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But if Hendrix the musician shines through, this is not the most insightful profile of Hendrix the man: the circumstances surrounding his death, for example, are hardly touched upon (girlfriend at the time Monika Dannemann gets only a few seconds screen time). Interview footage with Hendrix himself plus some occasionally rambling and incoherent comments from such intimates as his father, army buddies, ex-girlfriends (including Linda Keith, who "discovered" him in New York and brought him to England) and fellow musicians all take second place to the music itself. The most sensible quote comes from Little Richard, who proves once and for all that he's utterly bonkers, when he says of Jimi's music: "At times he made my big toes shoot up into my boot."
On the DVD: This is a dual-layer disc, with a widescreen (1.85:1) print on one side and a standard (4:3) ratio version on the other--although watching in widescreen is redundant, as the film is shot in 4:3 anyway. There are no extras other than a theatrical trailer (despite being advertised as such a menu and scene access surely don't count as "special features": what use is a disc without them?) --Mark Walker
So don't look at this dvd as authorative. But if you look at it as a snapshot, a brief moment in the life of, this dvd succeeds.
The image quality isn't great. It seems as if everything was filmed on home movie cameras. But that's okay, because this all did happen in the sixties, remember? But what does bother, is the sound quality. One underestimates the importance of sound quality when half a dvd consists of interviews, but what's the point of an interview if you can hardly hear what the "cats" are saying anyway. (Am I supposed to READ all those subtitles?)
And yet: this is a good dvd. It has entertainment value, but is not half as informative as I hoped it to be. This is probably not a good starting point for a Hendrix noob, but could be required viewing for fans. If you're a noob, check out "Jimi Hendrix plays Monterey" (and weep). Now 'Scuse me
The film is completed by some mind-blowing footage of Jimi onstage, which is after all what it's all about. Highlights include the Monterey footage where we see the legendary 'Wild Thing' flaming guitar massacre. However as Jimi himself explains, it's not about the gimicks and my favorite perfomance is the acoustic version of Hear my train a comin' where there's just Jimi and his 12-string sat in a white room, shy and funny, but at the same time sure of his ability, Jimi shows us all how it's really done. This man is a pure genius.
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