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Gimme Shelter

Play trailer Poster for Gimme Shelter PG 1970 1h 30m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 91% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
The landmark documentary about the tragically ill-fated Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969. Only four months earlier, Woodstock defined the Love Generation; now it lay in ruins on a desolate racetrack six miles outside of San Francisco.

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Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter

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Critics Consensus

Equal parts essential and chilling, Gimme Shelter provides a spine-tingling look at how the Rolling Stones' music paralleled the end of the counterculture movement.

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Critics Reviews

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Margaret Hinxman Daily Telegraph (UK) The documentary filmmakers, the Maysles brothers, have recorded the events prior to, during and after the festival with a chilling sense of drama. Mar 11, 2020 Full Review Howard Smith Village Voice It's knowing about the killing, and waiting for it to happen on the screen that gives the film its energy and thrust. Jan 18, 2013 Full Review Chris Vognar Dallas Morning News This is a seminal rock doc, and the actual music is only a small part of the magic. Rated: A Feb 28, 2002 Full Review Gordon Young Fresno Bee If any lesson is to be learned from this film it is that rock festivals require considerable planning. They can be a celebration of life, but that requires some Establishment cooperation... In any event, Jagger is great. Nov 10, 2023 Full Review Dan Lybarger Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Because of the warped chronology, Gimme Shelter makes for absorbing viewing. It's also a chilling lesson in humility. Nov 20, 2021 Full Review Paul Schrader Cinema In the end, Gimme Shelter remains a film of shallow intentions; its aesthetics seem those of possibility and opportunism rather than necessity and moral commitment. Jun 30, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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CodyZamboni Z Solid documentary, Wise to show Stones' performances of all their hits at the beginning, then cuts back to the last minute slapdash set up of a free concert at Altamont Speedway, Documenting the drug alcohol fueled escalating violence, starting the afternoon, and resulting in stabbing of concert goer by Hells Angels, Colossal miscalcuation by Stones, and the promoter by hiring criminal thugs Hells Angels as security, Exciting pumped up concert music vibe gives way to a somber, horrific end to the 60's, The nail in the coffin of the flower power hippe love era. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/12/25 Full Review Pete B One of the greatest rock docs ever. The Stones at their peak, but also the dark side of the ā€˜60s music scene. The Altamont footage is just haunting, and you can feel the shift happening. A must-watch for rock fans. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/25/25 Full Review Johnathon W Classic rock documentary that marks the end of the 60's. What's interesting is that this was meant to the a straight forward coverage of the Rolling Stones's American tour only for the Maysles to capture the chaos at Altamont, including the moment a Hell's Angel stabs a man to death on screen. Brutal and honest, the best kind of documentaries. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/24 Full Review Linda T Excellent!!! Great acting. Made me cry Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/24 Full Review Marc Z This look at The Rolling Stones and the infamous free concerts at Altamonte is the basis for the amazingly well made musical documentary. This is one of the best ever made, and even better if you like the music of The Rolling Stones. It is a look at music, culture, the 1960's and a really tragic incident which marred this great event. This is well made and features tons of great behind the scenes footage. It is a concert and so much more. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/24/23 Full Review William L Four people died at Altamont Speedway in 1969 - two in a hit-and-run, one drowned after an LSD trip, and one stabbed in the confusion surrounding the event - each representative of the mishmash of countercultural subgroups that had developed (from your generic hippies to the Hell's Angels) and the general lack of identity that had invaded the movement as it simply got too large to stay cohesive. There was no longer a clear unifying force behind it all and as a result, some lashed out each other or simply found themselves spiraling out of control in self-destructive patterns. Jagger and the rest of the Stones move around the film as you would expect them to in their primes, in a trancelike daze from one gig to the next, enjoying the attention and the sex as they were heralded as the kings of rock and roll, right up until it all collapses in on itself like a black hole. The film leaves the group staring out at a crowd that they no longer understand, shaped by forces beyond their control, now intermittently violent and dangerous; their pleas with the crowd are fruitless, and they end up airlifted from the concert grounds. Pieces together fascinating bits of documentary footage to establish the freewheeling nature of the one of the greatest bands in the world, then using their own disillusionment to discuss the end of a cultural era - the bell that signaled the slow decline of the counterculture movement. One of the great concert documentaries. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/10/21 Full Review Read all reviews
Gimme Shelter

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Movie Info

Synopsis The landmark documentary about the tragically ill-fated Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969. Only four months earlier, Woodstock defined the Love Generation; now it lay in ruins on a desolate racetrack six miles outside of San Francisco.
Director
Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
Distributor
Criterion Collection, Kit Parker Films Inc
Production Co
Maysles Films, Penforta
Rating
PG
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 6, 1970, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Aug 11, 2000
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$252.6K
Runtime
1h 30m
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