Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Woodyanders This terrific rock concert documentary radiates a delightful sense of joy, optimism, and totally infectious positive energy. Many of the top musical acts of the period are present and accounted for and for the most part are in peak form: Janis Joplin does a blistering performance of "Ball & Chain," Jimi Hendrix likewise kills it with his ferocious cover of "Wild Thing," Canned Heat seriously smoke, Otis Redding puts on a hell of an exciting show (Redding really knew how to work over a crowd), the Who do a raucous version of "My Generation," Simon & Garfunkel offer a peppy and pleasant "Feelin' Groovy," and Ravi Shankar tears it up on his sitar. Moreover, it's a treat to see the happy and attractive hippies in attendance having what appears to be a grand merry time. Done in a rough'n'ready style by D.A. Pennebaker, this baby overall hits the rousing rock'n'roll spot something sweet.

Galina I have a confession to make. I did not know anything about the Monterey International Pop Festival nor about documentary made by the famous filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker until last Saturday when I turned on my TV and it was showing on MHD channel. Even more, I only caught the last 20 minutes of the film but what I saw and what I heard during the great finale simply mesmerized me. The last performance in the film belongs to Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist who along with Alla Rakha on tabla and Kamala at taboura plays 18 minutes long composition called "Raga Bhimpalasi." Along with The Who, Ravi Shankar was introduced to America at the Monterey festival. Eighteen minutes of Raga Bhimpalasi, the final scene of the Monterey Pop film, was an excerpt from Shankar's four-hour performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival his first public concert in front of a new generation of music fans.What started as slow and exotic sensuality, built up into blissful frenzy duel between sitar and tabla. It is incredibly creative and intriguing how Pennebaker shot the Shankar's performance and made it as much a visual delight as it was a sound. For the first seven minutes, we only hear the sounds of music and see how the audience reacts on the unusual exciting Eastern chords and rhythms, we don't see the musicians. The director moves his camera from one young face in the audience to another, from different rows and different angles. Then, he slowly turns the camera toward the stage and moves it extremely close to Ravi and Alla, so close that we are able to see their faces and the hands, and you would think that Shankar has not two but six hands, just like the Indian God Shiva because it is impossible to believe that such multitude of sounds and emotions could be achieved with two hands only. In the last minute of Shankar's performance, the camera moves aside letting us see the musicians and the totally fascinated and conquered listeners that give the genius performer the long standing ovation, and he thanks them back. While witnessing the incredible act of music born and performed in front of me, I only wished this moment never end. After the scene (and the film) was over, the first thing I did was to find out what I saw and to order the DVD on-line. Only when doing research, I learned about the Monterey International Pop Festival that was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The celebrated Woodstock happened two years after Monterey, in August, 1969.My Criterion "Monterey Pop" DVD arrived surprisingly fast, and I was able to enjoy all performances recorded by D.A. Pennebaker's team that used newly newly-developed portable 16mm color cameras equipped to record synchronized sound. Sound was captured by Wally Heider's mobile studio on state-of-the art eight-track tape. To see and to listen to the talented and famous musicians, many of whom were just in the beginning of their careers was an unforgettable and joyous experience. Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, and Otis Redding, all became the celebrities after their first major public performances during the first and sadly the last Monterey International Rock Music Festival. Summer of Love started that weekend, forty one years ago at the small town of Monterey, CA, and that summer made Monterey immortal.More than once I thought I wish I was there and could be a part of the magic festival. I know that the Monterey Pop will be one of my favorite DVD's and I will return to it over and over again.

songwarrior52 D.A. Pennebaker may have "captured the spirit of the '60s" and all that, but the fact is that the original "Monterey Pop" has big problems, which the passing years have not rectified. Now, one can buy a deluxe Criterion Collection DVD set that has extra discs that include all the outtakes from the original footage plus extras upon extras. But the film as originally released, for all its legendary status, all 79 minutes of it, is often a flat-out bore. The single- disc original version I checked out of the library today also has some extras, including a conversation with producer Lou Adler and filmmaker Pennebaker. That only seems to reveal that Pennebaker was somewhat clueless in his approach to putting the final cut together. This is especially true in the decision-making regarding which acts to include. I mean, the guy left out Laura Nyro, Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds from the original flick, choosing instead to include people like Country Joe and the Fish (boring), Hugh Masakela (meandering) and at least one group that didn't seem to be identified and whose music was mediocre. The filmmaker also seems to think he made a brilliant move leaving out the Paul Butterfield Blues Band from the final cut, but it's hard to trust him given who's onstage instead. Also according to Pennabaker, Mama Cass Elliott wanted him to cut the Ravi Shankar performance. It seems to rouse the audience here, and it's used as the climactic performance of the concert, but few people want to listen to extended rave-ups on a sitar. (I fast-forwarded through it, only to find that the film was now over.) There are other problems, for example, Janis Joplin is clearly performing at night, yet through her performance, the camera cuts to Elliott in the crowd, supposedly gushing about Joplin's talent, only—doh!—Elliott's in broad daylight, and it's obviously an insert from another part of the footage. Cheesy. And stupid. Did Pennebaker think no one would notice? Other bad things: A ton of boring footage of hippies being hip (a little goes a long way); camera work that focuses on Grace Slick mouthing the lyrics to "Today" while Mary Balin is singing the opening verse, which makes it look like his voice is coming out of Grace's mouth; and when we finally get the great Hendrix, what is he singing? The godawful "Wild Thing," which is about the last song anyone wants to see him play, even if he does set his guitar on fire and dry-hump the amps. Pennebaker supervised about 6 cameramen, plenty enough to get a lot of cool footage. Too bad the final results look ofttimes amateurish. Meanwhile, the synching and cutting are okay but not great. The Mamas and the Papas come off pretty good. Ditto The Who. And Joplin. Simon and Garfunkel sound good, but they're singing "Feelin' Groovy," not exactly cutting edge. Otis Redding is okay, but a mite tiresome. There's some saving grace with the film crew getting a lot of footage of California girls in all their hippie-dippy glory, but that gets tiresome too. "Monterey Pop," at this late date, looks mostly like a big experiment with lesser results. For maximum effect, keep your finger near the fast-forward button.

w2amarketing The performance quality of the music and, in fact, the overall production, is rather poor. However, Monterey Pop is worth watching at least once simply as a window into the culture of the mid- to late-1960's. In a way, the Monterey Pop festival represented the last pure gasp of "Sixties" love and harmony, coming as it did before things went haywire in 1968 & 1969. While Woodstock was more of a rampage of frustration, Monterey is more representative of how those who were there want "the Sixties" remembered. Thus, the most interesting elements of the movie are the interviews with performers and attenders, behind-the-scenes footage, and random shots of the crowd before, during and after performances. It's all the more interesting for viewers who are in their 20's and early 30's today, watching what is essentially their parents' generation when THEY were in their 20's and early 30's.Coincidentally, I just finished the autobiography of the late John Phillips ("Papa John") which devotes a full chapter to his involvement with Monterey Pop. Definitely an interesting companion read if you're planning on watching the movie. One anecdote worth repeating is that Scott Mackenzie's rendition of "San Francisco" which runs at the beginning of the film was the studio version, not the live version, which Mackenzie flubbed mercilessly on stage at Monterey.