cmdahoust
I really enjoyed watching this documentary and seeing the footage complied in an excellent manner. My only complaint is that the viewer is left somewhat in the lurch as to the time frames and years of performances and interviews. The first part of the film bounces around the early days of the band from the mid 60's. It would have been good to see some sub-titles on years and concert locations included with the footage.
The last part of the film is mired between Ronnie Wood joining the group and Keith's drug problems in Canada. The only way to ascertain the time line is the footage of the newspaper clippings that contain the dates. Hardcore Stone's fans who have followed the group since the early 70's would know the time line, but other casual fans would have difficulty in determining the dates of the events. The end of the movie seems to jump a gap of about 30 years with footage from their mid 80's tour to a recent performance at the time of the film (late 2000's).
Again, this is a great film and the closing credits show how much research and effort went in to obtaining the footage and overall presentation of the content.
bettycjung
1/15/18. This was a little above average for a rockumentary about the Rolling Stones. They are not my favorite band, but I did like their really early, early hits (Get off of my cloud, Satisfaction, etc.) But, if you are a millennial, then this may be an educational look at why those old men strutting around on stage STILL these days did have their day some 50 years ago. And, they were big. During the British Invasion of the '60s, there were many British rock and roll bands just starting up and looking for fans. And, they starting crossing the Atlantic for a potentially bigger fan base in the U.S. There were so many "boy bands" at the time, but the cream of the crop were The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It was interesting that The Beatles were originally demonized by the press for their unruly moptops and adults were so afraid that they would be such a bad influence on us kids (at the time). Then for some reason, the Beatles went mainstream and the Rolling Stones took up the mantle of the Bad Boys of Rock and Roll. I am sure that "Sympathy for the Devil" solidified their reputation. So, that's just a little background from a baby boomer who missed those days.
markcmps
I am a huge Stones fan. I thought this documentary was amazing from beginning to end. I was a little worried the end would become boring because lets face it, they are not the band they used to be but, it was great from beginning to end. The footage was great, the fact that they just used their voices was a great idea. If you are a Stones fan I don't know how you couldn't like this documentary. There is a ton of old footage and concert footage that was great. I would think even a non-fan would enjoy this because it is a fascinating story of the greatest rock band ever. To hear the band talk about the last year with Brian Jones and how that all went down was really interesting. Watch it!!
Michael_Elliott
Crossfire Hurricane (2012) *** 1/2 (out of 4) When I heard that director Brett Morgan was going to try and capture fifty-years of The Rolling Stones into a 111-minute running time I thought it would be impossible and I was pretty much right. CROSSFIRE HURRICANE is an impossible attempt at a documentary but I think it's about as good as we could hope for. The documentary features interviews with all the surviving members of the Stones but we never see them. Instead we hear their thoughts while seeing various pieces of footage from throughout their career. This could be TV appearances, movies, concert films, bootleg material and other formats. Again, trying to put fifty-years into such a short running time is impossible and there seems to be a lot missing here. I mean, the 60s and 70s are the main focus here and we really don't get anything from the more recent times. I'm sure some might argue that the bands greatest period was this era and it's a great point but at the same time they do have something that has kept them together all these years. With that said, it's hard to be too disappointed with what's not here because what we do get is great. Being able to see all of this footage and have it together in one place is clearly the best thing here. It also doesn't hurt that it appears all the band members are being honest and open with their feelings. This includes the music they've made, issues like drugs, Brian's death and of course the Altamont concert. Fans of the band will certainly want to check this out.
AD
