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MOVIES / ON DVD / FESTIVAL EXPRESS
Festival Express

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Festival Express (2004)

96%
100%
81%
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N/A
96 %
Reviews Counted: 74 Fresh: 71  Rotten:3 Average Rating: 7.6/10
 
Consensus: A nostalgic, moving hippie time capsule. Festival Express is a spellbinding documentary that nostalgically chronicles five days in the summer of 1970, when a train full of now- legendary rock perfomers jammed its way across Canada. more
 
Rated: R
Runtime: 90 mins
Theatrical Release: Jul 23, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $908,932
Synopsis:
In 1970, a train journeyed across Canada carrying some of the greatest rock bands of the time. Janis Joplin, The Band, The Grateful Dead, Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Guy, Ian & Sylvia and others lived (and partied) together for five days, giving concerts where and when they stopped. The train was... [More]
In 1970, a train journeyed across Canada carrying some of the greatest rock bands of the time. Janis Joplin, The Band, The Grateful Dead, Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Guy, Ian & Sylvia and others lived (and partied) together for five days, giving concerts where and when they stopped. The train was called the Festival Express. Festival Express might just have been the greatest, and certainly the longest, non-stop rock n' roll party ever. Nicknamed "The Million Dollar Bash" by Rolling Stone magazine, Festival Express was designed to capitalise on the then-burgeoning craze for multi-day, talent-heavy music festivals. Following in the footsteps of Woodstock, by the summer of 1970 such festivals were a regular part of the rock n' roll landscape. Festival Express was planned as a festival with a difference -- it would be portable. The artists would be showcased at festival sites spanning the breadth of the Canadian heartland, from Toronto to Calgary -- and transportation was by chartered train. This proved to be a stroke of genius, indelibly stamping the event with an aura of magic, as a large number of the performers signed on despite being offered fees substantially below their going rate. The musicians thought the train ride sounded like the "party to end all parties". -- © Festival Express Productions [Less]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Band, Ian & Sylvia, Buddy Guy

Director: Bob Smeaton
Producer: John Trapman

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 2, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Amaray Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Surround 5.1 - English
  • Dolby Surround Stereo 2.0 - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
  • DVD-ROM Features

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Full Review | Comment
08/14/07 03:15 AM
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 03:16 AM
Time Out
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
05/26/06 03:15 AM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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Full Review | Comment
03/05/05 10:16 PM
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic
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A good snapshot of an earlier, simpler, more innocent time that seems now even longer ago than it was.

Full Review | Comment
02/01/05 01:59 PM
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
12/19/04 10:15 PM
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
11/19/04 08:31 PM
Todd R. Ramlow
PopMatters
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The music was fabulous--a reason enough to cherish this first-rate documentary.

Full Review | Comment
11/17/04 09:53 AM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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ultimately feels a little like warm leftovers

Full Review | Comment
11/07/04 06:27 PM
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
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Both drive-thru snapshot travelogue of nomad alternative culture, and one-of-a-kind caught moments of intimate jam sessions.

Full Review | Comment
11/04/04 09:07 AM
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press
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It captures a pure moment in time when musical hearts and minds beat as one, when musicians of all stripes came together to work and play hard and leave behind one damn fine-looking corpse.

Full Review | Comment
10/19/04 10:23 PM
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
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Divided between time-capsule concert footage ... and backward-glancing interviews - alas, not enough of the former and too much of the latter.

Full Review | Comment
10/08/04 10:35 PM
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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A very well-assembled piece.

Full Review | Comment
10/08/04 04:09 PM
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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A fascinating, tuneful excursion into the Woodstock Nation, circa 1970.

Full Review | Comment
09/24/04 03:30 PM
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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A rock 'n' roll time capsule that may be the final, great chronicle of the musical brilliance of the late 1960s.

Full Review | Comment
09/24/04 08:57 AM
Jeffrey Bruner
Des Moines Register
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A remarkable cultural document that captures the circus-like atmosphere and the raw and immediate quality of the performances.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/04 06:36 PM
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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From the moment Joplin announces her arrival in the film she holds you rapt under her spell.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/04 05:51 PM
Bret McCabe
Orlando Weekly
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Joplin lets loose a version of 'Cry Baby' that should stand as one of the great performances in any concert film.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/04 07:08 AM
Jesse Paddock
culturevulture.net
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With her whiskey-marinated, desperate-for-love, full-tilt blooz mama wildcat yowl still intact, Janis Joplin is the best thing about this film...

Full Review | Comment
09/13/04 11:29 AM
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
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A time of innocence and hope was rolling away like a train leaving the station, and “Festival Express” gives it a fond farewell.

Full Review | Comment
09/09/04 09:50 AM
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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Around the Network

• Festival Express at Rotten Tomatoes
• Festival Express at IGN
• Festival Express at AskMen
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