Free documentary on the Grateful Dead on Amazon Prime. Rave reviews even from non-fans.

[highplainsdem]

(Cross-post from the Lounge.)

It's possible all the Grateful Dead fans here have already seen it, but I wanted to let them know about it just in case.

And I think it will answer a lot of questions for people who don't understand the band's music or why people like it.

Long Strange Trip is a 2017 documentary, nearly 4 hours long, broken into 6 parts on Amazon Prime.

It has a 100% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 90% audience score.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/long_strange_trip_the_untold_story_of_the_grateful_dead

8.2/10 at IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4143508/

I'm going to excerpt the reviews Wikipedia posted. As I said in the thread title, these are raves even from film critics who don't like the band's music.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Strange_Trip

Critical reception

Owen Gleiberman wrote in Variety, "At three hours and 58 minutes, it has the sprawl and generosity of a good Dead show, yet there’s nothing indulgent about it – it's an ardent piece of documentary classicism.... Deadheads will drink it in and debate it, poring over every detail it works in and leaves out, yet the ultimate recommendation I can give the movie is this: I'm one of those people who can't stand the Grateful Dead... yet I found Long Strange Trip enthralling. For the first time, it made me see, and feel, and understand the slovenly glory of what they were up to, even if my ears still process their music as monotonous roots-rock wallpaper."[11]

Jordan Hoffman wrote in Vanity Fair, "The film's first half is a typical, though very well-polished rock doc: getting the band together, how they found their sound, their struggles and successes. After intermission, the narrative goes to unexpected and extremely emotional places: an examination of intense public adoration and the burdens of fame. For lack of a better term, it becomes a real movie.... But I do think that Bar-Lev has done the impossible: his film will make those who normally scoff at those patchouli-smelling ersatz flower children tap their feet, maybe even join them for a dance."[12]

In the Los Angeles Times, Robin Abcarian said, "I can’t imagine that anyone will walk away from Long Strange Trip, Amir Bar-Lev’s remarkable four-hour documentary about the Grateful Dead, without a newfound appreciation for the band’s music and its place in American popular culture."[13]

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. huh, as a deadhead, I've seen it on Amazon and assumed I'd probably have seen it.

I'll give it a shot this weekend.

[highplainsdem]

2. I thought probably someone had posted about it here when it first came out,

but I searched using multiple keywords in Google Search, as well as Advanced Search in all three forums where I posted this (MA as well), and couldn't find anything.

And Roku's search hadn't shown it was on Amazon's Prime Video, included with Amazon Prime. I'd gone to Prime Video to search just in case, and found it.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. I will need bud and wine to watch this properly....plus 3 hours of downtime.

Last edited Wed Jun 7, 2023, 10:18 PM - Edit history (1)

This can be arranged.

[highplainsdem]

5. Hope you'll like it!

[Casady1]

4. Dead and co in Atlanta

I saw the documentary and I saw them on 5/28 this year. It was a great show and I have seen some if their most famous shows including 7/8/78 at Red Rocks.

[highplainsdem]

6. What did you think of this documentary?

[Casady1]

9. Great

[highplainsdem]

10. Good! Glad to hear that!

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. My 1st show - Boston - 1971 - Wall of Sound and the NRPS

I was hooked.

[quaint]

7. Thank you.

I viewed when it was first available. I'm ready to watch again.

[highplainsdem]

11. You're welcome!

And I'm glad to hear you think it's worth watching again.

[quaint]

12. Trying to watch 30 for 30 The Luckiest Man in the World (Bill Walton [Dead Head])

I keep getting dumped off after ten minutes or so.
Episodes 1 & 2 ESPN June 6 at 8 ET, now on YouTube.
Episodes 3 & 4 on June 13.
(I'd link if I could )

[quaint]

14. Part 1 was a bit of a slog with a couple gems. Parts 2-4 were good, but maybe only to a fan.

I'll get to 5 and 6 this weekend. Musically, you may enjoy That's It for the Other One.

[highplainsdem]

15. I haven't finished watching it yet, either. Got distracted by various other

things, and I almost never watch hours of TV. Was watching the 5th episode, I think.

It's interesting, but I was never into drugs enough (never took LSD, rarely smoked pot, tried cocaine once) to be a part of that subculture. I like the Dead's music, know people who love them, but they're not among my very favorite bands. I respect what they were doing, though, and their fans.

I like That's It For The Other One, especially the third part usually performed as The Other One. But my favorite song of theirs has always been Truckin'. Which I can very happily listen to on loop.

[highplainsdem]

16. Finished watching it last night.

Interesting, and tragic.

I've felt for a long time that fan/idol relationships are risky for both the fans and the artists. They're good when they stop at appreciating the art, potentially very harmful when they go beyond that, slide into the fanatic origin of the word fan. The Grateful Dead fans called Spinners were obviously way over that line, and a bit reminiscent of some Moody Blues fans who viewed that group as divine, or at least messengers from a distant world or time. I can understand fans of the music wanting to hear as many concerts as possible, and fans of '60s counterculture wanting to perpetuate that for as long as they could, even when it was play-acting away from their daily lives - as long as neither became an unhealthy addiction. But I've never understood worship of rock stars, or even people feeling a need to identify themselves as fans. That always chips away at the identities of both the artists and the fans.

And it's sad when musicians feel trapped in a money-making machine, as the documentary emphasizes Jerry felt. Trapped between the machine on one side, and crazy fans who viewed him as a messiah (or maybe a necessity in their lives) on the other. It's always healthier when artists and fans can both step back and take breaks and reassess and change direction.

Btw, I am not in any way meaning to detract from the Grateful Dead's best music - and I think artists should be judged by their best music. Or their original intent of taking their fans along as a community. I don't think any of them could have foreseen what might happen.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Although I'm Unlikely To Watch It...

...I did watch the Lynard Skynard doc on Showtime and, while I wasn't a fan of that band, I found it REALLY good.
If it comes on one of the cable movie channels, I'll have to think about it.