I remember the ferry ride over, carrying bags of drugs. Not mine, but carrying for a friend. It might have been speed, but since I only smoked pot I had no interest in it-no brains either, apparently!We went for the whole 5 days because I could and didn't know any better. The organizers handed out paper sleeping bags to a waiting throng on the day we arrived. We slept out-side the gates - 20 ft. away - and ran for a decent position when the gates opened the next morning.I don't remember eating or defecating, or very much of the music, but I have photos so I know I was there! I do remember people throwing glass pop bottles over the heads of those in front for some unknown reason, and even in my altered star realized they were idiots.John Sebastien - Lovin' Spoonful - entertained the crowd acoustically for two hours because of some band not showing or technical reasons, I forget which, of course.We walked up the Afton Downs hill and looked out over the English Channel. We saw people hundreds of feet below playing in the cold!! water. With a film crew shooting them. It looked forced. We also saw people fall from the top and bounce, slide and fall down the chalk cliffs. I've no idea what happened to them.At the end, on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people started the trek to the ferries. There may have been buses to Cowes, but we heard it was faster to walk the 4.5 mi. To Yarmouth and that's what we did.I hope I'm in the movie, I was so much older then. I'm younger than that, now :-)

OK, there's no denying this documentary does a good job of capturing the spirit of the time in which the festival occurred--we get plenty of interviews with scraggly hippies in the crowd voicing their opinions about how the concert should be free to the people and how their love for the music is being exploited by The Man--yet when it comes to respectfully showcasing that very music what do we end up with? Abbreviated, often truncated versions of timeless, classic performances that I'm positive was the reason the majority of the buyers of this DVD purchased the disc in the first place.From a bit of research, it appears this first turned up on VHS tape back in the mid-90's so its two hour length makes sense when considering the limitations of that medium (a two-hour, SP speed videotape was considered about the maximum length to get good video/audio reproduction without causing undue stress on the tape). However, when it came time to put this on DVD, it seems there was no extra effort to put out a proper release of this event, one that should have necessitated at the very least restoring the FULL-LENGTH versions of the majority of songs that appear in this movie. With all the great musical performers at this show, there is definitely a guaranteed market to return this minor investment and probably negate the very criticisms that I'm mentioning here.Not only that, but the DVD is two-sided with each side only running an hour in length. Um, wtf? Why double-side it when a single side of a DVD can easily hold 2 hours worth of material? I know this DVD has been marked-down for sale at under $10 at most sites, so it's not a tremendous burden to purchase if you absolutely must obtain it, but still it's sad the missed opportunity they had here to release something that could have joined Gimme Shelter and Woodstock as a great document of a key musical and cultural event that was presented with the best modern technology can offer.To quote the very words that someone voices during the film, "we blew it."

this is definitely worth a look, but basically sad and depressing. in a sense it is even worse than altamont, although no one dies. i only got this so i could see jim morrison and the doors perform, and yet the charismatic cult figure does not so much perform as die a little more on stage. for all of his erudition, incredible intelligence, poetic sensitivity and stunning physical beauty, nothing in the end could save him from his consuming inner demons. in a very real way morrison embodied the sixties dream of finding happiness in unfettered freedom and total rebellion, and yet in the end he also embodied the very misguidedness and ultimate failure of that dream. a truly great man who was undeniably responsible for his own downfall but whom it is impossible not to both admire and pity.

This film chronicles the 1970 Isle of Wight Rock Festival from behind and on front of the scenes. Incredible concert footage of Hendrix and Jim Morrison (both of whom died just after the festival) as well as numerous other pop, folk, and rock artists make this film wonderful just as a concert video. Even more revealing, though, is footage of the festival's production and management, including riots, rebellious patrons, break-ins, and mordant commentary on why rock festivals don't happen anymore. Beautifully paced and edited.