Product Description

On stage, Jimi Hendrix electrified audiences with his powerful guitar playing and mesmerizing performances. But behind the scenes, this rising star was on crash course with destiny. Filled with the boundary-pushing music that made him an icon and starring a fantastic ensemble cast, including Wood Harris (Remember the Titans), Billy Zane (Titanic), Dorian Harewood (Sudden Death) and Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day), Hendrix is an eye-popping "re-creation of theera of peace, love and psychedelic guitar riffs" (The Hollywood Reporter)! Raised on the wrong side of the tracks, young Jimi Hendrix knew that his music was going to be his ticket togreatness. Discovered by an unscrupulous manager (Zane) and put on an exhausting world tour, Hendrix was pushed to the limit but it paid off. Stunning audiences at Monterey and Woodstock, this ground-breaking artist was clearly on his way up. Until fame led him into a dark haze of drugs and alcohol a course that would fatally end his euphoric rise to the top.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46052 in DVD
• Brand: HARRIS,WOOD
• Released on: 2001-03-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
Most television movies about real-life rock & roll heroes are a deadening mix of biographical bullet-points and sensational recreations of outré behavior. Rarely does the essence of a pop artist, great or otherwise, come into focus within the spuriously tragic atmosphere of the kind of TV bio-pic that has made fools of the likes of the Beach Boys and John Lennon. Happily, that's not the case with Leon Ichaso's Hendrix, a remarkably sensitive film, originally broadcast on cable, that refuses to exploit guitar legend Jimi Hendrix's mythic appetites nor reduce his prodigious genius to bite-size drama. It is, instead, a portrait of the artist as a field of incongruous energy, sprawling everywhere and nowhere at once, remote from his roots and pained by the disruptive, implacable force of his awesome talent. Wood Harris (Remember the Titans) is wonderful as Hendrix, masterfully capturing the rock god's legendary shyness, unabashed sexual adventurism, and constant redefinition of his purpose and sound. Keeping him on a short tether is Hendrix's management team, which insists he keep up a grueling schedule for the money and throws obstacles onto the path of his creative freedom. Cuban director Ichaso (Sugar Hill) makes clever use out of a fictional, black-and-white interview Hendrix supposedly gave a journalist on the day he died. In it he talks about everything that comes to mind: playing guitar for African American singers on the old rhythm & blues circuit, the thrill of his triumphs during the London blues scene in 1967, and his efforts to mollify advocates of black militarism without becoming involved in it. Terrific support work by Billy Zane as Hendrix's would-be puppeteer, Christian Potenza as former Animals bassist- turned-rock-manager Chas Chandler, and Dorian Harewood as Al Hendrix. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Typical TV Movie
This made-for-cable movie is an honest attempt to boil down Jimi Hendrix's life and music down to less than two hours. Unfortunately the producers were unable to obtain the rights to any of Jimi's songs, so the musical score is entirely made of up his covers (Hey Joe, All Along the Watchtower, Wild Thing, etc.) plus some unattributed jamming. You get the typical 60s montages (JFK, Malcom X, the Beatles, Dylan, etc.) along with the cookie-cutter dialogue and vastly oversimplified story.

Despite some good performances, the script doesn't really offer the scope to examine why Hendrix's music was so revolutionary, or the problems that led to his early death.

There's not much fire here, either, as the film suffers from wooden pacing and is never especially absorbing.

The documentary film "Jimi Hendrix", also available on DVD, is a far better way to gain an appreciation of this artist.

This is an abomination - negative 5 stars
This trainwreck is better than Oliver Stones excreble Doors movie, at least in terms of the facts, but thats the only thing positive I can say about it. Its not an entertaining view by any stretch of the imagination and the flaws, of which there are many, are glaring and so egregious they spoil the movie. I'll touch on a couple of the most criminal. First off the actor playing Hendrix simply does not have the acting skills or physical resemblance to make a believable Hendrix. He's not a horrible actor, just in no way convincing as Jimi. Perhaps they should have cast somebody who had even a remote clue as how to play a guitar. Likewise the guys playing Noel and Mitch are in no way convincing. In fact that criticism holds true for everyone in the movie except perhaps for Billy Zanes' portrayal of Mike Jeffrey. Many of the character portrayals are at best laughable. Second and most importantly NONE of the music in the film was written or played by Hendrix. Since the filmakers couldn't get the rights to Hendrix's music they could use only those songs Jimi covered, such as Hey Joe and they couldn't use Hendrix's performances either. Instead they used some studio band to play the covers and bad Hendrix-like songs/jams instead. I'm sorry but watching the actors badly pretend to play BAD Hendrix-like songs performed by some studio hacks creates more pain than should be inflicted on any movie goer. This film does a diservice to Hendrix's memory and legacy. Avoid it at all costs.

Love it
I really enjoyed this movie. Wood Harris did the best job that he can do as far as playing the role of Jimi. I enjoyed both this and the 1973 biography release. This is a must have for any Jimi Hendrix fan.