Strange- I had maybe too high expectations for this concert movie (not a documentary, suffice to say it is not Gimme Shelter's mix of concert and behind the scenes). Mostly it was on the basis of it being 70's iconoclast director Hal Ashby behind the lens of the Stones on two dates of their 1981 shows. Curiously enough, even as just a piece of film of the concert itself, the editing and shots of the concert are sometimes just ill-conceived. Sometimes Ashby's style of 'kicking back' and not cutting away from a shot is effective, as one almost gets that feeling of being in the same spot looking at the stage and (somewhat) lively performers. Unfortunately, there seem to be some songs that get editing treatment that displays, a little too much so, that Ashby is not really too adept at mixing archival footage in with the rest of the concert footage.
The cutting back to the backstage during the song isn't too distracting, but the cutting to the 60's footage during 'Time is on My Side' of the Stones and (particularly) Mick Jagger is a bit shabby in the ways that should make for some convincing footage. And considering Ashby's strengths started as an editor it's kind of sad to say more often than not what isn't too appealing about the film is based on his work on it. This being said, his work as just capturing the footage ON stage is not too bad, which is helped by the Stones doing well with their songs. Some of these even I hadn't heard before, as they seem to reach back into either their latest of the period (late 70's into Tattoo You numbers) or some of the songs from the 60's albums. And performance wise it's hit or miss- more hit than miss, with the good numbers being very good (i.e. the title song, Under My Thumb, Shattered), and the misses being sort of forgettable in the midst of a large, overwhelming arena crowd as in Phoenix. The film itself is not as readily available as the better Stones documentary Gimme Shelter, but for fans its worth a view at least once, maybe more depending on reaction. As an Ashby fan I should say it has some liabilities.
The cutting back to the backstage during the song isn't too distracting, but the cutting to the 60's footage during 'Time is on My Side' of the Stones and (particularly) Mick Jagger is a bit shabby in the ways that should make for some convincing footage. And considering Ashby's strengths started as an editor it's kind of sad to say more often than not what isn't too appealing about the film is based on his work on it. This being said, his work as just capturing the footage ON stage is not too bad, which is helped by the Stones doing well with their songs. Some of these even I hadn't heard before, as they seem to reach back into either their latest of the period (late 70's into Tattoo You numbers) or some of the songs from the 60's albums. And performance wise it's hit or miss- more hit than miss, with the good numbers being very good (i.e. the title song, Under My Thumb, Shattered), and the misses being sort of forgettable in the midst of a large, overwhelming arena crowd as in Phoenix. The film itself is not as readily available as the better Stones documentary Gimme Shelter, but for fans its worth a view at least once, maybe more depending on reaction. As an Ashby fan I should say it has some liabilities.