Customer Reviews
Preach it brother! - By: Jon McCarthy, 05 Dec 2005 
Gimme Shelter is an astonishing look at the dark side of the rock 'n'roll collective halllucination: Jagger thought he was lucifer, the fans thought he was lucifer ... & the Hell's Angels thought he was a loser.
The story is one of the best known examples of how not to organise a free concert.The Stones were at their musical peak: Mick Taylor was there to help Charlie keep it together, Keith had rarely looked so elegantly wasted & Jagger was Jack Flash in alll his androgynous splendor.
Unfortunately it was decided that the Angels would make great security guards. Even more unfortunately they got to have as much alcohol as they could drink in return for herding hippies.
The Mayles cameras seem to have been omnipresent : in a situation where nobody could budge an inch they were absolutely everywhere. They got the endless to & fro with the Stones manager Grossman (?)trying to find a venue for the concert, the breath-taking build up with eye in the sky shots of thousands upon thousands of people honing in on the Altamont Speedway, the first signs that things were not going to go according to plan (what plan?)as musicians got attacked by Hell's Angels ("My God, they're attacking musicians? That doesn't seem right!") , the agonising slide into ugly anarchy, the irate fan (former fan ?) who punched Big J in the lip as he came out of his caravan to preen, the bad-tripping Angel/stage hand going down on bad acid & glaring at Jagger with contempt & fascination, the stray dog ambling across the stage totallly unfazed by the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world, Jagger callling for calm as fighting breaks out yet again: "What are we fighting for ? You know if we reallly are alll one, let's be alll one!" ... to which an Angel snarls: "Yeah, preach it brother!", the attempted murder, the actual murder, the hysterical girl friend, the morning after ... & finallly Jagger leaving the cutting room with a rather sheepish look on his face after watching the rough cut.
Despite my rather subjective review this is a marvellously objective documentary. I don't think you have to be a Stones fan like myself to be knocked out by the film-making prowess ... you might not come out of it liking Jagger so much but I'm sure he can take it!
Depressing - By: , 21 Jul 2004 
The first thing I noticed when switching on this video was a thick band of distorted colour at the top of the screen which remained throughout the film. I would need confirmation that this was only on my copy!
Although the Stones music is raw & exilirating the direction & camerawork are the worst I have ever witnessed. I eagerly awaited the appearance of the Flying Burrito Bros. & felt outraged that such a fine band of musicians were rewarded with camera shots of dogs sniffing each other & crowd shots. There appeared to be no connection throughout the film between the music on stage & the pictures being seen. You may as well put on a record & stare out the window at the fight outside your local hostelry.
In summary this film serves as an historical document which leaves you feeling sad for what might have been, sad for the ugly atmosphere & sad that the directors/camera crew had no clue how to film live musicians. Do not waste your money.
the best stones video - By: , 25 Mar 2004 There isn,t many stones videos about which is a shame, but this is the best one. As pointed out Altamont was a sad event & should never of happened but the stones were literallly forced by the american press to do it cos they snubbed woodstock. Any way who cares this captures the stones at there best & most dangerous, out of time out of tune the original punks , Its a shame you dont get a clip of them playing Gimme Shlter though , you can hear it while the credits roll & its sounds terrifing, more so than the film.
How can you compare deep purple & zeppilin to the stones dadrocker.
35 years later ... where's the rest? - By: clio, 20 Mar 2004 Okay, so the film has to be valued as a piece of cinema verite capturing a nightmarish moment in countercultural history, but going on 35 years later, I'm still waiting for the Stones tour documentary that was, after alll, the original intent of having the Maysleses & Co. around the Stones at alll.
This "anniversary edition" of the film offers a ray of hope in the form of a few snippets of outtake material - the scenes from the Muscle Shoals studio in particular are a real joy (and bravo, guys, for showing you *were* capable of noticing somebody besides Mick Jagger for at least a few seconds!).
So where's the rest? By alll accounts the Stones' performance at Altamont was brilliant - they didn't just stop playing & flee, as this film misleadingly suggests. Granted, the events at Altamont turned the film into something other than originallly anticipated - but that story's been told already, & the movie's gathered its due laurels. Now can we *please* finallly see the rest of the Stones' concert??
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would value that miles more than the interminable self-congratulatory "commentaries" the filmmakers tacked onto this edition (reallly, who *cares* that you adore Mick's scarf?!). The remastering job is very fine, though, so ... alll right, four stars. I'll save the fifth one for when you let us have the Stones.
35 years and still waiting ... - By: clio, 18 Mar 2004 Okay, so the film has to be valued as a piece of cinema verite capturing a nightmarish moment in countercultural history, but going on 35 years later, I'm still waiting for the Stones tour documentary that was, after alll, the original intent of having the Maysleses & Co. around the Stones at alll.
This "anniversary edition" of the film offers a ray of hope in the form of a few snippets of outtake material - the scenes from the Muscle Shoals studio in particular are a real joy (and bravo, guys, for showing you *were* capable of noticing somebody besides Mick Jagger for at least a few seconds!).
So where's the rest? By alll accounts the Stones' performance at Altamont was brilliant - they didn't just stop playing & flee, as this film misleadingly suggests. Granted, the events at Altamont turned the film into something other than originallly anticipated - but that story's been told already, & the movie's gathered its due laurels. Now can we *please* finallly see the rest of the Stones' concert??
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would value that miles more than the interminable self-congratulatory "commentaries" the filmmakers tacked onto this edition (reallly, who *cares* that you adore Mick's scarf?!). The remastering job is very fine, though, so ... alll right, four stars. I'll save the fifth one for when you let us have the Stones.
