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The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter - Criterion Collection
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
DVD Layers: 2
DVD Sides: 1
EAN: 9780780023819
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0780023811
Label: Criterion
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1English (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Criterion
MPN: DGIM020D
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 14, 2000
Running Time: 91 minutes
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: December 06, 1970
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Editorial Review:
To cite Gimme Shelter as the greatest rock documentary ever filmed is to damn it with faint praise. This 1970 release benefits from a horrifying serendipity in the timing of the shoot, which brought filmmakers Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin aboard as the Rolling Stones' tumultuous 1969 American tour neared its end. By following the band to the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco for a fatally mismanaged free concert, the Maysles and Zwerin wound up shooting what's been accurately dubbed rock's equivalent to the Zapruder film. The cameras caught the ominous undercurrents of violence palpable even before the first chords were strummed, and were still rolling when a concertgoer was stabbed to death by the Hell's Angels that served as the festival's pool cue-wielding security force.
By the time Gimme Shelter reached theater screens, Altamont was a fixed symbol for the death of the 1960s' spirit of optimism. The Maysles and Zwerin used that knowledge to shape their film: their chronicle begins in the editing room as they cut footage of the Stones' Madison Square Garden performance of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and from there moves toward Altamont with a kind of dreadful grace. The songs become prophecies and laments for broken faith ("Wild Horses"), misplaced devotion ("Love in Vain"), and social collapse ("Street Fighting Man" and, of course, "Sympathy for the Devil"). Along the way, we glimpse the folly of the machinations behind the festival, the insularity of life on the concert trail, and the superstars' own shell-shocked loss of innocence.
Gimme Shelter looks into an abyss, partly self-created, from which the Rolling Stones would retreat--but unlike its subject, the filmmakers don't blink. --Sam Sutherland
Called "the greatest rock film ever made," this landmark documentary follows the Rolling Stones on their notorious 1969 U.S. tour. When 300,000 members of the Love Generation collided with a few dozen Hell's Angels at San Francisco's Altamont Speedway, direct cinema pioneers David and Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin immortalized on film the bloody slash that transformed a decade's dreams into disillusionment.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Tragic Classic
I have always heard that it is difficult to make a rock and roll film, let alone one that is also a documentary. Gimme Shelter is both- a filmed concert experience but one that also documents those events that take place behind the scenes.
This one gives the viewer virtually unlimited access to the Rolling Stones for their 1969 tour of America. We see the Stones as they perform at Madison Square Garden, working in the studio, and checking into hotel rooms. For Stones historians, there ... Read More
Rating: - "Babies"
Saw Gimmie Shelter again last night and suddenly I felt like I was envisioning what the great artist Goya saw when painting the horrors into the faces of his characters. The buildup to Altamont, because you know it's coming, is full of tension and dread cloaked in the mundane. The footage shot from the stage ecompasses almost every emotion and reality known to man -- joy, sadness, fear, anger, sensuality, frivolity, violence, psychotic reaction ... as Goya saw it, the horror of existence and who we are. ... Read More
Rating: - Eyeglass to the past
This is a superlative and surprising documentary that clearly shows the business acumen and professionalism of the Rolling Stones as they effortlessly blended their talents and showmanship into the drug racked culture of a 60s rock concert. Not to be missed.
Rating:  - Gimme Shelter From the Storm
I have written elsewhere in this space that when it comes to musical influences in my youth that the Stones played a key role in developing my tastes. I have also mentioned elsewhere that my youthful alienation was reflected in the language and sound of the group. I mentioned Street Fighting Man and Tumbling Dice, as well as an earlier cover of Little Red Rooster as important. All this is by way of saying that I looked forward recently to re-watching the old Stones documentary Gimme Shelter reviewed here, ... Read More
Rating: - The 70s Begin
Much enhanced picture and sound quality from the original theater version. It seems there's also added footage. It's a great documentary of a historical social event. It does seem to drag a little, perhaps the times have changed or the added footage is too long, but its definitely worth it anyway. I highly recommend watching this film.
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