This film calls itself a documentary but it documents nothing. Look I play keys and have a Moog. I love the old modular recordings with W. Carlos and D. Hyman and of course all the stuff that was done with the Minimoog. I wanted to learn more about how Moog came about, the competition, how the company went out of business, what he did from the late 70's when he left Moog to when he started Big Briar and the new Moog Music in the late 90's, etc. It also would've been cool to have interviews with some iconic Moog players, like Bernie Worrell, Chick Corea, Dick Hyman, Wendy Carlos, Wakeman, Emerson and the like.Instead it looks like we get a director who just ran his camera for a hour or so at Moog's factory, Moog's victory garden, and backstage at a Moogfest concert picking up banter between Moog, WOO, and Wakeman, a reminiscing with Emerson and a few whacked out bay area groups making weird noises with there Moogs.Even though it runs about an hour, I had to break it up into two viewing sessions because it was so boring. What sucks is that Moog is an interesting guy, the history of his company is a great story and the iconic Moog artists all mostly colorful characters. This director had a goldmine on his hands and could've made a fantastic, compelling, awesome, movie where you are entertained and actually learned something. Instead, he squandered his opportunity and made a real snoozer of a film.Someone from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences needs to confiscate this director's camera. They must have a hyperactive hall monitor over there who'd be willing to do it for mankind. I mean this doesn't need to be The King of Kong or a long drawn out Ken Burns doc, just somewhere in between.If you love synths and Moogs, this is of some interest as it shows Moog as a down to earth nice guy and it is worth a viewing. If you aren't to interested in the subject though don't even bother, it is a boring stinker.

Documentary about Robert Moog, his synthesizer and its effect on music, as well as the general concept of electronic music.I liked it.It wasn't overlong, it was an interesting topic and Moog himself came across as a really nice guy (sort of like Brian Wilson without the breakdown).It also featured interviews, concert footage and music by various artists such as Stereolab, Keith Emerson, Money Mark, Rick Wakeman, Sun Ra, Tortoise etc.If you're at all interested in electronic music, check it out.

This is the kind of movie that makes this exercise of writing up every feature I see kind of redundant, because it's not much of a movie. (at 60 minutes it's not much of a feature either) Bob Moog invented, you know, the Moog synthesizer, which as the movie illustrates has been the source of lots of directions in music, some legendary (Bernie Worrell), lots fun (Stereolab), and lots of atrocities against the ear (Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson). The common thread between these musicians is nonexistent, and the movie doesn't even try - it just plods from point to point, with Bob in tow to look on like a proud papa. I think the reason there's no cross-cutting is that there's no content - some lawyer clearly wouldn't let them talk about Moog's battles with the company that bears his name (don't ask me for more detail), and all that's left is a sequence of short arbitrary rambles - still life with Gershon Kingsley, still life with DJ Spooky (who is a pompous ass), Moog picking bell peppers, et cetera, plus some wan recitations of the word 'spirituality.' The only breakout moment is when Worrell tells Wakeman that he thinks of a keyboard as a woman that he's having sex with and Wakeman responds, 'I tried that but I found that the songs became very short.' To which Worrell replies, 'Play slower!' THERE is a cultural frisson to die for.

I feel a little bad giving this a 6, only because the film quality was very good for 16mm and I did like the cinematography, but I guess I was expecting a more traditional approach to the Moog story; not only the views and lifestyle of Bob Moog. I then realized that this was entirely the idea behind this documentary, and the director did not want to compile a history of the Moog synth, but had he added in some extra footage and talked about the many different synthesizers that Moog produced through the years, this would have been a much fuller documentary. All in all though, it was nice to have a real up close interview with the creator.I didn't care for the experimental music, even though experimental music was largely influenced by the Moog. I find that type of music to be scattered and annoying. I also refuse to listen to the classical approach to the Moog. What Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson do on the moog are what impresses me. All the other stuff just didn't seem in place. Still, this DVD is a nice addition to the collection and as a Moog lover, an enjoyable reference overall.