Crossfire Hurricane

Half a century of the Rolling Stones gets the full treatment in Brett Morgan's "Crossfire Hurricane". The documentary actually focuses more on the group's first decade, as they developed a reputation as the anti-Beatles, went through some drug busts, and even fled England to avoid the taxes. There are number of scenes in which interviewers (obviously from the older generation) are asking the band members ridiculous questions, and one gets the feeling that Mick, Keith, Charlie and the rest don't like having to answer.

But of course the best part is the music. We get to hear most of the famous songs, often getting footage of the recordings. It just goes to show that the '60s will never die. In other words, this documentary is pure satisfaction!

The ultimate Rolling Stones documentary. Captures very vividly their live performances through the years, as well as what making an album was like, plus their private lives. However, don't expect the usual micro- detail stuff, eg no "Mick Jagger was born on..." or the names of their albums and when they were released. In fact, there is very little references to dates.

No, the main idea is to get a feel for the chain of events that was the career of the Rolling Stones, and what it was like being the members of the great band.

For these reasons, it probably helps being a fan with a decent knowledge of the Stones' albums and songs. Not essential though - one can always fill in the gaps by reading Wikipedia.

The live stuff is great, and some of it is quite rare. The behind-the- scenes stuff contains some particularly rare footage.

A must-see for any fan of rock 'n roll.

This documentary really surprised me. From the off I'll admit I'm not really into the Rolling Stones but like everyone else there are a bunch of their tunes I do adore (e.g. Sympathy for the Devil, Gimme Shelter etc). It's been shown again due to the sad recent passing of their drummer Charlie Watts.

What we have is a tour through their careers from year one to present, so quite a lot to condense, but the director does so. A soundtrack already given, it is the monologues from band members providing a commentary over the years, mostly concentrating upto the early 1970s, and it works!

I was surprised, this could have been a hagiography, or just some whitewash, but actually the director provides a fair warts & all overview of the band which is welcome, and you end up intrigued. There's egos but also honesty, and the moments overlooking the finals times with Brian Jones is quite poignant.

You'll be surprised, the general fans are also as great a part of this documentary as the main act, and great to see the old fashions and styles. There's dark moments too (e.g. Hell's Angels etc) but there's a lot of positive to take too.

It's a crazy, very well put together documentary that thankfully veered away from a simple paint-by-numbers outlook.

Informative and entertaining. Give it a view, at least in memory of Charlie Watts (RIP) who for me comes out of that band as the most likeable of the lot. A real treasure of the music world sadly now gone.

Yet another assemblage of vintage clips of the Stones, this time celebrating their 50th anniversary together. For some reason, it starts with footage of the "I-want-to-be-trendy" talk-show host Dick Cavett hanging with the band during their access-all-excess 1972 American tour, itself recently the feature of a film all to itself. From there, it works backwards to the band's origin, then taking us back up to 1978, when they temporarily rejuvenated themselves for the "Some Girls" album, actually an apt place to stop as their music hasn't progressed, far less excited, any since, like in their glory days. More than that the film signs off by tellingly making the point that having started out as a blues-covers band, then become deliberately moulded into the anti-Beatles by manager Andrew Loog-Oldham, they progressed from counter-cultural anti-heroes to fully fledged members of the establishment (arise Sir Mick!) and become everybody's favourite rock and roll band/brand, a title they've never relinquished but equally the irony of which appears to escape them.

I am a big fan of the band and enjoyed seeing some footage I'd not seen before, particularly impromptu or backstage stuff, but most of it I had, while the band interviews, none apparently latter-day revisionist, similarly don't tell us much we didn't know already. Jagger certainly comes across as the most intelligent and loquacious, with Keith playing up to his bad boy persona, leaving Charlie and Bill not giving a damn about the fame and celebrity that goes with the gig. Mick Taylor sensibly explains that he left for the good of his health and Ron Wood was apparently brought in as much for his peace-making irreverence as his musical ability. Brian Jones gets mentioned in dispatches in the first hour, but probably less than he deserved.

All the band's major events are chronicled with contemporary film footage, like deliberately choosing their "black-hat" marketing image, the breakthrough of learning to write their own songs, their first US mass-popularity in 1965, the Redlands drug-bust in 1967 which saw Mick and Keith controversially sentenced to jail for drug possession, Brian Jones' exit and soon-afterwards death-by-drowning in 1969 and to close out the decade on a low, the disastrous free concert at Altamont.

There's less of interest in the second part, unless you count their new tax-exile status as a major event, eventually leading up, from a long-way out, to Keith's drugs bust in Toronto in 1978. One doubts if the producer could have filled another two hours on the years from 1978 until now, for which I suppose we should be grateful. However this interesting document, filled with attitude and great music is definitely a watchable tribute to the best-surviving band of the 60's.

Although, this film has some tremendous footage never or rarely seen it also has the feel of a crib notes version of the band. Its hard to encapsulate 50 years into less than two hours and this film is watchable, but mostly for Stones fans. The members of the band do voice overs (everyone would like a film where they all sit together and comment on things), and Brian Jones, Altamont and other things are covered, but this is by no means comprehensive. That is probably the point, if you're even a casual fan you know whats been going on with the band for 50 years. Stones fans will likely and rightly give this an 8 to 10 rating, others that never cared about the band may not wish to sit through it. Recommended for the great footage, but don't expect to get much more insight into the band than what you already know.