5/5 Unquestionably, the GREATEST Rock and Roll movie, ever!
  by Bill Board (God's Wrath, Ohio)
Read the other reviewers...not a single negative review. This is what Rock and Roll USED to be before the advent of synthesizers, effeminate little boyz w/ ponytails and/or tattoos, "punk," which, in truth, TRIED to "keep the fire burning," James Taylor/Carole King et al, and...disco.
But what I REALLY, truly appreciate is that "ABKCO" or "London" or "Decca," whoever, didn't prostitute Gimmie Shelter like the...pimps did "Woodstock." That is what adds the integrity to "Gimme Shelter."

5/5 Bad Trip
  by Amaranth (Northern California)
"Gimme Shelter" is rightly considered one of the most riveting rock documentaries ever made. A mere 4 months after the "3 Days of Peace, Love and Music" at Woodstock, the peaceful hippie vibe degenerated at Altamont. The Maysles Brothers- who chronicled the seamy side of Jackie O's reclusive,eccentric relatives in "Grey Gardens"--now chronicle the seamy side of the hippie movement. "Gimme Shelter" is a cinematic masterpiece of a terrifying, violent episode in American history.

"Gimme Shelter" breaks the fourth wall. It's framed with the Rolling Stones watching this very documentary, and their shocked,agonized reactions to it. Mick Jagger,in his younger days, comes across as a cute charmer. In his presence, women swoon, weep--and at one point, a topless woman tries to get onto the stage. There's the impish, immortal Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones are,above all, musicians. They are seen listening to their music, watching their Madison Square Garden concert. The music gives them peace. A sexy duet between Ike and Tina Turner provides an interlude.

Even if you aren't a fan of the Rolling Stones, you might come to like their music. The Stones seem naive about the effect of their music on people. "Under my thumb","Brown Sugar","Street Fighting Man","Sympathy for the Devil" and "Gimme Shelter" are songs with unpleasant subjects--the Stones don't seem to understand their lyrics might inflame people. It foreshadows Woodstock '99 when Limp Bizkit sang "Burn Things",then front man Fred Durst wondered why people were burning things.

"Gimme Shelter" also shows the polar opposite of Woodstock at the hastily prepared Altamont. It's a squalid place. There's public nudity (of those who should've kept their clothes on,really), public urination, drunkenness,and fights. The violence rises to a fever pitch when Mick Jagger gets beat up by a "fan" as soon as he gets out of the helicopter, and Grace Slick tries to pacify the crowd when Jefferson Airplane guitarist Marty Balin gets punched out. The concert spins out of control. When the Grateful Dead land, they are shocked when they learn about the violence. Had they performed,would the situation have improved? We'll never know.

"Gimme Shelter" shows the nightmarish end of the '60s. As the Summer of Love in San Francisco ended with squalor and drug addicts in the Haight, so did the peace&love end with violence&disorder. "Gimme Shelter" shows the dirt beneath the flower power.

5/5 Wow...Amazing film, but watch it for the story, not the music
  by Formal Treehouse (Grand Rapids, MI)
Most of the negative reviews I've heard/read about this film were from people complaining about the quality/quantity of music performed. There's not a lot of it, and some of it is not of the best quality (several songs are truncated, either by violence or to preserve the film's pace. The Stones are clearly rattled when they perform at Altamont, too; they're looking around like they're scared they might be killed). There are some quite good performances by the Stones in the beginning, to set the film up. But that's not really what it's all about.

I'd almost consider this one more a horror film rather than a concert film; it was certainly horrific to witness everything going wrong. The beatings, the deaths (there were 3 accidental deaths that weren't recorded), performers being assaulted...all from an event that was supposed to be about spreading good will and good times. You can blame the Hell's Angels if you must, but the film dissaudes you from even doing that. There's a call-in in the beginning in which an Angel angrily addresses how they were misled. Accounts vary, but what he's saying is more or less correct. You can even see one of the Angels' bikes get kicked over; the owner grimaces and attempts to put the handlebar back on his expensive machine (interestingly, this guy isn't one of the ones who reacts with violence). These possessions defined who the Angels were; the hippies were defined by their rejection of possessions. Their juxtaposition was explosive.

You see Mick Jagger go from invincible Rock Icon to singing like he's about to burst into tears. You see Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane get knocked unconscious. You see savage beatings with pool cues. You see people half out of their minds on drugs. You see a possible homicide. Depending on how you look, you might see the death of the 1960's.

It's a powerful film, though it tends to provoke different reactions from different people. I won't go into detail of mine, but I will say that there are always consequences for your actions. If you're going to do something on this scale, you'd better do it carefully. If you live your life like you've got no responsibilities, you will be reminded. There's obviously more there than that, but it's a start. You should definitely watch it yourself and draw your own conclusions.

3/5 everybody please listen to me carefully
  by Nicholas F. Dandrea (bellmore ny 11710, new york United States)
i never saw this dvd but i had to give it a rating. im here to talk about another video. it is emotional rescue video. i am looking for the full version without the thermo. they destroyed that one by putting in the thermo shots. that was the best performance i ever saw of the stones. it was in the studio and the performance was excellent. i saw it back in 1981 on the solid gold show and never saw it since. its on the vhs tape called video rewind but they cut the video down to nothing with thermo shots. and it was recently put on you tube but they removed it quickly. what is the reason for this. did someone buy the rites or something. please release the full studio version video of emotional rescue with no thermo shots at all. i would pay 300 dollars for it. thank you very much

5/5 (Seems About) 100 Years Ago
  by B. Nelson (Pacific NW, USA)
I'm going to review this from a different perspective, that of a member of the crowd at this infamous show. As the documentary indicates, the site was thrown together at the last minute due to problems securing permits in the Bay Area. As a result, the crew was frantically building the stage, setting trailers in the backstage area and erecting lighting columns literally hours before the show.
My friends and I turned up early in the evening the night before the show and (along with others) helped the crew carry building supplies around the site. Can you imagine this happening in today's world when 20 semis pull up backstage and there are hundreds of union guys handling the rigging? While it was my intent to jam right up against the stage, my friend reasoned that we should sit back about fifty feet in order to hear the sound mix better. If you watch the film carefully, you'll notice that almost all of the violence took place within 20 feet of the stage. This leaves the impression that the entire crowd was involved in the middle of some horrible nightmare. At fifty feet from the stage, we could certainly see a lot of what was going down and the vibe was far from pleasant, but I never felt in any sort of danger and sure wasn't about to bail on one of the Stones' greatest live performances ever. Remember, there were approximately 300,000 people there and I'd guess that less than 20,000 of us (at least those without binoculars) really saw what was happening. I have friends that sat way up the hillside and partied through the entire day; their only awareness of any problems came as a result of the stage announcements.

I'm not saying the Maysles did a poor job re-creating what happened that December day in 1969. There was little time to plan shot sequences and the lack of lighting pretty much forced the cameramen to work within a few feet of the stage area. Nor am I denying that some horrible things took place that day. What I am trying to say is that things weren't necessarily as bad as they seemed on film. It's still a great film.

I only wish that the entire Altamont show was released as part of the bonus section of this DVD. A Blu-Ray re-issue would be nice as well.