Interesting but does not give credit to the movies
Peter Huston | Adrift in the sea of life | 04/29/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I saw this documentary on TV, and have two criticisms.
First, the growth and transformation of the Hells Angels from a local motorcycle club to a multi-national organization that spans at least five continents (North America, Europe, (South) Africa, South America and Australia) has an interesting history.
This growth was caused in large part by interest in the group overseas sparked by lwo budget films such as "Wild Angels" and the whole slew of drive-in quality "biker flicks" that lasted from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. (Members of the Hells Angels appeared, usually as extras, in several of these including "Wild Angels," "Hells Angels on Wheels," and "Hells Angels '69."
It was an odd merging of myth, movies and reality with an increase in one giving a boost to the other two aspects of the group.
Second, as someone who collects these (odd) films, I was astonished to see how much of the footage shown in this documentary came from various drive-in biker films.
Again we have the odd melding of myth, movie and reality merging in this documentary.
Much of the other footage, including interviews, came from the documentary "Hells Angels Forever," a film that was produced by the Angels themselves as a public relations effort.
Therefore I felt this documentary gave about half the story and tried to exaggerate what it had in the way of information.
Still, it was interesting. I enjoyed it, but I think people who really enjoyed it might enjoy digging deeper as most of the footage came from sources that are already available to the public."
So-So documentary
SuperGlide | 03/18/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Informative, But overpriced and not in- depth and complete according to other accounts. If you want to know about the HA, I would suggest reading Sonny Barger's book "Hells Angels"."
Entertaining but mostly a re-hash of information available e
Thomas W. Mackenzie | Ontario, Canada | 07/27/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"The best part of this DVD is Sonny Barger telling the clubs history from his point of view. Had the whole DVD been based on Sonny and his version of history and then it would have been worth it.
The rest of it is middle class reportage of a rehash of what Hunter Thompson wrote and Yves Lavigne re-reported in their books.
The vintage photos seem to have been lifted from said books.
The videos of Altamont, restaurant and street scenes were interesting though."
Hell's Angels History
Danielle Gauvreau | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | 01/18/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"
Great DVD, factual but would need to be updated a bit.
They really did do a good job in capturing the true American Hell's Angels story."