The movie is a lot of what The Stones are. A crazy madcap band, that ultimately, perhaps not by their own design, that the music survives. In the early going this look back captures the first wave of success which when it took off became a carnival of excess. Out from obscurity the guys just went with the crazed fans and did plenty on their own to stoke the insanity. In their defense their was plenty of pent-up of repressed decorum which the fans, especially the girls early on, morphed into a kind of heretofore unleashed out of bounds adoration. It just added more fuel to the fire which is captured here as kind of dangerous ride. It went on for several years without brakes.Life goes on and within it there is death and trouble. Brian Jones is ousted and dies while the band just keeps getting bigger. The next chapter with Mick Taylor, almost without a blip, only got bigger and more excessive. The viewer feels that this couldn't be right and so there was more trouble even while the music kept selling more and more. Another vaguely, but horrifically, related death at the Altamont concert causes a furor among many including blindsiding the band with things they couldn't contain. The music kept selling more and the excesses continued on.Now this is where the viewer feels a bit like how can this be? So many things should be in place to devastate a career. The Stones even left Britain as they felt they had become the whipping boys for all of the worst of society. Of course it was the realization that they had a hefty back tax bill to satisfy that really made the choice for them. With so much turmoil and Keith's ever increasing heroin addiction things could have careened off the rails. Again, the music didn't let the band, or fans, down. The Stones kept rolling and to save himself Mick Taylor eventually leaves. This is where the film loses it's quite linear trajectory. The rest of the story which includes Keith's famous Canadian bust gets a huge fast forward with big holes. Keith cleans up??? Ron Wood is in and even though it isn't mentioned by name The Stones return with their big statement which was incorrectly called "their comeback" album, as Some Girls, propels them past their sixties and seventies period into modern times. The rest gets hardly a mention which for a band celebrating their entire 50-year+ career seems strange.All in all this is a good, not definitive, look at the wild ride of a wild band. One that had the right elements to survive even as it barely fleshes out what exactly constituted that. I'd say in this regard it is for the fans and more of curiosity for others. Still the catalog of the music, which did include missteps, survives, ultimately making it more worthy of a look even though it is hardly completest.

The ultimate Rolling Stones documentary. Captures very vividly their live performances through the years, as well as what making an album was like, plus their private lives. However, don't expect the usual micro- detail stuff, eg no "Mick Jagger was born on..." or the names of their albums and when they were released. In fact, there is very little references to dates.No, the main idea is to get a feel for the chain of events that was the career of the Rolling Stones, and what it was like being the members of the great band.For these reasons, it probably helps being a fan with a decent knowledge of the Stones' albums and songs. Not essential though - one can always fill in the gaps by reading Wikipedia.The live stuff is great, and some of it is quite rare. The behind-the- scenes stuff contains some particularly rare footage.A must-see for any fan of rock 'n roll.

This is a nice documentary but way to short. After all this is about a band that has been making music and performing for 50 years. The focus seemed to be 1969 to 1976 with some early information thrown in. I was hoping the Stones entire career would be incorporated in this film. The 1978 and 1981 tours should definitely deserved more film time. Those were great tours. The 1972 tour was ground breaking. 1969 was infamous but very entertaining. 1975 was a great show. What about after 1981? The band went on a hiatus until 1989 when they went back on tour. Why not touch on that? There were tours after that 1994/1998/2002/2005 that could have been included. An extra hour or so would have been nice. The audio commentary by the band was very effective. It's only rock and roll but I like it.

A seemingly Inconclusive attempt at Summarizing some Things that are Obvious about the Stones and some things that remain Elusive. It emerges as perhaps one of those heavy Magazine Tributes or could possibly be called a Coffee Table Audio-Video Presentation.Die Hard Fans will Try Desperately to find a Thing or two they didn't know or see a Clip or two they haven't Seen, but there is Precious Little here other than vaguely Interesting Insights and Less Than Brilliant Footage. Of course, "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World", Deserves any kind of Tribute. Especially one that has full Production in the Hands of the Band itself. However, one could say that Total Control is not the best way to go. As is apparent many times in the Film, they were so Involved and Close to it all that They really didn't have Time to Absorb much of what was going on as They were being Elevated and Revered Year after Year. Almost every Band Member mentions Oblivious (or a synonym) as an Adjective to it all.This could well be an Introduction for New Fans or a Mild, Emotional, and Superficial Tribute for Stalwarts. One Thing we have Learned in Modern Times is that these Type of Things are only Great when given Hours of Running Time where some of the Vintage Concert Clips and Appearances are only truly Effective if You let the Songs Play out. Sadly, that does not happen here, not once. That would truly Benefit Newbies and Delight Boomer Fans. But the Film does One Thing if nothing else, it Reminds and Reinforces this Simple Fact..."I know it's only Rock n Roll, But I like it."