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    Gimme Shelter: The Rolling Stones

    Featured In Issue 145, December 2009

    Picture2
    Sound2
    WSR Score3.5
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    The Criterion Collection
    (Catalog Number):
    99
    (MPAA Rating):
    Not Rated
    (Rating Reason):
    (Retail Price):
    $39.95
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    91
    (Color Type):
    Color
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    A
    (Theatrical Year):
    1970
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    12/01/09
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    David Maysles, Albert Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    DTS HD Lossless 5.1, DTS HD Lossless 2.0
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
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    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
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    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    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. This is the uncensored 13th anniversary version. (Gary Reber)

    Special features include commentary featuring Directors Albert Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin and collaborator Stanley Goldstein; performances by The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1969, plus backstage outtakes and footage; audio excerpts from KSAN Radio's Altamont wrap-up, recorded December 7, 1969, with introductions by then DJ Stefan Ponek; the original and re-release theatrical trailers; and a booklet featuring an essay by Critic Amy Taubin, Music Writer Stanley Booth, Mick Jagger's former Assistant Georgia Bergmen, Music Writer Michael Lydon, and Film Critic Godfrey Cheshire.

    A new high-definition 1.33:1 1080p AVC transfer was created for Gimme Shelter on a Spirit Datacine from the 16 mm camera original and the 35 mm duplicate negative under the supervision of Co-Director Albert Maysles. Artifacts were manually removed, using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system. This is the best that the film has ever looked. Still, this is a low-budget documentary, and the picture is less than pristine with a soft, unfocused look. Yet, there are no distracting scratches, splices, or other film artifacts to mar the visual experience. This is a historical film, which documents a period in the development of rock-and-roll. (Gary Reber)

    There are options for two lossless soundtracks: a DTS-HD Master Audio™ 2.0 (monaural) and a repurposed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. While the original monaural fidelity is dated, the 2.0 soundtrack has a solid sound. The lossless, repurposed multichannel soundtrack sounds spacious but lacks the solid quality of the original. The sound is thin and less focused and balanced, but the instruments are effectively separated, and the surrounds are active with the music and the crowd noises. Both soundtracks sound distorted and compressed, but then this is plain-wrapper documentary sound. Still, Mick Jagger's voicing and Keith Richards guitar solos rock to the enthusiasm of the crowd. (Gary Reber)

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