Woodstock Documentary Coming To Movie Theatres

05/26/09 12:37pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

The Oscar-winning film Woodstock: 3 Days Of Peace & Music will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 9 via Rhino Canada and Warner Home Video, but you'll be able to preview it at select Cineplex theatres a day earlier.

The film, which documents the legendary Woodstock Music And Art Fair of 1969, features more than an hour of newly discovered performance footage from The Who, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez, Canned Heat, Country Joe McDonald and Country Joe And The Fish along with interviews.

The theatres screening a high-definition version of the film are listed on the Cineplex website, where tickets can also be purchased starting on Friday.

"The music, artists and spirit of Woodstock resonate as strongly today as in 1969," says Warner Home Video's Jeff Baker.

"We're certain the film will strike a chord with those who remember, and may have even attended, Woodstock, but we also believe the music — some in extended cuts — will appeal to today's youth generation who not only love rock music but are equally as committed now to the values surrounding Woodstock, like spirit of community, caring for the environment and idealistic change."

The Woodstock: 3 Days Of Peace & Music DVD and Blu-Ray will include a remastered four-hour director's cut version of the film. Original Woodstock audio engineer Eddie Kramer mixed the footage that was added to the film.

The DVD/Blu-Ray will also include commentary, replicas of handwritten notes from those who attended the festival and The '60s And The Woodstock Generation, a 40-minute documentary by director Robert Kline, which he adapted from his book, Children Of The '60s.

Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace And Music was originally released in 1970 as Woodstock. The Michael Wadleigh-directed film was edited by Martin Scorcese (Raging Bull, The Departed) and Thelma Schoonmaker (Raging Bull, Goodfellas) and won the 1970 Academy Award for best documentary. The director's cut version was later released in 1994.