ten Years After; Sly And The Family Stone; Canned Heat, The Who, Richie Havens, Santana, Sha Na Na, Country Joe And The Fish, The Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

At almost four hours, you can choose from a variety of music acts, enough to give you at least an enjoyable couple of hours of that alone, if you wish. This is a must- have for music fans of that era.