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Jimi Hendrix

Play trailer Poster for Jimi Hendrix R Released Oct 10, 1973 1h 42m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Made shortly after his death, this documentary explores the brief life and remarkable legacy of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. After finding fame in the U.K., Hendrix brought his act to the U.S., where his influential playing style left a blazing imprint on a whole generation of musicians. Employing interviews with family and contemporaries, such as Eric Clapton, as well as scorching live performances from Woodstock and Isle of Wight, the film paints an indelible portrait of a rock 'n' roll legend.
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Jimi Hendrix

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Benjamin H. Smith Decider A groundbreaking music documentary which features some of the best and most important live performances in rock n' roll history. Dec 1, 2019 Full Review Jos Manuel Costa El Pais (Spain) ... a film that exceeds all previously made in this area (Woodstock, Monterrey, Gimme Shelter, etc.)... [Full review in Spanish] Feb 7, 2018 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 24, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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s r A documentary compiling views and commentary on the great artist's life. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a 1973 doc, repackaged in 2005 with "extra features"...not really. The talking heads vary from interesting (Clapton and Townsend) to completely useless (drugged out ex hangers on). However, the concert footage is top notch, and the snippets of Hendrix are great. Definitely seems like time for a more modern doc. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member A documentary compiled, produced and directed by Joe Boyd, John Head and Gary Weis about the life and career of Johnny Allen Hendrix, who became known as Jimi Hendrix in his professional career. It's quite a dated rockumentary, with too many talking heads and not enough footage and performances of it's subject, shame really. The film contains interviews with Hendrix's family, including father Al and his friends, admirers and celebrities including Eric Clapton, Billy Cox, Alan Douglas, Germaine Greer, Mick Jagger, Eddie Kramer, Buddy Miles, Mitch Mitchell, Juggy Murray, Little Richard, Lou Reed and Pete Townshend. The film includes archive interviews of Hendrix, including his performances at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock, the Isle of Wight in 1970 and Live at Berkeley in 1970. His family and friends recall how he grew up, his time in the 101st Airborne Division around 1961, how he came to become a musician and how he influenced his peers and how he rose through the ranks from session musician to a cult hero of music, before his untimely death in 1970. It's is a little dated, documentaries from this era had little to go on, but there's alot more archiving now and more footage to go on. There's too much yattering, and Little Richard manages to make a fool of himself being flamboyant and full of it. But, Hendrix's life should be a biopic, this doesn't do much justice. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Outstanding 1973 documentary about the titular guitar legend, featuring lots of performances and an impressive array of interview subjects (including a hugely entertaining, possibly coked-up Little Richard). Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good documentary with great achived footage about the greatest guitar player who ever lived which we all know as Jimi Hendrix with some great interviews from rock stars who knew him well and some great Jimi Hendrix songs as well but I wish they would've played some more Jimi Hendrix tracks and talked more about his life but still it was a pretty good documentary film about Jimi Hendrix! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member A wonderful rockumentary about the king of all the guitar gods. It has a good selection of interviews with Jimi's friends and musical contemporaries, but the filmmakers knew what they were doing: they spend most of the time just letting the man play. And that's all you need for a great film. We get to see all the iconic psychedelic performances, including Hey Joe the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock (which is about ten times better than I remembered it), and we also get a very nice chronology of how his music evolved over time with his original Experience band and then the Band of Gypsies. But the true gem is something I never saw coming: Jimi playing traditional blues on an accoustic guitar. He starts off slowly and deliberately, and you get the sense that he's exploring something new or returning to something very old. Then he asks the cameraman to stop, and when he starts again he just relaxes into it. What he plays is 100% traditional blues, but he makes it totally his in a way that is utterly mindblowing. After that, the remaining performances are him taking the blues electric but to places that Led Zeppelin could only dream about. But I think the director knew that "Hear my Train A'coming" was the zenith of the film, because we get to hear it again over the closing credits. Five stars. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Jimi Hendrix

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Movie Info

Synopsis Made shortly after his death, this documentary explores the brief life and remarkable legacy of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. After finding fame in the U.K., Hendrix brought his act to the U.S., where his influential playing style left a blazing imprint on a whole generation of musicians. Employing interviews with family and contemporaries, such as Eric Clapton, as well as scorching live performances from Woodstock and Isle of Wight, the film paints an indelible portrait of a rock 'n' roll legend.
Director
John Head, Gary Weis
Producer
Joe Boyd, John Head, Gary Weis
Distributor
Warner Home VĂ­deo, Warner Bros.
Production Co
Warner Bros.
Rating
R
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 1973, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Runtime
1h 42m
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