Customer Reviews
Great Video! 
2007-10-08
Proud was the word that came to mind when I finished watching this show. The music along with the commentary from the "people" really takes you back to 1972. Rance Allen and the Bar-kays blew me away with their live musicianship. Rufus Thomas's scene was worth the price of the whole dvd. All time collectors item.
WATTSTAX 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION 
2007-09-09
The DVD was good. I was disappointed that more footage of singing artists and their names were not used.
A Soul Shout Heard Around the World!! 2007-08-10
Wattstax is a concert film, based on the performance of the same name which was held in the summer of 1972. Held in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the concert was the climax of what was then an annual week-long festival held in the African-American community of Watts commemorating the rebellion/riots that took place in 1965. All of the music performers involved were from the now-storied Stax label, which gave the American pop landscape such acts as Sam & Dave, Booker T. & the MGs, and the Otis Redding. A diverse selection of performers gives viewers a near-complete glimpse of the black music experience circa 1972: Gospel, blues, R&B, and funk artists all on the same bill. Promoted as "The black Woodstock", the full concert was six hours, here condensed to roughly 90 minutes.
The concert was hosted by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who speaks his now-legendary "I Am Somebody" sermon. Highlights of the show include the Staple Singers ("Respect Yourself"), The Bar-Kays ("Son of Shaft"), Johnnie Taylor ("Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone") Albert King ("I'll Play the Blues for You"), and Rufus Thomas ("The Funky Chicken"). "Shaft" composer and future "South Park" icon Isaac Hayes got to close the show, and the DVD restores most of his performance (Warner Bros. Pictures controlled the copyright to the "Shaft" movie songs and refused clearance for the film, which was originally released through Columbia Pictures; the original movie footage of Hayes was rather brief, which perhaps damaged its box office run).
Interspersed between the concert footage are man-on-the-street interviews with assorted locals, who get to opine without censorship on various issues of the day. A pre-"Love Boat" Ted Lange is among them (his prematurely graying mustache lending unintentional humor to his young-guy rants). Also bookending many segments is Richard Pryor, whose similarly uncensored dialogue make some affecting points about uncomfortable subjects, from slavery to police brutality to unemployment. That he manages to find humor in the brutality of racism speaks to the genius of the late comic.
Wattstax, released in the midst of the "blaxploitation" movie trend, was a then-unheard of snapshot of the state of black America as buffered through the music of its artists. There are many establishing shots of storefronts in black neighborhoods: ramshackle churches abound, as well as other starkly blighted structures. As one resident puts it, "some things have changed for the better... some for the worst... a lot of things have stayed the same.." Whatever the physical costs of the civil rights movement (there is brief footage included of Dr. Martin Luther King's final speech) the emotional wounds were still fresh. "Black is beautiful" was the catchphrase of the day, and Afrocentric styles of hair and fashion were at a pre-disco peak (however the flamboyant `players' who come to see a nightclub show anticipate the "me decade" excess that was to come). Based on footage shown, the assembly team who put together the stage in the middle of the field is mostly white; however, according to commentator Rob Bowman, Stax boss Al Bell insisted that the private security be black as well as any LAPD involved.
This is a great DVD to have for anybody interested in black history, soul music, or both.
Wattstax 2007-07-06
A flavorful, inspiring evocation of the 1970's black experience and the richness of their musical life and heritage. A skillfully balanced mix of music and commentary, this film consistently fascinates as a social document, while getting our feet stomping with some of the decade's leading R&B acts. The comic riffs of young, jazzed Pryor makes this worthwhile even before the first chord is struck. In the parlance of the day: "dig it".
Wattstax 2007-05-17
An excellent contrast between the harsh realities of poverty, racism, and oppression that plagued black people in the late 60's and early 70's; the social and political insights of the black laymen/women; and the escapism represented by one of the best concerts ever recorded.
ON HOLD!!! 
2008-07-06
I HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF ENJOYING WATT STAX FROM BOTH THE MOVIE AND LATER THE ALBUM AS A YOUNGSTER. I KNOW HOW GOOD IT WAS IN IT'S ORIGINAL FORM. UNFORTUNATELY I WAS BLINDSIDED BY THE CD DUE TO THE COMMENTATION OVERIDING THE MUSIC THAT SEEMED TO NEVER STOP IN LEGNTH OR IN FREQUENCY. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? THIS SHOULD HAVE COME WITH A FLASHING WARNING. DROVE A FIVE STAR PERFORMANCE DOWN TO TWO.
An excellent documentary with some outstanding music 2008-03-18
I saw this in a small theatre as part of a double feature with Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Chappelle apparently based his movie on Wattstax and I figured it would be worth checking out. I came out of the theatre absolutely amazed that I had never even so much as heard about it before.
This film is best described a documentary with some great music footage. It's a not a music film. Those who see it expecting mostly music footage may be disappointed. However, director Mel Stuart skillfully weaves interviews with locals from Watts and some comic relief from Richard Pryor throughout the concert footage to make for a riveting film.
Highlights are The Emotions' spectacular take on 'Peace, Be Still', Rufus Thomas' 'Breakdown/Funky Chicken', Luther Ingrams' 'If Loving You Is Wrong' and Pryor's take on African Americans in the U.S.
Highly recommended!
Absolutely superb! 2007-11-28
I purchased this dvd back in 2005, and i have to say it was one of the best concerts on dvd that i'd ever seen. I was just a little fella when this event took place, but Al Bell had a serious sound going on down there in Memphis. I've always been a big fan of Isaac Hayes, and to see him performing along with some of the other r&b greats on here was a tremendous treat. I only regret not being old enough back then to have caught this historical event in person. Not to mention, Richard Pryor was funny as heck too. I recommend for any real soul music listener to go out and cop this dvd. You won't regret it!
I love Richard Pryor. 2007-11-04
I brought this film for my mom and we watched it together. We laughed at some of the things a few people had to say (mostly those that were interviewed) and enjoyed watching the performances and singing along to some of the songs. Basically it was a good movie to watch together and talk about the politics and feeling of Watts and black America during the 70's.
Meh 2007-11-02
I guess I expected more music and less politics from this film about a music festival. The 70's era outfits the people had on were amazing though. And Rufus Thomas' and Albert King's parts were totally awesome.
